SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY (SEND) POLICY
Owners: Heads of School
Reviewers: SENCO, Primary Learning Support Coordinator, Head of Secondary and Head of Primary
Approved by President: Yes
Date approved: February 2022
Next review due by: September 2025
CONTENT
1. PURPOSE
Introduction
Aims and Objectives
2. POLICY Guidelines External School Action
The Role of the SEND department at BSB Working with Parents and Pupils Implementation of the policy
Identification of SEND SEND register
Access to the National Curriculum Inclusion Assessment Support Complaints Procedure
1. PURPOSE
Introduction
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy seeks to reflect the school’s aims and to value every individual equally whilst providing opportunities for all students to:
• fulfil their potential;
• develop confidence and self-esteem enjoy and value learning;
• develop personal responsibility and respect.
Aims and Objectives
The fundamental objective of the school’s SEND policy is to provide a supportive framework within which pupils requiring assistance are:
• identified;
• assessed;
• assisted;
• monitored.
Special Needs encompass (UK SEND Code of Practice 2014 including updated version 2020)
• speech, language and communication;
• cognition and learning;
• sensory;
• social, emotional and mental health.
We aim to identify and meet these special educational needs, which can be mild to severe, short or long term.
2. POLICY
Guidelines
When staff identify that a pupil has Special Education Needs Disabilities (SEND), teachers in consultation with the SENCO and Primary Learning Support Coordinator, devise interventions additional to or different from those provided as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum.
Subject and Class Teachers in almost all cases remain responsible for working with the pupil on a daily basis and for planning and delivering an individualised programme.
The SENCO and the Primary Learning Support Coordinator could take the lead in:
• planning future interventions for the pupil in discussion with relevant colleagues and parents;
• monitoring and reviewing the action taken;
• devising an Individual Educational Plan in conjunction with class teachers and specialist teachers;
• coordinating the involvement of the school Counsellors and SEN Assessor
External School Action
In severe cases when a child has been identified with needs greater than the differentiated lessons planned by teachers and the IEP devised by the SENCO and Learning Support Coordinator students can be supported externally by speech therapists, other professionals or our part time Educational Psychologist as available at additional cost. An assessment can be conducted by an SEN Assessor within BSB and comes at an appropriate cost. The School may also deem it necessary to employ the services of a 1:1 Teaching Assistant to support the student in and out of lessons at an additional cost which would be determined by the School and in consultation with parents. Further details can be found in the 1:1 TA policy.
The Role of the SEND department at BSB
There is one full time SENCO in Secondary. In addition, there is also a full time Primary teacher with responsibility for Learning Support for Primary. There is also an Educational Psychologist available to provide further advice.
SENCO and Primary Learning Support Coordinator:
• identify and screen pupils with special needs with the help of the SEN Assessor.
• isupport identified students in class via SEND teaching Assistants, and/or in small withdrawal groups where appropriate (Accelerated Learning Classes);
• icoordinate the involvement of the School Counsellor throughout school;
• iwork with classroom teachers to further develop their classroom methods of differentiation to ensure that students are suitably supported, extended and challenged;
• iprovide training for staff on aspects of special needs as appropriate. All training including SEND is recorded on BlueSky.
• iprovide advice on appropriate strategies to meet students' needs;
• iset up structures to monitor and report on the progress and development of individual students;
• icoordinate the involvement of SEN teaching assistants in Primary and Secondary;
• iwork with class teachers to devise appropriate targets for IEPs;
• imeet parents as appropriate or as required.
Working with Parents and Pupils
The SENCO, Primary Learning Support Coordinator and all other staff have an important role in developing positive and constructive relationships with parents. It is the role of the SENCO and Learning Support Coordinator to ensure IEPs created for pupils are reviewed and discussed regularly with parents and pupils to ensure that progress towards set targets are assessed.
The SENCO, Learning Support Coordinator and class teachers should also take into account the views and wishes of the pupil in the review process and ensure that pupils fully understand their assigned targets. It is also recognised that all pupils with SEND should be offered a broad, balanced and relevant education, including all the appropriate parts of the National Curriculum.
Implementation of the policy
Identification of SEND
Information is gathered from a variety of sources including:
• referral forms
• end of year assessments (PTE/PTM)
• Target tracker
• KS2 SATs / KS2 transfer information
• all members of staff (Tutors, subject staff, teacher assistants)
• CAT4 test and PASS testing
• SEN observation/assessment
• School Counsellor observation/
SEND register
The SEND register, giving details of intervention, is maintained by the SENCO/ Learning Support Coordinator and it is updated regularly.
Pupils who are formally assessed as requiring support are placed on the SEND register. These pupils are monitored and their IEPs reviewed termly.
Role of School Counsellor
The school counsellor is a full-time () member of the SEND department who can provide counselling support and assessment assistance. as part of an agreed action plan. For further specialist testing the school holds a SEN Assessor. Their timetable will be devised with the guidance of the SENCO/ Learning Support Coordinator to make sure that:
• all Key Stages are covered
• observations take place
• feedback is recorded and given to parents which should be signed upon receipt.
• advice to teachers is provided.
Access to the National Curriculum
All subjects should deliver the National Curriculum to pupils of all abilities, including pupils with Special Educational Needs. Access to the National Curriculum is achieved through differentiation of lessons and Schemes of Work. All teachers are expected to teach their subject to pupils of all abilities. In Service training reminds teachers of the wide variety of strategies available to them.
Inclusion
All pupils on the SEND register are fully included in mainstream school life at BSB where appropriate. This includes behaviour management and all aspects of identified need are reasonably accommodated through adjusted access or support. Every pupil is in a mixed ability class in Primary and form group in Secondary. All pupils are encouraged to take part in all aspects of school life; sport, drama and music competitions, educational visits and all extracurricular activities. Special needs pupils are encouraged to take part in CCAs and University courses.
Any withdrawal lessons for 1:1 tuition are carefully planned to minimise disruption to other curriculum subjects. Students with SEN are integrated in the class with appropriate support in place and in curriculum areas where mixed ability grouping is appropriate.
More Able and Talented (MAT) students are also considered as SEND. A MAT coordinator is in post in both the Primary and Secondary school. The MAT coordinator maintains the register for these students and implements interventions that allow these students to achieve their full potential. The MAT register is split into subject areas to recognise all areas of high ability.
Assessment Support
The Heads of Primary and Secondary, in conjunction with the Examinations Officer seek to ensure that appropriate examination concessions are granted for certain pupils across the key stages. The SENCO and Learning Support Coordinator makes sure that the students with SEND have access to support, as appropriate, for Assessment in every Key Stage.
Complaints Procedure
Complaints regarding Special Educational Needs pupils will follow the same procedure as with all other pupils and will involve the SENCO, Learning Support Coordinator, Class teacher, Form Tutors and SLT.