SEND information Report

West Town Lane Academy is committed to being as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities being met in our mainstream setting wherever possible.

The four broad ‘areas of need’ are Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties, and Sensory and Physical Needs.

What is the Local Offer?

The LA Local Offer

• Local Authorities and Academies are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for the children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEND) aged 0-25. This is the ‘Local Offer’.
• The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It will also be an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area.

The Academy SEND Information Report

• This utilises the LA Local Offer to meet the needs of SEND pupils as determined by Academy policy, and the provision that the Academy is able to meet.

Your Child has Special Educational Needs. What can we at West Town Lane Academy offer you?

1. Who are the best people to talk to in the Academy about my child’s difficulties with learning/special educational needs or disability (SEND)?
2. What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our Academy?
3. How can I let the Academy know that I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?
4. How will the Academy let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?
5. How is extra support allocated to children, and how do they progress in their learning?
6. Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in the Academy?
7. How are the teachers in the Academy helped to work with children with SEND?
8. How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?
9. How will we measure the progress of your child in school?
10. What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with SEND?
11. How is the Academy accessible to children with SEND?
12. How will we support your child when they are moving on from this Academy or joining another class?
13. How will we support your child’s emotional and social development?

1. Who are the best people to talk to in the Academy about my child’s difficulties with learning/special educational needs or disability (SEND)?

The class teacher

Responsible for

• Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be targeted work or additional support) and letting the Special Education Needs/Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCo) know as necessary.
• Writing Support Plans and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next term.
• Personalised teaching and learning for your child as identified on the Academy’s provision map/Graduated Response.
• Ensuring that the Academy’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

The SENDCo/Inclusion Manager: Mrs A Crisp

Responsible for

• Developing and reviewing the Academy’s SEND policy.
• Co-ordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
• Ensuring that you are

• • involved in supporting your child’s learning.
  • kept informed about the support your child is getting.
  • involved in reviewing how they are doing.

• Liaising with all the other people who may be coming in to Academy to help support your child’s learning, e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology.
• Updating the Academy’s SEND register (a system for ensuring that all the SEND needs of pupils in this Academy are known) and making sure that records of your child’s progress and needs are kept.
• Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the Academy, so that they can help children with SEND in the Academy to achieve the best progress possible.

The Headteacher: Mr A Robbins

Responsible for

• The day-to-day management of all aspects of the Academy; this includes the support for children with SEND.
• The Headteacher will give responsibility to the SENDCo and class teachers, but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
• The Headteacher must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about issues relating to SEND.

The SEND Governor: Mrs M Croft

Responsible for

• Making sure that the necessary support is given for any child with SEND who attends the Academy.

Academy contact telephone number: 0117 3772295

2. What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our Academy?

1. a) Class teacher input, via excellent targeted classroom teaching (Quality First teaching).

For your child this would mean

• That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
• That all teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
• That different ways of teaching are in place, so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning.
• That any specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENDCo) are in place to support your child to learn.
• Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has a gap or gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

Specific group work

Intervention which may be

• Run in the classroom or a group room.
• Run by a teacher or a teaching assistant (TA).

1. b) Specialist groups run by outside agencies, e.g. Speech and Language therapy

This means a pupil has been identified by the SENDCo/Inclusion Manager/class teacher as needing some extra specialist support in Academy from a professional outside the Academy. This may be from

• Local Authority central services, such as the Bristol Autism Team, Behaviour Support Specialists or Sensory Service (for students with a hearing or visual need).
• Outside agencies such as the Education Psychology Service (EPS).

What could happen:

• You may be asked to give your permission for the Academy to refer your child to a specialist professional, e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist. This will help the Academy and you to understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them more effectively.
• The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations as to the ways your child is given support.

1. c) Specified Individual support

This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong.

This is usually provided via a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by professionals as needing a particularly high level of individual or small-group teaching.

This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups.

Your child will also need specialist support in Academy from a professional outside the Academy. This may be from

• Local Authority central services such as the Bristol Autism Team, Behaviour Support or Sensory Service (for students with a hearing or visual need).
• Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Service.

For your child this would mean

• The Academy (or you) can request that Local Authority Services carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
• After the request has been made to the ‘Panel of Professionals’ (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case, they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the Academy to continue with the current support.
• After the reports have all been sent in, the Panel of Professionals will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong. If this is the case, they will write an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). If this is not the case, they will ask the Academy to continue with the current level of support and also set up a meeting in Academy to ensure a plan is in place to ensure your child makes as much progress as possible.
• The Statement or EHC Plan will outline the number of hours of individual/small group support your child will receive from the LA and how the support should be used, and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short-term goals for your child.
• An additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child.

3. How can I let the Academy know that I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

If you have concerns about your child’s progress, you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially.

• If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress, you may speak to the Special Education Needs/Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCo).
• The Academy SEND Governor can also be contacted for support.

4. How will the Academy let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?

If your child is identified as not making progress, the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail and to

• Listen to any concerns you may have.
• Plan any additional support your child may need.
• Discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child.

5. How is extra support allocated to children, and how do they progress in their learning?

• The Academy budget, received from central government, includes money for supporting children with SEND.
• The Head Teacher decides on the deployment of resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, in consultation with the SENDCo and Academy governors on the basis of needs in the Academy.
• The Head Teacher and the SENDCo discuss all the information they have about SEND in the Academy, including

• • the children/classes getting extra support already.
  • the children/classes needing extra support.
  • the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected.

From this information, they decide what resources/training and support is needed.

• The Academy identifies the needs of SEND pupils on a provision map. This identifies all support given within Academy and is reviewed regularly and changes made as needed, so that the needs of children are met, and resources are deployed as effectively as possible.

6. Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in the Academy?

Academy provision

• Teachers responsible for teaching SEND groups/individuals on a part-time basis.
• Support in the form of reading, writing and maths intervention programmes and Nessy, a phonic reading programme, may be delivered by teaching assistants in small groups or individual sessions, according to need.
• Learning Mentor, Teaching Assistants or HLTAs offering support for children with emotional and social development.

Local Authority Provision delivered in the Academy

• Bristol Autism Team.
• Educational Psychology Service.
• Sensory Service for children with visual or hearing needs.
• SALT (Speech and Language Therapy).

Health Provision delivered in Academy

• Additional Speech and Language Therapy input to provide a higher level of service to the Academy.
• School Nurse.
• Occupational Therapy.
• Physiotherapy.
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

7. How are the teachers in the Academy helped to work with children with SEND?

The SENDCo’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEND.

• The Academy provides training and support to enable all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children, including those with SEND. This includes whole Academy training on SEND issues, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and speech and language difficulties.
• Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class, e.g. from the educational psychology service.

8. How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?

Class teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class (including using specific in-class strategy sheets) and will ensure that your child’s needs are met.

• Support staff, under the direction of the class teacher, can adapt planning to support the needs of your child where necessary.
• Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.
• Planning (including that for specific targets) and teaching will be adapted, on a daily basis if needed, to meet your child’s learning needs.

9. How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

• Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by his/her class teacher.
• His/her progress will be reviewed formally with the Senior Leadership Team every term in reading, writing and numeracy.
• A range of different assessments may be used to check your child’s progress and level of need.
• Where necessary, children will have a Support Plan based on in-school assessments and/or targets set by outside agencies specific to their needs. Targets set are designed to accelerate learning and close the gap. Progress against these targets will be reviewed regularly, evidence for judgements assessed and a future plan made.
• The progress of children with a statement of SEND/EHC Plan will be formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education.
• The SENDCo will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work and in any group that they take part in.
• Regular book scrutinies and lesson observations will be carried out by the SENDCo and other members of the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that the needs of all children are met and that the quality of teaching and learning is high.

10. What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with SEND?

The class teacher is regularly available to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and within the Academy, so that similar strategies can be used.

• The Inclusion Manager/SENDCo is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have.
• All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you or, where this is not possible, in a report.
• Personal progress targets /Support Plans/ Individual Behaviour Plan (IBPs) will be reviewed with your involvement three times per year.
• Homework will be adjusted as needed to your child’s individual requirements.
• A home-school contact book may be used to support communication with you when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child.

11. How is the Academy accessible to children with SEND?

• The Academy is fully compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
• There are four disabled toilets.
• We ensure where ever possible that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
• Extra-curricular activities can be planned to be accessible for children with SEND.

12. How will we support your child when they are moving on from this Academy or joining another class?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND, and we take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible.

If your child is joining us from another school:

• The SENDCo will visit pre-schools with the Foundation Stage Leader when appropriate.
• If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them.
• Your child will be able to visit our Academy and stay for a taster session, if this is appropriate.

If your child is moving to another school:

• We will contact the school SENDCo and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child. Where possible, a planning meeting will take place with the SENDCo from the new school.
• We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.
• If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them.

When moving classes within the Academy:

• Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance and in most cases a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. Support Plans will be shared with the new teacher.
• If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them.

In Year 6:

• The SENDCo will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENDCo of the child’s secondary school. In most cases, a transition review meeting to which you will be invited will take place with the SENDCo from the new school.
• Your child will participate in focused learning relating to aspects of transition, to support their understanding of the changes ahead.
• Where possible, your child will visit their new school on several occasions, and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.
• If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them.

13. How will we support your child’s emotional and social development?

We recognise that some children have extra emotional and social needs that need to be developed and nurtured. These needs can manifest themselves in a number of ways, including behavioural difficulties, anxiousness, and being uncommunicative.

All classes follow a structured PSHE (Personal, Social, Health end Economic education) curriculum to support this development. However, for those children who find aspects of this difficult we offer

• An experienced Learning Mentor who is able to tailor a programme of support specific to your child.
• Enrichment opportunities for children to learn how to co-operate with one another in a small group and be responsible for looking after a living environment.
• Lunchtime and playtime support through planned activities and groups.

If your child still needs extra support, with your permission the SENDCo will access further support through referral to outside agencies