LA ASD Base

Since September 2016, Glanhowy Primary School has hosted an ASD Base which belongs to the Local Authority.  This is one of three ASD primary provisions in Blaenau Gwent.  Pupils attending Glanhowy Primary School cannot access the Local Authority ASD Base.  The pupils who attend all specialist provisions in Blaenau Gwent are selected at the Local Authority's ALN Panel.  We are delighted at Glanhowy to welcome 12 pupils in our ASD Base from many schools within the Blaenau Gwent region.  It is an assumption by many parents that accessing Glanhowy Primary School through the local authority main stream admissions process would give pupils priority access to the ASD Base provision, this is not the case, the Local Authority make this decision for all schools hosting specialist resources bases.

Pupils are only considered at Local Authority panel if identified as a priority pupil at their school.

Please see below a description of our provision:

Glanhowy Specialist Resource Base for ALN is a Blaenau Gwent Local Authority maintained provision designed to host 12 children aged 5 – 11 and is attached to Glanhowy Primary School. The provision is designated for children with Social Communication/ Autism Spectrum Conditions and associated difficulties characterised by severe and complex communication and interaction difficulties that seriously impede the development of social relationships. In addition, pupils also experience delays in one or more of the following: learning, socialisation, emotional wellbeing, behavioural development, and independence.

The Resource Base has the advantage of high teacher to pupil ratios and offers a broad and balanced curriculum with targeted specialist teaching to meet the identified additional learning needs of the pupils who attend. All learners are expected to access structured and unstructured aspects of school life offered by the attached mainstream school whenever it is appropriate for the individual child to do so. The intention is for the time spent engaging in mainstream activities and classes to be periodically increased to the point where learners meet the criteria to return to their full-time mainstream provision.

All pupils who attend the resource base are in receipt of Individual Development Plans, which are implemented in collaboration with parents/ carers and other service providers wherever applicable. Pupils’ progress is reviewed regularly. The Individual Development Plan may be updated at any time following a progress review. The Individual Development Plan will be updated at least annually by holding a person-centred review. During the person-centred review continuing the placement at Glanhowy Resource Base will always be reconsidered. Consideration will be given to; the child remaining at Glanhowy Resource Base or accessing alternative specialist provision offered by the Local Authority, or, whenever possible, returning to full-time mainstream education. If, during the review process, the appropriateness of the provision is questioned, then agreed evidence [see below] must be submitted to the Additional Learning Needs Panel for their consideration and decision.

Admission to the Resource Base Provision is independent from Glanhowy Mainstream Setting. Placement in the Resource Base will only be considered following the submission of:

• evidence of sustained, reviewed actions and outcomes identified by the referring school,
• evidence of multi-agency involvement identifying the impact of involvement,
• agreed evidence and paperwork for scrutiny and assessment from the referring school to Blaenau Gwent to the Local Authority Additional Learning Needs Panel.

The Local Authority Additional Learning Needs Panel meets twice every month during term-time. Placement is dependent on appropriate, recent, agreed multi-agency evidence [as outlined above] submitted by the referring school reflecting the strict entry criteria to the resource base.