SEND Information Report

1. What does having a special educational need mean?

The Code of Practice (2014) states that:

A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age;

or

• have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

• Where a child or young person has a disability or health condition which requires special educational provision to be made, they will be covered by the SEND definition.

2. Who is the person responsible for children and young people with SEND at Conyers School?

The SENDCO at Conyers School is Mrs Pack who will monitor, co-ordinate and evaluate provision for these students. She can be contacted at cpack@conyers.org.uk.

The SENDCO has day-to-day responsibility for the operation of the SEND policy and co-ordination of specific provision made to support individual students with SEND and medical conditions, including those who have a EHC plans. They also provide professional guidance to colleagues and will work closely with staff, parents/carers and other agencies. In addition they will:

• lead on planning for supporting students with medical conditions, meeting with parents/carers and health professionals to produce a Health Care Plan to disseminate to staff
• advise on the graduated approach to providing SEND support
• lead with EHCP: requesting assessments, coordinating meetings and meeting statutory deadlines
• produce, review and update the School Information SEND Report annually and School Offer
• work with the Local Authority on the Local Offer
• ensure that all records of students with SEND are accurate and up to date
• produce ‘Student profiles ‘ for all teachers of those with SEND to guide differentiation
• ensuring young people with SEND are able to engage in activities available to all students
• contribute to staff training
• analyse progress data after every Progress Review to identify patterns and implement
• advise on the deployment of resources to meet students’ needs effectively
• liaise with parents/carers of students with SEND
• Liaise with students with SEND ensuring their voice is heard
• liaise with external bodies, agencies and specialists being a key point of contact
• be a key point of contact and support for transitions of students with SEND providing enhanced arrangements as required
• work with the Head Teacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements
• Provide a point of contact for parents and carers of those students with SEND
• Evaluate the effectiveness of provision for students with SEND
• As the Designated teacher for LAC students, responsible for supporting all young people looked after by the LA. Additional arrangements and an accessible curriculum may be required for those who have SEND

Deputy Headteacher John Downs

Responsible for

• working closely with the SENDCO and Learning Support team

• act as a point of referral for the team

• analyse progress data with SENDCO to monitor significant groups and vulnerable students

• use this information to drive team decisions

• hold regular link team meetings

• liaise with the Head Teacher and governors concerning statutory responsibilities, resources and student outcomes

The Headteacher Louise Spellman

Responsible for

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

• Ensuring that your child’s needs are met, although she will give responsibility to the SENDCO and class teachers to achieve this.

• Making sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

SEN Governor: Mrs F. Johnson

Ensuring that statutory provision is made for children with SEND at Conyers School.

3. At Conyers School progress of all young people including those with SEND is the responsibility of:

The Subject Teacher: by providing excellent teaching and differentiation for all students, including those with SEND.

They will as part of this provision also:

• Monitor the progress of your child, identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need for them to achieve their full potential.

• Ensure that the guidance given on the student’s ‘student profile ’ is followed and targets are worked towards.

• Ensure that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom.

• Request intervention from the SENDCO where current intervention is not working.

Some SEND students may require additional support for emotional and social development. Extra pastoral support can be offered by Form tutor, Pastoral Manager, School counsellor and Learning Support Team.

4. How does the school identify that a child has a special educational need?

• The SENDCO and the Pastoral Manager responsible for Key Stage 2/3 transition will liaise with all primary schools to ensure that information on students is shared effectively, in line with the local authority transition protocol.

• At the start of Year 7 or on entry, the school will undertake relevant assessments of all students to ascertain their ability/difficulties and a profile of their needs. This information will be used alongside data from primary schools to ensure that students who may need additional support are identified.

• The SENDCO liaises with all staff and monitors the progress of students identified as not meeting required levels of progress as identified in the schools current tracking system.

• Students with additional needs are also identified to the SENDCO by staff if they feel there are concerns about a student’s learning.

5. Once needs are identified, a graduated response to supporting the student’s need will be initiated.

• SEND support will take the form of a four-part cycle through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined and revised with a growing understanding of the student’s needs and of what supports the student in making good progress and securing good outcomes. This is known as the graduated approach and consists of a four part teacher led cycle of: Assess – Plan – Do –Review. Students will be involved in this process and have opportunity to discuss their needs and progress.

• All teachers of a student receiving SEND Support will be made aware of the students profile . Where a student is receiving SEND Support the parents/carers will have the opportunity to meet with the school at least three times over the year, this will usually be with the class teachers or Form Tutor supported by the SENDCO.

• Where relevant the SENDCO will enlist the services of specialist professionals such as Educational Psychologists and Advisory Teachers.

• Details of each student with SEND including the nature of their learning disability, recommended teaching strategies, strengths and history of provision will be available to all teaching staff via the school SEND support register.

• Students with SEND all have a personalised ‘student profile’ which highlights the student’s areas of strength, needs and what intervention is necessary and how it is best delivered. All teaching staff will be made aware of this information and informed when any significant changes are made.

It is the responsibility of all staff to liaise with the SENDCO should they have any concerns that a student may have unidentified SEND.

6. Who are the best people to talk to in this school if I think my child might have a special educational need?

At this school we operate a graduated approach to student need. The vast majority of concerns can be dealt with by the Form Tutor who at Conyers is the first point of contact. If the concern persists the Form Tutor will signpost you to the most appropriate person to support you. Within school this maybe the student’s Pastoral Manager or the appropriate Head of Department, depending upon whether it is a pastoral or academic concern. If there are still concerns that needs are not being met or that progress is not being made, then any teacher can make a referral to the Learning Support Team and seek guidance from the SENDCO.

Specialist Individual support

This is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by the LA as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school alone.

Usually your child will also need support in school from a professional from outside the school. This may be from:

• Local Authority services such as the Learning and Engagement Team

• Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy Service, CAMHS

For your child this would mean:

• The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
• After the school have sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you) they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with SEND Support at school level and also set up a meeting in school to ensure a plan is in place to ensure your child makes as much progress as possible.
• The Statement or EHC Plan will outline the individual/small group support your child will receive from the LA and how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short term goals for your child.

This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are:

Severe, complex and lifelong.

7. What training or specialist expertise do our staff have around SEN?

The School places great value in the professional development of all staff. All staff receive a comprehensive induction to working at the School and SEND training is part of this staff development.

The SENDCO works closely with Senior Leadership to ensure that a range of training opportunities are available to both teaching and support staff throughout the year. This training is adapted to ensure that it addresses the needs of current students. The school has ensured that staff are trained in providing support for pupils with Dyslexia and Autism, Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment and the emotional well being of students is regarded at all times. The SENDCO has achieved an accreditation in working with students with specific learning difficulties and is an Associate Member of the British Dyslexia Association.

8. What further external support can school access to support children with SEN and their families?

Educational Psychologist

CAMHS

Occupational Therapy

Physiotherapy

Counsellor

Visually Impaired Advisory Service, Hearing Impaired Advisory Service

Youth Offending Team

School Health

Family Matters

In addition

The Stockton Parent Partnership is an independent and impartial organisation who can support parents/carers with Statutory Assessments, preparing for and attending meetings and accompanying them on school visits. They are also able to support parents/carers to reach agreement when issues are faced at school. They can be contacted on 01642 527158.

The Education Health Assessment (EHA) is a multi-agency approach which is used to support those families who are facing challenges, they can be contacted on 01642 526123.

9. How are parents/ carers and children with SEND supported to share their views and concerns and work alongside the school?

Conyers School recognises the need for parents/carers to be fully aware of their child’s progress and parents/carers are:

• Invited in to meet with the SENDCO three times a year to discuss the targets set for their child and any changes in circumstance.

• Parents/carers are emailed or contacted by telephone by the SENDCO if required to discuss student progress and are encouraged to contact the SENDCO if they have concerns.

10. Who is the person I should talk to if I have a concern about the support being provided for my child at the school? How can I share my concerns or make a complaint?

• Regular communication between home/school is essential and central to your child’s progress. This might be in the form of a phone call, letter, text, or email and we would encourage you to make contact at the earliest opportunity to discuss concerns.

• Your child’s Tutor, Classroom Teachers and Pastoral Manager are available to discuss progress, concerns, and share information about what is working well at home and school, so that similar strategies can be used.

• If you are not happy that concerns are being managed, please contact the SENDCO (Mrs Pack) or Mr Downs.

• Any formal complaints should be made through the Complaints Procedure as detailed on the school website.

11. Where can I find information about the Local Authority’s Local Offer for children and young people with SEND and their families?

The Local Authority’s Offer for children and young people with SEND and their families is accessible through their website.

Local Authority Local Offer

12. How does the school support children with SEND and their families when they join or leave the school?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a young person with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible. We will liaise with feeder and local schools to offer additional meetings, visits and preparation for children who find transition more difficult. We will enlist the support of external agencies, particularly Youth Direction to aid future planning at transition into post 16 and post 18 options.

13. Complaints procedure

In the first instance any complaint about the SEND provision within the school should be addressed to Mrs Claire Pack, SENDCO who will then consider this complaint and, if the matter cannot be dealt with satisfactorily, she will call upon the assistance of the Deputy Headteacher, Mr John Downs. If not resolvable at this level then the issue will be referred to the Executive Team.

Claire Pack

SENDCO

Updated: September 2019