SEND Overview

Outstanding educational opportunities for all, regardless of prior ability, are at the heart of our mission. We take a personalised approach, with each pupil at the centre of a personal learning plan. This helps us to ensure that the needs of pupils with differing abilities and potential barriers are fully met. This focus on individual achievement drives our target setting and our schools improvement systems, the delivery of our curriculum and our approaches to behaviour, attendance and well-being.

Fully Qualified

We have a fully qualified Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) and a Governor who takes lead responsibility for special educational needs on the Governing Body.

SENCO

Mrs Catherine Carter Click to contact or telephone 01695 725653.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

It’s very important that pupils with special educational needs are properly identified, assessed and supported and that the support is tailored to each child’s particular needs. In deciding what those needs are and how we can support the pupil to overcome any ‘barriers to learning’ arising from those needs, we will work closely with the pupil and their family. This 3-way partnership underpins all our work and is a major contributory factor to our success; it is essential in making sure that all pupils make the best possible progress whilst at our School.

Expertise

For a very small number of pupils with more complex and specialist needs, we may also call on the expertise and experience of specialists from outside the School. These may be people who work for the SEN specialist teams in the Local Authority or specialists in children’s issues in the Health Service. For pupils who need this extra and more specialist input, we work in close partnership with these external partners as part of an “Education, Health and Care Plan”.

Additional support

This provides a detailed and properly coordinated plan of action to provide additional support to the pupil to enable them to benefit fully from their time at our School. The plan is always drawn up in partnership with the pupil and parents and clearly identifies the contributions that each partner needs to make to help the pupil to progress in their learning. There are regular reviews of the progress that the pupil is making and the extent to which the Plan is working. Parents and pupils have an important role to play in helping us to review and, if needed, improve the Plan.

An inclusive school

For the majority of children and for most of the time, we provide support in class, as part of normal day-to-day lessons. As an inclusive school where every pupil is valued, we want all pupils to take a full part in all lessons and in every aspect of school life alongside their peers.

Personalised assessment

Our teachers plan and deliver quality lessons that are well differentiated, so the needs of all pupils are catered for and all pupils can benefit fully from them. Sometimes, however, a pupil’s personalised assessment shows that they would benefit from additional one-to-one tuition or to work as part of a small group. If this is needed, then it is carefully planned by skilled teachers, and delivered with support from teaching assistants and learning mentors.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

For pupils who are new to English, we provide a personalised pupil support plan that identifies their particular needs and details the additional support they will receive to help them improve their English and make progress in their studies. The plan is drawn up in partnership with the pupil and their parents. It highlights the key strategies that the School will use to help the pupil to learn, any additional activities (and programmes) the pupil should engage in at home and the way their progress will be monitored.

In drawing up plans for pupils with English as an additional language (EAL), we draw on the proven approaches we have used and refined over the years and on best practice from other academies and schools.

English language development

Our staff receive training on the best approaches to support pupils with EAL and incorporate this learning into their lessons. Some pupils with EAL benefit from one to one tuition or small group work to help them to make more rapid progress in their English language development. If this is needed, we consult with the pupil and parents to make sure it is well planned with clear objectives and timescales. The partnership with the pupil and parents is essential in helping pupils with EAL make the progress we want them to make so that, like all our pupils, they achieve their full potential.

Other Needs

From time to time, pupils may need access to additional support because of specific short-term issues. For example, if a pupil has had to deal with the bereavement of a close family member or friend, then they may need special emotional support. In these circumstances, we will work closely with the family and other agencies to make sure that we provide the support the pupil needs to help them deal with their emotions and to enable them to continue to make progress in their studies.

Mentoring Programme

For some pupils, issues in the home or other external matters can affect their attendance or behaviour at School. In these circumstances, we may provide intensive support to make sure they get the help and support they need to improve in these areas and to continue to succeed in their learning.

The School’s mentoring programme provides specialised, individual guidance for any young person in need. Sometimes the pupil and family need access to more specialist help. In these cases, we work in partnership with other agencies (the Local Authority, Health Services, voluntary organisations) to plan and provide this specialist support.

Key Information

See our Policies and Publications page to access our Supporting Pupils with Special Educational Needs Policy

Lancashire Family Learning

Need something fun to do with your family? Or maybe you need help to support your child with their schoolwork? Whether your child is just starting primary school or going into high school, we have courses to suit everyone!

Take control for your family and enjoy learning and developing together!

Explore our range of FREE* courses and sign-up using our online enrolment portal.

*Note that most of our courses are FREE for Lancashire residents and where fees are applicable, this will be noted on your enrolment.

Courses available Sept – Dec 2022

For more information, please contact: 0333 0031717, laura.myers@nelsongroup.ac.uk or www.lal.ac.uk

FIND Autumn Newsletter 2022

Previous Workshops

25 November 2021 – 10:00am – 12:00 noon – Autism and Puberty

This course was delivered by Reachout ASC – Autism Support.

The course provides an understanding of the issues and experiences around growing up that autistic young people may experience. Reachout ASC shares some research, resources and practical ideas based on the work that they have done with autistic young people over the years.

16 December 2021 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Autism and Transition

This course was delivered by Reachout – ASC Autism Support.

The aims of the course are to support parents and carer to help autistic children and young people understand their anxiety and provide strategies to enable them to manage it throughout their lives. The course includes practical activities and resources that help and support the child or young person.

Useful Posters: