Headteacher Welcome to Parents/Carers

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is our pleasure to welcome you and your child to the Language & Communication Hub here at New Penshaw Academy.

We know that the decision for your child to access this 12 week provision with us will not be taken lightly. In Early Years and Key Stage One, your child is still very young so these concerns are understandable. Children come to us because they are experiencing difficulties with communication and interaction, which is affecting their access to the usual school curriculum and potentially their day-to-day school life. This is where we can help. Our hub is specially designed to work with children who experience these difficulties. We work to give them tools and strategies to help them overcome these barriers and make it easier to access their curriculum in their own schools when they return.

We are a very caring and nurturing school and so, although only with us for a short time, your child will be welcomed into our school family. Our Hub staff are very experienced with children who need that little bit extra support, care and nurture.

The Hub environment itself is set up with a play-based ethos and a curriculum that sparks children’s engagement, whilst targeting next steps in learning and communication with lots of opportunities to develop use of language.

Whilst with us, your child will work with our staff as well as a qualified Speech & Language Therapist once a week and a colleague from the Language & Learning Partnership in Sunderland. We are delighted that we have embarked on this newly introduced provision with Together for Children so that we can provide the very best education and support for your child.

Steph Johnson, Headteacher