SEND

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Students with Disabilities and/or Special Educational Needs, from Year 7 through to Year 13, will find support available from teachers and learning support assistants. A key strand of their work is the development of literacy skills, but students who receive additional SEND funding may also be supported in lessons in a range of subjects, to give them full access to the curriculum.

The Academy SENCO is Mrs S Ralh, who can be contacted at [email protected] or via telephone on 0121 553 4665.

Sandwell Authority: SEND Local Offer

What is the Local Offer?

Our vision for children and young people in Sandwell with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is that they will be able to achieve their aspiration for a healthy ordinary life through meaningful employment and fulfilling relationships within the community of their choosing.

To help with achieving this vision the Local Authority has produced, as required by law, a ‘Local Offer’ which sets out the support they expect to be available for children and young people in Sandwell with special educational needs and disabilities.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Students who have newly arrived in the UK (NAPs) and are in the early stages of developing English, receive specialist small-group English coaching and may have a personalised timetable.

Otherwise, wherever possible, students with EAL are accommodated in mainstream lessons, where their exposure to conversational English is beneficial to language development, although resources may be personalised to allow curriculum content to be accessible.

All teaching staff receive EAL training and there is a dedicated EAL Co-Ordinator who oversees the progress of EAL students. Students with EAL feel as much a part of the Academy community as any other student at GSA and frequently achieve phenomenal results.

GSA also have a team of Student Language Ambassadors that help out with translation at parent information evenings. 

Please click here to view the latest SEND policy on our policies page.