Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

Providing for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) is at the heart of our inclusive school.

There is a shared expectation that all children regardless of their specific needs should be offered inclusive quality first teaching which will enable them to make the best possible progress and feel that they are a valued member of the wider school community.

We aim to address children’s needs and support their development in the most appropriate way possible and celebrate both effort and achievement. We want our children to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and make a successful transition into their secondary school and beyond.

Additional and/or different provision is currently provided in our school for children with a range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities including:

• Cognition and Learning – Moderate learning difficulties; Specific learning difficulties - dyslexia, dyspraxia.
• Sensory, Medical and Physical – hearing/visual impairment, sensory processing difficulties, epilepsy.
• Communication and Interaction – Autistic Spectrum Condition, Asperger’s Syndrome, speech and language difficulties.
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Our Inclusion Team is led by our AHT for Inclusion, Mrs Sandie Saunders ( SENCo is part of her role), and includes a Social, Emotional and Mental Health Lead, a Phonics Intervention and Assessment Lead, an Upper and a Lower Social, Emotional Mental Health Assistant and a team of experienced LSAs based in each year team. They all have extensive experience and training in assessing children’s needs, planning and implementing support/interventions, reviewing the impact of these programmes of support and providing excellent pastoral support for the children at our school.

SEND Review

As part of our ongoing partnership work with Jonathan Morris (National Leader of Education), an independent SEND review was commissioned in June 2018. An independent advisor visited the school for a series of meetings with staff, pupils and parents. The advisor scrutinised the data, policies and procedure relating to SEND. The full report is available on this page, but the areas of strength and for improvement are listed below. These are all being addressed with the SEND action plan for 2018-19.

Areas of strength:

• Quality & timeliness of interventions
• Identification & rapid action
• CPD
• Moderation with other schools
• SLT drop-ins
• Finding positives for pupils
• Leadership of Inclusion
• Intervention teacher & LSAs knowledge and skills
• Governance
• Transition
• Leadership of attendance
• Parent partnership

Areas for further improvement:

• Improve recording of small steps progress in writing & maths
• Monitor progress & attainment more closely of MA SEND pupils
• Identify how TAB meets LA definition of Inclusion
• Create parental version of SEND report