SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS and DISABILITIES (SEND) POLICY

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS and DISABILITIES (SEND) POLICY

1.  STATEMENT OF INTENT

At Hodgson Academy we are committed to meeting the special educational needs of students. The academy’s aims are as follows:

•  To develop confident, emotionally intelligent, independent and enterprising young people who take charge of their own destiny.

•  To provide a climate of high expectations where students work hard and are engaged in acquiring and applying knowledge to deepen their understanding.

•  To release the full potential of all our learners, fostering a culture of life-long learning and enabling all to be successful.

•  To provide a safe, supportive, health conscious and sustainable environment in which all learners can flourish, enjoy and achieve.

•  To ensure all young people understand the rights and responsibilities of being an active, caring and valued member of our diverse, dynamic, global society.

•  To take a leading role in the transformation of education locally, nationally and internationally.

2.  ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Governing Body has identified a governor to have oversight of special educational needs provision in the academy and to ensure that the full governing body is kept informed of how the academy is meeting the statutory requirements. At Hodgson Academy, this role is undertaken by Mr C McConnachie.

Mrs R Townley, Senior Assistant Principal, Student Services, is the SENCO and she is responsible for the provision of support for students with special educational needs and disabilities at the academy.

The SENCO works closely with The Learning Support Manager, Mrs L Beaumont and The Pastoral and Inclusion Manager, Mrs S Fox to ensure the effective day to day operation of the academy’s SEND policy.

a The Role of the Principal

The Principal has overall responsibility for the provision of education to students with special educational needs and disabilities.

b The Role of the SENCO

The role involves working the Senior Leadership Team and Governing Body to determine the strategic development of the SEN Policy and quality provision in the academy to raise the achievement of students with SEND across the curriculum. This will be done by contributing to new initiatives undertaken by the academy. In addition, the SENCO is responsible for maintaining and developing the work of the structures and systems in Student Services, including Learning Support. In order to achieve this, the SENCO will:

·  promote the importance of the role of the Learning Support Department with all staff in school and ensure that its work is high profile and valued by staff, students and parents.

·  ensure that all staff are confident in their ability to plan for and meet the needs of students with SEND.

·  be actively involved in the induction programme of new staff, NQTs and Trainee Teachers to ensure that they are familiar with SEND procedures and are confident in their ability to meet the needs of students with SEND.

·  liaise with subject specialists, Student Progress Coordinators and Teaching Assistants with regard to the identification, and assessment of students with SEND and the development of Individual Education Plans.

·  overseeing students’ SEND records.

·  manage the work of the Learning Support Manager and the Pastoral and Inclusion Manager.

·  oversee the work of specialist SEND Teachers

·  liaise with the Senior Leadership Team.

·  support subject specialists in dealing with students with SEND.

·  regularly review the progress of students with Individual Education Plans.

·  oversee the KS2/3 and KS4/5 transitions for SEND students by liaising with partner Primary Schools and Post 16 providers, in conjunction with the Senior Leadership Team, the Student Progress Coordinator for Year 7 and 11, the Learning Support Manager and the Pastoral and Inclusion Manager.

·  become involved with and, where appropriate, lead developments in whole school initiatives linked to student welfare and guidance. This includes anti-bullying, child protection, attendance and behaviour.

·  liaise with local special schools, Children’s Social Care, School's Psychological Service, Lancashire Inclusion and Disability Support Service, The Alternative and Complementary Education and Residential Service (ACERS), Young People’s Service and other external agencies who may have a professional interest in students.

·  liaise with parents/carers of students with SEND.

·  contribute to the statementing process for students with substantial special needs.

·  represent Hodgson Academy on Local Authority Committees.

c The Role of the Learning Support Manager

The role involves supporting the SENCO by:

·  overseeing the day-to-day operation of the SEND policy.

·  the development and implementation of IEPs, Care Plans and other related plans.

·  the KS2/3 and KS4/5 transitions for students identified with SEND / additional need

·  initiating and carrying through annual statement reviews and the reviews of students at School Action and School Action Plus.

·  the identification and assessment for SEND

·  managing the team of Teaching Assistants (Level 2 and 3)

·  responsibility for access arrangements for external examinations, including identification, assessments and on- line applications.

·  delivering literacy support programmes.

·  overseeing the delivery of numeracy support programmes.

·  supporting for students with longer term medical needs.

·  liaising with parents / carers.

·  co-ordinating curriculum support across the full range of ages, attainment and subjects.

·  efficiently managing the SEND resource base.

·  providing information on students with SEND to all subject staff, Progress Tutors and Student Progress Coordinators.

·  liaising with external agencies.

d The role of the Pastoral and Inclusion Manager (in relation to SEND Policy)

The role involves supporting the SENCO by:

·  overseeing the day-to-day operation of the SEND policy relating to BESD (Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties).

·  the development and implementation of IEPs and other plans relating to BESD.

·  the KS2/3 and KS4/5 transitions for students identified with BESD.

·  initiating and carrying through annual statement reviews and the reviews of students at School Action and School Action Plus for BESD.

·  the identification and assessment for BESD.

·  managing the team of Pastoral Support Officers PSOs).

·  delivering BESD support programmes.

·  managing the delivery of BESD support programmes by the PSOs.

·  liaising with parents / carers.

·  providing curriculum support for high profile BESD students or groups.

·  efficiently managing the pastoral bases.

·  providing information on students with BESD to all subject staff, Progress Tutors and Student Progress Coordinators.

·  liaising with external agencies.

e The Role of the Subject Teacher

This role is outlined in the later section on the provision of support.

3.  ADMISSIONS POLICY

Students with special educational needs will be admitted to Hodgson Academy in line with the academy’s admissions’ policy. The academy is aware of the statutory requirements of the SEN and Disability Act and will meet the Act’s requirements. The academy will use its induction meetings to work closely with parents to ascertain whether a student has been identified as having special educational needs. If the academy is alerted to the fact that a student may have a difficulty in learning, we will make our best endeavours to collect all relevant information and make reasonable adjustments as appropriate.

Lancashire County Council manages admissions to Hodgson Academy. Full details are provided within the Secondary School Admissions in Lancashire booklet (available online at www.lancashire.gov.uk/education).

4.  ACCESS FOR DISABLED

Objectives are set out in the academy’s Accessibility Plan and Equality Statement. One key objective is to continue to address accessibility to the physical environment as Hodgson Academy is built on many different levels, and therefore it is not accessible to students, staff and visitors with significant mobility problems.

Accessible toilets are situated near Reception and also near The Learning Centre.

Individual student’s medication is kept in a locked cupboard in the academy office. The administration of medication is done by nominated staff, after consultation with parents regarding suitable times for collection.

Where possible, all students whether they have a special educational or not will be involved in the life of the academy (see Equality Scheme and Accessibility Plan).

If stakeholders have a disability that they would like to tell us about, they can do so by completing a Disability Equality Scheme questionnairetthat can be found on the academy’s website under Policies and Procedures. Alternatively, a copy can be requested from the academy office. All stakeholders are encouraged to contact the academy at any time if assistance is required.

Access to the life of the academy

The Learning Support Department runs a homework club each lunch time and also provides opportunities before and after academy hours. SEND students are represented and supported in extra curricular activities, plays / productions, trips, work experience, academy teams and sport.

5.  ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES

The Governing Body ensures that resources are allocated to support appropriate provision for all students requiring support.

Financial Resources

The Local Authority ’bands’ students with Statements according to their needs. The student ‘weighting’ determines the amount of funding delegated to the students’ school to meet their SEN requirements.

In order for there to be access to all areas of the curriculum for all students, the allocated resources to support students with SEND must be reflected in an adequate proportion of curriculum expenditure.

The Learning Support Department has a delegated budget each academic year. All school departments are provided with sufficient funds to allow a proportion of their budgets to be spent on students with SEND.

National Funding Reforms

Over the past two years, the Government has consulted extensively on national school funding reforms with the aim of bringing greater consistency across England. The funding is still to be provided through Direct Schools’ Grant.

From April 2013 there are three notional blocks:

·  Schools Block

·  Early Years Block

·  High Needs Block

The notional blocks not ring fenced. The High Needs Block is the area has undergone the most change. Significant changes were introduced from April 2013 for funding pupils who require high levels of specialist support:

•All pupils with high needs to be funded on same basis

•Pre and post 16 high needs pupils / students to be funded on same basis

•All types of setting to be funded on same basis

•LCC to commission ALL high needs places

•Mainstream schools and academy funding for high needs pupils will be on a new place plus system, which will split funding into three elements.

Definition of High Needs Pupil

•In short the DfE define a high needs pupil as a pupil that costs more than £10,000.

•The DfE expect schools and academies to meet the first £10,000 (£4,000 plus £6,000) of cost for a pupil with high needs from their “Basic pupil element” and "Notional SEN" budgets.

•In Lancashire this equates to a pupil with a Statement of band E and above.

Place Plus Approach

•The DfE expect the educational setting to meet first £10k of cost.

•Commissioner provides support for costs over £10k.

•Three elements:

–Element 1 - Core funding – basic pupil element of funding provided for all pupils estimated by the DfE to be £4,000 – The figure for Lancashire will be less in Primary and secondary

–Element 2 - Additional support funding - to be provided by the school from their notional SEN budget, estimated by the DfE at £6,000;

–Element 3 - Top-up funding - to be provided by the commissioners (the local authority) from the High Needs Block. AFTER deducting the A to D element

Implications for Lancashire Authority

•The Government proposals that schools are expected to meet the first £10,000 of cost for high needs pupil's means that Lancashire have to delegate funding for all existing statements bands A to D and the A to D element of bands E and above.

•Otherwise schools would have insufficient notional SEN to meet the Governments £6,000 requirement for Element 2 – Additional Support Funding

6.  PROVISION OF SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

The support provided should be as flexible as possible, in order to meet the needs of the individual student.

Curriculum

·  All students are entitled to follow the National Curriculum. At Key Stage 4, where appropriate, some students can be dis-applied from one or more National Curriculum subjects.

·  Schemes of work should be designed so that they are accessible to all abilities. All students should not be presented with identical tasks. Work set should be differentiated according to ability.

·  Sufficient extension work should be set in order to stretch the more able students.

·  All children should participate in target setting and evaluation of their work.

·  All children should have their achievements recognised and rewarded.

·  If necessary, each skill area can be broken down into smaller "chunks" for students experiencing difficulties.

·  All teachers should be responsible for assessing the difficulty of materials used in their lessons.

·  Other media, such as computers, audio and visual facilities should be explored, wherever appropriate, to aid students with SEND.

Organisation

·  Organisation of teaching groups should be such as to maximise the achievement of students.

·  As far as possible, each student should have access to the skills of specialist teachers and teaching assistants. Teaching Assistants are largely allocated to subject areas in order to build up their expertise.

·  The Learning Support Manager should have the flexibility to organise a timetable of support for students with SEND.

·  The support provided will take a variety of forms - in-class, group or individual withdrawal with the emphasis on in-class support.

·  The Learning Support Manager and Teaching Assistants will liaise closely with subject teachers, to establish the most effective methods of support for individuals and groups of students with SEND.

·  External support may be used, wherever appropriate. eg. specialist teachers for Hearing Impaired, Complex Learning Difficulties etc.

Teacher Awareness

It is the responsibility of Lead Teachers to establish a climate of support for SEND within their departments - to confirm and share good practice and to refer students who are experiencing difficulties in their subject to the Learning Support Manager.