Wyvil Primary School and Resource Bases for Speech, Language and Communication Needs, and Autism has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Reputation for Excellent Inclusive Practice
Wyvil Primary School and Resource Bases for Speech, Language and Communication Needs, and Autism are on 2 sites and the IQM visit started by visiting the resource base which is about 30 minutes’ walk or 10/15 minutes’ drive from the main school site. After this, the visit moved to the main school which is also on 2 sites right next to each other. The original building houses a dance studio and performance academy on one of its floors. This is not part of Wyvil Primary School but is hired out to another private company. Our Assessor wondered why this was the case as the resource base is very isolated where it is situated.
The school is a 2-form entry school but, like most schools in inner London, is losing pupils in the Nursery and Early Years as families have been moved out of London to cheaper housing by the coast and elsewhere. Furthermore, many families moved out due to Brexit and others moved out of London during or shortly after the Covid pandemic. The result is that the school is unable to fill the Pupil Admission Number (PAN) places in reception this year. This has an impact on the school’s funding.
The school has a reputation for its excellent inclusive practice. This means they receive a great many consultations for places in the mainstream school and in the two resource provisions. One of these is a provision for Speech and Language (20 places) and one for Autism (56 places). The Autism unit is long standing but they have since added 16 additional places. They were asked to expand during the Covid pandemic. The organisation of SEN provision in the mainstream and in both special resource bases is a real strength of the school. There is a new Headteacher in post since September. Our Assessor did not manage to meet her on the day but was told that she is very pro-inclusion and wants to further develop the school as an SEN centre of excellence in the area.
The school is maintained by the Local Authority but is also part of a federation with 4 other schools. This partnership shares an Executive Headteacher who organises federation activities and who provides leadership across all 4 schools. Each school has its own Headteacher and although there is some joined up working around the curriculum and various policies, each school retains its unique ethos and culture.
Resource Base is a Sort of Bridge
The first meeting of the day was with the Assistant Headteacher/SENCo who has oversight and responsibility for the Autism Resource Base in Kennington. The resource base is about 30 minutes’ walk away from the mainstream school. The children who attend the resource base have extreme special needs and it is unlikely that they will ever be included in a mainstream school. This is an issue because, as the Assistant Headteacher explained, children attending a resource base are expected to move on (at some point) to a mainstream school. The resource base is a sort of bridge. The children attending the Wyvil resource base are most likely to move on to special schools. The issue is that funding for each child in a resource base is less than would be receive if the child were attending a special school. This difference in funding means that the additional therapies and interventions that would be available in a special school provision are not funded or available for the children in the resource base.
Admission to the resource base is via the Local Authority. The Assistant Headteacher/SENCo receives many consultations and she goes through these very carefully before she agrees to give the children a place. She has to be sure she can meet individual needs. All those admitted must have an EHCP in place as there are no assessment places. Children generally stay at the resource base until the end of the primary phase. The Assistant Headteacher explained the way that the Local Authority categorises children into bands according to their needs. She says that it is a sliding scale. The school admits children on bands C and B because they have so few therapies available due to funding. There is an expectation that the children will spend 50% of their time in mainstream but this rarely happens. The children who attend the resource base are operating at well below age related expectations. The leaders would like them to be able to access the mainstream curriculum with adaptations and for some of them to be able to do Standard Assessment Tests (SATs). This is not possible for the majority of the children. Our Assessor was told that measuring the progress of the children who are well below age related expectations is very difficult to do, so the school has adopted a programme called iASEND. This has been an integral part of their Flagship project and is proving to be very successful. Even very tiny movement and progress can be measured using this tool.
There are 50 children on roll at the Autism Resource Base and there is another Speech and Language Resource Base on the main site. They are all separate entities. Each child in the Autism Resource Base receives funding based on the EHCP plus top-up and resource base funding. Since the new Headteacher arrived, this funding is now more transparent and the two SENCos are able to see and understand it and ask appropriate questions, ensuring that each child is being funded correctly. They appreciate this and are now becoming more familiar with the funding formulae.
Five teachers and 26 Teaching Assistants (TAs) work (mostly full time) at the resource base. The experience and abilities of the TAs is second to none but they are increasingly hard to get. Whilst this is the norm in all schools, especially in the inner city, their role is a significant one in the resource base where agency staff may not have the experience required. This is an ongoing issue and finding suitable agency staff is getting more and more difficult.
Children Looked Happy to be in School
It was then time to take a tour of the school to see it at work. The Assistant Headteacher and our Assessor talked as they walked and were able to meet many of the staff and children as they went about their business. Most of the children arrive by bus or by taxi since many travel from different parts of the Borough or from other London Boroughs. Our Assessor arrived just as the last ones were coming into school. The Assistant Headteacher was at the gate welcoming them and reception staff and teachers and Teaching Assistants were waiting for them. The children arriving looked happy to be in school as indeed did the staff.
The building is modern but it was not purpose built for the resource base. Classrooms are a good size and staff have set them up according to an agreed plan which includes some individual workstations and a calming zone as well as emotional regulation areas.
There are few displays that make the school look sparse and bare but this is by design as they do not want to overstimulate or overload the children with too many displays. However, the playground area was also sparse with few toys and equipment for children to play with. This, our Assessor was told, was due to a lack of funding. The staff who were supervising the children were playing with some of the children during their break time but some children were just sitting by themselves. There is a nice lunch hall where children eat in family settings. They used to eat in their classrooms which was not desirable and the Assistant Headteacher changed this and they now manage the lunch space to ensure the children are comfortable and able to have a better eating experience. Food is very important and all special diets are catered for. There is a well used sensory room that has been put together by staff making use of inexpensive items.
The new Headteacher arrived in September and is introducing lots of changes. She has introduced more staff training which is viewed as very positive. The Assistant Headteacher/SENCo has been given new responsibilities and is now in charge of the new Behaviour Policy which is being rolled out across the school.
Right Environment for Learning
The next meeting was with the Speech and Language Therapist who works in collaboration with the Occupational Therapist and with the school to provide additional professional support for about 52 children across the school with speech and language difficulties. Our Assessor was due to also meet with the Occupational Therapist but she was unwell on the day of the visit. The SALT works every Wednesday in the resource base and her main strategy is to train staff to deliver the therapy to the children. She works with teachers and TAs mostly and helps to skill them up. She and the OT have run various workshops and specific training for staff throughout the school. Their aim is to help create the right environment for learning. She does not have a caseload but works with children and staff as needed. In fact, she says they all need support in this area. She also contributes to annual reviews and this takes up a lot of her time. She liaises with teachers about different children and she may observe a child in class in order to identify specific needs and therapies. She said she really needs more time in the school so that she can model teaching approaches with teachers.
The SALT explained that she and the OT have provided some training for parents in order to help them support their children at home. This has been achieved by producing videos that are put on the website. So far these have been training parents to use Makaton. They are also providing this training for teachers and TAs. The teachers tap into the many resources that are provided on the shared drive. Furthermore, they seek her and the OT out for advice in meeting the needs of individual children in class.
The SALT commented that all the services have been reduced so much that there is little additional ‘expert’ support for children. This makes their work in the school even more important. Our Assessor asked how she knew that children were making progress; was there some way of measuring it? She said she gathers information for annual reviews by speaking to teachers and TAs and uses a tool called Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMS) which is a Speech and Language outcome measure scale. She also uses the Interactive Learning Diary (ILD) scale in EYFS, in mainstream and the new iASEND in the mainstream. This is a replacement for P Levels and is used as a benchmark for children who are receiving additional support. The SENCo at the primary school carried out a lot of research into this before it was adopted as part of the IQM Flagship project. She then piloted it for a year and it has now been fully adopted by the school as a whole. There is a platform to upload outcomes and evidence of learning.
Moving Forward
The next meeting was with a member of the teaching staff. One from KS1 and one from KS2. One of the teachers said she had come into the school as an agency TA supporting a child with significant needs. She had come from abroad (from a European country) and although her qualifications as a teacher were recognised, she decided to become a TA to find out more about the UK education system and to find out more about supporting children with special needs. She has been at the school for 2 years and is now teaching her own class. She said she is learning as she goes. Every day presents a learning opportunity and she has found the Assistant Headteacher/SENCo a huge support as are other teachers and TAs. She is very happy at the school. She said things are always changing and the research and guidance around Autism is also moving fast. The Assistant Headteacher provides lots of ongoing training for all staff. The school is now moving towards more peer observations (starting with TAs) and this will provide an opportunity to see others teach. The school is also signed up to the National College Training programme which is very useful online Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The school is moving to becoming a coaching school and this teacher said she is currently being trained as a coach who will then be able to coach other teachers as they move forward. There is an external trainer providing this experience.
Our Assessor asked about staff welfare and wellbeing and was assured that there are regular wellbeing meetings and the Assistant Headteacher holds regular weekly ‘surgeries’ where staff can come to her with any concerns or worries. This facility is well used. It was explained that all members of staff are part of a team and are very supportive of each other. Staff voices are heard and they are asked for their ‘wish list’ in terms of equipment and resources and the Assistant Headteacher does her best to get the funds to procure it for them. All staff have performance management reviews and there are formal lesson observations and a schedule of learning walks.
The teacher our Assessor met with has been working alongside the Occupational Therapist to introduce and implement emotional regulation and they are now working to introduce it across the whole school. She felt that she has been well supported and is being well trained. Her potential as someone who can and wants to take on more responsibility is recognised and her talents are being developed.
Good Quality Support
The resource base provides good quality support but is very far removed from the rest of the school and this seems to limit collaboration between staff in the different parts of the school and within schools in the federation. The new Headteacher is trying to change this and spends time in the resource base every week and is ensuring it is not isolated. The Assistant Headteacher is part of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and is fully involved in discussions about the strategic direction of the school. She has taken on some whole school responsibilities, for example, the Behaviour Policy, and our Assessor hopes that the school continues to fully include the resource base as part of whole school developments. It is good that funding is now far more transparent so that the Assistant Headteacher can have a clearer picture of how the money is spent and can also check that each child is receiving the correct level of funding. She needs to be able to have designated funds annually to spend on resources and furniture and equipment in her building.
Our Assessor then travelled by car to the main Wyvil Primary School buildings and met with the other SENCo who works 3 days a week. She and the Assistant Headteacher/ Resource Base SENCo work very closely together and have an excellent working relationship. Our Assessor was told that the new Headteacher is fully supportive of their work and her aim is for Wyvil to become a SEN centre of excellence in the Borough. She wants them to be able to support other schools in the area to develop their inclusive policy and practice and would particularly like to do this with schools in their federation. As they travelled to the main site, the Assistant Headteacher said she is the only person who is licenced to drive the school minibus which is used a lot. This means she has to leave whatever she is doing when a driver is needed. She says the effort needed to take the children out and about, which they really enjoy and learn a lot from, is becoming increasingly difficult as she has to ensure the children left behind have cover and those going out are properly supervised and supported. A lack of funding means that money for cover teachers and staff is in short supply.
Currently, the 2 SENCos are doing an audit of what they have and where the gaps in provision are and are developing a clear action plan of their needs. The senior teams’ roles and responsibilities are now being redefined and there are many discussions going on about future developments. The mainstream SENCo and Speech and Language Resource Base Lead only work 3 days a week and is also part of the Senior Leadership Team. Her job is a big one as there are 106 children with EHCPS across the 3 sites. There are plans afoot to have 2 additional SENCos to share the load. These have been identified from existing staff and they will be supported to complete the SENCo qualification but they will need to be supported in their roles by the existing SENCos. They will also be class teachers for much of the week. It is hoped that the additional teachers to the SEN team will increase capacity. The federation organises regular SENCo network meetings which are very useful. However, Wyvil is currently leading the way in terms of inclusion across the federation.
The week of the IQM visit was SATs week and a number of children with EHCPs were taking them and access arrangements were in place to support them and others as required. The role of the class teacher in supporting children with Special Educational Needs is well understood and there is regular training to support teachers with Quality First Teaching and with learning different strategies to support individual needs in the classroom. Furthermore, there has been training for teachers on how to make best use of a Teaching Assistant in the classroom. This means that teachers plan for them in lessons and give them clear directions. The SENCos are also working with Early Career Teachers (ECTs) and do drop-ins where teachers and TAs can ask for help and advice. The school buys into the National College online training which they find useful.
School Staff Were Very Welcoming
The next meeting was with 2 members of support staff. One is a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) who provides one-to-one support for a child and the other is a general Teaching Assistant but is also an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA). The LSA has been in post since September and although she has a focus child, she supports others in the class as well. She works at the direction of the teacher and they work as a team to provide the best possible service to the children. She works in the Language and Communication Resource Base and is doing a Masters degree in Developmental Neuroscience. Her aim is to become an Educational Psychologist (EP) and working as a LSA in the resource base is, in part, preparation for that course. Working in the school and studying at the same time is hard but makes the subject relevant. She explained she came to the school through an agency and intends staying at the school for 2 years before she starts her course fulltime. The school staff at all levels were very welcoming and she was carefully inducted so she could hit the ground running when she started.
Colleagues were a big part of that induction and supported her along with the SENCos and class teachers. There is always someone to talk to. She says the school is flexible in so many ways so if she has to change the days she attends university, the school will accommodate that request.
Our Assessor was told that children in the Learning and Communication (LC) Resource Base are integrated into the mainstream school as much as possible and desirable according to their individual needs. Therefore, LSAs and TAs in the LC Resource Base often spend time working in mainstream classes supporting children. The SALT has trained the LSA/TAs in Speech and Language therapy. They have had Social Emotional Learning (SEL) training and they are always learning from the professional experts and from each other.
The ELSA/TA has been working at Wyvil Primary School for around 18 years. She has moved to different parts of the school over the years and has got to know many of the children. She did her ELSA training 4 years ago and she runs sessions 1 day a week, usually on a Friday. Referrals for this intervention can come from the SENCo or from the class teachers or parents. Furthermore, the SLT can refer. There is a referral form that goes to parents who need to agree to the intervention and provide additional relevant information on the form. There are 4 ELSAs in the school and 1 works mostly in KS1 and the others work throughout, as needed. They have the opportunity to meet together occasionally and they have a WhatsApp group to communicate with each other.
The ELSA has a caseload of 5 pupils which is all they can fit in in 1 day. Some of the other ELSAs tend to group children around similar issues such as friendships etc. They see the pupils once a week for half an hour each time for about 6 weeks but it can be more (12 weeks) if needed. Recently, the ELSA introduced drawing and talking therapy as part of her practice. There is a specific set of questions and a set of resources provided by the school, which she uses every week with 1 child. The bulk of her week involves being a class TA in the mainstream primary school. Supervision, which is part of every ELSA’s contract, is provided by Lambeth’s EP. This is more of a group supervision where they share ideas and what is working well rather than an individual supervision. However, the school is getting a new EP in September and hopefully there will be more individual supervision available.
Appraisal System
Our Assessor asked about wellbeing and if TAs and support staff felt valued and appreciated and was told that the majority do feel appreciated and know that their contribution is valued. Most meetings with the SENCos take place during the school day but they have the opportunity of getting together for a meeting once a term. Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) is difficult to arrange as there are so many needy children.
The support staff members confirmed that there is an appraisal system in place. The SLT share out the role of appraiser and there is still work to be done to get the appraisals completed this year and for them to be meaningful and useful.
The ELSA/TA also runs a Pupil Wellbeing after school club for KS2 pupils. Several pupils are targeted to attend, often pupils who cannot receive support from an individual ELSA. There are lots of activities designed to support wellbeing and deal with anxiety.
At this point our Assessor talked to the SENCos about the way they track the pupils receiving support and interventions across the school. Currently, there is no Inclusion Panel Meeting to discuss different children and to check on progress and pupils who may be receiving lots of overlapping support and others who may be slipping through the gaps. This is something the school will consider and in view of the large number of children with EHCPs and Special Educational Needs which is extremely high. They might also want to look at their provision mapping and get a commercial package that is easily shared and updated. Currently, the systems are not quite tight enough to be assured all children were covered.
Safeguarding is another area where there might be a need to introduce a regular team (safeguarding) meeting to discuss pupils on this list. Our Assessor met with the AHT who is the Lead Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and she is supported by a team of 6 others. The AHT/SENCo is the DSL on the Autism Resource Base site and she explained that she has arranged for 1 of the class teachers to do the DSL training so there is always someone on site to deal with safeguarding issues. The Lead DSL has the overview of the whole school but she works with the team to make sure no children fall through the gaps. CPOMS is used to record concerns and to alert the DSL team to the concern. She meets weekly with all phase leaders regarding safeguarding issues and every staff meeting has a 15 minute safeguarding slot where staff are updated on the policy and processes and any new developments. It is a constant drip feeding of safeguarding information to ensure all staff know exactly what to do when they have a safeguarding concern. The school is part of a Lambeth initiative (funded by the DFE) called Equality Teach as part of the Safe Task Force.
When staff have a safeguarding concern about a child, they come and speak to the Lead DSL or one of the team and then put it on CPOMS. This always happens quickly so that swift action can be taken if needed. Everything is recorded and all DSLs are alerted when a concern is raised. The Lead DSL deals with the majority of issues and follows up, as necessary. However, the EYFS DSL (Phase Leader) deals mostly with EYFS and KS1 children.
Currently there are 13 children on Children in Need (CIN) and 4 children on the Child Protection registers and there are 3 Looked After Children (LAC) and a larger number of families on Early Help. Furthermore, there are 2 young carers. The safeguarding team has a good relationship with Lambeth Social Care and Early Help teams. However, the school is very aware that these services are very stretched at the moment. On average, there are approximately 2 referrals to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) team every week. Recently attendance has become a focus for the safeguarding team.
Mental health issues are on the rise with children and with families and some families dealing with older children (siblings) and gang involvement.
There is a Safeguarding Governor who is well informed and who visits regularly to meet with the Lead DSL. All Governors complete the National College safeguarding training. The Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PHSE) curriculum is geared towards tackling peer abuse and exploitation, looking at issues around safe travelling and dangers of Country Lines and gangs. There is an emphasis on staying safe and speaking out. This programme is adapted and delivered to all children including those attending the resource bases.
There is a fortnightly newsletter to parents/carers which keeps parents fully informed about what is happening in the school. This newsletter contains a lot of information about keeping the children safe at school and at home. The school is also fully involved in a Lambeth diversity project.
Trusted the School
Next, our Assessor met with a member of staff who is also a parent of a child in the school. She has a child at the school and another child who is now in secondary school, having attended Wyvil Primary School. She explained that she has been employed at the school since 2005. She trained as a teacher in another country and is currently working as a Teaching Assistant rather than a teacher although her qualifications are recognised in the UK. She wants less responsibility whilst her children are of school age. She told our Assessor she trusted the school with her children and has never regretted it. Her children were and are well behaved so she has not had to have had difficult conversations with class teachers. Her children made good progress and she attends parent consultation meetings to get feedback about progress. She also gets reports which are very useful. These were amended this year and are now simpler and involve less work for teachers and are more accessible for parents. The school marking policy has also been streamlined in order to make teacher workloads more manageable.
The parent/Teaching Assistant said her class is like an extension of her family. They look after each other and she worries about the children when she is not with them. She said they need to look after each other. She said she feels valued as a member of staff and as a parent.
Our Assessor then met with a teacher who works in the Language and Communication Resource Base. She has been teaching at the school for over 20 years and she has seen lots of changes in her time. She used to teach in the mainstream school and is now based in the Language and Communication Resource Base which is housed in the main building. Her class are a mixture of Years 4, 5 and 6 pupils. Our Assessor was able to go and meet her class and see them at work during a learning walk. She explained how she plans to meet the needs of all the children and they follow, as far as possible, the same age related curriculum which is taught in the mainstream school. Children are grouped together for English and maths and they do lots of science projects together. She has a team of 4 staff working with her in the classroom. One Year 6 child was doing SATs on the day of the visit and spoke about how these went. The child was very relaxed about these. Many children in the class have issues around social and emotional needs. Some have particular talents which she likes to develop in them.
This teacher said she tries to make sure each pupil receives an age related curriculum where this is appropriate. The iASEND assessment tool helps to measure small steps and progress. She says this has been, “a god send” in helping them decide on and plan next steps. She takes the plans from all the other year groups, taking what she needs and making good use of resources which other teachers have prepared. She explained she does not always have to reinvent the wheel and she makes use of what is there on the shared drive but will develop her own resources as needed. There are 12 children in the class and she said the support staff are excellent and use their initiative. They have very positive relationships with the children. The teacher was very enthusiastic about what she was doing and she clearly loves her job. She added that she feels that she is appreciated in the school.
Clearly a Very Special Place
Wyvil Primary School is clearly a very special place. It is a school that caters for children with a very wide range of needs, both in the mainstream school and in the 2 resource bases. As was explained to our Assessor, a resource base should be a ‘bridge’ to mainstream at some point. However, this is not really an option for children in the Autism Resource Base. In effect, it is a special school without the appropriate funding. This lack of funding hinders the provision for these children in terms of material resources. As the funding arrangements are now more transparent since the new Headteacher arrived, the 2 SENCos have more input into how the resource bases are funded.
The 2 SENCos are very experienced and skilled practitioners and they know what they are doing. They are thinking ahead and planning the way forward. They work collaboratively and build on each other’s strengths. They are both part of the Senior Leadership Team and so are part of whole school developments. The new Headteacher is bringing about many changes and is ambitious to ensure the school remains as an IQM Flagship school but also a centre of excellence for SEN children in the Local Authority. Her support and determination to make this happen will depend, to a large extent, on her SENCos as well as her Governing Body and staff as a whole. Our Assessor suggests the school do a feasibility study on moving the Autism Resource Base to the main school site so it is no longer isolated but is a visible part of Wyvil Primary School.
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