THE National Association of Special Educational Needs (NASEN) has awarded Batchley First School of Redditch its prestigious award for ‘Excellent Practice in the Early Years’, recognising the ‘innovative way the school manages SEN services across North Worcestershire’.
At a gala event in London, earlier this month, TV personality and journalist Vanessa Feltz presented the award to Batchley Head Teacher Matt Whiteley, and two of his SEN staff – Sarah Wykes, head of inclusion and commissioned services and Sharon Lee, nursery plus teaching assistant.
Mr Whiteley said: ‘We are delighted to have won this established award, against strong competition.
“Our unique model of delivery for speech and language, working in host schools, developed by Sarah Wykes and her staff has taken SEN teaching to an altogether more professional and effective level.
“Having three units also allows us to provide a high-quality consistent service across a wide geographical area in an economical way.”
Sarah Wykes said: “We could not have achieved this award without help from the Worcestershire Speech and Language Service and their staff, the host schools who provide such lovely settings for our units, the dedicated Worcestershire Preschool Forum, an inspirational educational psychologist and of course the great staff who work in the units.
“The award is for all those people too.”
School governor David Thain added: “I am very proud of Batchley First School’s achievement in winning this national SEN award.
“Under Matt Whiteley’s leadership our school goes from strength to strength.”
