SEND Policy

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy

Mission Statement

At St Saviour's & St Olave's we value all students in our school equally and firmly believe that everyone is entitled to experience success. We recognise the need to develop the whole student in both academic and personal terms, working to give them the confidence to achieve and fulfil their God given potential. The SEND policy is intended to ensure that inclusion is at the heart of our school.

The SEND policy has been designed to follow the guidelines of the Code of Practice (January, 2015).

Definition of SEND

A student has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for her

A student has a learning difficulty or disability if she:

has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or has a disability which prevents or hinders her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

Underlying Principles

We believe all teachers are teachers of special educational needs. We recognise that it is the teacher’s responsibility to meet the needs of all students in their class. By providing quality first teaching through: classroom organisation, teaching materials, teaching style and differentiation. Staff create a learning environment in which all are respected and included.
We are committed to providing an appropriate curriculum that meets our students needs and promotes high standards. We will do this by removing barriers to learning and strive to deliver purposeful and personalised interventions that help our students’ reach their potential, become confident individuals and make a successful transition into adulthood.
We strive to work in partnership with students and their parents/carers to ensure they are fully involved in decisions regarding support. We recognise our students’ unique gifts and endeavour to promote equality and encourage respect and understanding across our whole school community.
Where our students need access to professional services we work in conjunction with the Local Authority to jointly plan and commission services. As a school we provide a range of therapeutic support for our students. As part of our commitment to early identification, this support ensures we understand what our students’ needs are and avoid labelling.

Key Aims

To ensure all students are able to follow a broad, balanced, inclusive and relevant curriculum
To have high aspirations for all students, set stretching targets and monitor the progress towards these goals
To ensure that children and young people with SEND fully engage in the activities of the school alongside students who do not have SEND
To ensure that students are taught in ways that meet their needs thus allowing students to reach their full potential both academically and socially
To offer a graduated approach of plan, assess, do, review, when identifying and supporting students with SEND
To ensure students are identified with SEND as early as possible and have access to high quality support, by specialist staff, when appropriate
To do what is necessary to enable our students to develop, learn, participate and achieve the best possible outcomes irrespective of whether that is through reasonable adjustments for a disabled student or special educational provision for a student with SEND.
Key People and Roles
Governing Body

Governors should pay regard the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice and the Disability Rights Code of Practice for schools. Governors report to parents annually on the implementation of their SEND policy.

The SEND Link Governor has specific oversight of the school’s arrangements for SEND.

The Headteacher

The Headteacher has responsibility for the day-to-day management of all aspects of the school’s work, including provision for students with SEND. The Headteacher keeps the governing body fully informed and works closely with the school’s Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator. (SENDCO)

Deputy Headteacher

The Deputy Headteacher has responsibility for inclusion and line manages the SENDCO and Learning Support Department.

Head of Learning Support/SENDCO

The SENDCO works within the following areas of responsibility:

Overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEND policy
Liaising with and advising fellow teachers and contributing to staff training
Leading and managing the SEND team of teachers and learning support assistants
Coordinating provision for students with SEND
Liaising with parents
Over-seeing the records of SEND students
Liaising with external agencies
Advising on the graduated approach to providing SEND support
Working with the headteacher and governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements

Subject teachers

All teachers are teachers of students with SEND. Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the students in their class, including where students access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff. High quality teaching, differentiated for individual students, is the first step in responding to students who have or may have SEND.

We firmly believe that additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching.

St Saviour’s and St Olave’s regularly and carefully reviews the quality of teaching for all students, including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable students and their knowledge of the SEND most frequently encountered.

Admission arrangements

The School Admissions Code of Practice requires children and young people with SEND to be treated fairly. Students with SEND are considered on the basis of the school’s Admissions policy.
Students with an existing statement or EHCP will follow the Local Authority admissions guidance when considering if St Saviour’s and St Olave’s will be the named school.

Provision for students with SEND, including those with statements or an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), are reviewed on entry and continuity of support is maintained where possible.

Identification and Assessment

It is our principle to identify students as early as possible. We follow the Code of Practice guidance that states SEND support in schools should adopt the following methodology of – Assess, Plan, Do, Review.

Transition

We gather information from the following sources:

The record of the summer interview with parents/ student

Year 6 Open Evening in July when parents and students visit the school
Contact with primary/secondary schools
Records received from primary schools, including National Curriculum levels
Key Stage 2 SATs results
Classroom observation, teacher and LSA feedback during the first weeks of term by the SENDCO
GLS reading assessment and CATs
Discussion held with Form Tutors and other teaching staff
Outside agencies

Students currently on roll

In accordance with the Code of Practice the school adopts a graduated response to meet the needs of students with SEND:

Subject teachers and Form Tutors continuously monitor students' records of progress to identify those who are underachieving and to refer them as appropriate to the SENDCO
Subject teachers and Form Tutors ensure quality first teaching is received for all students. This is monitored by the Senior Leadership Team and Directors of Learning

Heads of Department and Directors of Learning are informed about students who continue to have difficulties
The SENDCO is informed if a student is underachieving or is a cause for concern, especially if this occurs in more than one area
The school will meet with parents/carers throughout the year to review support.
Assessment

Students with SEND are assessed in the same way as other students, following school and National Curriculum procedures, including internal school examinations and tests, teacher assessment and through external examinations such as GCSEs, BTECs and A levels
Students are regularly monitored through yearly reports, parents evening and coffee mornings as well as organised meetings with the SENDCO
The progress of all students is tracked on the school SIMS system, where student profiles, records of progress and National Curriculum levels / GCSE levels are also available
Students in year 7 have a reading assessment in the Autumn term and Summer term to monitor progress. Year 8 and 9 also take the reading test in the Summer term to obtain a reliable reading age and to track progress
Students with a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an EHCP will meet with the SENDCO twice yearly to update their student one-page profiles and complete their annual review.

Provision and Intervention

Provision for students with SEND is a matter for the whole school and is a part of the school’s adopted graduated response of plan, assess, do and review. Students are withdrawn only when the support activity cannot take place in a mainstream class. Students are usually withdrawn for a whole lesson; this is done on rotation to minimise disruption to their everyday subject timetable.

The needs of students are discussed with all staff prior to the beginning of each school year
The SEND register is up-dated after student SEND reviews and is constantly under review
Each department is responsible for its SEND provision and there is a named representative in each department who liaises with the SENDCO
LSAs (Learning Support Assistants) work closely with subject teachers
LSAs liaise with the SENDCO and they attend monthly departmental meetings
The SENDCO also liaises with the learning mentors, directors of learning and pastoral support team at weekly inclusion meetings
Access to both therapeutic support and external support is discussed with parents and students and the outcomes tracked and monitored
One-page student profiles are completed to detail provision and support learning in both the classroom and during intervention sessions.
Monitoring and Evaluation

The success of the implementation of the SEND policy lies in the progress and achievement of students with SEND.

Students with SEND are taught in mainstream classes and are only withdrawn when support is identified and required
There is evidence of early identification and regular monitoring
An up to date record of the names of all students with SEND is maintained
There is evidence of parental involvement
Strategies and targets are realistic and used by subject teachers, who are also actively involved in the reporting process
All teachers show awareness of students' SEND, and knowledge of the graduated approach towards SEND.
Student achievement will be measured through:

Departmental assessments, attainment and progress in internal and external examinations, and ongoing teacher assessments
Regular review meetings
One-page Profiles and Records of Progress
Discussions between SEND students and staff on achievement of targets.
Training

The school is committed to training all staff to teach SEND students as part of their normal classroom planning and practice, thus assisting in the development of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum
Background information on SEND is part of every new teacher’s induction
SEND staff, including specialist teachers and learning support assistants, attend regular INSET and are available to support and advise teachers.
Partnership with parents

Parents are valued at all stages of concern and are invited to share their views. It is firmly believed that the partnership with parents plays a key role in effective planning to meet the needs of individual students
When students first receive extra help, parents are informed
Parents can also approach the school whenever they have a concern and time will be made for them
Student targets are discussed with parents, whose views are valued and listened to
Parents meet the Educational Psychologist if their daughter is being seen
Parents attend review meetings and where possible specialist staff will also be in attendance
Parents are asked to hear their daughters read, to help with literacy work and homework

Complaints

Concerns regarding SEND should initially be addressed to the SENCO, who will respond by contacting and usually meeting with the parents/carers to discuss the situation. If matters remain unresolved, the complaint will be dealt with following the guidelines laid down in the school’s Complaints Procedure.

Links to Other Policies

The SEND policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies:
Behaviour

Attendance

Equality

Admissions

Teaching and Learning

“Fair does not mean everyone getting the same thing. It means giving every student what they need.” (Rick Lavoie)

Appendix

Accessibility and Facilities

There is no special unit on the site.
The Learning Support Department is situated on the first floor.
The school aims to meet a range of SEND, including those with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) and Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, which would be expected to be found in a mainstream school.
The SENDCO has QTS, OCR Level 5 Diploma in SpLD and holds the NASENCO Qualification.
Subject teachers host small group or one on one intervention lessons.
Facilities

Following our successful ‘Building Schools for the Future’ bid we increased overall accessibility by 30%. Due to construction constraints and our Victorian building, with mezzanine floors throughout, we are confident that our accessibility is currently at capacity.
At present the ground floor area is fully accessible to a wheel chair user and has a disabled toilet and a portable ramp. There is also a disabled parking bay.
The addition of our new building has enabled greater access across the upper floors.
5 refuge points are situated across our first floor and second floor staircases and enable us to act quickly in an emergency and support those who may have difficulty exiting the building in an emergency.
A lift provides access to the first and second floors.
The first floor has a disabled toilet. 50% of classrooms on this floor are accessible; however, the majority of the accessible classrooms are for sixth form teaching only.
The second floor is 40% accessible but the majority of accessible rooms are used for sixth form teaching.
No rooms on the third floor are accessible.
The medical room is regularly used by the School Nurse, Educational Psychologist and the Teacher for the Hearing Impaired. The Speech and Language Therapist uses both the library and the learning support classroom to conduct assessments and lessons.
The part-time Drama Therapist has an office on the second floor of the school.
The two Learning Mentors have an office on the second floor of the school.
The Pastoral Support team share an office on the ground floor.
The internal CAMHS professional has access to a private room on the ground floor.
Allocation of Resources

Money delegated to the school for the support of students with SEND is allocated according to Southwark LA funding formula
Use is made of the LA Educational Psychologist, Teachers for the Hearing and Visually Impaired, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, ASD team, and the Speech and Language Service
In school we have a School Drama Therapist, Learning Mentors and Pastoral Support Team
We have a team of six Learning Support Assistants
Teaching time specifically allocated to SEND provision varies from year to year
Where money is received for a student with an EHCP or a statement, this money is spent directly on that student by employing a Learning Support Assistant. However, we encourage both staff and students to share support as this is a more efficient use of our resources and it encourages students towards greater independence

Visits are made to the Special Educational Needs Departments of other secondary schools to see good practice
The school's Educational Psychologist works with identified students and staff as required
A Speech and Language Therapist visits regularly throughout the academic year
Services for the Visually/Hearing Impaired and Occupational Therapy are used as appropriate
Advice is sought from the Autistic Spectrum Disorder Team
We have a School Drama Therapist who works with students
A number of girls with SEND also work with the school’s learning mentors, inclusion officer and pastoral support team

We work closely with a school nurse

Contact with Social Services and the Educational Social Worker is made via the Directors of Learning
Local Health Services are contacted as the need arises.