SEND

SEND Information Report

Ossett Academy and Sixth Form have an open ethos and we aim to provide a broad and balanced learning experience for all students regardless of Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND). However, we recognise that this has to be within the context of our learning environment.

The following aims drive our SEND provision:

• To enable students to achieve their full potential, both academically and socially.
• To ensure that every student has equal care and attention, regardless of gender, race, social background, ability or physical disability.
• To recognise that every student has a variety of needs – some of which will be shared with other students, some of which will be specific to that student, some needs may be of a temporary nature – others may be long term.
• To ensure that every student has the opportunity to study a broad, balanced curriculum and has access to the National Curriculum at his/her own level.
• To provide for the needs of all students, as far as resources will allow.
• Ossett Academy & Accord Sixth Form College aims to identify these needs as they arise and provide teaching and learning contexts, which enable every child to achieve to his or her full potential. In doing this, we seek to work closely with parents/carers and value regular communication.

Social Skills Programmes/Support (Including Strategies to Enhance Self-Esteem)

Personal and social education covers all aspects of emotional and social development.

Our Staff are flexible in responding to issues as and when they arise (e.g. friendship problems, self-esteem issues).

Social skills courses are run for identified students, particularly at Key Stage 3.

Accessibility

Our accessibility plan is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that our facilities are accessible to all as far as possible within the constraints of the building.

New build projects are designed to be compliant with the relevant legislation to enable accessibility.

Anti-Bullying Strategies

Anti-bullying strategies are well established.

Children are involved in decision making and visioning through student leadership and student voice. Our Academy ethos and values are promoted throughout school.

The Orchard is a safe supervised space for vulnerable and SEND pupils to access when they require a quieter space at social times, time-out, or additional support.  A sensory room is available when required.

The Hive is a base for SEND and vulnerable pupils who cannot access mainstream lessons.  This can be on a temporary, short-term or long-term basis, and for a variety of reasons.  Pupils study key subjects with Learning Mentors and personalised support and interventions to address barriers to learning arising from social/emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

Access to a Supportive Environment (IT Facilities/Equipment/Resources and Preparation)

Specific resources for pupils with a SEND.

Laptops are available. These are issued to students with specific needs, usually relating to handwriting and or processing.

Access to Apps that support children with specific needs.

Access to a Range of Services (Such as Required)

• Children’s First Hub
• CAMHS
• Educational Psychology Service
• Learning Support Services
• Sensory Impairment Team
• SALT
• Local NHS services
• Targets Youth service
• Multi-agency safeguarding hub
• School Nurse Service
• Occupational Therapy
• Wesail
• SENDIASS
• WISENDSS

Provision to Facilitate Access to the Curriculum

We are mindful of the challenges our building poses to those with a physical disability and work closely to ensure inclusion remains a priority within these constraints.

We are continually reviewing our site/premises in this respect, particularly when new building projects are undertaken.

Wave 1:

Well-differentiated quality first teaching, including where appropriate, the use of small group interventions or 1:1

• Any students who are falling significantly outside of the range of expected academic achievement in line with predicted performance indicators and grade boundaries are identified and monitored.
• Once a student has been identified as possibly having a SEND they will be closely monitored by staff in order to gauge their level of learning and possible difficulties.
• The student’s class teacher will take steps to provide differentiated learning opportunities that will aid the pupil’s academic progression and enable the teacher to better understand the provision and teaching style that needs to be applied.
• The SENCO will be consulted as is appropriate for support and advice and may wish to observe the student in class.
• Through the above it can be determined which level of provision the student will need going forward.
• If a student has recently been removed from the SEND register they may also fall into this category as continued monitoring will be necessary.
• Parents/carers will be informed fully of every stage of their child’s development and the circumstances under which they are being monitored. They are encouraged to share information and knowledge within the school,
• The student is recorded by the school as being under observation due to concern by parent, carer or teacher but this does not automatically place the child on the school’s SEND register. Any concerns will be discussed with parents/carers informally or during parent’s evenings.
• Parents’ evenings are used to monitor and assess the progress being made by children.

Identification and assessment

Pupil’s needs should be identified and met as early as possible through:

• The analysis of all relevant data including profiles, scores and assessments, reading ages, other whole-school pupil progress data.
• Classroom-based assessment and monitoring arrangements. (Cycle of planning, action and review).
• Following up parental concerns
• Tracking individual children’s progress over time
• Liaison with feeder schools on transfers
• Information from previous schools
• Information from other services
• Maintaining a SEND list for all vulnerable learners but which clearly identified pupils receiving additional SEND Support.  This SEND list is updated regularly through meetings between the teachers and SENCO.
• Undertaking, when necessary, a more in-depth individual assessment – this may include a range of commercially available assessments.
• Useful information on a student’s needs. It may include a bilingual assessment where English is not the first language.
• Involving an external agency where it is suspected that a special educational need is significant.

Curriculum access and provision for vulnerable learners

Where children are underachieving and/or identified as having special educational needs, the school provides for these additional needs in a variety of ways and might use a combination of these approaches to address targets identified for individual students.

• Teachers differentiate work as part of quality first teaching,
• Small group withdrawal time (limited and carefully monitored to ensure curriculum entitlement is not compromised).
• Individual class support/individual withdrawal
• Bilingual support/access to materials in translation
• Further differentiation of resources.
• Study buddies/cross age tutors.
• Homework/learning support club.
• One Page Profiles.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of our provision for vulnerable learners is carried out in the following ways:

• Classroom observation by the SENCO and senior leadership team.
• On-going assessment of progress made by intervention groups.
• Work sampling on a termly basis.
• Scrutiny of planning/marking policy.
• Informal feedback from all staff.
• Student interviews when setting new targets for an EHCP or My Support Plan, or reviewing existing targets.
• Student progress tracking using assessment data (whole-school processes).
• Monitoring targets, evaluating pupil’s progress.
• Attendance records and liaison with Education Welfare Officer.
• Regular meetings about pupils’ progress between the SENCO, Senior Leadership Team and the Mental Health Practitioner as required.
• Principal’s reports to parents/carers and governors.

Wave 2: Additional SEN Support

Students will be offered additional SEND support when it is clear that their needs require intervention which is “additional to” or “different from” the well-differentiated curriculum offer for all students in the school i.e. they have a special educational need as defined in the SEN Code of Practice 2014 (updated January 2015).

Under-achieving students and students with EAL who do not have SEND will not be placed on the list of pupils being offered additional SEND support.

In keeping with all vulnerable learners, intervention for pupils on the SEND register will be identified and monitored, and their progress measured using entry and exit assessments.

Where a student has a significant, severe and sustained need, it may be necessary to enter a multi-disciplinary assessment process with health and social care in order to consider the need for an Education Health and Care Plan. SENCO will initiate a ‘My Support Plan’.

Our approach to One Page Profiles, which we recognise are no longer prescribed in the SEN Code of Practice 2014 (updated January 2015), is as follows:

Our One Page Profile are a planning, teaching and reviewing tool which enables us to focus on particular areas of development for students with special educational needs. They are seen as working documents which can be constantly refined and amended.

Our One Page Profiles will only record that which is “additional to” or “different from” the differentiated curriculum plane which is in place as part of provision for all children. Targets will address the underlying reasons why a student is having difficulty with learning – they will not simply be “more literacy” or “more maths”.

• Discussion between teacher and SENCO
• Discussion, wherever possible, with parents/carers and student
• Discussion with another professional (after long discussion it has been decided not to prescribe an order of events – the precise order for this will vary from student to student).

Wave 3: Statement of Special Educational Needs or Education Health and Care Plan

Students with an Education Health and Care Plan will have access to all arrangements for students on the SEND register (above) and, in addition to this, will have an Annual Review of their plan.

Our review procedures fully comply with those recommended in Section 6.15 of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice and with Local Authority policies and guidance – particularly with regard to the timescales set out within the process.

Enabling Children and Young People to Engage in Activities

Transition and moving on

The SENCO and other key staff liaise with the student, feeder schools, parents and any agencies involved to ensure that transition from Year 6 to 7, Year 11 to 12 and Year 13 to further education is facilitated. In particular in Year 6 to 7 the SENCO will visit feeder schools, attend phase review meetings, meet with teams around the family and arrange an enhanced transition package where needed. This may include multiple visits to the school and inclusion in some of our activities.

How children and young people with SEND are enabled to engage in activities available with children and young people in the school who do not have SEND:

• As an inclusive school, we do everything we can to ensure that students of all abilities and needs are fully included in the life of the school.
• Where appropriate and legitimate, we endeavour to provide different ways for all learners to access the same learning experience, rather than withdrawing students and providing an entirely different activity.
• Our deployment of additional staffing and resources funded from our devolved SEND budget through the Local Offer, ensure that all curriculum experiences are available to all students in the school (e.g. educational visits, extra-curricular activities), particularly where a voluntary financial contribution from parents/carers is required for the activity to run. This is in compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
• Lesson planning seeks to address the learning needs of all students in the class, Teachers receive regular training and support to ensure they are skilled in differentiating the curriculum for vulnerable learners. When subject coordinators monitor planning, work and progress data and when they or senior leaders carry out observations of teaching and learning in classrooms, particular attention is given to whether the on-going learning offer is inclusive.
• Students are encouraged to analyse how they themselves learn and there is an on-going dialogue about this in our classroom. Students are given the opportunity and support to develop self-help strategies to ensure their full access to the curriculum. This may include sessions the Orchard, or in intervention groups.

Liaison/communication with professionals/parents, attendance at meetings and preparation of reports

There is strong liaison with a range of outside professionals to meet needs.

The academy actively supports early intervention through engaging with other agencies as required.

Access to medical interventions

• Individual protocols for young people with significant medical needs and allergies.
• Implementation of care plans where required.
• Provision of aids and resources to support learning.
• Support and access to outside/partner agencies as required.
• Flexibility and resourcefulness when dealing with rapidly changing needs.

Speech, language and communication needs

Being able to say what you want to say and to understand what other people are saying is the most important skill we need in life. Yet many people take communication for granted. Some young people have difficulty communicating with others: they have speech, language and communication needs – often referred to as ‘SLCN’.

If you are concerned about your child’s speech, language and /or communication, please speak to your child’s teacher and / or Mrs Val Smith (SENCO).

Educational Psychologist

The Educational Psychologist helps children throughout the school with a range of issues that affect them, for example: learning, concentration, attention and/or social communication and interaction.

The purpose of a school seeking support from an Educational Psychologist is so that she/he can contribute to the identification and assessment of a child’s needs and recommend strategies and support arrangements which will enable the child to make progress.

SEND Information

In admitting a student with special educational needs we would expect to have informative discussions with both the student’s family and the local authority to ascertain the suitability of our provision. We understand that it is initially our responsibility to make provision for a student with special educational needs through the school’s devolved SEND budget.  As a mainstream school, it would clearly be difficult for us to make provision for students whose needs and/or demands are significant, severe or profound – to the extent that it could be argued that they would be most appropriately placed in a special school. However, we do not rule this out and would make a careful assessment of the needs of each pupil in constructive conversation with other agencies.

Our Accessibility Plan, Managing Medicines Policy and SEND Policy can be found on our Policies page

SENCO: Mrs Val Smith – vsmith@ossett.accordmat.org – 01924 232820

SEND Team: send@ossett.accordmat.org – 01924 232820

For further information, click on the following links