SEND Information

Pupils’ needs and requirements may fall into at least one of four areas, though many pupils will have interrelated needs. Special educational needs and provision can be considered as falling under four broad areas:

Communication and interaction.

Students with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every student with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives. Students with Autism, including Asperger’s Syndrome, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication, social interaction and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.

Cognition and learning.

Support for learning difficulties may be required when students learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where students are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where students are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment. Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH).

Students may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. Pupils may be withdrawn or isolated, disruptive and disturbing, hyperactive and lack concentration, present with immature social skills and/or present challenging behaviours. Other students may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

Sensory and/or physical needs.

Some students require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many students with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Students with MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties, which makes it even more difficult for them to access the curriculum or study programme than for those with a single sensory impairment. Some students with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.

Where possible we will try to meet every child’s needs within the classroom through ensuring that our planning, teaching and approaches meet the needs of the majority of the children in our school. However, where through careful identification and assessment we and/or the parents/carers determine that a child is not making adequate progress, the class teacher will consult the SENCO. These are pupils who need interventions additional to or different from those provided through - Quality First Teaching and intervention groups.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines a disabled person as one who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a persons’ ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Most children with Special Needs will not be disabled within the meaning of the Act. The admission of pupils with disabilities is considered in the first instance in the same way as non-disabled pupils. Further considerations are made in the light of need and accessibility. Steps are taken to prevent any pupils being treated less favourably than other pupils.

In practice we ensure that classroom and extra-curricular activities encourage the participation of all pupils, including those categorised as having Special Educational Needs.

Existing facilities provided to assist access to the school by pupils with disabilities;

• Wheelchair access at all entrances and sections of the school.
• Exterior lighting to improve evening access.
• Disabled Toilet located near to main reception and disabled parking is available at the main entrance.
• Disabled adaptations to the Food Technology Room
• Disabled personal care room
• Lift access allowing access to all curriculum areas
• Accessibility Plan

The accessibility plan can be found on the school website. Hard copies are available on request.

We will assess each pupil’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, which will build on previous settings and Key Stages, where appropriate. Class teachers will make regular assessments of progress for all pupils and identify those whose progress:

• Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline.

• Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress.

• Fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers.

• Widens the attainment gap.

This may include progress in areas other than attainment, for example, social needs.

Slow progress and low attainment will not automatically mean a pupil is recorded as having SEN.

When deciding whether special educational provision is required, we will start with the desired outcomes, including the expected progress and attainment, and the views and the wishes of the pupil and their parents. We will use this to determine the support that is needed and whether we can provide it by adapting our core offer, or whether something different or additional is needed.

At St Edmund Campion Catholic School, we use a variety of different ways to assess whether a student has special educational needs. Some of these ways include:

• Screening tests on entry (including in-year admissions).

• School based assessments.

• Liaison with primary schools and/or previous educational settings.

• Progress monitoring.

• Information from parents and carers.

• Concerns raised by a student, parent or school staff.

• Liaison with external agencies.

• Formal diagnoses by a healthcare professional.

All subject teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the students in their class, including where students access support from support staff or specialist staff. Students are only identified as SEN if they do not make adequate progress once they have had appropriate intervention/adjustments and good quality differentiated teaching. High quality teaching, differentiated for individual students, is the first step in responding to students who have or may have SEN.

Our school regularly and carefully reviews the quality of teaching for all students including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable students and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered. In order to decide whether to make special educational provision for a student, the teacher and SENCO consider all of the information gathered from within the school about the student’s progress, alongside national data and expectations of progress. Once a student is identified as having a special educational need, they are placed on the SEN register and a graduated approach to support is taken.

The SEN Code of Practice (2014) sets out a graduated approach response to meeting pupils’ special educational needs. This involves a cycle of “Assess, Plan, Do and Review.” The student’s needs will first be assessed, then support will be planned, carried out and then reviewed. At the review any necessary changes will be made.

When a pupil’s progress is first identified as a cause for concern then it is the responsibility of the Class Teachers to adjust their teaching and consider the following:-

• Quality first teaching - adapting teaching in the classroom to address needs / vary teaching styles / use of access strategies.

• Involving the SENCo.

• Use of relevant material as signposted by SENCo to keep up to date re knowledge and understanding of dyslexia, communication and language difficulties, autism and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

• Involving parents/carers.

• Gathering pupil views.

• Liaising with colleagues.

An Individual Support Plan with individual targets for each pupil is set which will then be monitored and reviewed termly. Parents will be sent this at the end of each term and their views regarding future provision are sought through the use of person-centred approaches.

If the pupil is achieving the targets and making good progress, the support may be adjusted, if not, then the school will look at additional forms of provision to support the identified need. The class teacher will also provide interventions that are additional to or different from those provided as part of the settings usual curriculum offer and strategies.

The triggers for additional intervention could be the teacher’s or others concern, underpinned by evidence, about a pupil who despite receiving differentiated learning opportunities is still making little or no progress even when teaching approaches are targeted particularly to a pupil’s identified area of weakness. Where progress is slow and the pupil is not responding to the provision made by the school then the school may increase the level or change the type of provision being offered.

Following discussions with the parent and pupil, outside agencies may be consulted for additional advice. Involvement of External Support Services, including those provided by Access to Education, will usually see a pupil, in school if that is appropriate and practicable, so that they can advise teachers on pupil profiles with new targets and accompanying specialist approaches.

What provision is made for students with these needs and how does the school know the provision works?

Area of need

Communication and Interaction

Cognition and Learning

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Sensory and/or Physical

Students with medical needs (Statutory duty under the Children and Families Act)

Students with significant medical needs will be provided with a detailed Individual Health Care Plan, compiled in partnership with health care professionals and parents and students themselves. Staff who volunteer to administer and supervise medications, will complete formal training regularly. All medicine administration procedures adhere to the LA policy and Department of Education (DfE) guidelines included within Supporting students at school with medical conditions (DfE) 2014 and identified in the school ‘Administering Medication in School’ policy.

Our school is fully accessible for students with physical difficulties. There are ramps and two lifts to access upper floors. One toilet has been adapted into a wet room to ensure accessibility for students and visitors with disabilities. A medical room is available for students and visitors with disabilities. Our Accessibility Plan describes the actions we have taken to increase access to the environment, the curriculum and printed information.

The school receives funding to respond to the needs of students with SEND from a number of sources that includes:

• A proportion of the funds allocated per pupil to the school to provide for their education called the Age Weighted Pupil Unit.

• The Notional SEN budget. This is a fund devolved to schools to support them to meet the needs of students with SEND.

• For those students with the most complex needs and EHC plans, the school may be allocated additional educational needs funding from the Local Authorities Top-up SEN Funding allocation. The funding is then used to provide the equipment and facilities to support students with SEND, as seen in the table above.

• The Pupil Premium budget may also be used to support students with SEND where appropriate.

If you have a concern about your child the best person to talk to, initially, is their subject teacher or head of year.

• 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 SENCo know as necessary any concerns.

• Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

• Referring to Pupil Profiles to inform planning and differentiation as part of high-quality teaching.

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

• Ensuring that as parents/carers, you are:

• involved in supporting your child’s learning.
• kept informed about the support your child is getting involved in reviewing their progress.
• Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning for example; Pupil and School Support, Communication and Autism Team, Educational Psychology, Forward Thinking Birmingham and other external agencies.
• Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs.
• Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in the school achieve the best progress possible.

In our school we also have a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, known as the SENCo. The SENCo in our school is Mrs E Taintey. She can be contacted via:

Telephone: 0121 464 7700 (extension *2627), email: tainteye@stedcamp.bham.sch.uk

If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress, you should speak to the Headteacher.

• The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.

• He will give responsibility to the SENCo and subject teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.

We pride ourselves on building positive relationships with parents. We are open and honest with parents and hope that they are able to be the same with us. However, if, after speaking to the Headteacher, you are still not happy that your concerns are being managed and you would like to take the matter further please refer to guidelines in the school’s complaints procedure.

If you have a complaint about the school please contact the SENCo in the first instance and we will do everything we can to respond to the complaint. If this does not resolve the issue, the complaint should be directed to our Head teacher. Our school and governing body take complaints seriously and will act upon these on an individual basis.

In our school we believe that all staff should be involved in supporting students with special educational needs and so we make sure that staff have training to help them do this.

This year, our staff have all had training for:

• Teaching and Learning
• Child Protection
• Safeguarding
• Feedback to students
• SEMH
• Attachment Awareness
• Trauma
• Prevent training

As well as this, various staff have been trained for different aspects of special educational needs including:

• The National Award for SENCOs
• Jumpstart (BEP)
• Lead practitioner training in Autism
• Qualified First Aiders
• Emergency treatment for Diabetes
• Lexia training
• Dyslexia
• Autism
• Hearing impairment – Sensory Support
• Specific Autism Training

Our SENCo oversees all support and progress of any child requiring additional support across the school. The subject teacher will oversee, plan and work with each child with SEND in their class to ensure that progress is made. There may be a Student Support Assistant working with your child either individually or as part of a group; if this is seen as necessary by the SENCo.

We will have an early discussion with the pupil and their parents when identifying whether they need special educational provision. These conversations will make sure that:

• Everyone develops a good understanding of the pupil’s areas of strength and difficulty.

• We consider the parents’ concerns.

• Everyone understands the agreed outcomes sought for the child.

• Everyone is clear on what the next steps are.

• We will formally notify parents when it is decided that a pupil will receive SEN support.

Our school has an open-door policy to parents ensuring we are always approachable so parents feel involved in the education of their child. In addition, our school aims to regularly involve parents in the education of their child through a variety of different ways including:

• Meetings with our SENCo, subject teachers and support staff (both in person and using online technologies such as Teams and Zoom).

• If your child is on the SEN register and receiving additional support, individual support plans (ISP’s) are sent home termly to update parents on their child’s progress and get parents views / comments.

• Termly target setting so parents can see what their child is working on next.

• The weekly newsletter to inform parents of important school information.

• Parent Forums.

• Information on the school website.

• Parents’ evenings.

• Parent drop-ins/coffee mornings.

• Signposting to parent groups.

• Parents’ views on SEN/Annual Review documents.

• Parent questionnaires.

• Review Days.

Parents are encouraged to arrange an appointment to discuss their child’s progress with the subject teacher, the form tutor, head of year, or the SENCo at any time when they feel concerned or have information they feel they would like to share that could impact on their child’s success.

We will have an early discussion with the pupil and their parents when identifying whether they need special educational provision. These conversations will make sure that:

• Everyone develops a good understanding of the pupil’s areas of strength and difficulty.

• We consider the parents’ concerns.

• Everyone understands the agreed outcomes sought for the child.

• Everyone is clear on what the next steps are. We will formally notify parents when it is decided that a pupil will receive SEN support.

For students with special educational needs we use a variety of strategies to support this including:

• Person Centred Reviews.

• Student involvement in setting their own targets.

• Student target review meetings.

• Self-assessment.

• Having a range of equipment available for the student to choose to use.

• Ensuring the student has a designated adult to go to if they need help.

• Membership of the school council.

• One-page Student Profiles.

• Medical alert cards and medication passes.

• Visual timetables.

• Prompt cards to promote independence.

• Time out cards.

• Student questionnaires and ongoing student voice though academic mentoring.

We have 11 teaching assistants who are trained to deliver a range of interventions such as JumpStart, Social Skills, Reading and Spelling, SEMH and Autism.

Teaching assistants will support pupils on a 1:1 basis when required.

Teaching assistants will support pupils in small groups when undertaking specific interventions such as Social Skills groups.

We work with the following agencies to provide support for pupils with SEN:

• Communication and Autism Team

• Pupil and School Support Service

• Physical Difficulties Support Service

• City of Birmingham School

• FTB (Forward Thinking Birmingham)

• School Nurse and other Healthcare Professionals

• Educational Psychologists

The Birmingham Special Educational Needs & Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) offers impartial information, advice and support to children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities. (https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info)

The service is impartial, confidential, accessible and free.

The SENDIASS team is available from 8:45am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.

Telephone: 0121 303 5004 Email: sendiass@birmingham.gov.uk

The SEN Parent Partnership service exists to provide advice and information to parents and students in Birmingham. They can explain the special educational needs procedures, help parents understand the law and procedures and provide information on other issues that may be useful.

The SEN Parent Partnership can be contacted on 0121 303 5004 or at senparentpartnership@birmingham.gov.uk

We aim to make times of transition as easy as possible for students with special educational needs. Before starting at St Edmund Campion Catholic School, we:

• Meet with the student and their parents to talk about their needs and answer any questions about our school at our Open Evenings or EHCP reviews.

• Meet with staff at the student’s previous school or setting.

• Provide additional transition days in addition to our Year 6 Induction Day for some students, where they meet a year 7 buddy and create a transition book that has photographs of the key staff and areas around school.

• Read reports from people who have worked with the student.

• Provide any adults working with the student a one-page profile or student information through the Student Support Directory describing the things that help to support them in school.

When preparing for adulthood and independent living, we:

• Hold a person-centred review and invite key staff from the new setting.

• Talk to key staff at the new setting about things that help the young person to learn well and be happy.

• Arrange extra visits to the new setting with a member of staff from our school if that is what the young person wants.

• Talk to the young person and their family so we can answer any questions they may have about the new setting.