Special Educational Needs are the concern of the whole school and all students follow National Curriculum Programmes of Study at the appropriate level.  The Learning Support Team aims:

 

• To provide a detailed analysis of individual needs and the means by which these can be met, following national (statutory) guidelines.

• To provide a specific response to students’ learning  needs, mainly through in class support, but also, where appropriate, through individual or small group intervention.

• To act as a resource and development centre for the rest of the school and to ensure that all staff are better enabled to identify special needs in children and to cope with them sympathetically and skilfully by adapting teaching styles and materials

• To ensure that students with special educational needs are treated equally to their peers but also as individuals and that these students work hard, with appropriate but challenging material, to achieve their full potential.

 

The categorisation of individual needs

 

Following the SEND reforms students with any identified additional need are now categorised as follows on the SEND register;

 

• EHCP – These are students who have complex Special Educational Needs and/or disability. These students receive a designated pot of money to support them in school and to provide adequate educational provision above and beyond what goes on in the normal classroom.

 

• SEN Support – These are students who have Special Educational Needs and/or disability. These students receive provision which goes above and beyond what goes on in the normal classroom. They do not have a specific funding stream designated specifically to support their needs, but the school will spend some of its SEN budget to support these students to achieve their full potential.

 

• First Concerns - These students do not have a special educational need and/or disability. However, the student may be raised to the SEND department by class teachers who have some concerns about progress or access to the classroom environment. Some intervention may be required to close gaps in knowledge and a help strategy sheet put together for teachers to implement in their lessons.

 

• Adaptive Teaching – These students DO NOT have a Special Educational Need and/or disability. These students have an additional need that requires awareness from staff, but their needs can be catered for through effective adaptive teaching. These students are the responsibility of the class teacher and they have no direct input from Learning Support. Should a student in this category fail to make adequate progress despite the right support being implemented in the classroom through effective quality first teaching, the decision might be made to escalate their support up to First Concerns, before possibly becoming ‘SEN support’.

 

 

Procedures for identifying individual needs

 

Transition

 

Students with SEND or an additional need at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive are initially picked up through the liaison between the primary SENCo and the SEN team at HCCS. We identify students with SEND in the following ways;

 

• Through regular communication with the feeder primary schools

• In response to admission requests from the local authority.  

Our Transition Lead gathers the necessary information from Primary schools, external agencies and parents/carers, on the following areas:

 

• strengths

• difficulties 

• interests

• expected levels for SATS

• ‘current working at’ levels from primary teachers

• medical concerns

• welfare concerns

 

All of this information is used to develop student profiles (Strategy Sheets) before students begin with us in September. For students with an SEN Support Plan, these are sent home prior to September with sections for parents and students to fill out to ensure that they are fully included in communicating the needs of the student.

 

This ensures we put the right level of support in place and share all relevant information with staff before these students begin with us in Year 7.

 

Identification once students are within our school setting

 

In the circumstance that a student is not picked up as having a special educational need or an additional need at primary school, through the transition process, we rely on the expertise of our staff to highlight any specific needs. 

 

Staff may notice that a student is struggling socially, emotionally, behaviourally or academically, and they forward this concern to the Hubs and the SEM team. Sometimes parents or students themselves highlight a concern and they are directed towards the team to discuss it further. 

 

The SEN leaders then ask subject teachers to build a picture of need, recording their observations of the student, and outlining the measures they have taken as their class teacher to address these emerging needs. This ensures that adaptive teaching is the first step to removing barriers to learning through a four week cycle of ‘Plan, Do and Review’.

 

If the SEN leaders are satisfied that this adaptive teaching is taking place, yet there are still concerns for the student, the SENDCO will then get involved, conducting assessments and/or observations on the child to ascertain their needs where possible. The SENDCO will then consult parents as to the outcome of their findings, and suggest further assessment with outside agencies where necessary. The SENDCO will also provide targeted interventions to address these emerging needs. The SENDCO will assess the impact of these interventions, reviewing and refining the interventions where necessary. If despite the additional intervention, the student is still not making progress, and their needs cannot be met from within school resources and funding, the SENDCO may then decide to apply for a EHCP for the student.

 

Procedures for communicating individual needs

 

SEN Support Plans

 

Students who have a high level of support for their special educational needs and/or disability will have an SEN Support Plan. This provides full details on the needs of the pupil and includes their:

 

• strengths 

• weaknesses

• Interests

• strategies to use to support the pupil 

• medical notes

• outside agency support

• views of the parents or carers 

• views of the pupil. 

 

This is used as a ‘plan, do and review’ tool, including a section to record the progress of the student and review progress against outcomes. 

 

Strategy Sheets

 

Every student with an additional need or special educational need and/or disability has a Strategy Sheet. These provide teachers with strategies on how to plan and deliver lessons which are suitably differentiated to support each student’s individual needs. These are produced in conjunction with the student. This document is also attached to a student’s profile on Bromcom.

 

SEN Register

 

Students who require additional support above and beyond what goes on within the mainstream classroom are classed as having a ‘Special educational need’ and are placed on the SEND register. 

 

Intervention for students with SEND

• Accelerated Reader

• IDL

• Small group literacy 

• Small group numeracy

• SEMH Intervention (social / emotional support)

• ELSA

• In class support

• Year group TA support

• Alternative Provision

If you require more information about SEND, please contact the SENCo via the following email transition@hccs.info.