SEND Policy

(Special Educational Needs & Disability)

Responsibility of all staff and Local Governing Body

Policy Author: Sally Spencer

Reviewed: April 2023

Approved By LGB:

Review: May 2024

Contents

1. School Context and Purpose of Policy

This policy complies with the statutory responsibilities laid out in the SEND code of Practice 0-25 which came into effect in September 2014. It has been written in conjunction with the SENDCO, Head Teacher and the SEN Governor.

Co-op Academy Bebington is a large 11-18 school. Currently there are 1119 students on roll of which 24.6% have been identified as having SEND and 51% are eligible for support via Pupil Premium funding.  The school operates a resourced based provision for 30 students with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD), funded by the Local Authority.

Co-op Academy Bebington is committed to working with parents, carers, agencies and the Local Authority to ensure appropriate support and provision is put into place in order for students to achieve and progress. It is recognised that the degree of SEND that might be found in a typical class can be considerable and we recognise this exists in our academy.

The policy therefore accepts the definition of SEN as set out in the SEND Code of Practice.

“A pupil has SEN when this Learning Difficulty or Disability calls for Special Educational Provision, namely provision which is different from or additional to that normally available to students of the same age.”

(Code of Practice 2014)

2. Aims & Objectives

At Co-op Academy Bebington, we are committed to fostering an atmosphere and environment for students with special educational needs and/or disabilities which ensures they feel safe and valued. Our intention is that students with SEND are supported and challenged to develop the skills and knowledge needed to enter adult life with the appropriate qualifications, independence and confidence to be successful. We have high expectations of all our students and work in partnership with parents / carers, relevant professionals, and external agencies, including the Local Authority, to ensure the best outcomes for all our young people.

At Co-op Academy Bebington we:

• Encourage students to take pride in their own learning and abilities.

• Identify and provide support for students with SEND.

• Ensure all students with SEND have access to a broad and balanced curriculum.

• Promote enjoyment and excitement in lessons and learning.

• Develop and improve practical literacy and numeracy skills for life.

• Support young people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties by teaching them strategies to manage their own needs.

• Develop social skills and metacognition skills.

• Ensure that students with SEND benefit from High Quality Teaching across the academy.

• Improve the knowledge and understanding of children and young people with SEND for all school staff, students and visitors.

Co-op Academy Bebington has a collaboration with Wirral Local Authority and we have a Resourced Provision Base for students with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD). Co-op Academy Bebington admits students to the MLD Base in liaison with the Local Authority when a student holds an Education Health and Care Plan with MLD as their primary need.

3. Responsibility for the coordination of SEND Provision

The Headteacher

Co-op Academy Bebington’s Headteacher, Ms Catherine Kelly, has overall responsibility for overseeing the provision for children with special educational needs and / or disabilities.

The Headteacher:

• Assisting in the development, monitoring and evaluation of the governor's policy for special educational needs
• Establishing success criteria
• Involving all staff and governors in SEND development
• Agreeing job descriptions with the SEND Team
• Establishing procedural guidelines for all staff

The Headteacher is able to fulfil these duties via:

• Giving SEND status in the SIP
• Working alongside the Assistant Headteacher SENDCo, Senior Leadership Team, the SEND Team and SEND Link Governor
• Working to establish procedures and maintain good practice in school

The Headteacher is the Line Manager for the SENDCo and works in partnership with the SEN and Pastoral teams to ensure effective communication and consistency of practice.

SENDCO

Miss Sally Spencer, Assistant Headteacher and SENDCo has strategic responsibility for SEND provision at Co-op Academy Bebington. As required by the SEND Code of Practice, Miss Spencer has completed the National Award for SEND Coordination and is a qualified SENDCo. For this policy and for clarity of meaning, the term SENDCO will be used throughout this document to refer to the day-to-day responsibility for the operation of the SEND policy and coordination of specific provision made to support individual students with SEND, including those who have EHCPs.

Deputy SENDCo

Mrs Christine Edge-Sayer , Deputy SENDCo is responsible for the day to day running of the MLD Resourced Provision and for the organistaion of Access Arrangements.  Mrs Edge-Sayer has completed the NASENCo qualification and is a qualified SENDCo.

The SEND Team

The SEND Team is responsible for the inclusion of all students with SEND in the school. Along with the Pastoral Team, they liaise with parents/carers and other external agencies to ensure this percentage of vulnerable students make progress.

• To promote the SEND Agenda within Coop Academy Bebington
• Oversee the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEND policy.
• Liaise with and advise colleagues.
• Coordinate provision for students with Additional Educational Needs to ensure they have full access to the curriculum and are socially included in the wider context of the school.
• Monitor and review the student’s progress and evaluate the impact of interventions.
• Ensure Pupil Profiles are written and available to all staff.
• Maintain the school’s SEND register
• Oversee the records on all students with Additional Educational Needs
• Liaise with parents of students with Additional Educational Needs
• Provide appropriate in-service training to staff and governors.
• Work with the Named Governor for SEND.
• Liaise with external agencies including the LA’s support and Educational Psychology Services, Health and Social Services and other voluntary bodies in the development of Additional Support Plans and Education and Health Care Plans.

The Link Governor

The governor with responsibility for SEND is able to fulfil his/her duties by making planned visits to school. During this time the governor has access to the Additional Needs files in school, and Pupil Passports. Consultation to take place with the SENDCO and the SEND Team with regard to students, systems and management. This can involve attendance at staff meetings and other school activities linked with SEND.

Pastoral Staff

The Pastoral Team are the key to gathering progress, attendance and behavioural data on SEND students. Joint meetings are held weekly between Pastoral Leaders and the SENDCo to discuss the progress of the SEND cohort and plan appropriate intervention. It may then become necessary to liaise with outside agencies, eg:

• Educational Welfare Officer
• Social Services
• Health Service and family doctors
• Educational Psychologist

Teachers

All staff at Coop Academy Bebington are teachers of students with SEND. The delivery of a whole school approach to SEND relies on each staff member taking responsibility and ensuring that all students have access to the curriculum.

Provision for students with special educational needs is a matter for the Academy. In addition to the governing body, the Aacdemy’s head teacher, SENDCO and learning support team, and all other members of staff have important operational responsibilities. All teachers are teachers of students with special educational needs. Teaching such students is therefore a whole-school responsibility, requiring a whole-school response. (6.2 Code of Practice)

Teachers:

• Identify and assess students causing concern through use of data and tracking.
• Ensure the right of all students to access the National Curriculum by planning suitable adapted resources.
• Set targets, plan work and review progress using Passport
• Liaising with SEND Team and PPLs
• Contribute to policy development and adaptations in line with current best practice.
• Are responsible for their own professional development via CPD

The teachers will be able to fulfil these duties via:

• Consistent monitoring of the progress of individuals against class/national norms. This process begins as soon as the students enter school. Any students causing concern will be monitored very carefully and evidence collected will be shared with the SEND Team.
• Ensuring that students with SEND receive a suitable differentiated curriculum, so that they are supported to participate fully in the life and activities of the school.
• The parents of every SEND student are kept fully informed about the progress and challenges for their child. The concerns and wishes of both parents and student will be taken into account at every stage.
• Time will be allocated at Departmental Meetings to discuss Additional Needs Issues. Teachers will be expected to contribute to meetings with outside agencies and to record the results of the meeting and the targets set.
• It is the responsibility of the class teacher to improve his / her skills for the teaching of SEND students by taking the opportunity to attend appropriate CPD offered both in school and externally.

Teaching Assistants

The school employs a team of nineteen Teaching Assistants with a range of qualifications. These include HLTAs and Teaching Assistants who are Key Workers for students with identified additional needs and also work with other vulnerable students who require support.

HLTA and Teaching Assistant responsibilities:

• Monitor and evaluate support given to SEND students and report to the Assistant Headteacher SEND.
• Liaise with teachers planning lessons re: effective deployment and performance of TAs.
• Support of students in class
• Deliver social skills group or other appropriate intervention.
• Attend faculty and pastoral meetings in rotation
• Liaise with parents / carers and other outside agencies in support of Social Inclusion Leader.
• Plan effectively and keep accurate records of interventions.
• Assist in writing, Annual Reviews, Pupil Profiles and Individual Learning Plans.

Teachers and curriculum leaders are expected to lead the wider support team of teaching assistants to ensure:

• Support staff respond appropriately to individual students’ needs.
• Support students in class and during the school day when appropriate to facilitate their inclusion into the life of the school.
• Assist in the identification of individual needs and help in providing effective strategies for inclusion.
• Adapt class and homework where appropriate.
• Support students with homework during study periods
• Teachers and TAs agree support strategies with reference to Pupil Profiles.
• To contribute to the evaluation of Pupil Profiles
• Support students entitled to extra provision in examinations
• Attend or contribute to students Annual Reviews.
• Liaise with the parents of students through the Home School Diary
• Attend appropriate courses and training as part of ongoing CPD.
• Intervention Support: TAs are attached to and deliver intervention programmes aimed at meeting a range of needs.
• In class support is used flexibly to address the needs of other vulnerable groups in addition to those with designated support.

We fully expect and encourage all non-teaching staff to be aware of and support students experiencing difficulties, for example. lunchtime duty supervisors will look out for vulnerable students in the queues.

Parents/Carers

The SENDCO and SEND Team will liaise with parents of students with SEND and encourage them to have an active role in their childs’ education. Parents play a key role in the education of their children and can help achieve success by;

1. Informing school about any specific needs their child may have upon entering school.
2. Being invited to contribute to their child’s profile.
3. Attending and contributing to review meetings (especially for students with a statement or EHCP).
4. Encouraged to support students at home with schoolwork and communicate any concerns and problems with relevant staff.
5. Attending and supporting other school events such as curriculum and intervention evenings.

4. Identification of SEND

A student has SEND when their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, that is different from, or added to, that normally would be available to students of the same age.

The SEND Code of Practice states that “every school is required to identify and assess the SEN of the pupils that they support” and that schools must “use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need” (p. 92).

Co-op Academy Bebington fully embraces this approach as part of its inclusive philosophy. The SEND Team, in collaboration with faculties and Teaching Assistants seeks to identify students making less than expected progress to consider whether the student has SEND.

This information is used by the SENDCO to identify where a student may be making less than expected progress.

To further support identification of possible SEND, the SENDCO uses a number of additional measures / information including:

• CAT Testing
• Reading Age Assessment
• Key Stage 2 Standardised Scores
• Specialist assessment such as LASS
• Consultation with Specialist Teachers
• Professional advice

Based on relevant information, the SENDCO will then decide whether to place a student on the School’s SEND Register. In some cases, a student may not need to be on the SEND Register, but there is additional information which teaching staff will find pertinent in planning Quality First Teaching. In this case, a student may be added to the SEND Additional Information Register to ensure staff have access to relevant information.

Where it is determined that a student does have SEND, parents/carers will be advised of this before inclusion of the individual on the School’s SEND Register. There are two stages on the SEND Register: SEN Support and EHCP. The aim of formally identifying a student with SEND is to help the school ensure that effective provision is put in place and so remove barriers to learning.

The support provided consists of a four-part process, as advised by the SEND Code of Practice, indicated below:

• Assess

• Plan

• Do

• Review

This is an ongoing cycle to enable the provision to be refined and revised as the understanding of an individual grows. This cycle enables the identification of those interventions which are the most effective in supporting the student to achieve good progress and outcomes.

5. Ensuring Access to the Curriculum for Students with SEND

The SENDCO and Senior Leadership Team are responsible for:

• Keeping staff fully informed of the special educational needs of any students including sharing progress reports, medical reports, and teacher feedback.
• Providing regular training and learning opportunities for staff in all departments on QFT strategies.
• Ensuring in-class provision and support are deployed effectively to ensure that the curriculum is differentiated where necessary.
• Ensuring individual or small group tuition is available where it is felt that students would benefit from this provision.
• Setting appropriate individual targets that motivate students to do their best and celebrating achievements at all levels.

Co-op Academy Bebington follows a whole school approach to SEND where all teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the students in the class, including where students access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff (Code of Practice 6.36)

High quality teaching which is planned and differentiated for individual students is the first step in responding to students who have or may have SEND.

We will regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all students, including those at risk of underachievement. The SEND Team undertakes regular observations in lessons to support teachers in planning effectively to meet the needs of students with additional needs.

This includes reviewing and where necessary, improving teacher’s understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable students and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered. (6.37)

To decide whether to make SEN provision, the teacher, in partnership with colleagues with responsibility for SEND, will consider all the information collected within school regarding the students’ progress, comparison with national data and expectations of progress. This will include high quality and accurate formative assessments using information gained from the school’s assessment, recording and reporting systems.

For students regarded as having a higher level of need we will conduct further in-depth assessment and where necessary, draw on the advice, support and further assessments from external agencies and professionals (to draw up an Additional Support Plan).

This process will also include early discussion with the student and their parents/carers. These discussions will be structured to ensure there is a good understanding of:

• the students’ areas of strength and difficulty.
• The parents’ concerns.
• The agreed outcomes sought for the student and next steps.

Notes taken at the meeting will be included with the students’ records as part of the school information system and a copy given to parents.

A clear date for reviewing progress will be agreed and the parent, student and teaching staff will be clear about how the student will reach the expected outcomes.

The overriding purpose of this early action is to help the student achieve the identified outcomes and remove any barriers to learning.

6. Inclusion of students with SEND

The Headteacher, Ms Catherine Kelly, oversees Co-op Academy Bebington’s policies to ensure that they are inclusive, including the School’s Admissions Policy, and is responsible for ensuring that it is implemented effectively throughout the school. The curriculum is regularly reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that it promotes the inclusion of all students. This includes learning outside the classroom and offsite provision. All students attending Co-op Academy Bebington are offered a wide range of extra-curricular events, which are accessible to students with SEND. There are a range of daily lunchtime activity clubs and after-school activities, including some which offer specific support for vulnerable learners and students with SEND.

7. External Agencies

If following a review, there continues to be concern, despite access to different interventions and support then, with the agreement of parents the school may involve specialists from outside of school, for example, specialist teachers, educational psychologists.

Advice secured because of the involvement of external agencies should be followed and reviewed as part of the assess, plan, do, review cycle and in partnership with parents.

8. Transition

Co-op Academy Bebington has close and well-established links with a number of ‘feeder’ primary schools in the local area and younger students are regularly invited into the Academy for primary liaison events to build their confidence in a secondary school environment.

We recognise and understand that for children with SEND and their parents, transition to secondary school may present unique challenges and anxieties. The Year 7 Pastoral Leader and SENDCO work closely with primary colleagues to share key information and strategies for children with SEND.

All primary schools are visited during the Summer Term before transition and several information-sharing meetings attended, including Wirral’s SENDCO Primary to Secondary Transition Meeting.

Where appropriate, the Academy works with primary SENDCOs and teaching staff, parents/carers and children to identify specific pre-transition support required. This can include individualised tours / visits to the Academy, ‘taster’ lessons and introductions to key staff in order to facilitate a smooth transition to Year 7. The Academy also works in collaboration with further education providers in the local area to ensure that transition to further education is successful. Where a suitable post-16 / post-18 setting has been identified, information-sharing meetings are arranged in collaboration with parents and young people to ensure that appropriate preparation can be planned.

9. Working in partnership with parents

Co-op Academy Bebington believes that a close working relationship with parents and carers is vital to provide the best possible outcomes for each child. The SEND Team may signpost parents/carers of students with SEND to additional support services as necessary. If an assessment or referral indicates that a student has additional learning needs the parents and the student will always be consulted with regards to future provision. Parents are invited to attend meetings with external agencies regarding their child and are kept up to date and consulted on any points of action drawn up in regard to the provision for their child.

Parents and carers of all children with SEND are signposted to Wirral LA’s Local Offer: https://localofferwirral.org/.

The Local Offer contains a range of relevant information about support services and voluntary sector organisations which offer advice, guidance and resources for children with SEND and their families.

10. Complaints

Arrangements by the governing body for considering complaints from parents of students with SEN relating to provision made at school.

The SENDCO, an appropriate member of the SEND Team and the Headteacher are available to discuss any problems regarding students with additional educational needs. At Coop Academy Bebington, the principle of partnership‟ is adopted and parents are encouraged to be active participants in their child’s education. Parental concerns are treated with respect and regarded as vital in the development of good practice for all students in our school.

Should the matter be unresolved, the Senior Leadership Team will involve the appropriate outside agencies.

11. Links with other policies

This policy links with our policies on:

• Children with Health Needs Who Cannot Attend School Policy
• Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions Policy
• SEND Information
• Climate for Learning for Learning Policy
• Equality and Accessibility Policy
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy