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SEND-Policy

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Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy  2024-25

  • Policy details

  • Date created - 01/11/2024
  • Date reviewed -
  • Next review date - 01/11/2025

SEND Policy

Aims of the Policy

The aim of the SEND policy is to help create an inclusive and caring community providing opportunities for all its learners, including those with SEND, to:

  • follow a broad, balanced relevant curriculum with high quality teaching and adaptations to take into account the needs of learners with SEND
  • demonstrate their full potential, recognising their strengths and areas for development
  • fully participate in all academy activities
  • meet their physical, emotional, and intellectual needs
  • offer equal opportunities
  • become independent learners
  • be involved in decision making

Relevant Legislation

This policy has been written with regard to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 0-25 (2015), part of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act 2001 (which came into effect in September 2002) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2001/10 . It also takes into account the guidance set out by the Local Authority (LA) for SEND practices and procedures, and additionally

Definition of  Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

A learner has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.  

A learner has a learning difficulty or disability if they:  

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same  age

• have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream  post-16 institutions  

Many children and young people who have SEND may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 - that is ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial  adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.

This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: ‘long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’. This definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and cancer.  Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEND, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEND. Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision, they will also  be covered by the SEND definition.  

SEND Code of Practice (2015)

Broad Areas of Need

Learners at the academy may have SEND as a result of one or more of the following needs:

  • Communication and Interaction
  • Cognition and Learning
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health
  • Sensory and/or Physical

Behaviour difficulties do not necessarily mean that a learner has special educational needs. However, where consistent disruptive or withdrawn behaviour, or a noticeable change in behaviour is observed, this could be an indication of unmet SEND and assessments will be carried out to determine whether there are any causal factors. If it is thought that these may be due to housing or family circumstances then an Early Help Assessment may be deemed appropriate.

English as an Additional Language (EAL) and SEND

Where there is cause for concern over the progress of a learner with EAL, there is careful consideration by subject teachers and the SENDCo to determine whether the lack of progress is due to limitations in the learner’s command of  English or if it arises from a special educational need or both. An assessment in the learner’s first language may be requested.

Responsibility for SEND

The Special Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (Executive SENDCo) is Leanne McGowan and (SENDCo) is Shaun Leathersl.

The SENDCo is responsible for:

  • The strategic direction of SEND provision to ensure all learners with SEND receive their full educational entitlement and have access to the whole curriculum
  • The overall monitoring of the delivery of SEND provision to ensure its quality and impact
  • Coordinating the team of staff responsible for the delivery of targeted and specialist provision
  • Supporting whole school  professional development
  • Management of the SEND budget
  • Advising on the graduated approach to providing SEND support
  • Liaising with parents of pupils with SEND
  • Liaising with other schools, educational psychologists, health and social care professionals, and independent or voluntary bodies
  • Being a key point of contact with external agencies, especially the local authority and its support services
  • Liaising with potential next providers of education to ensure a learner and their parents are informed about options and a smooth transition is planned
  • Working with the headteacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements
  • Ensuring that the school keeps the records of all pupils with SEND up to date

The SENDCo reports directly to the Head Teacher.

Overview of SEND Provisions at Co-op Academy Portland

SEND provision within mainstream settings falls into the following categories:

Universal:

  • In class support consisting of high quality teaching, following guidelines from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) on teaching learners with SEND

Targeted:

  • Interventions - Targeted intervention sessions with the principle aim of accelerating learning or bridging gaps in learning for literacy, numeracy and social skills.

Specialist:

  • Provisions made in-line with Section F of any learners with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

Information Sharing - SEND information as a “Golden Thread”

To support high quality teaching, information is shared through various forms. All teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress of learners in their classes, including those who access additional intervention. In order to support this, every learner with SEND will have a Pupil Passport, created in conjunction with learners, parents and key staff, utilising information from Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and specialist reports (where applicable). These will provide staff working with the learner with personalised information, including support strategies, baseline assessment data and exam access arrangements and will be reviewed termly. All documents such as Pupil Passports and EHCPs are located on Arbor for accessibility.

Regular training related to effective provision for learners with SEND will be provided to all staff on a termly basis. The impact of training and the effectiveness of provision for learners with SEND will be monitored termly by subject leaders and members of the Academy Leadership Team.

Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

An annual review will be conducted for all learners with an EHCP, in-line with statutory requirements. The SENDCo is responsible for the co-ordination of this review on behalf of the Local Authority and will ensure that all relevant stakeholders; including learners, parents/carers, key members of academy staff, health and social care, and any other outside agencies involved with the learner, are invited to the meeting and consulted as part of the review.

The Graduated Approach

The academy uses a graduated approach to address the needs of its learners with SEND which takes the form of a four-part cycle ‘assess, plan, do, review’

Partnership with outside agencies

The Academy is proactive in identifying sources of support as learners develop through their school life. We seek to respond quickly to emerging needs and work closely with other agencies including:

  • Educational psychologists
  • Speech and language services
  • Social services
  • SEND Information and Advice Support Service (SENDIASS)
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
  • Hearing Impairment Team
  • Visual Impairment Team
  • Inclusive Learning Service

The SEND Information Report published on the academy’s website can be accessed by clicking on the link here: SEND Information Report

The Local Offer from the Local Authority can be accessed by clicking on the link here: Wirral Local Offer

Accessibility

There is access for emergency service vehicles at the front of the building and a member of staff will always meet any requested emergency service at this point.  

In case of emergency, we have a practised evacuation procedure that enables all occupants to leave the building and make their way to a designated assembly area away from the building, so that checks can be made to account for everyone on site. Staff are responsible for directing all occupants out of the building following the fire evacuation plan and checking that the area that they hold responsibility for is clear in the case of an emergency.

We have fire drills on a termly basis and test the fire alarm weekly.

There are clear evacuation instructions available for all to read which is also easily visually understood throughout the building for anyone with any reading difficulty, all fire exits are clearly marked on these instructions and the evacuation routes are clearly marked.

All doors are wheelchair accessible and accessible toilets are available.

The academy publishes an Accessibility Plan every 3 years which can be found here: Accessibility Plan

Admission Arrangements

No child will be refused admission to the academy on the basis of their special educational need, ethnicity or language need. In line with the Equality Act 2010, we will not discriminate against children with disabilities and we will take all reasonable steps to provide effective educational provision. See Admissions Policy.

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Arrangements for Transition

Mrs Shannon will lead on home visits for every family.  In addition to this, Mrs Shannon and the SENDCo will visit all feeder settings and collect information on all learners intending to come to this academy, including any learner identified as having SEND.

Learners with SEND and their parents/carers will be invited in to get to know the Academy prior to starting. Where possible, the SENDCo will make additional visits to feeder settings with high need SEND learners and attend Pre-Transfer Annual Review Meetings of any learners with EHCPs.

The SENDCo sends information regarding learners with SEND to any future settings and will be available to attend transition meetings as necessary.

Complaints

If there are any complaints relating to provision for learners with SEND these will be dealt with in the first instance by the SENDCo then, if unresolved, by the Head Teacher. The governor with specific responsibility for SEND may be involved if necessary. In the case of an unresolved complaint, the issue should be taken through the general Governors complaints procedure which can be found here: Co-op Academies Trust - Complaints Policy (2023)

Monitoring, Evaluation and Review

The Governing Body will review this policy annually and assess its implementation and effectiveness. The policy will be promoted and implemented throughout the Academy.

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