Special Educational Provisions
There is a range of Special Education Provision in Wigan to meet the special educational needs of children and young people, which can be from 3 years through to the age of 19.
Mainstream Provision
This is education for pupils with a wide range of abilities and includes settings such as nurseries, schools, and general further education colleges.
Schools Outreach Service
All mainstream schools in Wigan benefit from access to the school’s outreach service, which offers specialist training, development and support for staff in mainstream schools so that they are better equipped to help children and young people with SEND.
Resourced Provisions
These places are within a mainstream school and reserved for children and young people with SEND who are taught mainly within mainstream classes. They cater for types of SEND; and are usually for pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. These provisions are different to special educational needs (SEN) units where pupils spend most of their time in dedicated classes with pupils with similar needs.
Of the seven resourced provision providers, all but one were judged by Ofsted to be good or outstanding, which can be found within the Special Educational Provision in Wigan.
All admissions to resourced provisions in Wigan are controlled by the council in consultation with the schools’ leadership teams. All enquiries about admissions must be directed to the SEND Service.
Alternative Provision
This is education arranged for pupils because of exclusion, illness, or other reasons. Both the council and schools can arrange for pupils to attend an alternative provision either on a part-time or full-time basis. This may include attending an alternative site for education purposes or in the form of tuition.
The council’s commissioned provider for permanently excluded young people is Three Towers Alternative Provision Academy (TTAPA). TTAPA is also the council’s provider for children unable to attend school due to medical needs.
Find out more about TTAPA.
Engagement Centres
These offer targeted specialist educational support for young people who are having difficulties in engaging fully in their mainstream school. They provide a 12-week programme, two days a week which supplements the education offer at the pupil’s current school and helps them to reintegrate back into their current mainstream school.
Find out more about the engagement centres.
Specialist Provision
Special schools cater for pupils who have SEND with cognition and learning, communicational and interaction, social emotional and mental health, and physical/sensory needs. Special schools are specifically designed and resourced to provide a suitable education for pupils with the most complex SEND.
There are six primary and secondary maintained special schools in Wigan offering 995 places.
All admissions to special schools in Wigan are controlled by the council in consultation with the schools’ leadership teams. All enquiries about admissions must be directed to the SEND Service.