Every Student Known, Valued and Supported to Succeed

At Great Sankey High School, inclusion is fundamental to our ambition for every student. We want every young person to leave us articulate, resilient, compassionate and culturally aware; equipped with the knowledge, confidence and character to contribute positively to society, pursue a career they are passionate about and lead a healthy, happy and fulfilled life.

Our values of Growth, Respect, Excellence, Aspiration and Teamwork shape our approach. We believe that every student is entitled to an ambitious education, high expectations and the opportunity to participate fully in school life.

Inclusion does not mean lowering expectations. It means understanding individual needs, identifying and removing barriers to learning and participation, and providing the right support so that every student can succeed.

Our Approach to Inclusion

We know that students achieve their best when school, families and other professionals work together. Our approach is therefore built upon strong relationships, effective communication and a detailed understanding of each young person.

Where a student requires additional support, we aim to identify this as early and accurately as possible. Support is planned carefully, implemented effectively and reviewed regularly so that we can evaluate its impact on learning, attendance, participation, independence and wellbeing.

Our approach reflects our school values:

Growth – helping students develop their knowledge, skills, confidence and independence.

Respect – recognising the individuality, dignity and contribution of every member of our community.

Excellence – providing high-quality teaching and support and continually evaluating how effectively we meet students' needs.

Aspiration – maintaining ambitious expectations for every student and supporting young people to realise their potential.

Teamwork – working in partnership with students, families, teachers, pastoral colleagues and external professionals to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Great Sankey High School is an inclusive school in which students with SEND are valued as full members of our community. We are ambitious for their achievement, personal development and future destinations.

Our starting point is high-quality, inclusive classroom teaching. Teachers use their knowledge of students alongside assessment information to identify barriers to learning and make appropriate adaptations so that students can access an ambitious curriculum alongside their peers.

We recognise that adaptations should enable students to become increasingly successful and independent learners while ensuring that the ambition of the curriculum remains high.

For some students, high-quality classroom teaching may be complemented by additional targeted support. This may include individual or small-group intervention where assessment identifies that this is appropriate.

We follow a graduated approach to meeting need: understanding the student's strengths and barriers, planning appropriate provision, implementing support and reviewing its impact. The views of students and their families are an important part of this process.

Where interventions are used, they have a clear purpose. We monitor their effectiveness and consider whether they are improving outcomes for the individual student rather than simply whether the intervention has been completed.

Working with Families

Families know their children exceptionally well and are important partners in securing successful outcomes.

We aim to develop positive, respectful relationships with parents and carers, listening carefully to their views and involving them appropriately in decisions about their child's provision.

Where concerns arise, we encourage families to communicate with us so that we can work together to understand the situation and agree appropriate next steps. Equally, where school identifies an emerging need, we will communicate with families and involve them in planning and reviewing support.

This partnership reflects our value of Teamwork: the strongest outcomes are achieved when students, families, school staff and other professionals share information and work towards common goals.

Working with Specialist Services

For some students, specialist advice or assessment may form part of their support.

Where appropriate and subject to relevant referral criteria and service availability, we work with external professionals and services which may include Educational Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), health professionals, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and sensory support services.

Advice from relevant professionals is considered alongside our own knowledge of the student and information provided by families. Where recommendations are made, we consider how these can be translated effectively into everyday classroom practice and wider school support.

Supporting Wider and Emerging Needs

A young person's circumstances can change, and there may be times when a student who does not have an identified SEND need requires additional help.

Bereavement, changes in family circumstances, difficulties with friendships, emotional challenges or other events outside school can affect a young person's wellbeing, attendance, behaviour or ability to learn.

Our pastoral and inclusion teams work together to identify emerging needs and provide proportionate support. Where necessary, we work alongside families and appropriate external agencies.

The aim is always to help students overcome barriers, reconnect successfully with learning and develop the resilience and independence they need for the future.

High Achievers

Inclusion also means ensuring that students with high prior attainment and those demonstrating exceptional potential are appropriately challenged.

We have ambitious expectations for all students. High achievers experience a challenging curriculum which develops sophisticated knowledge, thinking and independence rather than simply requiring them to complete more work.

Teachers use assessment and their knowledge of students to ensure that learning provides appropriate depth and challenge. Beyond lessons, students can access wider enrichment, leadership and extracurricular opportunities designed to broaden their experiences and strengthen their aspirations.

As students progress through school and Sixth Form, we support them to make ambitious choices about their next steps, including highly competitive university courses, apprenticeships and careers.

Our aim is for students to develop not only excellent academic outcomes but also the confidence, independence, leadership and wider experiences that will enable them to thrive beyond Great Sankey.

Inclusion Beyond the Classroom

We want students with additional needs to participate fully in the wider life of the school.

Our commitment to inclusion therefore extends beyond lessons to enrichment, leadership opportunities, educational visits, careers education and other aspects of school life.

We consider barriers to participation carefully and seek reasonable and appropriate ways to enable students to access the opportunities available to their peers.

Every student should feel that they belong at Great Sankey and that their contribution to our community matters.

Preparing Students for the Future

Our ambition extends well beyond examination results.

We want students with SEND and other additional needs to develop the independence, confidence, communication skills and self-advocacy they will need in adulthood.

As students progress through school, we increasingly encourage them to understand how they learn, recognise strategies that help them succeed and contribute to decisions about their own support.

Careers education and transition planning help students consider ambitious and realistic next steps into further education, Sixth Form, apprenticeships, higher education, employment and adult life.

Our measure of successful inclusion is therefore not simply the support a student receives, but the difference that support makes to their achievement, participation, independence, wellbeing and future opportunities.

Key Information

Further information about our SEND provision can be found within the school's SEND Information Report and Local Offer, alongside our SEND Policy and Accessibility Plan, which are all located on our Policies and Reports page.

These documents provide further detail about how Great Sankey High School identifies and supports students with SEND, how families can access advice and how we work with partner services.

Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO): Miss Edwards
Email: sendco@greatsankey.org

Families can also access Warrington's Local Offer, which provides information about services, support and guidance available to children and young people aged 0–25 with special educational needs and disabilities and their families.

Our Commitment

At Great Sankey High School, inclusion is about belonging, opportunity and ambition.

Through Growth, Respect, Excellence, Aspiration and Teamwork, we are committed to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed, thrive and prepare for a fulfilling future.