Last month a full external review of the provision for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at Longdendale High School was carried out by a specialist team from the National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN). This was carried out as part of the Stamford Park Trust monitoring and review process to support the school to continue to offer the best possible provision in all areas for all of their students.

The school are delighted to have received a glowing report which highlighted many strengths in the provision for students with SEND, and the support in place to ensure all students are able to make strong progress across the curriculum and achieve their full potential.

The review recognised that the school “has a clear and ambitious vision for SEND curriculum provision and outcomes in the school are based on a culture of high aspirations for all pupils.”

It was also noted that the highly positive relationships between staff and students are a real strength of the school, along with the commitment by teaching and inclusion staff to ensure that needs are identified and supported at every stage. The assessors commented that “Relationships are extremely positive between staff, parents and pupils and this is due, in large part, to extremely effective methods of communication.” The review also identified that “all staff understand their responsibilities towards pupils with SEND… and the school is committed to a person-centred ethos which informs all aspects of school life.”

Headteacher, Andrea Jones said “We are delighted to share that the review highlighted many strengths in our provision for our students with SEND, and the support in place to ensure all students are able to make strong progress across the curriculum and achieve their full potential. As a result, our SEND students are well prepared for their future lives and careers, and leave Longdendale with results that are above national averages for this cohort of students, and go on to successfully access a wide range of post-16 opportunities.”

The school continues to go from strength to strength having also recently received the Inclusion Quality Mark – a flagship standard recognising a schools commitment to outstanding levels of inclusive best practice.