A welcoming community, growing and learning together.

Inclusion

It is important that the teaching and learning going on in school is based upon;

Teachers using a variety of strategies and styles
Well planned and resourced activities
Teachers knowing and understanding what is to be taught
Managing the children’s behaviour
Creating a stimulating and exciting classroom

Teachers will make sure that the children will understand more and know more each day. This can take place with the willingness and support of the child and parents / carers.

Organisation for learning

As your child moves through the school they will cover all the National Curriculum subjects. These subjects will be taught as separate units of study, or linked together as part of a topic. There will be a mixture of class, group and individual activities planned. For some activities learning is most effective when children work and talk together, for others an individual approach is better.

Special Needs

We recognise that all children have different needs and not everyone learns at the same pace. When a child is not making the progress that might be expected or an additional need is identified, the class teacher or Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) will speak to parents about our concerns. We will closely monitor the child's progress by placing them on the special educational needs (SEN) register. As part of this process we may carry out additional assessments to understand the child’s needs and set and review individual education targets every term. If the child is in upper key stage 2 we will involve them in the process of identifying the areas of need and ask for their input with target setting. We have many different programmes of work and interventions to accelerate progress and help pupils reach their potential. These may be done in small groups or on an individual basis. In some cases we may feel a need to seek further advice from outside agencies such as the educational psychology team and speech therapy.

Inclusion and Intervention

The Inclusion team at West Acton Primary includes; the school SENCO, the English as an Additional Language co-ordinator (EAL) and our Able and Talented Leader. We all work hard to ensure that West Acton Primary is an inclusive school. We believe that every single child is entitled to a quality education. To help meet the needs of every child we have a team of dedicated and enthusiastic teachers and learning support assistants who are well trained to assist children in every area of the curriculum as well as all aspects of child welfare. We also employ a learning mentor who supports children's behavioural, social and emotional development and helps to prepare our Year 6 children for high school. We pride ourselves on being an approachable and welcoming team who provide children and parents with a friendly face and an abundance of support to help children achieve.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as an Addition Language (EAL)

At West Acton Primary School we have children whose heritage is from many different countries and therefore children speak many different languages. We welcome and celebrate these different nationalities in our school in many ways. For example, we celebrate Black History Month; we learn about different religious festivals and invite families to share food from their culture during our Christmas Fair.

Those children with English as an addition language (EAL) are identified as those whose predominant language of choice at home (mother tongue) is other than English. Those children who speak English fluently are known as ‘advanced bilingual learners’ and those who have been in an English speaking country for less than 2 years are referred to as ‘new to English’.

On their first day at school new children are taken on a tour around the school and will meet his/her class and class teacher. The teacher will assign a buddy, to help the child learn the school routines. The EAL teaching assistant will have a meeting with their parents to acquire background information about the child and his/her family. Children with EAL undergo an entry level assessment within the first half-term of joining our school. Those children who are identified as ‘new to English’ are supported through weekly interventions by the EAL Teaching Assistant. The EAL teaching assistant will meet with the class teacher to discuss the child’s ability to enable the class teacher to provide resources appropriate for that child.

Those who are identified as advanced bilingual learners receive support through first quality teaching in class which develops language acquisition. Teachers use a variety of language structures when teaching to ensure that children with EAL understand how spoken and written English have different uses for different purposes.