Salegrammar.co.uk

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS POLICY
DOCUMENT
INTRODUCTION
The Special Educational Needs policy reflects a key the aim of the School which is to encourage each individual to strive to reach his/her full potential in a caring and supportive environment. It is recognised that some pupils may have Special Educational Needs (SEN) which will need to be addressed by all members of staff if those pupils are to reach their full learning potential. Such a need may be temporary or more long-term. A pupil is defined as having SEN in the SEND Green Paper ‘Support & Aspiration’ if: • He/she has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision • He/she has a disability which either prevents or hinders use of educational facilities which are generally provided. Our focus in school is mainly, although not exclusively, on: • those pupils who have Specific Learning Difficulties [SpLD] • those pupils who have Sensory Impairments; • those pupils who have particular physical impairments and/or medical • those pupils who have Emotional or Behavioural difficulties. • those pupils who have Autistic Spectrum Disorders These pupils will be drawn from the whole range of ability to be found in Sale Grammar School and correspondingly our commitment to meeting their needs includes; additional time allowance for the SENCO; dedicated administrative support; a specific room base for SEN pupils; pupil support e.g. employment of Teaching Assistants, amendments to equipment and materials. OBJECTIVES OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS PROVISION WITHIN SALE
GRAMMAR SCHOOL
• To have a positive attitude to their studies; • To work at a rate that is suited to them; • To reach appropriately set/agreed targets; • To feel fully included and integrated into the school community; To give pupils access to as many areas of the curriculum as possible. To enable staff to work within a clearly defined framework, with a set of procedures which are straightforward to implement. To establish partnership links with the relevant external agencies of the Local Authority, Health and Social Services as well as partner Primary Schools and Further and Higher Education Institutions so that pupils are effectively supported on transition from one educational establishment to another. C. RESPONSIBILITY FOR CO-ORDINATION OF SPECIAL NEEDS PROVISION
The nominated governor for SEN is Mrs B. Harrison (associate governor) The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator [SENCO] is Mr Stuart Crampton, who is responsible through the Deputy Head to the Headteacher. D. ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR PUPILS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
Pupils at Sale Grammar School are assessed via the Sale Grammar School Admission Tests as suitable for a Grammar School education. Some of these pupils may already have an identified SEN before they come to the school. Admission arrangements will not differ in the case of a pupil with special educational needs. All curriculum areas of the school are accessible to pupils and visitors who use wheelchairs. There are four disabled toilets, located in the Sports hall, the Technology Block, the English block and adjacent to the Main Hall.
E. LINKS WITH OTHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
Sale Grammar School recognises the benefit of close liaison with a pupil’s previous school - for most pupils this will be their Primary School. Our aim is to respond appropriately to each child’s individual need. We ask all parents or carers to be open and honest when filling in admission documents giving details of a pupil’s individual needs; this will enable us to explore how we can provide effective support. Other educational establishments are asked to include in their ‘Transfer of Information Form’ any current or recent provision made for SEN. When pupils leave Sale Grammar School all relevant information is transferred within the statutory period. ARRANGEMENTS FOR CO-ORDINATING THE PROVISION OF EDUCATION FOR
PUPILS WITH SEN
1. Pupils who transfer to Sale Grammar School with a Statement of Special
Educational Need
Wherever possible, the SENCO will attend the Annual Review meeting at the pupil’s placement prior admission to the school, to facilitate effective transition. All staff who teach the pupil, the Form Tutor and the Head of Year, are given a copy of the objectives set at the last Annual Review of the pupil’s Statement. Proposals are discussed and a common approach is agreed so that the objectives can be achieved. These objectives are recorded and copies given to parents, pupil, subject and pastoral staff. Regular consultations with these staff are held, as are reviews between the SENCO and the pupil’s parents. 2. Pupils who, upon transfer, are at School Action or School Action Plus

Targets from previous Individual Education Plans or Pastoral Support Plans will be used to facilitate the transfer process. Contact is established with the previous school.
3. Pupils identified as potentially requiring additional support
Any member of the teaching staff and parent/carer can refer a pupil to the SENCO if there is an area of the pupil’s work which is causing concern.
4. The Graduated Approach in the Secondary Sector as taken from the Code of
Practice for Special Educational Needs
It is recognised that all teachers are teachers of pupils with Special Educational Needs, and teaching of such children is a whole school responsibility requiring a whole school, co-ordinated response. As there is a continuum of Special Educational Needs, a graduated response to pupils who have such needs is required if increased differentiation alone is insufficient. The graduated approach begins by placing pupils on the lowest tier, School Action. The next level is School Action Plus, and the final level is when the pupil is issued with a Statement of Special Educational Need by an Education Authority. Confidential records of meetings and reviews are kept by the SENCO. School Action
At this, the first stage, it is acknowledged that the pupil needs support additional to standard classroom differentiation in individual subjects. Action can be triggered either by referral from teaching or pastoral staff, by parental representation, or by an external agency. Parents/Carers are contacted and the child’s needs are discussed at a meeting – the pupil is invited to participate in this process as far as possible. We consider the participation, support and partnership of parents/ carers and pupils to be an important aspect of the support given to pupils who have Special Educational Needs. Once subject teachers are aware that a pupil has a Special Educational Need they agree to implement, in consultation with the SENCO, interventions additional to or different from those provided as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum. Subject and pastoral teachers remain responsible for working with the pupil on a daily basis and for planning and delivering lessons. distribute information and guidance in the form of a Pupil Profile to parents and all staff who are involved with the pupil contribute to the target setting process which is embedded within the school’s established systems work closely with Pastoral and Subject staff in the process of monitoring and reviewing pupil progress Outcomes of Review for a pupil placed at School Action: • The pupil has made expected progress. He/she will be removed from the SEN Register and will continue to be supported by ordinary classroom differentiation. • The pupil continues to meet the criteria for placement at School Action. He/she will remain on the Register. If necessary, the Pupil Profile distributed to staff will be amended. • The pupil has not made expected progress and meets the criteria for placement at School Action Plus. The SENCO will contact the relevant external agencies from whom additional advice is required. This action will only be taken with the agreement of parents/carers. An IEP will be devised and implemented following the advice given. Any changes to the pupil’s status on the SEN Register will be made in consultation with parents/carers.


School Action Plus
If, following a review involving parents, the pupil, the SENCO and [if appropriate] other members of staff, a pupil is judged not to have made expected progress on the School Action stage, the pupil may progress to the next stage of support. At School Action Plus: • The SENCO, in consultation with parents, will ask for advice/support from external • A Pupil Profile is drawn up in consultation with the pupil, parent/carer, subject and pastoral staff, and any external specialist who may be involved. co-ordinate any further specialist assessment of the child plan future interventions for the child in discussion with monitor and review the action taken with the pupil, parents/carers and other staff who are involved. Outcomes of Review for pupils placed at School Action Plus The review meeting may decide on one of three possible outcomes. • The pupil has made expected progress and no longer meets the criteria for placement at School Action Plus. He/she will be placed at School Action . A Pupil Profile will be distributed to staff. Or: • The pupil continues to meet the criteria for School Action Plus. • The pupil is not deemed to have made expected progress and meets the criteria for Statutory Assessment. In consultation with appropriate staff, the SENCO will complete appropriate documentation for referral to the LEA. An IEP will continue to be implemented, monitored and reviewed. Any changes to the pupil’s status on the SEN Register will be made in consultation with parents/carers. Statuary Assessment Process and Statement of Special Educational Needs
For a very few pupils the help given through School Action Plus may not be sufficient to
enable the pupil to make adequate progress. It will then be necessary for the school, in
consultation with the parents and any external agencies already involved, to consider
whether to ask the LA to initiate a statutory assessment of the pupil’s special needs.
Where such a request is made, the pupil will have demonstrated significant cause for
concern.
The Review process for a pupil who has a Statement of Special Education Needs is laid down by the Code of Practice. How progress of those on the SEN Register is monitored
Progress is monitored by the SENCO, in consultation with Form Tutors, Subject Teachers and Heads of Dept using a variety of data, drawn from the following sources: • School reports and Sims Assessment Manager • National Curriculum Targets and SAT results • Reading/Spelling assessments • Specialist Assessments • Teacher Assessments • Reviews of Pupil Profiles, Individual Education Plans and Pastoral Support Plans • Views of parents and pupils ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY THE SCHOOL WHICH ENABLE ACCESS TO A BROAD
AND BALANCED CURRICULUM BY PUPILS WITH SEN
The curriculum of the school is suitable for any pupil who is assessed for entry to a Grammar School. Sale Grammar School makes every effort to achieve inclusion and integration of pupils with SEN while meeting their individual needs. All pupils are taught in mainstream classes which may be mixed ability or streamed. Staff use a variety of methodologies and teaching styles to accommodate the differing ways in which pupils learn. If it is considered appropriate, there may be some withdrawal from lessons to support those children who have special needs. Some pupils may be supported in the classroom by assistants. H. PARTNERSHIP AND LIAISON
Parents and Carers have an important part to play in assessment and review processes and their wishes will be taken carefully into account. On being offered a place in Year 7, parents whose children have already been identified as having Special Educational Needs are invited to meet with the SENCO in the summer prior to the pupil’s admission. Any concerns can be recorded then and addressed as soon as possible thereafter. If a pupil has been identified by staff as needing extra support, parents will be informed and consulted. The parents of pupils who have a statement are invited to be in contact with the SENCO regularly and once a year there will be a formal review of the statement. USE OF EXTERNAL SUPPORT SERVICES
The School has a named Medical Officer and School Nurse to whom references are made in accordance to the graduated procedure for assessment. Similarly, contact is made with the Social Services Department and Education Welfare Service as appropriate. We also work with the following services provided centrally by the LA and the Health Authority: The LEA Special Needs Teaching Team for: J. RESOURCE ALLOCATION TO AND AMONGST SEN PUPILS
There is an allocation from the school’s budget for SEN within school. K. IN-SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS FOR STAFF IN RELATION TO SEN
All teaching staff are involved in the school’s development of its SEN practices. The SENCO is involved with guidance and training of staff both formally and informally. Appropriate non-teaching staff are informed about pupils in Sale Grammar School who have a temporary or permanent physical disability and they work with the teaching staff to enable these pupils to access all areas of the School’s life as and when appropriate. The School Development Plan includes SEN Inset needs. EVALUATION OF THE SUCCESS OF THE SPECIAL NEEDS POLICY BY THE
GOVERNING BODY
The success of this policy will be evaluated by the OFSTED requirement that pupils make the greatest progress possible and that all children’s needs are met. As with other policies in school, it will be monitored through the process of self-review and performance management systems. Governors will review this policy and practice. The SENCO will report on the implementation of the policy to the Governing Body.
M. ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY THE GOVERNING BODY FOR THE TREATMENT OF
COMPLAINTS FROM PARENTS OF PUPILS WITH SEN
This is the same as any other complaint and the process is identified in the School Complaints Policy on the school website.

Source: http://www.salegrammar.co.uk/files/userfiles/SEN%20Policy.pdf