TKAT ACE Programme

What is TKAT ACE?

At Welling, we strive to create an environment that allows students to BE the very best version of themselves and for us to provide the opportunities for them to BE their own future. The TKAT ACE (A Champion for Every Child) Programme is a pastoral programme that does just this, it gives children their own tutor, an adult who will work with them and their families to help overcome any financial/social/academic barriers they may face to become confident, successful, resilient and happy learners. 

An ACE Tutor’s role is to provide support to the child and the family. They will form trusting relationships and be that pupil’s ‘go to’ person. It is founded in our strong belief that no child should be educationally disadvantaged because of their socioeconomic status. The TKAT ACE Programme supports our Pupil Premium children and families.

What does an ACE tutor do?

Our ACE Tutors meet with our Pupil Premium children on a 1:1 basis or in groups. ACE time is child-centred time, which is tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual child. Together, each child and their ACE Tutor can identify areas of focus and from this will create an action plan. This could include:

  • Identifying barriers to learning and finding strategies to support the child and their  family with improving learning outcomes
  • Work on improving attendance and punctuality
  • Supporting the children with their friendships, emotions, self esteem or ambitions
  • Celebrating successes, individuality, resilience
  • Working with families 

They may be able to find support with other agencies and also offer extra opportunities in supporting the child with an ambition or aspiration they may have. ACE Tutors will try and help with any barriers that might get in the way of your child becoming the best they can be.

ACE Tutors will listen, support and seek additional help if needed. Our ACE Tutors will also contact parents/carers to talk about their child, offer support and guidance, or just be a person to chat to. 

ACE Tutors - Testimonials

  • Ms Key - Lead ACE tutor (TBC)
  • Ms Katy Cooper - ACE tutor (TBC)
  • Ms Shannon Armer - ACE tutor (TBC)
  • Mr Tristin Freeman - ACE tutor (TBC)

Read, Write, Inc

Read, Write Inc is a valuable addition to the support students at Welling as it enables reading ages to increase which, in turn, allows our students to access texts across the curriculum. Both Kay and Sally are excellent practitioners who, through their teaching, improve students' self esteem and build confidence in reading a variety of texts. This programme is designed to increase the reading age of students and has proven itself time and time again.

Testimonial - Miss T Hodges

English Teacher/Lead Practitioner of SEND

Read, write, inc is one of the best programmes I have seen in schools!  When delivered right it completely changes students’ lives.  So many students have benefited from this.  Students that were mute are able to speak.  Students that were unable to write a full sentence are writing novels.  Students that could not read aloud are now reading to mass audiences.  I am so grateful, as are students, parents and all staff of the positive impact this has had on their lives.

Read, Write Inc. – Fresh Start Modules

“The Fresh Start modules are specially written to help students to catch up on and develop their reading and writing skills. Each module contains a fiction or non-fiction text and a range of comprehension and writing activities which provide practice in the sounds and graphemes taught in the phonics lessons. Writing activities include progressive tasks to improve grammar, spelling and proofreading skills. The repetitive routine of each lesson can also aid memory.”

RWI has many of the factors that literacy specialists recommend.

  • Pre-teaches unfamiliar vocabulary before reading the text 
  • Students repeatedly read the text to improve fluency and understanding and confidence.
  • Phonic knowledge is progressively taught throughout the modules and constantly repeated to aid memory recall.
  • Frequent/sight words are constantly repeated to reinforce memory and spelling 
  • Oral questioning sessions precede written questions and answers to check knowledge and understanding.
  • Students are given time to write accurately, and to understand and correct errors.
  • Written tasks increase in difficulty starting with re-writing the text with pictures as memory aids.
  • Written tasks include writing instructions, diaries, leaflets, adverts, newspaper articles and letters in the programme’s later modules.

RWI sessions provide a space to learn in a safe, unpressured environment. Improved reading skills and having the strategies to read better everywhere, improves self confidence in reading and self-esteem in general. Depending on need students may need to be in the programme for anything from a few months to over a year.

Miss Hyslop and Mrs Kirkpatrick have been teaching Read, Write Inc for over 15 years, having training to update their skills as the programme has progressed. The programme has worked well for all SEND students as well as EAL. It also boosts the reading skills, fluency and understanding of struggling readers of all ages.

Students have told us:

“I love coming to intervention”

“This is the only place I feel comfortable reading”

“Read, Write Inc has changed my life”

The Elsa Centre

The ASD Resource Provision - The Elsa Centre (TEC) provides a welcoming, safe, supportive and flexible learning environment. TEC has become a setting where the associated students feel a positive attachment and ownership. TEC provides for small group adapted ‘mainstream teaching’ and withdrawal for interventions. The Provision creates daily opportunities for students to integrate into mainstream subject lessons and anticipates that students, where appropriate, will attend mainstream lessons with shared support or independently, and negotiate the school building, corridors, and unstructured times with some independence. TEC students are very much part of the Welling School community. TEC staff are aware of acknowledging and supporting the social communication, emotional needs and sensory challenges that are unique to each individual student. Parents have provided feedback about positive changes since their young person has had access to TEC.

Referrals, for the ASD Resource Provision (The Elsa Centre) at Welling School, will come from the Local Authority and Welling School will assess, through the consultation process, whether it can meet the individual students' needs.

Welling School to ensure that the following criteria are met:

  • Age Range: Year 7 – Year 13
  • Must have an EHC plan
  • Autism must be their primary need as stated on their EHC plan section B.
  • Students for whom their Autism is a significant barrier to their performance, and whose needs and challenges cannot be met entirely from resources available to and from mainstream school.
  • Formal and informal assessments should indicate that students are working within the ‘broadly average range’ eg engaging with their environment; retaining information.
  • Should indicate potential to achieve expected levels of progress in line with expectations in KS2 and GCSE in English and Maths at KS4.
  • Students will have the ability to verbally communicate without full reliance on communication aids, although may still need support and programmes devised by a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT).

Admission will not be agreed if;

  • The agreed number of funded places by the Local Authority is fully subscribed and admitting children over this number would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.
  • There is evidence of severe or complex learning difficulties in addition to Autism.
  • There is significant incompatibility with other students - Welling School will not be able to offer a place if there is good evidence that admitting a child is likely to have a detrimental impact on any other student’s wellbeing.