West Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre

Welcome to our school. West SILC is a special school for pupils aged 2 to 19 years, on different specialist and mainstream sites. We are based in the West of Leeds and cater for a wide range of needs from moderate learning difficulties; severe learning difficulties; complex and multiple learning needs; Asperger’s; Autism and social and emotional and mental health needs. Some students have additional needs – physical; medical; speech and language; visual, hearing or sensory impairment.  

I am very proud of our whole school community, it is a wonderful place where everyone enjoys learning and are effectively supported to  maximise their potential. Our teaching and learning staff are very committed to the children and young people and strive to bring out the very best in all of them. We work extremely hard to support all our children and young people to develop the skills they will need for the future, particularly focusing on communication, independence and mobility. We are wholly committed to ensuring our school follows restorative principles. This means our ethos demonstrates:

• Our school as a learning community, with relationships at its centre
• We work hard to build, maintain and repair relationships through respectful talk and appreciation of others
• We work in circles to give everyone a voice, and to listen to those voices
• We build the skills to recognise and manage our own feelings in a safe, caring environment

West SILC was rated "Good” its last Ofsted inspection in October 2016 – follow the link on this page to read the full report. A visit is really the only way to see what we can truly offer to you and your child. Contact the school office and we will delighted to show you around.

Michelle Wilman - Principal

We aim for all our pupils, irrespective of social class, age, gender, ability, religion, race or creed to:

• Develop confidence, independence and self esteem.
• Actively contribute to their own learning.
• Develop respect for themselves and others.
• Enjoy and achieve their full potential.

We believe that all learners should have the opportunity to work and play alongside their mainstream peer group.

We wish to support and develop schools in the west wedge as safe and happy environments where children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities can develop a positive attitude to learning and explore their potential.

It is with great pleasure that we announce our successful re-assessment of the MOVE Programme at our Farnley Academy Site.  We were re-assessed in February and MOVE summarised that "West SILC (Farnley Partnership) is of high quality in all the components of the Quality MArk.  The programme is excellently led and managed by Sarah Riley and the development of MOVE is well supported by senior management.

Please read the full report below.

We are very proud to have had an article written about us in the Spring Term Active Schools Newsletter.  The article acknowledges the excellent and hard work that the MATP is doing in providing PE provision for students with Complex and Multiple Learning Needs. Well done to Angela and the team at our Farnley site!  Please see the newsletter below for further information.

The People Matters’ ‘My Teens and Twenties Matter’ project enables young people aged 14 to 25 and with a learning disability or autism to be more independent. Groups meet weekly to do an activity in or around Leeds. The focus is primarily social, but the relaxed environment is used to develop members' social, personal and employability skills, and self-confidence.

Key to this is encouraging members to take an interest, and get involved in decisions affecting them. This is a core value of the project, and so the Teens social groups are member led; group leaders support members to voice their views on and agree the group's weekly activities. 

The project's Engagement Lead has been working with members, their families and group leaders, to give members a meaningful voice on other levels too.  Members have an opportunity to participate actively in and influence the project through their select committee, The Ambassadors. The 7 Ambassadors who currently represent the 5 social groups, meet regularly to discuss and feed back members' views on what Teens does and could offer them. Members are placed at the centre of the project, engaging in decisions which concern them. This has included members deciding on their group names and day trips, and giving their views on proposed courses. 

There is also a quarterly members magazine. Named ACT by a member, it is a magazine for our members about the project, about them and about issues affecting them. Members are actively encouraged, with the help of the Ambassadors, to suggest articles and to give feedback on earlier editions. The magazine also features an increasing number of member contributions. This enables members to improve their communication skills and to express themselves on subjects of importance to them -  for example, bullying. 

To find out more about Teens and Twenties Matter or to be added to the magazine mailing list, call Heloise, the project's Engagement Lead, on 0113 234 6896 or 07783 121049.