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Testimonials

SEND Review, All requests and instructions were clear and reasonable. Reviewers were very friendly and respectful and gave a professional review without being overly critical or judgemental. Clear guidelines to follow, constructive and helpful feedback.

Zevi Katz & Yehuda Saudners

Manchester Mevista

Thank you to both Nicola and Harriet for the AET Training. It was a great day and all of the staff came away with some great ideas and fresh outlook on how we can support these children - just what we needed! I look forward to working with you again !

Rhys Jones

Wesley Methodist Primary School

SEND review report recommendations are really helpful in helping us improve. This has been a supportive and constructive process. We are really grateful !!

Rabi Katz

Manchester Mesivta School

TA drop in - very useful and gave me a few ideas to use in my setting. I have learnt that if children loose focus in lesson time, to give them a break.

Sadia Parveen

Holy Trinity Primary School

TA drop-in - very useful, I can see the ways support is given to SEND and could help towards our school SEN Children in mainstream school.

Alisha Sharpe

St Lukes Primary School

TA drop-in- very useful, thanks for the opportunity. I will take away MYON - reading level for non fiction and fiction books. Dyslexia Gold for spellings.

Anila Rashid

St Lukes Primary School

The AET Developing Play Module-I will use this knowledge to better understand my young people and support parents and colleagues to understand how strengths can be built on to support independence and learning. A really useful course, with great ideas.

Anonymous

Thanks for arranging such a great event! It was really useful to meet so many people. Please count us in for the next SENCO Solutions. It also has given me lots of food for thought for how we continue to develop links and cross working in the future

Lucy Oliver

Speech and Language Therapist

I just wanted to thank you all for todays meeting, it was great to be able to sit and collaborate about the provision and I’d like to thank Helena Grennan and Nicola Pemberton for the time, help and support so far, it is greatly appreciated.

Alex Dooley

Unsworth Primary School

The SENCO Solutions meeting was an expertly organised and run event, Nic – my congratulations to you and your splendid team

Cath Atherden

Service Lead SEND Support Bury Council

The SENCO Solutions meeting was a great day and it was fantastic to hear from the Heads of services about what they can support people in schools with going forward. Thank you for organising this, no mean feat. It is great to be working with you.

Tracy Hamilton-Hall

Whole Education Approach Co-ordinator Bury Young People’s Mental Health Support Team

Thank you for organising the SENCO Solutions event Nichola, it was so useful and really helps me keep my sanity to speak to other people involved with SEND.

Heather Birkett-Rothwell

St Michael’s R.C. Primary School

I just wanted to reach out today following the SENCO Solutions meeting to say what an excellent event it was. I'm sorry I couldn't stay, but the agenda and professional approach by you and your team was really impressive.

Stephen Holden

Interim Director of Education and Skills

Who's in Charge- The group gave me confidence to tackle issues and be consistent. Hearing other peoples stories made me feel less alone in situations.

Anonymous

Who's in Charge - The group helped me have clarity on how to approach behaviors. Tackle things one at a time and a framework for communication. Sharing discussions with the group was so helpful.

Anonymous

Amazing course with so many great ideas for my setting that I have used already and have had a great impact! Nicola is a great trainer and keeps you engaged throughout! I'm very new to working with children with autism and it really helped me.

Anonymous

The AET- EY Anxiety training helped me understand the importance of ensuring information on children should be clearly recorded so everyone working around them is aware of their needs.

Anonymous

I attended the AET Anxiety Model Early Years led by Nicola Pemberton which was fabulous, very informative and led well. Thank you

Martine Ashton

St. Michael's RC Primary School

Very informative training. Leant a lot of new strategies we could implement into the setting.

Jennifer

Hoyle nursery school

I have been on a number of training opportunities provided by Oak LP Outreach and cannot recommend enough. The thoroughness of the training is fantastic and really helps you become the trainer too and think of many ways to support children.

Paige Wilde

Tiddlywinks Nursery Group

How to enable other staff to understand autism. I will cascade this to all staff at my school and look at practices that will be useful for certain individuals and a wider benefit. Impactful and ready to deliver to settings. Lots of valuable information

Anonymous

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the work that Nicola and the Oak Learning Partnership have put into the authority over this past year- I have loved all of my visits to Elms bank, and have brought so many skills, strategies back to school

Alex Grant

Old Hall Primary School

Selective Mutism training was extremely informative about what the causes are and ways to engage with students with other issues. great links to other resources to help further. High and Low profile I was unaware of this has made me think differently.

A J Sparkes

Hazelwood High School

Selective Mutism training was very useful and not just related to SM. I will involve the child in the planning process for any interventions.

Heather Campbell

St John's Radcliffe

Selective Mutism training was really useful and I gained a lot of understanding around SM. I feel like I can start interventions for a child in my class.

Emma Edgar

Cams Lane Primary School

Selective Mutism training was very useful, low profile SM children are present in every school if not every class. very useful strategies/interventions that can be used daily in practical settings.

Joanna Williams

Holy Mount

Selective Mutism training was extremely useful ! very clear explanations to help understand SM, with ideas for strategies and further sources information sign posted. Localised help, support and action is often the most appropriate input.

Heather Birkett-Rothwell

St Michaels & St Bernadette's

Excellent explanation of different aspects of how pupils with dyslexia learn. Great answers to questions raised.

Geraldine Hargreaves

Philips High School

Dyslexia training was excellent, good length of time and tailored to our needs.

Angela Ball

Spring Lane

De escalation had lots of useful and helpful material. The discussions were very insightful. The visit to the Nurture rooms was also very beneficial.

Georgina Goddard

Emmanuel Holcombe

De escalation training was excellent, was nice to see theory in practice (classrooms).

Dan Lawson

St Thomas C of E

De escalation was excellent, super resources/strategies and very informative.

Sasha Willis

St Mary's C of E

De escalation training was very useful, a way to share each others strategies in written form. Might need more time for further discussions.

Kerusha Mudditt

The Elton High School

Really useful De escalation training with great ideas to take back to my own setting. would be good to input the ideas and report back at another session. excellent training !!

Janet Etchells

Peel Brow

Dyslexia Friendly Learning had lots of ideas to take back and try.

Janine Leigh

Emmanuel Holcombe Primary School

Dyslexia Friendly Learning had great activities. I liked learning about the science behind Dyslexia The training was great Thank you !!

Alex Grant

Old Hall Primary

Dyslexia friendly learning had lots of useful information and good ideas to support children. Thank you !!

Andy Wilkinson

Park View Primary School

Dyslexia Friendly Learning had really good practical examples and ideas. Great Training !! The trainer was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable with lots of resources. A good mixture between theory and practical.

Trudy Allen

Summer Seat Primary

TA drop in was an absolutely wonderful opportunity to witness such talented staff and thier SEND expertise. I found the objects of reference are particularly interesting idea as well as the picture clues which we currently use. Thank you

Emma Ashworth

CAMS Lane School

TA drop in was really useful. I spent time within the Math's provision, great staff, fabulous to interact with students of all levels. I will take away Whiteboard desks and Sandwell scheme.

Elaine Allen

Tottington High

TA drop in session was very useful. exposure to different SEMH needs and how these are approached in lessons. How rewards and motivation are used to support pupils to be on task. I will take away the importance of an individualised approach.

Claire Turner

Bury Grammar School

TA drop-in was very useful. I was given different interventions to look into to support SEMH. I will take away the different intervention strategies to support SEMH.

Daniel Turner

Bury Church

Todays Support Surgery was very useful

Nick Moores

Parrenthorn High School

Differentiating GCSE English for low attaining students Jo is an inspiration, her knowledge of SEND and enabling students to access the GCSE course is exceptional. I will be implementing back at school

Patricia Ross

Woodhey High School

Differentiating GCSE English for low attaining students has been really useful for my Yr 10 class. Jo was great !! It would be great to see the theory in action and include a short observation.

Amanda Simpson

Woodhey High School

Differentiating GCSE English for low attaining students, really lovely atmosphere with same fantastic practical tips. Jo really allowed me to view things differently which will be really helpful for my day to day teaching.

Rachel Williams

Philips High School

Early Years Good Autism Practice Training today has been very informative and given me ideas to implement within my setting, especially early years setting; jigs, communication and warning boards with other visuals including symbols. Great training

Anonymous

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Read Our Latest Reviews

St Peters Primary November 2023

Prior to the recent OakLP Outreach school evaluation review with St Peters Primary School in relation to their SEND Provision, the Outreach team discussed priorities that the school may wish to focus on and the various Support packages available through Outreach on how they could help St Peters. Steve Wedgeworth and Katie Cheadle from St Peters thought this was very useful in helping them to decide on priorities for their SEND provision.

Following a visit to Elms Bank School by St Peters they stated that Laura Baker and Dave Herbert were very supportive and gave clear feedback and recommendations on the day as to how to improve SEND Provision. A comprehensive report was provided which was extremely helpful in highlighting their next steps.

Discussed were future training/CPD requirements and the outcome was:

Autism training for staff

 SENCo to visit the Outreach Team as per Spring Term One for All offer to discuss strategic priorities for SEND/changes to policy and practice/classroom environment.      

TAs to visit Elms Bank/Unsworth Primary to work alongside other TAs in the Spring  Term One for All TA Development Drop-in sessions.

Tottington Primary School July 2023

Prior to the recent OakLP Outreach school evaluation review with Tottington Primary School in relation to their SEND Provision, the Outreach teams audit formatting was very clear with what they wanted to look at and the timings or what/when was helpful to structure the day.

Following the visit to Elms Bank School by Tottington Primary School, Michaela Benz commented that the experience was very positive and a supportive atmosphere enabling good constructive discussions, where sharing ideas happened in the moment and where the Outreach team drew out areas of development and good practical ideas to build on.

The comprehensive report was very clear with clear areas/ideas to develop as well as highlighting our strengths. It has given us a clear structure for CDP which Tottington are looking forward to developing and building their practice.

Discussed were future training/CPD requirements and the outcome was:

 Discussion with Elms bank SENCo to look at provision mapping, universal practice.

 Enabling environments and practical strategies for adaptive teaching

SENCO Support Surgery – SEMH Spring 2023

• Supportive environment! 
• Classroom visits great opportunity 
• Case study information thorough 
• All enjoyable, would love to stay all day. 
• Great strategies to try.
• Great to see how resources and ideas are used in practise in the classrooms here. 
• Great to see resources within the classroom. 

“Loved seeing the classes and all the fabulous structures in place. It stands out how consistent all the staff are. Just GREAT.”

• Good to have opportunities to discuss with colleagues and get KS3/4 perspective. 
• Lovely calm and engaging environment. 
• Wonderful workstations and visual support. 

Alex Dooley, Unsworth Primary 

St Gabriel’s December 2022

ST GABRIEL'S DECEMBER 2022

A visit was undertaken by the Head and SENDCo to Elmsbank School to gather ideas regarding our SEDN provision and the rising number of SEMH and ADHD issues. 

• Activities undertaken 
• Leadership meeting 
• Visit to Inspire and Nurture provisions 
• Lesson observation (20 mins). 

KEY FINDINGS/STRATEGIES TO ADOPT/CONSIDER
  1. Trauma / ACE training for all staff – adopt and embed into school CPD calendar
  2. January CPD to remind all staff of expectations of unconditional positive regard and anxiety-reducing questioning techniques for instance.
  3. SEND provision (room, furniture and expectation) to have significant investment. Individual learning pods, break out areas to be in place for September 2023. Further visits by SEND team to Elmsbank re strategies used and resources.
  4. Re-evaluate teaching strategies in SEND and lessons during transition periods to include; 
    • Walking breaks with TAs
    • Shorter lesson times for ADHD students
    • Success-based starter activities
    • Patterns of learning for a nurture provision to settle students into well-established routines
  5. Re-evaluate where SEND provision is in the building and whether students transitioning back to mainstream should be doing so much more slowly and only into certain buildings to avoid anxiety. 
  6. Adopt a similar model to nurture pathway for SEND provision area and inspire-informed teaching practises upon transition.
  7. Work collaboratively with primary feeders to ensure they are working towards transition out of primary provision to mainstream secondary or that we know exactly where they are on their journey.  

 

E-ACT Blackley October 2022

SUPPORT RATIONALE

E-ACT Blackley currently have a large number of children in EYFS with significant need, who are not accessing the reception curriculum and require highly individualised support for the progress of their EHCP targets. We are fortunate enough to have 9 staff members in Reception and 6 in Nursery to support. However, staff confidence in how to support these children is low and we require strategies, resources and advice on how to give the best provision so the children are making the best progress they can.

PRELIMENARY SUPPORT

We initially met with Orienne via a TEAMS call to establish our support needs. This allowed us to explore in depth the kind of support we may need. The coaching style of this meeting enabled us to reflect on our situation and formulate a strategy plan for moving forward. Orienne used the information gathered from this initial meeting to prepare a visit to Elms bank. The timetable for the visit was carefully planned to ensure we got the most out of the day based on the needs explored in the initial briefing.

VISIT TO ELMSBANK

The headteacher, Deputy SENCO and EYFS lead were all invited to spend the morning at Elms Bank. On arrival to Elms Bank, we were presented with a carefully designed plan for each member of staff to explore specific pathways and spend time with professionals who had the knowledge and experience to support our needs. This was a fully immersive morning and we were overwhelmed by the compassion, hard work and knowledge of the staff.

What we gained at Elms Bank was invaluable! The wealth of ideas and resources that staff shared with us was fantastic. We loved the basket tasks and the photos to really individualise the learning for the children (I've already passed this onto our nursery team who are making them as we speak!). We loved the creative lesson and this is something we can take forward immediately, with perhaps a new story and setting for children to explore each fortnight. This will be really helpful for development of language and social development. It was also amazing to see strategies, areas and resources to use for self-regulation. Many of our children do not have these strategies and end up in crisis, rather than it being drip fed to them. LOVED the 'hidden curriculum' This will be so beneficial for both our EYFS children and children across the academy too. It will also be great for children with ADHD. It was such a friendly and welcoming school.

Again, thank you so much for your support with the challenging situation we find ourselves in here at E-ACT Blackley. We truly feel that with the support and advice gained from your school, we can confidently move forward with help our most vulnerable children succeed.

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