Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Policy

Policy details

Date created - 18.9.2021

Date reviewed - 29.9.2022 and 25.10.23

Next review date - October 24

Contents

Policy details

1 Children’s Human Rights

2 Introduction

2 Objectives

2 Identification and Review of pupils with SEN or additional needs

3 What are special educational needs?

3 SEND CoP 6.15

3 Definition of Disability

4 Equality Act 2010

4 Coordinating and Monitoring Inclusion

4 Working together with pupils and families

5 Graduated approach to SEND

6 Assess, Plan, Do, Review process

9 Allocation of Resources for Pupils with Special or Additional Needs

10 Possible increased vulnerability

10 Transitions

11 Pupils who are at risk of exclusion - see Behaviour Policy

11 Children who are Looked After (CLA)

11 Facilities for pupils with sensory and physical needs

12 Pupils with Medical needs

12 Responsibility of Academy Governing Council

Children’s Human Rights

UNCRC Article 23 All children have the right to special care and support.

UNCRC Article 28 All children have the right to an education.

UNCRC Article 29 Education should develop a child’s personality and talents.

Introduction

At Co-op Academy Smithies Moor we are committed to giving all our children every opportunity to achieve their highest standards. We do this by taking into account pupils' varied life experiences and their individual needs. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum and have high expectations of all our pupils. We ensure that all pupils are supported to reach their full potential – socially, emotionally and academically, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, social background, physical ability or educational needs, through high-quality teaching and learning. Co-op Academy Smithies Moor aims to be an inclusive school. We aim to maintain and extend the academy’s culture, policies and practices of inclusion for all learners. The SEND policy details how, at Smithies Moor, we will do our best to ensure that the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has special educational needs and disabilities and that those needs are known to all who are likely to work with them.

We follow the statutory guidance published in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 0 - 25. A copy of this can be found here.

We have a whole academy approach to SEND policy and practice. Children identified as having SEND are supported to access all aspects of school life. The SEND Code of Practise 2014 makes it clear all teachers are teachers of pupils with additional needs.

School staff have frequent opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge in Special Educational Needs through in-house CPD and INSET days, external courses and training events.

Objectives:

In order to provide for the needs of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), we seek to:

● Work within the guidance provided in the SEND Code of Practice 2014. ● Ensure equal value for all children.

● Ensure the progress of all children through access to a relevant, broad and balanced curriculum.

● Maintain good home/academy links.

● Ensure early identification and assessment of pupils with SEND and put in place appropriate provision for pupils who have additional needs.

● Operate a whole pupil, whole academy; approach to the management of the provision of support for special educational needs.

● Maintain links with outside agencies in identifying, assessing and providing for the needs of children with SEN.

● To ensure that parents / carers have a clear understanding of how the school supports children and young people with SEND and their own involvement in this.

● Ensure that policies and provisions are monitored and reviewed on a regular basis and are updated accordingly.

Identification and Review of pupils with SEN or additional needs

What are special educational needs?

A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age. Making higher quality teaching normally available to the whole class is likely to mean that fewer pupils will require such support. Such improvements in whole-class provision tend to be more cost-effective and sustainable.

SEND CoP 6.15

Children and young people are identified as having SEND if they do not make adequate progress through high-quality teaching that is well differentiated in the classroom. We actively seek to remove the barriers to learning and participation that can hinder or exclude individual pupils or groups of pupils. We will use reasonable endeavours to secure specialist provision for pupils for whom this is required, ‘that is additional to and different from’ that provided within the differentiated curriculum to better respond to the four areas of need identified in the new code of practice.

The Code of practice defines four broad categories of SEN, which are:

Communication and interaction

Social-emotional and mental health

Cognition and learning

Sensory and/or physical needs

Definition of Disability

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’.

Equality Act 2010

The Code of Practice develops this definition, to include sensory impairments, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEN.

Coordinating and Monitoring Inclusion

The SENDCo for Co-op Academy Smithies Moor is Mrs Gemma Shaw. Mrs Shaw is fully qualified with the NASENCo award.

The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCO) works closely with the headteacher to implement this policy day to day, and co-ordinate the provision for pupils with SEND throughout school. The school’s SEND register consists of pupils who have been identified by the class teacher in consultation with the SENDCo as having significant learning needs that require ‘additional and/or different provision.’

The SENDCo, Mrs Gemma Shaw is responsible for:

● Coordinating all the support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and developing the schools SEND policy to ensure all children get consistent, high quality teaching to meet their needs in school.

● Monitor high quality inclusive classroom practice and provision for pupils with SEND.

 ● Ensure that you, as parent / carer, are involved in supporting your child in their learning, are kept informed about the support your child is receiving and are fully involved in the monitoring, reviewing and setting of targets alongside your child, school and other outside agencies.

● Ensure the SEND register is accurate and up to date.

● Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in school so they can help your child (and other pupils with SEND in school) achieve the best possible progress in school. ● Meet with class teachers 1:1 every half term to discuss pupils and provision. ● Liaise as appropriate with the Headteacher following Pupil Progress meetings, with regards to pupils with SEND, monitoring their achievement.

● Oversee records for pupils with SEND and ensure class teachers complete and follow pupil support plans and agreed QFT approaches.

● Complete referral documentation for specialist external agencies.

● Submit applications for additional funding for pupils with SEND (where applicable) ● Liaise as appropriate with, and organise support from, external agencies. ● Research the purchase of evidence based interventions and evaluate their impact. ● Regularly meet the Inclusion/SEND Governor - at least termly.

● Line manage the team of teaching assistants and facilitate their continued professional development and performance management.

● Complete annual review paperwork for pupils who have an EHCP and chair termly meetings, submitting recommendations to the relevant local authority.

● Write and publish the academy’s annual SEND information report.

Working together with pupils and families

It is crucial that parents feel valued as knowing their child best and confident their child’s needs will be met in school.

● Parents and carers' insights are welcomed and valued.

● Parents/carers are encouraged to meet with class teachers if they have concerns about their child. You are able to book an appointment to meet with the class teacher and where appropriate the SENDCo will attend.

● Likewise, parents/carers are kept informed of any concerns about a pupil’s special educational needs by the class teacher.

● Parental consent is sought prior to a pupil being placed on the school’s SEND register. ● Pupil support plans are co-produced with involvement from staff in school, pupils and parents. Parents/carers are invited to a termly meeting to discuss, review and where applicable set new targets for their child - this may be part of a parents evening/review day. This may take place via an online platform such as google meets or phone call due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

● Pupil passports are produced from the perspective of the child. Where appropriate, the child is involved in the setting of targets on their support plan.

Graduated approach to SEND

Pupils’ needs are met through the graduated approach, consisting of three waves of intervention:

High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN. Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching.

(SEND CoP 6.37)

Therefore there is a strong emphasis on Wave 1, promoting high quality teaching and tailoring classroom environments to be as inclusive as possible. It is felt that the majority of the children who attend Coop Academy Smithies Moor will have their learning needs met in Wave 1, Quality First Teaching.

Class teachers plan effectively to enable pupils with a range of abilities to access the curriculum and make progress ensuring that barriers to learning are identified and overcome, whilst still providing challenge.

The curriculum for pupils with additional needs including SEND can be flexible and differentiated according to need. Provision maps show who is benefitting from support at each wave. The following is a list of some of Smithies Moor provision at all 3 waves:

Assess, Plan, Do, Review process

Where a pupil is identified as having SEND, schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place.

(SEND CoP 6.44)

Co-op Academy Smithies Moor adopts a four stage process of assess, plan, do and review. The assessment stage takes place during Wave 1, where class teachers identify where a child is not making expected progress and highlight it with the SENDCo in a meeting. Parents are involved in discussions and consent gained for their child to be placed on the school’s SEND register, categorised on SIMS as ‘K - SEND Support’. Class teachers complete a pupil support plan, which outlines the additional provision as part of Wave 2, as well as documenting the universal wave 1 provision that they have accessed. Short term outcomes are agreed with parents and child and set. If, when reviewed after one or more cycles, it is found that the additional provision has not succeeded in sufficiently accelerating progress the pupil requires more individualised support at Wave 3, and specialist advice may be required. We may then work with you as parents to produce a document called a My Support Plan. This details more closely the needs of child and sets a more comprehensive set of targets with a higher level of support. Class teachers hold the responsibility for evidencing progress according to the outcomes described in the support plans. Conversely, pupils may only require short term intervention, and be removed from the SEND register if additional provision is no longer needed following review.

Links to specialist support services

Where a pupil continues to make less than expected progress, despite evidence-based support and interventions that are matched to the pupil’s area of need, the school should consider involving specialists, including those secured by the school itself or from outside agencies.

(SEND CoP 6.58)

Evidence of differentiated approaches at Wave 1 and 2, for at least 2 terms, is the minimum requirement before the SENDCO can make a referral for specialist support services. Smithies Moor has links with the SEND team at Kirklees called SENDACT (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Assessment and Commissioning Team) and other outside agencies to provide support and advice to enable the school to meet pupil needs effectively. These included Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology, Occupational Therapy, physiotherapy and CAMHS. Information and evidence of provision and impact is essential, as evidence of the graduated approach is needed to meet the threshold for a referral being accepted.

Allocation of Resources for Pupils with Special or Additional Needs

There is an expectation that schools will be able to meet the majority of children’s needs through the notional SEN budget. Support for pupils with SEND will be allocated through the use of available funding in school. When there is a high level of need we can apply to the Local Authority to request an assessment of the child’s needs and then it goes to a panel to decide if they require High Needs Top up Funding. EHCPs can only be requested after two rounds of assess, plan, do, review unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Possible increased vulnerability

We understand that pupils with SEND may have increased vulnerability. In safeguarding pupils with SEND we consider the following:

● Some pupils with SEND have communication needs which could restrict them from telling a trusted adult about any harmful behaviour

● Some pupils with SEND could be more at risk of bullying

● Some pupils with SEND could require intimate care

● Some pupils with SEND may not be able to recognise abuse

● Some pupils with SEND are dependent on adults for their care

We put measures in place to reduce these risks. This includes ensuring all pupils have a trusted adult and a form of communication.

Transitions

Transition plans for children with additional needs are well considered and robust in ensuring they support the young person to make a positive and successful transition to their next phase of education. Support can include additional visits to the setting, additional meetings with key people at their new setting and handover of key information and documents. Meetings between school SENDCos also take place in the summer term to discuss the needs of pupils transitioning.

Pupils who are at risk of exclusion - see Behaviour Policy

The behaviour of pupils who are at risk of exclusion is closely monitored. Behaviour is carefully considered in line with possible underlying special educational needs which may have not been identified. Where SEMH needs are known, reasonable adjustments to the policy will need to be made. Short term targets are set which are monitored and reviewed by a member of the Leadership Team, class teacher and the pupil. These may take the form of a daily target sheet. Advice and support from outside agencies is sought to support both the pupil and school. If required the pupils will have an Individual Risk Assessment and a Positive Handling Plan.

Children who are Looked After (LAC)

As a school we seek to work in partnership with parents, carers, Kirklees council, Health and Social Services. All looked after pupils will have their needs assessed regularly. Specific needs will be identified and individual targets set in a Personal Education Plan. This is initiated by Social Services and the school has a significant input into these plans and are required to monitor and report back during annual review meetings. (See Children Look After (CLA) Policy)

Facilities for pupils with sensory and physical needs

We encourage you to come and look around the facilities of Coop Academy Smithies Moor. Additional resources are allocated in accordance with needs. Where applicable, liaison takes place with specialist health providers such as Physiotherapists and Occupational therapists and the school is willing to make reasonable adjustments in line with their recommendations.

Pupils with Medical needs

The school ensures pupils' medical needs can be met and seeks the appropriate support and training required to support individual pupils. Please refer to the ‘Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs, Children with Health Needs who cannot attend school policy and our Intimate Care policy.

Responsibility of Academy Governing Council

It is the responsibility of the Academy Governing Council to ensure that:

● The Governors are involved in reviewing and monitoring the academy’s SEND policy. ● All Governors are knowledgeable about the schools provision for pupils who have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.

● Academy finances are spent wisely and meet the needs of pupils with SEND ● Inclusion is part of the Academy Development Plan (ADP) and that training and development needs of all staff are identified and addressed.

● The annual SEND report is approved by the Governors and published in a timely manner. Dealing with complaints

● If a parent wishes to complain about the provision or the policy, they should, in the first instance, raise it with the SENDCO, who will try to resolve the situation and follow the procedures in the Trust’s Complaints policy found here.

These policies relate to the school’s provision for those with additional needs: Looked after children and recently looked after

Supporting pupils with medical needs

Children with health needs who cannot attend school

Accessibility plan

Intimate care policy

Anti-Bullying Policy

Originally adopted: September 2021

Review: 25.10.23

Approved by AGC: