SEND and Inclusion
Inclusion sits at the heart of our ambition for education.
Our aim at Altus is simple to state, even if achieving it is sometimes more complicated: every child and young person should be able to participate fully in education, to be known and understood, and to have the support they need to flourish.
Our approach to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is therefore closely connected to our wider Inclusion Strategy. We do not see SEND as something separate from the everyday work of our schools and college. It is part of our commitment to creating an inclusive and cohesive system of education across the borough, in which difference is understood and barriers to learning and participation are removed wherever we can.
A Trust-wide approach to SEND
Altus has a Director of SEND, providing strategic leadership across the Partnership and working alongside leaders, SENDCos and staff in each of our academies. This allows us to share expertise and good practice across primary, secondary and post-16 education, while recognising that every child is different and provision must respond to individual need.
We are also investing directly in specialist support for our schools and college. This includes dedicated speech and language therapy and educational psychology support, giving staff and families greater access to professional expertise and helping us identify needs and appropriate support as early as possible.
Our intention is not simply to meet our statutory responsibilities. We want excellent SEND practice to be part of the ordinary life of every Altus academy.
Working in partnership with Redwood School
Some of our most important work happens through partnership.
We are proud to work closely with Redwood School, Rochdale's specialist SEND school, at the Redwood Hub at Edgar Wood Academy.
The Hub brings specialist SEND expertise into a mainstream school environment. Its work is designed around both academic and social inclusion, supporting young people to develop their independence, communication and confidence while providing opportunities to learn alongside the wider school community.
From 2026–27, three Redwood classes will be based at Edgar Wood.
This builds upon a partnership which began at Edgar Wood in 2023 and which has placed particular emphasis on learning outside the classroom, developing real-life functional skills, enrichment and supporting the outcomes identified in pupils' Education, Health and Care Plans.
It is a practical example of what we mean by inclusion: different organisations combining their expertise around the needs of children rather than expecting children to fit neatly within organisational boundaries.
Belonging beyond the classroom
Inclusion also means ensuring that children with SEND can participate in the wider experiences and opportunities that make education memorable.
Rochdale Children's University, which is managed by Altus Education Partnership, works with children across Rochdale, Heywood, Middleton and Littleborough. It recognises learning and achievement beyond the classroom and encourages children to encounter new activities, interests, places and possibilities.
Redwood has embraced Children's University as part of its curriculum. What began with one class in 2023–24 has grown substantially, with Children's University now involving learners across a range of Redwood pathways and including pupils at the Edgar Wood Hub.
In 2026, 80 Redwood pupils graduated through Rochdale Children's University.
Children's University also enables us to reach children who can sometimes encounter other barriers to participation. This includes our work with young carers, ensuring that they too have opportunities for wider learning, enrichment, recognition and celebration.
These things matter. Inclusion is not only about enabling a young person to be present in a classroom. It is about belonging: being able to take part, discover interests and talents, experience success and imagine possibilities for the future.
Inclusion as a shared responsibility
We know that SEND provision nationally faces considerable challenges. Schools cannot solve all of them alone. But there is much that we can do. We can share expertise rather than keeping it within individual institutions. We can bring specialist professionals closer to children and teachers. We can work imaginatively with partners such as Redwood. We can listen carefully to families. And we can make sure that the opportunities we create for young people are genuinely open to everyone.
That is why SEND is integral to our Inclusion Strategy and to our wider ambition for Altus.