Promoting Wellbeing, Protecting and Safeguarding

The Scottish Government introduced Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) as a programme of change, reaching across all children and adult services in the public and voluntary sectors in Scotland, to achieve better futures for all of our children, young people and their families. It builds from universal health and education services and drives the developments that will improve outcomes for all children and young people. The Children and Young People’s (Scotland) 2014 Act now provides a legal framework around these principles.

We want all our children and young people to be fully supported as they grow and develop into successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. We believe they should be: Safe, Healthy, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, Respected, Responsible and Included. These are the eight indicators of wellbeing.

The Getting It Right approach is about how practitioners across all services for children and adults meet the needs of children and young people, working together where necessary to ensure they reach their full potential. It promotes a shared approach and accountability that:

* builds solutions with and around children, young people and families

* enables children and young people to get the help they need when they need it

* supports a positive shift in culture, systems and practice

* involves working better together to improve life chances for children, young people and families

To do this the Scottish Government has legislated that all children have a Named Person until the age of 18 who will coordinate services for them, should they require it. The Named Person for children in early year’s settings is their Health Visitor and for those at school it is their Head or Depute Head Teacher. Young people under the age of 18 who have left school can access their Named Person via the Education Service.

Once a concern has been brought to their attention, the Named Person, needs to take action, help, or arrange for the right support in order to promote the child’s development and wellbeing. Referring to the eight Wellbeing Indicators, they will need to ask these five questions:

* What is getting in the way of this child or young person’s wellbeing?

* Do I have all the information I need to help this child or young person?

* What can I do now to help this child or young person?

* What can my agency do to help this child or young person?

* What additional help, if any, may be needed from others?

The Named Person also needs to help children and families feel confident they can raise concerns, talk about their worries to people who will listen and respect their point of view and work with them to sort things out. Above all, they will ensure that the child or young person’s views are listened to and that the family (where appropriate) is kept informed.

To find out more about Getting it Right or to access the Named Person for your child, please enquire directly to the school office.

Nursery

The nursery aims to create a happy, nurturing and fun atmosphere where children will feel secure. A varied, interesting and stimulating environment is provided to encourage children’s all-round development and to help lay the foundations for more formal educational experiences. The curriculum provided is based on the national guidelines as outlined in Pre-Birth to 3, Curriculum for Excellence, Milestones, Building the Ambition and Realising the Ambition. Children in the Nursery have access to the learning opportunities to be found in all nurseries. We aim to give children access to a wide range of experiential learning opportunities specific to their educational, physical and emotional needs. All children begin with a 10 week assessment block in close partnership with parents and professionals. At the end of this period a Team Around the Child (TAC) meeting is arranged to determine and plan next steps i.e. review suitability of future placement. All children who attend the nursery following their assessment place will have an IEP written for them by key teaching staff. This forms part of their ongoing assessment and any review process. Review meetings and parents’ meetings are held regularly to discuss each child’s IEP, progress and transition arrangements. Parents receive regular written reports and are invited to parent workshops. Parents are welcome to visit the Nursery and are encouraged to be involved in every area of Nursery life.

Primary Department

The class structure in the primary department is established at a 10-1 staff ratio with regards to teaching staff. Support staff are allocated based on class and individual need across the school. Class teachers differentiate the curriculum to meet the individual needs of their pupils. Programmes of personal and social development are of particular importance, with an emphasis on self help skills. Planned curricular outings provide opportunities for the practical development of social skills.

Within the weekly time table every primary pupil receives two hours physical education delivered by either the PE teachers or class teacher.

The primary curriculum also includes the types of activities which promote Enterprise in Education, Developing the Young Workforce and Outdoor Education.

The policy on class organisation in the Secondary department is the same as stated above, the maximum size of class grouping is 10 pupils to one member of the teaching team. This does not include any support staff that may be needed in each class – this is allocated dependent upon the needs of the group.

Courses in S1, S2 and S3

 S1 – S3 pupils follow a common course of subjects following the Curriculum for Excellence in line with the “Broad General Curriculum” guidelines and individualised according to the needs of each pupil.

S4, S5 and S6

S4, S5 and S6 are known as the Senior Phase within the School. Pupils follow SQA and alternative certification courses supplemented by National Qualifications Units and school based courses in other curricular areas appropriate to the needs of each individual young person. National 1, 2, 3 and 4 courses are delivered in Woodland View School with opportunities for progression to National 5 with our specialist teachers either within Woodland View or with our mainstream partners.

Courses in S5 and S6

Senior Phase pupils are provided with an element of choice under the curriculum guidelines issued by the Scottish Government. It should be noted however that the range of course options depends on the pupil roll and staffing complement. In Woodland View School, young people and parents are advised as to which subjects are most suitable in consultation with the pupils themselves; referring to the results obtained in national examinations and /or prior learning in S3.

At present in Woodland School all subject areas will offer Units at National levels. Internal assessment takes place leading to SQA certification. Core skills i.e. Communication, Numeracy, Information Technology, Working with Others and Problem Solving are embedded throughout the courses on offer, allowing pupils to acquire credits to allow them to progress.

College links are set up in the senior phase to broaden the range of subjects available and to equip our pupils for life, and support transition to college post school, should this be the intended destination for our learners.

At the end of S4, when pupils reach the official school leaving age of 16 years, learners can leave school and go on to a Further Education (FE) College or join a Preparation for Work Programme. Alternatively, they can stay on at school, continue with unit courses as part of the National Qualifications Programme or attend an FE College on a shared placement basis. At Woodland View we do not anticipate our learners would leave at the end of S4 but we can support this if it is the view of the team around the child that it is the most appropriate pathway for the learner.

As part of the provision for young people preparing for adult life, we are constantly developing greater links with local industry and services. A significant aspect of this is the provision of work experience and wider life skills activities which in Woodland View School will be offered to the pupils in S5 and S6.  The main aims of this are to further develop pupils’ work and inter-personal skills, and increase their self-confidence. The development of our Life Skills Room will support this in a ‘real-life’ context. This level of skills development will be discussed with the team around child in order to align with potential future destinations of the learner.