Wolsingham School

Wolsingham School is a small, inclusive secondary school in the heart of Weardale.

When is it on?

Time of day
Morning
Afternoon

Who to contact

Contact name
Mr Jonathan Ferstenberg
Contact position
Headteacher
Telephone
01388 527 302
E-mail
info@wolsinghamschool.net
Website
Wolsingham School

Where to go

Address
The Grammar School Building
West End
Wolsingham
Bishop Auckland
County Durham
Postcode
DL13 3DJ

Other details

Related links
Ofsted reports

Local Offer

Links
SEND at Wolsingham School

How do you identify Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)?

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

When your child moves from primary to secondary school, the school collect information about their needs and academic progress. If a child has been on the SEND register at primary school, then they are automatically put on the SEND register when they start at Wolsingham School.

As your child progresses through the school, it may be the case that they no longer need support. Following a discussion with pastoral staff, SENCO and yourselves, they could be removed from the SEND register, if it was felt appropriate.

Sometimes when children arrive at secondary school, it quickly becomes noticeable that they need extra support - even if it was not needed before. We will always contact you to discuss your child's needs and get approval to refer your child to an outside agency or add additional withdrawal support to their curriculum. If this happens, they will be placed on the SEN register.

How will you support my child with their special educational needs and disability?

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

We organise extra support for children on an individual basis, so it meets their needs. 

At Wolsingham School we:

  • Ensure staff are aware of your child's needs so they plan lessons to take those needs into account.
  • Provide small group withdrawal sessions - where children are in very small teaching groups to work on key skills such as literacy and numeracy.
  • Have some additional support personnel in the classroom so your child gets more attention
  • Loan children technology so they can access the curriculum more easily.
  • Screen for conditions such as SPLD (Dyslexia)
  • Liaise closely with external agencies to provide additional individual support such as a counselling service.

How will we know my child is progressing?

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

We monitor the progress of ALL children. Children are assessed at regular intervals to see how well they are doing.  If a child is not progressing then intervention is put in place. 

This intervention might be:

  • differentiated work or homework
  • extra lessons
  • catch up sessions
  • target setting and review or mentoring

If it seems the child needs much more than that, they may be withdrawn from some curriculum subjects in order to work in a much smaller class environment to focus on basic skills such as literacy, numeracy and reading.

There is regular reporting to parents and parents can also access the parent portal online to check on progress.

What specialist services and expertise is available at or accessed by the staff?

What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

The Learning Support Team:

Mrs R Johnson - SENCo/School Counsellor
Mrs A Lee - Accelerated Reading Coordinator
Mrs B Gaughey - Transition Support
Mrs K Cleghorn - Assistant SENCO/Medical Needs Coordinator
Mr J Hyam - Learning Support Assistant
Miss C Francis- Lee - Learning Support Assistant
Mrs C Johnson - Learning Support Assistant
Mr D Wheelhouse - Inclusion Manager
Mrs J Sales - Attendance Officer

What support can I expect for my child?

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

When we monitor progress, we have set “threshold”  targets. These targets are mostly based on “national average” figures of where your child “should be” academically depending upon their age.  We use these thresholds to rank and prioritise the intervention by need.

If your child comes to use with an Education and Health Care Plan (Statement), this document is used to put the support in place. The school always create costed provision maps for children with an EHCP. This will show you the support they get and how much is being spent on supporting them.

How will I be involved in my child's education?

How are parents involved in the setting/school/college? How can I be involved?

The parents reference group - this group meets together with the Headteacher and colleagues to explore the ways in which we are developing educational provision within the school.

Volunteer readers - we are are keen for parents to volunteer their time to read with children as part of our accelerated reading programme.  Please contact Mrs A Lee.

Got an idea or a skill, and happy to give up some time?  We are always interested in building community links and trying to offer a wide and varied curriculum to our young people.  If you can teach a craft or skill from gardening to cake decorating, to a young person, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Mrs R Johnson.

Disclaimer

Durham County Council's Families Information Service does not promote nor endorse the services advertised on this website. Anyone seeking to use/access such services does so at their own risk and may make all appropriate enquiries about fitness for purpose and suitability to meet their needs.
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Address: The Grammar School Building  West End  Wolsingham  Bishop Auckland  County Durham

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