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SEND Information Report

SEND Information Report

                         

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Prepared By

LMc SENDCO

Authorised By

AGC

Published Location

School Website

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Version Number

Date issued

Author

Update information

2

17/04/2024

LMc

  1. What kind of Special Educational Needs are catered for at Co-op Academy Hillside?

Co-op Academy Hillside is a mainstream academy that provides an education for all children who are part of our academy family. As per The SEND Code Of Practice 2015: birth to 25 years, special educational needs and provision can fall under four areas:

  1. Communication and interaction
  2. Cognition and learning
  3. Social, emotional and mental health needs
  4. Sensory and / or physical difficulties

  1. How do we identify children with special educational needs and how do we assess their needs?

All children in our academy are continually monitored and are assessed termly.  A teacher will identify where a child is not making adequate progress, despite High Quality Teaching.  Where necessary, class support or interventions to support pupils will be put in place at the earliest opportunity.  We will communicate with and support children and their families through this process.  It is our aim that all children will reach their full potential.

Assessment

We will gain evidence from the following:

  1. Information on pupil progress, attainment and behaviour, teacher assessments and individual’s development in comparison to their peers.
  2. Parent’s views will be taken into consideration at parents’ evenings, SEND review meetings and child / teacher interaction on a regular basis.
  3. The child’s views will be considered through child / teacher interaction.
  4. External agencies advice when appropriate.

Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by the class teacher, SENDCo and Head Teacher. If your child requires additional support, a Learning Plan will be put in place and your child will be given specific targets to work on which will be formally reviewed at least 3 times per year. Sometimes this will involve a standardised test which will give a score that can be translated into an age-related expectation.  Parents and children contribute to their individual Learning Plans, as working in partnership with families is of paramount importance at Co-op Academy Hillside.  Each child on the SEND register will have a One Page Profile in place that explains the best ways to support them.

  1. Who is our SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator)?

Mrs Leanne McGowan

You can contact her on 0151 677 9960  or you can email her at hillside-office@coopacademies.co.uk  

Our SEND Governor is Ms Jennifer Murphy  who can be contacted via the academy office.

  1. How accessible is our academy both indoors and outdoors for young people with special educational needs and / or disabilities? (Our Accessibility Policy)

Our school building is on one floor and fully wheelchair accessible.  Designated disabled parking spaces are marked in the school grounds and there are accessible changing and toilet facilities located by the dining hall.  

Where necessary, pupils have personal evacuation plans due to medical reasons.

  1. What is our approach to teaching children and young people with SEND?

Children’s needs are assessed and class teachers plan lessons with all groups of children in mind and will ensure that the curriculum is adapted to suit the needs of individuals.  Your child may have additional adults working with him / her both inside and outside of the classroom to help him / her achieve progress.  

The class teacher will adapt the curriculum to help all children gain access to the learning.  Ways in which this may be done are:

  • Differentiated / adapted tasks according to ability
  • Additional adult support
  • Simple instructions
  • Task cards
  • Use of kinaesthetic, visual or auditory resources
  • Outside agency advice and specific programmes depending on the needs of the individual.
  • Classrooms can be adapted, for example, we may use a workstation or a quiet area and areas outside of the classroom are used for specific programmes.
  • There is a disabled toilet with a changing facility.
  • Extra-curricular provision is accessible to all children with SEND.

Where necessary, we will adapt our curriculum to suit the individual needs of the children with a high emphasis on developing social skills.  It is always our aim to provide the children with strategies to enable them to cope within an inclusive setting.

  1. How do we involve and support parents of children with SEND?

The class teacher and SENDCo will work closely with parents and will have meetings to discuss any concerns you may have.  In some situations, we will use a home-academy book to assist with communication so that you will be kept updated on a regular basis.

We will hold a minimum of 3 termly review meetings where you will be involved in discussions about your child’s progress and the setting of new targets.  You will also be involved in the annual review meeting if you have a child with an EHC plan.  Parents will share their knowledge about their child through completing the transition document.

  1. How do we involve children with SEND in shaping their education and future?

Staff will discuss a child’s progress with them and the child’s views will be taken into consideration when discussing progress and target setting.

A child’s views will also be considered at the annual review process and when the class teacher is completing their One Page Profile.

  1. What are our areas of expertise in supporting children with SEND and how do we secure the expertise of others?  What training have we had as staff?

All of our staff have been trained to deliver High Quality Teaching.  We use external agencies to deal with a particular difficulty a child may have and these can include:

  • Speech and Language Therapists
  • Autism Team
  • Edsential – Special Educational Needs Support Service
  • School Nurse (confidential appointments and support are available from the school nurse. Parents can request an appointment to meet with the school nurse.)
  • Educational Psychologists – We access the Educational Psychology services. The psychologist will generally meet with the parents for an initial consultation. He/ she will offer advice for the academy and parents/ carers on how to best support the pupil in order to take their learning forward.
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Adoption Support
  • Parent Partnership
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS)
  • Mental Health Support Team
  • Early Years Specialist Support Team
  • Paediatricians
  • Hearing/ Vision Support (Wirral Sensory Service)
  • Family Support Workers
  • SENAAT (Special Educational Needs Assessment Advice Team)
  • Gilbrook Outreach

Staff are kept up to date with training through staff meetings and training delivered by either external agencies or our SENDCo.   Our staff have also had training on providing Dyslexia friendly classrooms and different strategies that can be used for children with reading and spelling difficulties.

  1. How do we evaluate the effectiveness of the provision made for children with SEND?

All children are assessed and their progress is continually monitored as well as pupil progress meetings on a termly basis.  This is then reviewed with parents, children and relevant staff.  The interventions and support will also be evaluated and reviewed to ensure maximum progress is being maintained.

  1. How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including academy trips?

We provide a fully inclusive education for all children and that includes learning opportunities outside of the classroom.  Children with SEND will be included on our trips and we will provide all we can to help all children attend.  This could include providing your child with an adult to help them or a slight change to the events planned to help your child be included.  Parents of children with SEND can have informal meetings with the class teacher to ensure that all activities would be suitable for their child.

  1. How do we support the emotional and social development of our pupils with SEND?

All of our children are important to us which is why we provide a holistic approach to nurture their social, emotional, health and well-being as well as their academic progress. We will be introducing an identification system to baseline any potential SEMH needs using a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire so we can monitor their needs as they grow and develop. We will help those with emotional and social difficulties through small step interventions and encourage peer interaction and support.

  1. How will we prepare and support your child moving to or from our academy? How do we help prepare children for adulthood?

We communicate very closely with both Secondary and Early Years settings to help our children.  We offer additional visits and meetings for parents for those children who will find the transition more difficult.  Within our academy, children will have transitional half days to help them get used to their new class at the end of each academic year.  All relevant paperwork is passed on to the Secondary Schools and SENDCos from each establishment will liaise regarding children’s specific needs.

We work towards our children becoming responsible citizens and being able to contribute positively to society.  We take this into consideration when planning learning opportunities to help them achieve this and through our Co-op Academy Hillside curriculum.  

We offer the Mini Pathways programme to all of our year 6 children and this provides them with a wealth of activities based around peer pressure and how to make good decisions for themselves.

  1. How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?

The academy budget includes money for supporting children with SEND.  The SENDCo and Head Teacher will speak with all class teachers and formulate a whole academy provision map.  The Academy Governors and Head Teacher examine this and decide the SEND budget depending on the needs of the children.  This will include resources, training and support to be offered.  This information is reviewed on a regular basis and changes are made when needed.

  1. How can I let the academy know if I am concerned about my child’s progress in the academy?

Initial complaints should be directly raised with the class teacher as most concerns can be quickly ironed out at this stage.

All complaints regarding SEND provision follow the academy’s complaints policy.

If the complaint remains unresolved, the complaint can be forwarded to our Head Teacher.  The complaint may be directed by the Head Teacher to the Chair of Governors and/or the Governor for SEND.  

Parents will also be advised of their right to refer matters of dispute to the Disagreement Resolution Service.        Should action need to be taken the complaints procedure will be followed.

Wirral’s SEND parent partnership is a useful resource and can be accessed on the link below:

http://www.wired.me.uk/Parent-Partnership.asp 

  1. How do we involve other bodies, including health and social care bodies, local authority support services and voluntary sector organisations, in meeting children and young people’s SEND and supporting their families?

We work closely with a range of external agencies, please see the list in Section 8.

We signpost families to additional services to help gain the support they may need.  The Local Authority’s Local Offer can be accessed via our website and this service signposts parents, carers and school staff to a wide variety of external support and services.

Our families also have access to our Inclusion Manager, Ms Michelle McLaughlin.  She will provide support where needed and signpost you to agencies that can help – a problem shared is a problem halved.

We hope these have answered any queries you may have but do not hesitate to contact the academy if you have further questions or if you require any specific information not enclosed in this document. We will always endeavour to help.

Roles and responsibilities of the Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCO)

Our SENDCO is responsible for the operation of the Special Educational Needs Policy and co-ordination of specific provision made to support individual children with SEND. We liaise with staff to monitor the pupil’s progress and plan further interventions where progress is slower than expected. We regularly have contact with a wide range of external agencies that are able to give more specialised advice. If you have any concerns regarding SEND matters do not hesitate to contact us. There are many SEND terms that are abbreviated which you can find in the glossary.

  GLOSSARY

ADD

Attention Deficit Disorder

ADHD

Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder

ASC

Autistic Spectrum Condition

BESD

Behavioural Emotional & social difficulties

CAF

Common assessment Framework

CAMHS

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service

COP

Code of Practise

EAL

English as an Additional Language

EP

Educational Psychologist

EHCP

Education, Health and Care Plan

EWO

Educational Welfare Officer

FSM

Free Academy Meals

HI

Hearing impairment

IBP

Individual Behaviour Plan

LP

Learning Plan

KS

Key Stage

LAC

Looked After Child

LEA

Local Education Authority

PT

Physiotherapist

MLD

Moderate Learning Difficulty

OT

Occupational therapist

SALT

Speech & Language Therapy

SEN

Special Educational Needs

SEND

Special educational Needs & Disability

SENDCO

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator

SpLD

Specific Learning Difficulty

VI

Visual Impairment

ODD

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

PDD

Pervasive Development Disorder

EHCP

Education Health and Care Plan