Special Educational Needs Policy

 

Policy Statement

Lavington School is committed to recognising the abilities and needs of all students. Through the identification of students’ learning difficulties, the teaching and learning (and the curriculum) is shaped to meet their abilities/aptitudes.

 

Objectives

• Identify, assess and plan provision to meet the individual needs of students experiencing difficulties in their learning
• Monitor, record and report on the progress of students experiencing difficulties with their learning
• Co-ordinate the efficient use of resources and support the efforts of staff to meet more effectively the needs of those students experiencing difficulties with their learning
• Promote access to a balanced and broadly based curriculum, including the National Curriculum
• Develop and encourage opportunities for partnership with feeder primary schools and external agencies
• Develop and encourage opportunities for partnership with parents
• Implement and follow the SEN Code of Practice
• Ensure the implementation of the social inclusion policy

 Arrangements for the implementation and success of the SEN Policy

 

Identification

Early information on students about to transfer to secondary school is vital if an effective and smooth start at the new school is to be achieved. Before a student enters the school, effective primary liaison will have identified those students who have been of concern in year 6. The Learning Support Manager will have visited those students experiencing difficulties with their learning in their primary schools.

 

Primary reports, Cognitive Ability Tests and reading and spelling tests are used to enhance the identification of any special educational need. This information is shared with staff at the beginning of the academic year. Staff can at any time alert the Learning Support Manager or the teaching assistants to any problems a student may be experiencing.

 

Once a student has been identified as having a special educational need and some form of support is initiated, h/she is placed on the Special Needs List at School Action. The Special Needs List is amended to include new students and is disseminated to teaching staff.

Students already in the school who become a concern because of their behaviour are referred to the Pastoral Team.

 

Monitoring

Students’ progress is monitored regularly. The Learning Support Manager meets with the teaching assistants weekly to discuss any issues concerning those students on the Special Needs List. Discussions also take place with parents, either via Parents’ Evening or telephone conversations or when parents visit the school. Students on School Action plus and those with a Statement, have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which is drawn up by the Learning Support Manager after liaising with staff and the teaching assistants. The IEPs are then circulated to departments within the school for dissemination to subject staff who teach the named students. The IEPs are reviewed annually or more often where necessary.

 

For students who have a Statement of Educational Needs an Annual Review Meeting will be carried out as laid down in the Code of Practice. Parents and representatives from outside agencies as well as the local authority may attend these meetings. Reports of findings are then circulated to all concerned.

 

Support

Support is provided to integrate those students with a special educational need into mainstream classes

• Support is allocated to some individual students who have specific problems
• Support can be offered to students who show inappropriate behaviour

 

Support can be:

by way of help in the classroom

• by withdrawal, either in small groups or individuals
• by providing information on students

 

Students identified as having a problem with numeracy and literacy are taught in small sheltered groups for all their Maths and English lessons, but by staff who have no training in special needs teaching.

 

Effective support depends on clear communication and co-operation between all staff concerned in targeting students who need help.

 

Links with Parents and Outside Agencies

During the summer term, contact with the feeder primary schools with students with special educational needs is arranged. The Learning Support Manager will talk to staff and meet the students. Where appropriate, visits to Lavington for students with special educational needs will be arranged. At the new Year 7 Parents Evening in July, the Learning Support Manager will be available to speak to all new parents. Parents who have concerns are able to make appointments to discuss their concerns prior to the student’s transition in September.

 

At the Year 7 Parent/Tutor evening, held early in the Autumn Term, the Learning Support Manager will attend, to deal with any concerns from parents which have arisen since term has begun.

 

The Learning Support Manager encourages any parent to make an appointment to discuss their concerns about their child’s needs during their time at Lavington School.

 

The Learning Support Manager works closely with the careers representative advising her about the special educational needs students’ requirements.

 

The Local Education Team (LET) brings together the services of the Education Welfare Officer and the Educational Support Team, (including the Educational Psychologist.) The Learning Support Manager also has regular contact with the representatives from the Physical Impairment, Hearing Impairment and the Speech and Language Service.

 

A representative from the Young Persons Support Service (YPSS) visits the school on a regular basis to support students with behavioural problems. Lessons are observed, behaviour management techniques are suggested and one to one counselling sessions take place. Multi-agency meetings are held in school regularly throughout the year.

 

This support from the various outside agencies helps the school and the department to maintain the objectives as stated at the beginning of the policy.

 

 

The Learning Support Team

The Learning Support Team currently consists of ten teaching assistants. Most of the teaching assistants, in the main, work within one area of the curriculum which enables them to build positive working relationships with the teaching members of that department and to build up specific subject knowledge.

 

Teaching assistants manage Paired Reading, Brain Gym and Maths catch up sessions which take place in the morning before and during registration periods. Students whose reading age is well below their chronological age are given Catch Up Reading sessions twice weekly. A small number of students are withdrawn from their language lessons to take part in an intensive Corrective Reading Decoding strategies programme.

 

Teaching assistants are encouraged to use their knowledge, skills and specialisms in order to support those students who encounter problems in their learning.

 

Lavington offers all teaching assistants opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge to support our students more successfully through in-house and external professional training. Time and guidance is provided for the fulfilment of these courses.

 

Success

The criteria for the successful implementation of the policy will be the fulfilment of the policy objectives.

 

Governor responsible: John Badgery (Chairman of Students’ Committee)

 

Person responsible for day-to-day co-ordination: Julie Broomfield (Learning Support Manager)

 

Policy Review

This policy is reviewed annually by the Students’ Committee, the Learning Support Manager and the SEN Governor and is to be implemented with regard for the Race and Diversity policy.