Resource Provision
The Barlow is fortunate to have, as part of our Learning Support offer, a Resource Provision for 16 pupils, who have been identified by Manchester City Council, as requiring a specific kind of educational provision due to their complex needs. The Resource Provision itself is located within the centre of our school and this was a deliberate choice by staff working with architects to design the provision, so that it could be an inclusive hub, at the heart of our school community; thus, showing that inclusion is at the very heart of all we do as a Catholic community.
Resource Provisions were first developed in Manchester in 2010 and were designed to allow pupils with complex difficulties to still access mainstream schooling. Pupils who attend our Resource Provision have complex social communication needs, that require intensive support from our specially trained staff, but they also need access to a mainstream curriculum offer and subject- specialist teaching. Our Resource Provision is a specialist setting within a mainstream environment and is a very special place to be for the pupils, their parents/carers and our staff.
All pupils who are allocated a place in our Resource Provision, will have a diagnosis of autism, or will be under assessment for autism, they will have an Education, Health and Care Plan, which has been awarded to them by Manchester City Council’s SEN Team and they will have had The Barlow’s Resource Provision specifically named on their Education, Health and Care Plan.
Our Resource Provision began working with our young people in September 2022 and was opened officially by Bishop John Arnold in February 2023, which was a very special occasion. The provision itself was part of a million-pound building project, jointly undertaken by Manchester City Council and the Diocese of Salford.
The provision itself hosts:
- A sensory room
- A quiet room
- A sensory integration area
- A classroom
- A social area
- An interventions area
- A kitchen area
- An accessible toilet
All pupils who access the Resource Provision have access to speech and language therapy and occupational therapy either on a weekly or fortnightly basis. There is also access for pupils and parents/carers, under the agreement of our Resource Provision Manager, to Educational Psychology input.
The provision is run by our autism specialist teacher Ms Greatbatch 
and our Higher-Level Teaching Assistant Mrs Fisher
Both of these members of staff work daily with pupils, parents/carers and staff, to ensure the best possible support for the pupils allocated places in the provision.
The strategic lead for the Resource Provision is Mrs Seddon (Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion and SEND) and her role is to support Ms Greatbatch in ensuring high-quality provision for all of our Resource Provision pupils not only within the provision itself, but across our whole-school community.
If you would like any further information on our Resource Provision and the support our pupils receive, please contact Ms Greatbatch (h.greatbatch@thebarlowrchigh.co.uk) via email or on: 0161 445 8053.
Since beginning to work with our Resource Provision pupils in September 2022, it is fair to say that the provision has been welcomed by a number of our parents/carers, who feel that their children have found their educational home.