ContinU Plus Academy > Policies and Reports > Policy – SEND Policy

Introduction

The ContinU Plus Academy (CPA) recognises that every student is an individual developing at a unique pace; academically, socially and emotionally.  Students referred to the CPA are in need of significant intervention and support due to their learned behaviours, attitudes to learning and disengagement. Therefore all students receive Special Educational Needs  provision.  Access to an alternative provision is the key driver and not the level of SEN provision that would be better delivered by a special school.  Our pupils present a range of complex needs and their social and emotional development goes hand in hand with academic success and happiness. The objectives of the provision are to:

  • Promote positive attitudes to learning;
  • Provide students with equality of opportunity and promote social inclusion;
  • Raise educational achievement especially in relation to literacy and numeracy;
  • Promote students’ personal, spiritual, moral, cultural and social development as an integral part of their experience;
  • Foster positive relationships based on trust;
  • Develop students’ self-esteem and self-worth;
  • Prepare students for the next stage of their career e.g. reintegration, college placements, work experience;
  • Work in partnership with parents/carers;
  • Work in partnership with all relevant support agencies.

The ContinU Plus Academy’s SEND Policy outlines the mechanisms for achieving, monitoring and evaluating these objectives. We acknowledge that a bespoke provision  which works for every pupil and family needs establishing on entry to the school and requires a flexible approach to meet individual needs.

Purpose

  • To identify pupils’ needs on entry through Professional and Pupil Passports
  • To have efficient base line assessments measuring numeracy and literacy levels and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties
  • To have an efficient intervention system to support those who require extra support
  • To create Positive Handling plans and individual risk assessments for pupils where necessary
  • To ensure that all staff are aware of SEND procedures
  • To give full access to a broad and balanced curriculum with the appropriate differentiation when required
  • To ensure that special arrangements and targets for progression are embedded in our Individual learner profiles
  • To review these profiles termly
  • In addition, to hold annual reviews for pupils with a statement of special educational need/Education, Health and Care Plan
  • To apply for Education, Health Care plans for pupils who require additional support
  • To apply for access arrangements to support pupils who require extra support in examinations
  • To collaborate with external agencies in identifying and helping those learners with learning difficulties
  • To monitor and record progress of all pupils using the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire
  • To monitor and record progress of all learners accessing interventions
  • To liaise with governors concerning provision for SEND learners in our school
  • To review SEND provision and policy annually

1 . Success Criteria of the SEND Policy:

  • All students successfully progressing onto Further Education, Employment or Training;
  • Preventing exclusion and maintaining educational provision for those who may be at risk of exclusion in a mainstream setting;
  • All students receiving full time provision;
  • Improved relationships with staff and parents/carers;
  • Improved relationships within families;
  • Increased support for literacy and numeracy and levels of attainment;
  • Lower levels of identified difficulties in pupils’ and parent/carer’s SDQ scores.(Pupils perceptions of themselves and parents perceptions of their child.)
  • Evidence of multi-agency cooperation and involvement;
  • Assessments completed within agreed timeframes;
  • Increased options and variety of provision at Key Stage 4 (KS4) e.g. improved college links, wider access to work experience, more alternative accreditation;
  • Students empowered to access post 16 options e.g. college General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ), work placements NVQ, apprenticeships etc.

The Four Broad Areas of Need (SEND Code of Practice: 0-25)

Communication and interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to say, understanding what is said to them or they find social rules of communication difficult to understand or do not use them. Children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. Provision includes:

  • Ensuring whole school awareness and understanding of communication and interaction needs
  • Ensuring pupils can access strategies and resources typically available in the ordinary classroom, with an emphasis on visual teaching aids to support learning and social activities
  • Differentiating tasks by level/outcome/pitch/pace and grouping as appropriate
  • Using tasks within the lesson to promote social interaction, language use/understanding, and use of imaginative and creative thinking
  • Establishing and developing peer support systems as appropriate
  • Adopting an approach that incorporates routines, structured tasks and rewards
  • Teaching life and independent skills as required
  • Accessing other professionals as appropriate e.g. Educational Psychologist/Autism team/ Speech and Language Therapist (SALT)
  • Ensuring assessment for access arrangements for exams e.g. reader, scribe, extra time, breaks, separate room, language modified papers.

Cognition and learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication. Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. Provision for these pupils will include:

  • Differentiating to ensure the development of literacy, numeracy, expressive language, communication skills and the promotion of appropriate interpersonal skills with others.
  • Accessing specialist teaching and learning programmes for dyslexia which are well-structured with opportunities for repetition and consolidation.
  • Arranging to support the use and delivery of approaches/materials for learners with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD).
  • Using materials which reduce or support note taking, copying of diagrams and charts and/or alternative approaches to recording.
  • Making effective use of IT equipment to support learning.
  • Ensuring assessment for access arrangements for exams e.g. reader, scribe, extra time, breaks, separate room, language modified papers.

Social, emotional and mental health

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder. Provision for these learners will include:

  • Using small group/1:1 intervention programmes to support pupils in developing self-regulation/self-management skills.
  • Ensuring access to intervention rooms or named staff members to reduce tension and anxiety and promote self-regulation.
  • Ensuring support from  the attendance officer, peer mentors and school nurse
  • Involving Counselling psychologist and/or Educational Psychologist as appropriate
  • Ensuring close liaison with external health professionals / CAMHS
  • Making referral to Early Help
  • Applying risk assessment procedures routinely
  • Ensuring assessment for access arrangements for exams e.g. reader, scribe, extra time, breaks, separate room, language modified papers.

Sensory and/or physical needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with a visual impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Provision for these learners may include:

  • Ensuring accessible school environment including out school trips and enrichment activities
  • Making minor adjustments to classroom practices and materials/equipment as required
  • Ensuring staff are skilled at selecting appropriate methods and materials in lesson plans to ensure access across the curriculum
  • Identifying favourable seating arrangements
  • Ensuring all staff are aware of individual pupils’ sensory/physical disability and implications in all teaching and learning environments
  • Ensuring staff are aware that for some pupils, a sensory or physical disability could impact on their language and social interaction
  • Implementing access arrangements for examinations
  • Ensuring clinical diagnosis of impairment is understood by staff .
  • Ensuring assessment for access arrangements for exams e.g. reader, scribe, extra time, breaks, separate room, modified papers

2 . The name of the person who is responsible for coordinating the provision of education for students who have been identified as having specific SEND and working with external agencies is: Karen Challen who is the SENCo

All members of staff are responsible for meeting the needs of students with SEN through implementing the recommendations of Individual Learner Profiles (ILP’s) and ensuring appropriate provision is in place within their remit e.g. curriculum planning, differentiation, target setting, etc.

The SENCo scrutinises incoming pupil, parent and professional passports.  This information is considered alongside the results of base line testing to identify specific interventions needed. The SENCo develops tracks and monitors interventions.

ILPs are created and disseminated to staff and external agencies/ alternative providers, where appropriate, using base line test scores and passport information. Individual Behaviour profiles (IBPs) are created by the Behaviour Manger based on the passports and information passed on by the home school/local authority. The SLT will discuss all new referrals and based on all of this information, a Positive Handling plan or individual risk assessment will be completed if necessary.

The SENCo refers to and liaises with, external agencies, to ensure pupil development and      safeguarding, assessment/support from specialists within education and health and Children’s Services such as:

  • Educational Psychologists
  • Speech and language therapists
  • Complex Communication Difficulties/Autism Team
  • Child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS)
  • Community Paediatrician
  • School Nurse
  • Kemp Hospice
  • GRT team
  • Swanswell
  • Social Care
  • West Mercia Police/YOT

The SENCo line manages the Learning Coaches and is responsible for coordinating their professional development and ensuring they are delivering effective support through lesson observations and performance management meetings.

3 . Indentifying Types of Need

All pupils are assessed on entry, building on information from previous settings. Base line testing materials used are:

  • Access Reading test
  • Access Maths test
  • Blackwell spelling test

A standardised score (SS) below 85 indicates a pupil requires additional intervention. This may include Wordshark which is a spelling programme and one to one reading using Rising Stars or Rapid, which is a reading programme. Pupils requiring support with Maths use a programme called Numeracy Ninjas

After 12 sessions pupils are retested and impact data is scrutinised. Actions taken will result in pupils continuing to access intervention, the intervention being altered or a cessation, depending on the accelerated level of progress expected

We use the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The SDQ is part of the DAWBA family of mental Health measures to give a base line for social and emotional behaviour. This reaches out to parents, teachers and pupils. The data can then be scrutinised to target specific difficulties and also to show progress in key areas

The SDQ measures emotional symptoms, conduct and peer relationship problems, hyperactivity and inattention and also pro social behaviour. Bespoke therapeutic interventions such as ‘Boxing Clever,’ ‘Talkabout for Teenagers’ for communication and interaction problems and ‘Managing Strong Emotions’ are put in place to support pupils with high difficulties scores. The Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire is repeated termly so pupils’ emotional health is closely monitored and the impact of therapeutic interventions measured.

4 . SEN intervention

The SENCo is responsible for tracking and monitoring both academic and therapeutic interventions. As well as using impact data to inform next steps for pupils on intervention.

Intervention support takes the form of a four-part cycle known as the graduated approach. The four parts are:

 Assess – Baseline assessments to establish need and also referral through War Cabinet

Plan– Intervention Outline plans are in place for a variety of academic and therapeutic interventions. These are delivered in the most part by the Intervention Learning Coach. An intervention timetable runs alongside the normal school day. Staff are notified and parents are informed and encouraged to support their child.  Intended outcomes are shared with parents

Do-pupils receive 1:1 bespoke support during their allocated time. Their attendance and progress is recorded and monitored by the Intervention Learning Coach and the SENCo.

Review: The effectiveness of the support and the impact on the pupil’s progress should be reviewed in line with an agreed date. The SENCo is also available at Parents day to discuss progress/concerns. Following consultation with parents, we may call upon external professionals to advise and assist further where:

  • A pupil continues to make little or no progress
  • A pupil is not developing as expected
  • Is not responding to action being taken
  • We may also consider the need for an EHC Plan.

5 . How the needs of students with AEN are identified, met and regularly reviewed:

All students progress is reviewed on a half termly basis through the use of focus sheets and War Cabinet referrals. Using progress data for both academic attainment and social and emotional health as well as attendance data, the SLT will complete focus sheets and through further discussion with the SENCo, put forward pupils for an EHCP assessment.

Students with a statement of Special Educational Needs/EHCP are also subject to annual reviews using the LA standard format. Review meetings are the mechanism by which changes in SEN provision are made External specialists supporting learners are invited to attend and contribute to future planning of provision. All reviews taking place from year 9 must include a focus on preparing for adulthood, including employment, independent living and participation in society. This transition planning must be built into the EHC plan and where relevant should include effective planning for young people moving from children’s to adult care and health services. The views, wishes and feelings of the learner are vital..

6 . How resources are allocated to and amongst specific students with EHC Plans:

The ContinU Plus Academy is an Alternative Education Provider, contracted by schools, and the Local Authorities and subsidised by various funding bodies.  Some students with Statements/Education Health Care plans or Top Up funding, have additional Local Authority (LA) funding to support their SEN which is used by the ContinU Plus Academy to meet the students’ needs as specified.

7 . Arrangements for providing access by students with SEN to a balanced and broadly based curriculum (including the National Curriculum):

  • All students receive either part-time or full-time educational placements;
  • The ContinU Plus Academy offers full-time provision to excluded students;
  • The ContinU Plus Academy offers a broad, balanced, relevant and differentiated curriculum which is designed to meet the needs of individual students according to their age, ability, social and emotional development;
  • A core subject and bespoke alternative provision is provided, depending on availability;
  • Multi-professional case discussions where strategies and learning programmes are ‘fine-tuned’;
  • Individualised and differentiated activities and programmes of work.

8 . The ContinU Plus Academy offers a range of additional activities which provides a complementary enrichment curriculum model:

  • Opportunity to participate in an Alternative Provision Programme;
  • Opportunity to participate in therapy support;
  • Opportunity to participate in the Enrichment programme;
  • Opportunity to participate in residential trips in year 8 and year 11;
  • Opportunity to participate in a programme of organised events and educational visits.

9 . How the ContinU Plus Academy Senior Management Team evaluate the success of the education which is provided at the ContinU Plus Academy to students with SEND:

The Senior Management Team meets on a weekly basis.  Key staff report, where appropriate, to the meeting on the progress of the education programme, including all matters relating to SEND.  The evaluation of provision is based on the following:

  • Daily briefing meetings enable staff to discuss issues immediately as they arise;
  • Fortnightly staff meeting agendas have an ’Individual Student Issues’ component where decisions can be made;
  • The views of parents/carers and students are sought through family meetings, parents’ days, regular telephonic contact and SDQ feedback questionnaires.

Whole school half termly assessment identifies progress for all pupils which:

  • Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
  • Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
  • Fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers
  • Widens the attainment gap

Response to such progress will be made through SLT and ELT ‘War Cabinet’ meetings.

The first wave response will be pupils identified as needing high quality teaching, targeted at their areas of weakness.

The second wave will be a bespoke 1:1 intervention to support numeracy or literacy, or in some cases the intervention will be a therapeutic one and may involve 1:1 or small group work working off site.

The third wave will be referrals to external agencies, or adopting a multi agency approach     through Early Help.

Where progress continues to be less than expected we will consider the need for an EHC plan

10 . The role played by the parent(s)/carer(s) of students with SEN:

  • All parent(s)/carer(s) are welcomed and positive relationships promoted;
  • Regular telephone contact is maintained and communicated to the teachers and support workers;
  • Parent(s)/carer(s) are always invited to reviews and are informed of/involved in any issues relating to their son/daughter’s case;
  • Parents and Carers complete termly SDQs for pupils.
  • We encourage all parents/carers to contact school in the first instance if they have a concern about their child.. We endeavour to resolve issues as quickly as possible however if a satisfactory resolution is not reached, the Chair of Governors Mr R. Chadwick may be contacted by post via the school address. Parents/carers may also wish to seek advice or support from the local Parent Partnership Service who can be contacted on 01905 610858 (website – www.ppsworcs.co.uk). The Parent Partnership Service can provide informal mediation to help in resolving any disagreements, whether this is with the school or the local authority

11 . Transition Arrangements for Vulnerable Learners and those with AEN

Year 11 into post 16

The school’s careers advisor supports pupils bi weekly from the Summer term in year 10 onwards, in identifying appropriate career paths. For those pupils with a statement of special educational need or EHC plan, the careers adviser attends annual reviews and meets with the pupil on a regular basis from the Summer term in year 10 onwards. Pupils are supported in:

  • Identifying areas of interest
  • Identifying qualifications required
  • Identifying suitable courses/apprenticeships/employment (with an element of training)
  • Applying for their chosen option
  • Liaising with the SENCo to ensure future provision is appropriate for the pupil
  • Accompanying the pupil on transition visits.
  • Staying on at the ContinU Plus Academy’s Sixth Form

 

 

 

Further information available from:

Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 – 25 years

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Children and Families Act 2014

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6

Education Act 1996

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56

 

Equality Act 2010

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15

Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1530

Worcestershire County Council SEN reform (including Local Offer)

https://www.edulink.networcs.net/senreform

 

Approved by:                                                                                                                                                

(Headteacher)                                                              (Date)

Authorised by:                                                                                                                                             

                                                (Chair of Governors)                                                     (Date)