Special Education Needs
Consultation on the proposal to add a Resource Provision to The Crestwood School, part of the Invictus Academy.
Special Educational Needs at Crestwood School
Please click on the following link to see the support the Dudley Education Authority offers to it’s pupils
The Crestwood School
Special Educational Needs and Disability Information report
This SEND Information Report outlines information regarding the ways in which we provide support for all students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), in order to realise their full potential, make outstanding academic and personal progress and grow to be equipped for their future lives. Provision may change and develop over time.
The information required to be included in this SEND Information Report is stated in The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 SCHEDULE 1: Information to be included in the SEN information report.
This can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1530/schedule/1/made
Key SEN- refers to the Special Educational Needs team
SEND- refers to a pupil with Special Educational needs and/or Disability
Regulation questions from/to parents/carers. School response.
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The kinds of Special Educational Needs and Disability that are provided for. What are the kinds of SEND for which provision is available at Crestwood?
Children are identified as having SEND when they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children the same age.
At Crestwood we support students in the four broad areas of SEND:
• Communication and Interaction.
• Cognition and Learning.
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties.
• Sensory or Physical difficulties.
2.Policies for identifying and assessing the needs of pupils with SEND, including the name and contact details of the
SENCo. How do we know if a pupil needs extra help? Who is the SENCo and how can they be contacted?
When pupils first start at Crestwood information from a range of sources is used to identify and assess pupils to see if they have SEND which requires additional support. This includes information from parents/carers; primary school teachers; end of key stage 2 levels; base line testing; literacy and numeracy induction tests; subject teachers; specialist colleagues and external agencies.
As pupils progress through the school there are regular assessments and subsequent monitoring of their progress. This comes in many forms and is carried out by the SEN team, subject teachers, lead teachers, pastoral leads, senior leaders and external agencies to ensure that the provision being provided suits the needs of the individual and is having impact.
All pupils with SEND are on the SEN register which is accessible to all staff. Staff use information provided by the SEN department to inform appropriate lesson planning which includes differentiation so that all pupils can access the curriculum.
Targeted interventions are planned, delivered and evaluated where appropriate, for pupils with SEND this may include small group or individual work.
Assistant Head Teacher/SENCo is Mrs T Harding and Assistant SENCo is Miss L Baker, telephone number 01384 686850
3a. Arrangements for consulting with parents of children with SEND and involving them in their child’s/children’s education including assessing and reviewing their progress towards outcomes.
3b. Arrangements for consulting young people with SEND and involving them in their education
How will I know how my child is getting on in school?
How will Crestwood listen to and involve my child, with SEND, in planning for their education?
Reviews take place at regular intervals for pupils on the SEN register at SENS2 or EHCP (using both internal and external data), parents are invited to these review meetings to contribute to the targets and see how home and school can work collaboratively. All pupils, including those with SEN are assessed on a regular basis. Teachers formally assess and review progress and attainment at least 3 times a year which is communicated to parents/carers through progress reports or full subject reports that are sent home.
Additionally, progress evenings and meetings during the day provide opportunities for parents/carers to discuss progress, attainment and next steps.
Crestwood prides itself on its strong pastoral care and parents/carers are encouraged to contact and interact with school if they have concerns about their child/children, this is supported further by the SEN team who support the work of the pastoral team for pupils with SEND.
Alongside the strong pastoral ethos the SEN team support pupils with SEND. Crestwood is a inclusive school and pupils are encouraged to talk about their education, the provision they receive and feed into their Individual Support Plans, ownership of their targets is an important part of the assess, plan, do and review cycle. All pupils are encouraged to attend progress evenings. For statutory annual reviews of EHCPs, pupils (if appropriate) are invited to attend alongside professionals and their parents/carers.
4.The school’s arrangements for supporting pupils in moving between phases of education and preparing for adulthood. How will the school prepare and support pupils with SEND when joining Crestwood or transferring to a new school or post-16 provision?
Additionally, to the details listed in section 2 there is a strong transition package from KS2-3 for pupils with SEND examples include close liaison with the primary school SENCos, additional visits for identified pupils, staff training to prepare them for the new intake and SENCo has input into the setting of pupils based on all available data. Where appropriate targets for pupils’ ISPs are set in order to promote independence in preparation for adult life
5.The school’s approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs How do staff help pupils with SEND?
All teachers are teachers of pupils with SEND. All staff have high expectations of all pupils, including those with SEND. Teaching staff are informed about your child’s individual needs and have experience and/or are appropriately trained to adapt their lessons to meet these requirements.
Within school there are a variety of staff roles to help us fully support your child. There are a range of internal interventions that are implemented when needed, additional to this are external agencies that offer specialist provision/support as necessary.
The principal continues to ensure that funding is readily available to provide an appropriate level of support for pupils with SEND
6.How the school adapts the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with special educational needs
All pupils follow an appropriate curriculum. There are a small number of pupils who have a more personalised curriculum to match their individual needs, interests and abilities.
Our school is a safe and mostly accessible building and we do our best to make it welcoming to the whole community. All safeguarding procedures and risk assessments are in place and adhered to by staff.
We have a range of different facilities to help SEND students throughout our school including a number of lifts, disabled toilets, ramps in some areas, meaning the school is DDA compatible.
7.Information about the expertise and training of staff in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and about how specialist expertise will be secured How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs? How accessible is the school environment? What training have the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had or are having?
The schools Continued Professional Development Programme addresses emerging needs and is regularly reviewed. This programme may involve using different strategies and more practical adaptation of resources and activities, with the aim that all pupils can access the lessons fully. Staff who are new to the school follow an induction programme which includes training and information on pupils with SEND. The Learning Support department is made up of the Assistant Headteacher/SENCo, Assistant SENCo, and 13 learning support assistants. Within this team there are staff who have a range of experience and training, covering various SEN needs.
All staff in the SEN department are training in safer people handling and have a rolling program of training in SEN fields. Within the department there is a trained councillor and staff are trained to oversee exam concessions. Expertise is secured by employing staff who are qualified to support SEN students and attend training available to them.
Child Protection, First Aid, support of students with physical and sensory difficulties, speech and language difficulties, social emotional and mental health difficulties. Crestwood buys into an Educational Psychologist and a Counselling Service.
8.Evaluating the effectiveness of the provision made for pupils with SEND How will parents know that their child/children are making progress? How is provision evaluated?
In addition to details in section 2 and 3 at key times during the school year, following teacher assessments the SENCo and SEND Team use this and other relevant data to complete the cycle of assess, plan, do and review in relation to specific interventions for those pupils with SEND receiving additional support. For SENS2 and above this will involve external agencies for example, SaLT, Occupational Therapy, Physical and Sensory. During the review progress all the data is shared with parents. For statutory annual reviews of EHCPs, pupils are invited to attend alongside professionals and their parents/carers.
For all pupils, including those with SEND, Teaching, learning and assessment are evaluated at a departmental and leadership level, this includes lesson observations, work scrutiny, monitoring/feedback from support staff. Termly reports are given to the schools Governing Body so they have the opportunity to review and evaluate the provision for pupils with SEND.
9.How the school enables pupils with special educational needs to engage in the activities of the school (including physical activities) together with children who do not have special educational needs? What social, before and after school, and other activities are available for pupils with SEND? How can my child and I find out about these activities? How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom, including school trips?
A large range of academic, sporting and other extra-curricular clubs are available at Crestwood. There are open to all pupils, including students with SEND.
Additionally we run a range of activities to support SEND students including a breakfast and Homework Club, break time and lunch meet in the learning support hub.
The Extra-Curricular activities list is available on the schools website. SEND Clubs are advertised to students through the learning support hub.
All children in the school are encouraged to take part in extra activities at break time, lunchtime and after school. Day and residential trips are open to all children and your child’s specific needs and the reasonable adjustment which may need to be made can be discussed if they wish to join such a trip.
10. Support that is available for improving the emotional, mental and social development of pupils with special educational needs
11a. How the governing body involves other bodies, including health and social services bodies, local authority support services and voluntary organisations, in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and in supporting the families of such pupils
11b. Pupils with SEND who are also looked after.
What support will there be for my child’s overall wellbeing?
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?
Is there anything different for LAC pupils?
At Crestwood we take our pastoral responsibilities seriously. We pride ourselves on providing a high level of pupil support and guidance. One way we support our pupils is by assigning them to a form tutor who will (where possible) remain with them as they progress up the school. This provides continuity and builds a strong relationship between tutor and pupils.
There are additional members of staff who are able to provide pastoral support, these include: The Heads of House, School Counselling service, the SENCo, the Deputy SENCo, full time school nurse and Pastoral support assistants. There are also support systems in school which older students provide in the form of buddies or our Chat team. Excellent relationships have been established with a number of external agencies for example: Speech and language team, Autism outreach, CAMHs, Hearing/Visual Impairment service and Dudley Learning Support Service.
Crestwood has a strong anti-bully ethos and is a telling school all year round but a focus is that Crestwood takes part in the annual anti-bullying week in November (following the national agenda including the year where the focus was SEND pupils). The SEN and pastoral teams work collaboratively to ensure that there is clarity and pupil safety at all levels.
Crestwood can access a range of services including; Children’s Services, the Educational Psychologist; Connexions; Speech and
Language Service; Occupational Therapy Service; Autism Outreach
Service; Physical Impairment and Medical inclusion Service. Hearing Impairment Team; Visual Impairment Team, Learning Support Service. These services are contacted when necessary and appropriate, according to the individual pupils needs. The school works closely with Dudley LEA and uses the Early Intervention/Help process when appropriate to do so.
The designated LAC teacher (Mr D Boerm) updates the Governing Body, on a termly basis, through the Pupil Welfare subcommittee, about the needs and progress of all pupils who are looked after, this includes any who have SEND
12. The contact details of support services for the parents of pupils with special educational needs, including those for arrangements made in accordance with section 32. Who should I contact to find out about support for parents and families of children with SEND?
The Dudley local offer pages provide information on a range of support services:
Dudley MBC Local Offer information: http://www.dudley.gov.uk/resident/localoffer/
Dudley SEN Team, Westox House, Dudley MBC, Phone: 01384 814214.
Dudley SENDIASS (formerly Dudley Parent Partnership Service) provides impartial information, advice and support to young people and parents, covering special educational needs (SEN), disability, health and social care.
Helpline number: 01384 236677
Address: Trafalgar House, 47-49 King Street, Dudley, DY2 8PS
SENDIASS Website: https://www.dudley.gov.uk/residents/learning-and-school/information-for-parents/dudley-sendiass/
Connexions is an organisation which is able to offer advice on learning and work opportunities:
Call: 01384 811400
Email: Connexions@dudley.gov.uk
Connexions Website: http://www.connexionsdudley.org/
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS): http://www.dwmh.nhs.uk/child-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs/
Young Minds: http://www.youngminds.org.uk/
13. Information on where the local authority’s local offer is published
14. Arrangements for handling complaints from parents of children with SEND about the provision made at the school Where can I find out about other services that might be available for our family and my child? What do I do if I feel my child is not having their needs met?
Dudley MBC Local Offer information: http://www.dudley.gov.uk/resident/localoffer/
In the first instance parents/carers should contact the school to raise their concerns to any member of staff but preferably to the SEN team, namely T. Harding or Miss Baker. This can be by telephone or letter. There is a complaints policy available on request or on the website.