Consultation on a Resourced Provision for children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs at East Ardsley Primary Academy
In accordance with the Significant Change Process, Leodis Academies Trust is undertaking a consultation to seek the views of the stakeholders of East Ardsley Primary Academy about:
- Establishing a 16 place Resourced Provision for children with speech, language and communication needs.
Leodis Academies Trust and East Ardsley Primary Academy will publish the proposal on their websites.
This consultation will run for three weeks from Monday 23rd June 2025 to Monday 14th July 2025, after which time any representations received will be considered by the Trust Board of Leodis Academies Trust.
Following this an application to the DFE will be made to adopt the proposed Resourced Provision with the support of Leeds Local Authority.
Background
Similar to other providers across the country, Leodis schools have experienced a significant increase in the number of children who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). There are spiralling costs to provide for these children and the funding required to do so is not, and cannot, keep pace with needs. Additionally, since the pandemic, children are presenting with greater needs at a younger age.
At East Ardsley Primary Academy, we have built up the skills and expertise needed to identify, support and manage the needs of children with speech, language and communication difficulties or delay. This is achieved through high quality training, working closely with our Speech and Language Therapist, referring into NHS Speech and Language Services, and resourcing highly effective interventions.
The Trust fully understands the pressures and that the current situation is unsustainable for Local Authorities (LAs) to operate and so there needs to be a better model which better meets the needs of children and is more financially viable. The Trust’s approach has been shaped by recent publications about reforming the SEND system to achieve this:
- the Chartered Institute of Public Finance (CIPFA)’s Reforming SEND Finance paper, February 2025.
- the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS)’ Spending on Special Educational Needs in England: Something has to Change, December 2024.
- The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)’s Who is Losing Learning? March 2025.
Specific Proposal
What will change:
The Trust proposes a Resourced Provision (RP) unit for children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) from Year 2 upwards. We envisage supporting children with SLCN in its broadest definition including, but not exclusively, children with autism.
The Resourced Provision would offer support to children who are able to access learning within the mainstream school curriculum, but unable to sustain this without extensive support and intervention. This would be for children with an EHCP that names East Ardsley Primary Academy Resourced Provision.
Children joining our provision will start with a period of assessment and baseline activities to give an overall picture of the abilities and needs of the whole child. A specific speech and language plan will then be written for each child, and the appropriate provision and support plan mapped out.
Children will be taught the appropriate age-related curriculum both within our provision and back in their classroom. The time children spend in class may vary according to their needs and abilities and will be planned out by the provision teacher and the class teacher.
What will not change:
We have already developed the model in our school and have a provision we call The Bridge. This offers specific teaching, interventions and decompression time to children so that they are able to access the curriculum and sustain time in class as much as possible.
As described above, the Resourced Provision would initially offer 8 full time places this would then grow to a maximum of 16 places.
The Trust is able to offer a classroom, an additional smaller room and a fenced in outside space for this provision. The classroom would be set up offering high quality provision in which the children could generalise the speech and language skills they have been practising. This area would include a sensory space and a ‘safe space’ where children can relax if they are overwhelmed. The smaller area would be a teaching space, set up to enable specific interventions and curriculum teaching to ensure the children make good progress in their learning as well as their speech and language skills. The outside space would be used for generalising speech and language, but also physical skills development, down time and regulation strategies such as sensory circuits. The provision would initially have one Teacher, one Learning Mentor, and two Teaching Assistants allocated to work with the eight initial full-time places. This will enable us to work across all three areas all day, so that there is no time when any aspect of our provision would have to close.
Who will be affected?
- Pupils
- Parent/carers
- Staff
- The local community
- Local authorities
- Other local schools
Consultation
We wish to invite interested parties to take part in this consultation on the proposal. The consultation will take place for three weeks between Monday 23rd June 2025 and Monday 14th July 2025
There is one element to the consultation:
- Establishing a 16 place Resourced Provision for children with speech, language and communication needs.
All responses received by the end of the consultation period will be carefully considered by the Trust Board of Leodis Academies Trust.
We invite you, therefore, to take part in this consultation. Comments may be submitted in the following ways by Monday 14th July 2025
- By email to: info@leodis.org.uk
- Completing the electronic consultation form East Ardsley Primary Academy Consultation on Resourced Provision June 2025
- In writing via post to: Sarah Talbot, East Ardsley Primary Academy, Fall Lane, Wakefield, WF3 2BA
Paper copies of the consultation and response form are available from the East Ardsley Primary Academy reception.
What happens next?
Following the end of the consultation period we will provide an update on our website in line with the Significant Change process.
