Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

What is a Special Educational Need?

A child has special educational needs if he or she has learning difficulties that call for special educational provision to be made.

Definition of special education needs taken from section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

A child has learning difficulties if he or she:

Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.
Has a disability which prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided for children of the same age in other schools within the Local Authority.

Invested Education work hard to support SEND students to flourish and reach their full potential. All learning here is underpinned by quality first teaching and differentiation.

At Invested Education we welcome everybody into our community. We believe that our community reflects that every child matters and should be provided with the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Every student has the opportunity to follow a range of National Curriculum subjects as well as following an appropriate GCSE curriculum.

We are committed to narrowing the attainment gap between SEND and non-SEND students. This may include one to one personalised learning interventions to boost knowledge and confidence in Maths and English, short-term intervention for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs as well as reactive intervention making sure no child is left behind.

If your child has a disability and you would like to know more about what we offer at Invested Education contact us on 01642 502224

The SEND Team is responsible for:

Coordinating all the support for students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEN Policy to make sure all students get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.

Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.

Updating the school’s SEN register (a system for ensuring all the SEN needs of students in this school are known) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs.

To provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help your child (and other students with SEN in the school) achieve the best possible progress in school.

Ensuring class teachers and pastoral staff are aware of the needs of individual students.

Advising class teachers and pastoral staff of recommended strategies to support individual students with SEN.

Ensuring that parents/carers are:
- - involved in supporting your child’s learning.
  - kept informed about the support your child is getting.
  - involved in reviewing how they are doing.
  - part of planning ahead for them.

The Class Teacher is responsible for:

Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and letting the SEN Team know as necessary.

Communicating specific targets and sharing and reviewing these with parents at Parents Evenings and Academic Review Days.

Providing specific feedback to your child on what they have achieved and how they can progress through regular marking of your child’s work.

Knowing the needs of the students and planning their lessons accordingly to meet these needs.

SEND: What We Offer

How will Invested Education decide if my child needs extra support?

The decision will be made by the class teachers and/or the SENDCo based on evidence of your child’s academic and personal progress. You and your child will be involved in deciding the next steps, and in setting targets to support your child.

What will the school do to support my child?

We will agree on specific targets for your child to work towards. These will be discussed at a formal meeting between the SENDCo and the parents/carers. Additional support, if required, will be organised by the SENDCo. This could be individual work, small group work or the use of specific resources. Any additional support will be recorded on the school provision map, showing support provided across the school. A review cycle will then be followed and reviewed a minimum of once a term.

Who will support my child in school?

Your child will continue to be supported through the pastoral system within the school. The tutor team will continue to have regular meetings with the student to discuss progress and set targets for the coming term. The SENDCo will offer additional support as needed. Teaching Assistants may be used in lessons to support your child.

Who else might be involved in supporting my child?

Where appropriate, outside agencies will be asked to support your child and the staff who work with them. These include:

Educational Psychologist
CAMHS
Autism Outreach Team
Occupational Therapist
Speech and Language Therapist
School Nurse
Specialist Learning Team
Youth Directions

How will my child be able to contribute his/her views? How will my child be involved in the process?

Your child will be asked to contribute to the cycle of ‘assess, plan, do, review’ at all stages. His/her views will be taken into account at all review meetings. This will be through a variety of ways, depending on the age, abilities and needs of your child. These could include: discussion with a teacher or the SENDCo, completing student views questionnaires as well as feeding back directly in the review meetings.

How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?

Students with additional needs will be offered an alternative curriculum if needed. Some students will take fewer subjects at Key Stage 4 and spend more time doing Maths and English lessons.

How does the school know how well my child is doing?

We track all student’s progress closely over the year. We measure the amount of progress made in every subject termly. Staff record in a central area each student’s current working level, attitude to learning and whether they are on, above or below target. We assess children using Key Assessments and Assessment for Learning throughout the school year. All of these are used to provide a clear and detailed picture of your child’s progress and attainment. All children have individual targets to support them in their next steps of learning in every subject area. Students who are having particular difficulties will be tested by the SENDCo using a range of Standardised Cognitive Tests.

What opportunities will there be for me to discuss my child’s achievements? How will I know how my child is progressing?

During the year you will be invited to attend Academic parent evenings. You and your child will be asked to make an appointment with the class teacher to discuss progress made to date.

How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?

All students are welcome to attend outside activities and we will endeavour to provide additional support if required to enable all students to attend. We have a regular programme of school trips, including trips related to current topics and other curriculum areas. Again, all students are encouraged to take part in trips and additional support will be included as needed.

How will the school prepare and support my child to transfer to a new setting or school?

At Invested Education we have a robust transition programme in place to support students moving into Further Education or into the Workplace. All pupils have a one-to-one meeting with an independent careers advisor in which they are encouraged to think about their future ambitions. During this meeting options for post 16 will be discussed. In Years 10 and 11 students take part in a number of activities to help them decide on what to do after leaving Invested Education These include:

Support and guidance provided from an independent advisor
Support and guidance provided by in house careers team
Visits to local 6th Form Colleges
Discussions with Apprenticeship providers
Help with College applications
Support writing a CV
Mock Interviews with local employers/colleges

How can I be involved in supporting my child in school?

You can support your child by:

Attending Parents’ Evenings
Encouraging your child to to keep up to date with online learning
Ensuring your child attends school regularly and is on time
Keeping school informed of any change of circumstances that may impact on your child’s wellbeing.

Send Assess, Plan, Do, Review

Assess

Information is used from a range of sources to identify Special Educational Needs.

These sources can include:

SATs results
Testing completed within Primary School
Standardised Tests
Internal Assessments
School Monitoring
Teaching Staff Feedback
Parents/Carers
External Agencies

Student assessment is ongoing and forms an essential part of teaching at Invested Education If, despite high quality teaching targeted at the area of need, a student does not make good or better progress the SENDCo will be informed and further support, or targeted assessment will be implemented.

We are keen to involve parents/carers as much as possible. Their views will be sought at the beginning of the process so that it can be ascertained if there are any external factors at play, that the school is not aware of, that might be hindering progress.

As a parent/carer if you have concerns regarding your child and Special Educational Needs please contact Emily Carr, SENDCo.

Further Information can be found using the following links:

Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration (JCQ Website)

SEND Code of Practice

Plan

All teaching staff at Invested Education work with and teach SEND students. It is primarily the responsibility of class teachers, with support from the SENDCo, to ensure individual needs are met. The SENDCo’s responsibility is to keep staff informed of any changes in circumstance and how to best support the individual student.

Students on the SEND register will take part in the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle, during which they will work with their key worker to set themselves targets and review their progress.

All students at Invested Education follow the National Curriculum however, for students with Special Educational Needs it may be necessary to provide an enhanced level of provision that supports and develops their learning abilities. Support may take one or more of the following forms:

The use of differentiated learning materials and/or specialised equipment
In-class support
Out of class support
Small group Literacy/Numeracy intervention
1-1 Literacy/Numeracy intervention
Access to external agencies, including LA services, for targeted support of individual students and/or advice on strategies, equipment and training.
Staff development aimed at improving and updating classroom practice in relation to SEN issues.

Communication and Interaction

Access to small group and/or individualised interventions to develop skills in communication, interaction, emotional awareness and flexible thinking.
Access to a ‘safe area’ which provides a quiet, low stimulus area.
Careful planning of transitions
Access to additional aids/services
Use of specialist outside agencies

Cognition and Learning

Regular, individually focused intervention
Increased access to small group support
Practical aids for learning, e.g. table squares, time/number lines, pictures, photos, accessible reading materials.
Increased access to ICT
Adaptations to assessments to enable access, e.g. use of a reader, scribe, practical assistant
Curriculum will be adapted to meet the learning needs of the individual student
Work differentiated by the teacher

Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties

Access to time out/individual work area
1-1 sessions with Key worker
Therapeutic intervention
Use of specialist outside agencies
Mentoring
Individualised reward system

Sensory/and or Physical Needs

School is fully accessible to all students
Access to outside agency specialist teachers/LSA for the hearing/visually impaired
Appropriate Access Arrangements such as a practical assistant, scribe, live speaker for exams where necessary.

Do

Students with SEND are fully integrated into all areas of the curriculum, and the high quality teaching at Invested Education ensures that the majority of students, including those with Special Educational Needs, make good progress. In-class support is provided where and when appropriate.

1 to 1 sessions are delivered by skilled Teaching Assistants, offering a wide range of individualised programmes to meet the needs of students. SEND students are encouraged to participate in all school activities and have equal access.

Review

Student assessment is an ongoing process at Invested Education. Data is collected regularly to track students’ progress and to ensure challenging targets are set. The SENDCo may also use a range of Educational and Cognitive Assessments to further assess a student’s Special Educational Needs.

EHCPs will be reviewed annually.

If your child has a disability and you would like to know more about what we offer at Invested Education contact us on 01642 502224.

Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Emily Carr.

(emily.carr@invested-education.com)

Please click here to view our SEND Policy document

Click on the logo below for the Redcar and Cleveland LA SEND offer: