Dear Parents and Carers

I hope you are well.

Today, we received information from the LCC Children and Families Transport Team regarding a consultation regarding applications for transport assistance for pupils in post 16 and post 19 provisions with SEND/EHCP.

We have been asked to share this information with you. Please find a link Post-16 transport policy review  to the policy, alongside some questions and answers relating to the changes.

You can also find information on the Post-16 transport policy review webpage and if you have any further questions, please contact [email protected]

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parents and Carers

Happy New Year to everyone and I do hope you all had a peaceful and enjoyable holiday over the Christmas period.

Today our organisation was tested once again, and despite some transport cancellations, which are beyond our control, and severe weather in some parts of our region (also beyond my control!), we were able to open all three sites today. This is a credit to the hard work and attitude of our Facilities and Operations teams as well as our staff group; many of whom were in earlier than normal to clear paths and help prepare the school sites, so they were safe for everyone.

Safety is always paramount in situations like this, and I would only expect children and my staff team to travel into West Oaks if it is safe to do so. West Oaks School will always put the needs of our children first and it was important for us to try to open our school on the first day of term as planned. On the rare occasions we are forced to close our school, we will always communicate with you via dojo, text and LCC website.

Over three hundred of our pupils returned to school today out of 488 on roll (63% attendance) and it was great to welcome them back, especially as some were celebrating birthdays! We are now looking forward to seeing the remainder of our pupils back in school tomorrow, when hopefully the weather improves, and the snow disappears.

As I enter my 18^th year as Principal of West Oaks School, we will continue to keep the focus of excellence for everyone within our community and 2025 promises to be another exciting phase of development for our school. We have strong systems and structures in place that will continue to drive our school and projects forward.

Thank-you once again for the massive support you give to me and my staff team; you are all really appreciated. Take care.

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parents/Carers

It was great to see so many of you across our four Winter Festivals yesterday, which either Keeley or I attended. They were Amazing and Joyus!

Well done to all our talented pupils and equally talented staff team.

I do hope you all have a fantastic holiday and for all those celebrating; a very Happy Christmas!

A reminder that school will be closed on Friday 20^th December and we will see you all after the holidays, when we return in 2025 on Monday January 6^th.

Take care everyone.

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parents and Carers

As we approach October half-term, I wanted to thank you for all your support this term as you have helped us start the new academic year successfully.

During the last eight weeks we have witnessed our 486 pupils adapt exceptionally well to new staff, new classes, new surroundings, new routines and for some of our pupils, a new school. A new academic year always presents us with challenges after a long summer break, but our staff, systems, structures, standards, and culture ensure we create the right environment for our young people to progress, and quickly.

We are still a very over-subscribed SEN School and not every child that would benefit from a place at West Oaks can access a place due to our capacity. Parents should not have to continually fight for everything for their child and like you, I am fed up with the lack of action centrally and locally regarding SEND strategy.

On that note, I raise constantly with the Local Authority (LA) the SEND funding issues that we are all reading about in the national press, and with my fellow Special School leaders, have asked Leeds for an overview of their recent decisions regarding SEND Post 16 transport decisions for September 2025 and beyond.

We need to understand what they mean by “exceptional circumstances” and when we have clarity from the council regarding how it may affect our students, we can then consider next steps. I am not going to interpret or communicate what I think is in the proposal, as it is difficult to navigate, so we have asked for a response to share with you.

After half-term and towards the end of November, interviews for the new Principal will also take place. The Governing body will make the right decision for the school and the new leader will inherit a sound infrastructure and fantastic school to build from. I am sure the Chair of Governors, Ben Thaler, will be in touch with you next term with an update.

Can I also make a plea regarding mobile phones please. Please can parents/carers kindly refrain from using mobile phones on our school sites. Your support is really appreciated, many thanks.

Please can you also make sure we have the correct contact details (especially if you have moved house recently) and mobile phone numbers for emergency contacts.

West Oaks will always try to remain open during the winter, but occasionally the snow does beat us, so we need accurate contact information for each pupil please.

Finally, have a great half-term holiday and we look forward to welcoming our pupils back to school on Monday 4^th November. Take care everyone.

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome and thank-you for your support to make the start of term a positive one for all our pupils. Whether you have been a part of our school community for a while or just starting your partnership with us, I and my colleagues look forward to working with you over the next academic year and in the years to come.

Communication is vitally important and please ensure we have the right contact details for you and the correct mobile numbers. The class lead is your first point of contact although Teaching and Learning Co-ordinators and the appropriate Head of School will also correspond with you too.

Can I ask that you sign up for class dojo as the class lead will communicate with you regularly through this channel and I typically update parents via class dojo and on our website www.westosksschool.co.uk every two weeks.

Please follow us on our Twitter/X page @westoaksleeds as we consistently post and try to keep you updated regarding activities and the teaching and learning taking place at our school.

Our telephone number is 0113 323 5871 should you need it, and you can also email us at [email protected]

Can I please remind you that school starts at 9am and finishes at 3.15pm. Early drop off and pick up can only happen in exceptional circumstances and by agreement. With 480 pupils across our three sites, it is important that you help us by respecting our timings as our school day and staffing is structured around a 9am start and 3.15pm finish. Many thanks for this.

We pride ourselves on our excellence for everyone approach and that does mean everyone within our learning communities; our pupils are always first priority, but our staff, the parents, carers, and everyone we work with in our school community are equally important. I look forward to working in partnership with you all.

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parents and Carers

Thank-you for all your support this year and over the years; we really value you and the role you play in the successful West Oaks school community.

I hope you have a great summer.

We will be having a break over the summer, and I have instructed my staff to put an out of office response on their emails as they will be on holiday. However, should there be any urgent issues, please contact us at [email protected] and we will get back to you.

We are also running two parent/pupil drop-in sessions over the summer for our pupils and families.

The drop-in will provide safe places to play and provide an opportunity for parents/carers to connect and network. The sessions should support a positive end to the summer and to help transition back to school in September. There will be a small number of staff present but your children will be under your supervision.

The sessions are Friday 23^rd August 10am-11.30am at Woodhouse Learning and Tuesday 27^th August at 10.30am-12 midday at Boston Spa Learning. Hope to see you then.

Advance notice of our Family Fun day which will take place at Woodhouse Learning on Saturday 14^th September 11am-2pm.

I am looking forward to starting my 18^th year in charge of West Oaks School in September as we welcome over 480 pupils back to all our three sites on Wednesday 4^th September.

Take care everyone.

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parent/Carer

There is a lot of talk about change at the moment and Bridget Phillipson, the new Secretary of State for Education wrote to all schools this week as she wants this moment “to mark a reset in our relationship: under this new government, education will once again be at the heart of change and the forefront of national life”.

The Secretary of State for Education also said “There’s a lot of work to be done to realise this mission against some major challenges. A huge part of my role is to understand the scale of the challenges you are facing, and the support needed to fix them.” She also highlighted the “financial pressures, strain on care, mental health and SEND services, among many other issues, have made your jobs increasingly difficult. This is a tough inheritance – none of these have quick and easy solutions but I will work with and for you to find practical ways forward.”

Clearly there is lots to do; there always is and there always will be. At West Oaks we will continue to put the needs of our children first and we will focus on what we can control.

What is clear to me is; there will be 480 pupils attending our three sites from September and we do have an ambitious 5-curriculum pathway model and an incredibly talented staff group that will meet pupils and our learning community needs.

As a school we have already begun refreshing and reorganising our provision to keep pace with the challenges as we have instigated staff moves, created new roles, and will have a strong focus on Project 25 and our “Learning Community” model over the next few years.

Other changes from a national perspective we will incorporate into our school delivery model when they become apparent. Meanwhile, we will continue to sustain what we do well and grow other elements of our provision.

I would also like to welcome Dr Mohammad Shan-A-Khuda PhD, MSc, BSc who joins us as our new West Oaks School Parent Governor in September and we are all looking forward to working with him and the rest of our Governing body during the next academic year.

I am also looking forward to my 18^th year as leader of our school and working with Keeley Murray (Vice-Principal) and our four Heads of School as we transition into new ways of working both at a local and national level. I am very much focussed on working with our wider school community as we strive for “excellence for everyone.”

Following on from earlier correspondence from Leeds City Council, I have been asked to remind you that the Leeds City Council consultation on proposed changes to transport assistance for post-16 learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is currently live. If approved, any changes to transport assistance policy would apply to all new post-16 applications for transport assistance for the September 2025/2026 academic year onwards, from the date the new policy is implemented, with phasing arrangements put in place for existing post-16 learners.

The consultation period began on Monday 24 June 2024 and finishes on Tuesday 23 July 2024.

They have two remaining engagement sessions, which I urge you to attend and feedback to the council. The details are:

Further information about the proposal and a link to an online survey for people to express their views, can be found on the Leeds City Council website at www.leeds.gov.uk/post16transportpolicyreview

As we enter a magical time of year for our school, I also wanted to thank-you all for your support throughout the year. I am so privileged to work at West Oaks and with you all. A reminder that we close for the end of this academic year on Friday 19^th July and return to school on Wednesday 4^th September 2024. I will contact you all again before we break up for the summer and will see many of you at our 2024 Student Graduation and Alumni event on Thursday July 18^th at Woodhouse Learning. Take care all.

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parents and Carers

Thank-you for all our kind comments and congratulations regarding the MBE Award.

The Honour is for everyone within our school community, and I am proud to accept it on behalf of West Oaks School. I will continue to champion our provision and will always put the needs of our children and young people first. I will also continue to challenge Leeds LA on a fair and equitable SEND model and strategy for Leeds.

I have been asked by Leeds City Council to bring to your attention, which I already have done, to the consultation on proposed changes to transport assistance for post-16 learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

It is important that everyone responds to this consultation, regardless of what year group your child is in, as we want to preserve access to high-quality SEN provision in the city and not make it more difficult for individuals. Of course, we also want to develop pupil independence, where we can, but we must safeguard inclusive access to post 16 provisions.

If approved, any changes to transport assistance policy would apply to all new post-16 applications for transport assistance for the September 2025/2026 academic year onwards, from the date the new policy is implemented, with phasing arrangements put in place for existing post-16 learners.

The consultation period began on Monday 24 June 2024 and finishes on Tuesday 23 July 2024. Further information about the proposal, including details of our informal engagement sessions and a link to an online survey for people to express their views, can be found on the website at www.leeds.gov.uk/post16transportpolicyreview

If you have any questions about the consultation process, please contact the Children and Families Transport Team: [email protected]

Thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing you next week at our Parent/Carer evening sessions.

Best wishes

Andrew

Dear Parent/Carer

I hope you manage to have a great break over half-term and the weather improves so we can spend more time outdoors. I am hoping the sun comes out so we can have a fab seven weeks of the remaining summer term with sports days, Graduation and Magical 7 activities to look forward to.

Unfortunately, we will not be running a summer playscheme this year and I cannot see how we will be able to run one in the future. I have delayed communicating with you, to see if we could secure more staff to safely manage a scheme, but it has not been possible.

It is clear now that we will not be able to run a summer play scheme as we do not have adequate staffing to safely manage one. This is beyond my control and regrettable, sorry.

I know Katie Hurley, our Family Support Manager, has shared information regarding Leeds summer play schemes with parents/carers (deadline for applications with providers is next Friday 31/5/24).

West Oaks will continue to track potential schemes and share with you if information becomes available and we will also try to facilitate a “BIG Breakfast” type drop in over the summer if there is a demand for this approach.

Apologies once again.

Take care everyone.

Best wishes

Andrew