• We are a mainstream academy for young people aged 9-13.

• We provide support for all types of SEN and Disabilities, and some of our students have an Education, Health and Care Plan.

• Our site is fully accessible.

• Our SEN policy sets out clearly what our process for assessing needs are. It is the role of teachers, supported by the SENCO, to assess the needs of the young person in the classroom, and to identify those who may need further support because of a learning difficulty or disability. This will routinely be done through regular ongoing in class assessments, but may involve more specialised assessment from our SENCO or outside agencies.

• Some students have an Education, Health and Care Plan, which clearly set out the needs of the young person.

• The SENCO is Mrs Helen Booth  and can be contacted by phone on 01462 628800 or by email via the school office: RBA-Enquiries@bestacademies.org.uk

• Parents get regular reports from the school regarding students’ effort, attitude and progress as well as subject specific targets.

• There are opportunities throughout the year at parents’ evenings to meet with form tutor, subject teachers and the SENCO.

• Learning Plans will be sent home three times a year to parents of those children who have additional support.

• As part of Learning Plans we encourage parents to add their thoughts and comments.

• Parents are free to contact the school at any time, either by phone, or by email to have a conversation about their child’s progress in school or concerns regarding SEN.

• We will always meet with a young person before beginning any specific support and explain what we are doing, and why.

• We ask students for their views on their needs and record this on their Learning Plans

• We have an open door policy where pupils can share their concerns with teaching assistants and SENCOs.

• We annually provide a questionnaire to a selection of pupils with SEN needs from each year group.

• Class teachers regularly assess student progress as part of their normal practice.

• We complete reports regularly through the year for all young people, and this information is sent home to parents.

• The data generated by these reports is scrutinised by the SENCO and Head of Department after each reporting cycle and extra support put in place if needed.

• Those students receiving specific SEN support have their progress tracked and monitored by SENCO.

• We try to use our normal school assessment processes as much as possible so as not to overburden our young people with too many assessments.

• There are well planned programmes of transition activities from both lower school to middle school and middle to upper.

• Additional visits are in place for pupils to develop a smooth transition.

• Staff from the pupils new school are invited to key meetings and reviews.

• Preparing pupils for adulthood is provided in PSHE lessons.

• We want everyone in our school to make excellent progress, and to achieve the very best that they can, in all aspects of their all-round education, regardless of any Special Educational Needs or Disabilities that they may have. We have high aspirations for all of our children.

• This means that there is complete equality of opportunity in the curriculum that is offered to students.

• We believe that high quality teaching will ensure high quality outcomes for students, so it is essential that students with SEN have access to the same high quality teaching as everyone else in the school.

• It also means that we will work really hard with pupils with SEN to put in place extra provisions to ensure the best possible outcomes for them, and to remove any barriers to learning that they may be facing. These may include barriers related to the child themselves, and also those in the learning environment.

• The curriculum is very broad at our school and as such there is something available for all students to succeed at.

• We use Adaptive Teaching strategies to allow pupils of all abilities to access the curriculum.

• The site is fully accessible and meets all the requirements of the Equalities Act 2010

• Staff are encouraged to continue to train as part of their own performance management.

• All staff have access to a wide range of resources working across all areas of SEN need.

• We regularly undertake in house training on SEN. 

• As part of our middle and upper school liaison meetings we run training for all staff on different aspects of SEN Practice.

• Mrs Booth can access additional support and advice from external agencies if and when necessary.

• As part of the normal school development and self-review cycle, we carefully examine the data from results, student surveys and teacher observations to evaluate the effectiveness of the provision.

• Termly analysis of the progress pupils make in Core subjects is undertaken by Mrs Booth SENCO, and other key stakeholders.

• A department review is carried out annually, and targets set for the next academic year.

• An annual link visit between Governors and Mrs Booth SENCO acts as an evaluation of the department.

• We biannually measure the progress of those children who have access to SoundsWrite Intervention.

• There are no barriers for any students with SEN for our activities in school.

• We actively encourage students with SEN to take part fully in the life of the school.

• We are a fully inclusive school.

• Our provision map shows clearly the provision in place for those young people with emotional and social needs.

• All pupils have access to Pupil Support Room at break and lunch time if additional support is needed with emotional and social development.

• We run a peer mentor system, where pupils are nominated by staff to receive additional support from an older pupil.

• Pupils can access 1:1 mentoring support from named adults around the school.

Provision Map - Can be downloaded below