SEND Information Report 2020/21

At Akrotiri School we aim to provide an inclusive education in which all children and young people are encouraged to flourish and achieve their full potential.

Quality first teaching is an essential element in this, along with the recognition that some children will require additional or adapted provision to minimise barriers to learning and maximize progress.

The school’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Policy can be found on the school website at: www.akrotiri.school

The progress of all children is the responsibility of the class teacher; with the support of the SENDCo and Senior Leadership Team.

We provide for a variety of SEND needs:

Our school currently provides additional and/or different provision for a range of needs, including:

• Communication and interaction, for example, supporting speech and language difficulties
• Cognition and learning, for example, dyslexia friendly approaches
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties, for example, PSHE lessons and attention difficulties support strategies
• Sensory and/or physical needs, for example, visual impairments, hearing impairments

The SEND provision available at Akrotiri School:

Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the pupils in their class. High quality teaching is our first step in responding to pupils who have SEND. This will be differentiated for individual pupils.

• Quality first teaching
• Small group in-class support
• Specific interventions tailored to individual needs (1:1 or in small groups) led by either a teacher, learning support assistant, specialist teacher or other outside agencies, including Educational Psychologists
• Adaptations to the learning environment
• Access arrangements for exams (when a specialist report identifies a need)
• For children with additional medical needs, a care plan is drawn up in consultation with parents/carers, the child and appropriate medical professionals

 Identifying pupils with SEND and assessing their needs:

We 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 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 SEND. 

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

 Consulting and involving pupils and parents:

We have an early discussion with the pupil and their parents when identifying whether they need special educational provision. These conversations ensure 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 formally notify parents when it is decided that a pupil will receive SEND support. Targets are recorded on a child’s Individual Learning Plan (ILP), then shared with the pupil and parents and signed by class teacher and parents.

Assessing and reviewing pupils’ progress towards outcomes:

We follow the graduated approach and the four-part cycle of assess, plan, do, review. 

The class teacher works closely with the SENDCO (Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator) to carry out a clear analysis of the pupil’s needs. This draws on:

• The teacher’s assessment and experience of the pupil
• Their previous progress and attainment and behaviour
• Other teachers’ assessments, where relevant
• The individual’s development in comparison to their peers and national data
• The views and experience of parents
• The pupil’s own views
• Advice from external support services, if relevant

The assessment is reviewed regularly.

All teachers and support staff who work with the pupil are made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided, and any teaching strategies or approaches that are required. We regularly review the effectiveness of the support and interventions and their impact on the pupil’s progress.

 Supporting pupils moving between phases and preparing for adulthood:

We use our best endeavours to ensure all relevant information is passed between schools as quickly as possible.

• When needed, staff from the previous or following school are contacted so that key information can be shared.
• Additional transition days may be set, dependent on individual circumstances.
• Additional emotional support may be provided where appropriate. Children are given the opportunity to make a memories book of Akrotiri School as well as researching information about their new school.

 Adaptations to the curriculum and learning environment:

We make the following adaptations to ensure all pupils’ needs are met:

• Differentiating our curriculum to ensure all pupils are able to access it, for example, by grouping, additional adult support, teaching style, content of the lesson, etc.
• Adapting our resources and staffing
• Using recommended aids, such as laptops, coloured overlays, visual timetables, larger font, etc.
• Differentiating our teaching, for example, giving longer processing times, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, reading instructions aloud, etc.
• Using visual timetables to support routine.
• Quiet space within the classroom when needed.

 Additional support for learning:

Additional adult support is provided in classrooms dependent on the needs of individuals or groups of children. The environment is designed to support children with individual needs e.g. visual timetables, individual workstations etc. as required.

We have teaching assistants who are trained to deliver interventions such as Sound Discovery, Numicon, Catch Up, Precision Teaching

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

• Educational Psychology & Advisory Specialists (EPAS)
• Health Visitor
• Speech and Language Therapist
• CAMHS
• Children’s Nurse
• Social Worker
• Paediatrician
• GP

Expertise and training of staff:

• The SENDCo and teachers all have experience of working with and supporting children with SEND
• The LSAs are all trained to deliver specific support programmes and work under the guidance of the SENDCo and support services
• Within the school, we have a culture of sharing good practice and expertise; this enables us to ensure our staff have as much knowledge as possible within the field of supporting children with SEND

 Facilities:

The school buildings are all on one level, with several gated access points.

• Disabled toilet facilities are located in our Foundation Stage building.
• There is a disabled parking space in the car park at the front of school and next to the Foundation Stage building.
• As a need arises, the school will always investigate the possibility of reasonable adjustments to facilitate inclusion and, when viable, implement them.

Evaluating the effectiveness of SEND provision:

We evaluate the effectiveness of provision for pupils with SEND by following the graduated response Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle:

• Using provision maps to monitor impact
• Using in-school progress data to monitor progress
• Looking at SEND pupils’ individual progress towards their goals each term
• Using pupil questionnaires/pupil voice
• Asking for parental views
• Monitoring by the SENDCO and Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
• Reviewing the impact of interventions after an agreed number of weeks
• Holding annual reviews for pupils with SCANs

Enabling pupils with SEND to engage in activities available to those in the school who do not have SEND:

• All of our extra-curricular activities and school visits are available to all our pupils, including our after-school clubs
• All pupils are encouraged to go on our residential trip(s)
• All pupils are encouraged to take part in sports day/school plays/special workshops, etc.
• No pupil is ever excluded from taking part in these activities because of their SEND

Support for improving emotional and social development:

We provide support for pupils to improve their emotional and social development in the following ways:

• We are an inclusive school that holds a child’s development as a rounded individual as a priority 
• The class teacher has overall responsibility for the pastoral, medical and social care of every child in their class 
• Our Pastoral Team support children with social, emotional & mental health needs. This may be through work in class, small groups or on an individual basis. They provide support with transition, detachments, bereavement and friendships. The SENDCO and Pastoral team are W+ELSA trained.

Working with other agencies:

As a school, we work closely with any external agencies that we feel are relevant to supporting individual children’s needs within our school including: partner support services (including an educational social worker; educational psychologist and specialist advisory teachers), speech and language therapists, GPs, school nurse, health visitors, paediatric nurses, CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) and paediatricians.

Complaints about SEND provision:

Complaints about SEND provision in our school should be made to the SENDCO or Headteacher in the first instance. They will then be referred to the school’s complaints policy.

 

Contact details for raising concerns:

SENDCO: Mrs Lindsay Winslade

[email protected]

 

Headmaster: Mr Ben Turner

[email protected]

 

Contact details of support services for parents of pupils with SEND:

Med Centre Tel- 00357 25 276553

CAMHS Tel- 00357 99618315

Health Visitor Tel- 00357 2527 5832

Social Worker Tel- 00357 2527 5840

 

Monitoring arrangements

This information report will be reviewed by the SENDCO/SLT and SGC (School Governance Committee) every year. It will also be updated if any changes to the information are made during the year. 

Links with other policies and documents

 

This policy links to our policies on:

• Special Educational Needs and Disability
• Accessibility plan
• Behaviour
• Equality information and objectives
• Supporting pupils with medical conditions
• Complaints

SEND Governor

Delyth Moylan

Date:

28/01/2021

 

Date of next review:28/01/2022

Please use this link to see our full policy: Akrotiri School Policies