Special Educational Needs
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Special Educational Needs New Horizons School
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Committee: Curriculum/Pastoral Signed: __________________________________________ Chair of Committee Signed: __________________________________________ Headteacher Date: Review date: April 2015
DOCUMENT STATUS Version 1 2
Author J Appleton J Appleton
Date April 2013 June 2014
Action New policy Amendment
It is our belief at New Horizons School that every child has the right to learn and to have access to a curriculum which allows them to do so. The 1981 Education Act asserted the right of each child to suitable educational provision and defined the term Special Educational Needs to refer to the needs of the substantial group whose needs differ in any way from those of the "average" child. At New Horizons, we operate a `Whole School’ approach to learners with Special Educational Needs. We believe that:
all teachers are teachers of learners with SEN learners with SEN deserve an enhanced level of resourcing to meet their needs all learners have the right to a broad and balanced curriculum, relevant and differentiated, which demonstrates progress and coherence all learners have the capacity to learn and make progress
The school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) is responsible for coordinating, monitoring and evaluating provision for students with learning difficulties across all of our sites. Identifying learners with SEND: At New Horizons, we represent a form of outside agency intervention so all of our students technically come to us at the ‘School Support’ stage of the Code of Practice (2014). Some students excel in the small group, supportive learning environment, whilst others need more support, therefore we have developed our own ‘graduated response’ to supporting our learners with SEN. Students who, after receiving ‘Quality First Teaching’, need additional and extra support will be placed at school support and will be placed on the provision maps for intervention. Assessments feeding into this process include:
NGRT reading and WIAT spelling tests Progress in Maths and GCSE Maths tests CAT testing Character survey Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
If the gap in attainment continues to grow, students will receive further support. At this stage, we begin to gather evidence for an Education, Health and Care Plan may it be deemed an appropriate action. The Purposes of the Special Educational Needs policy are to ensure that: 1. All learners with SEN have access to the full range of the curriculum and the life of the school 2. All learners are encouraged to develop an awareness of, and respect for, individual differences. 3.
All teachers have access to support in dealing with Special Educational Needs.
4. All parents/carers are fully involved in the assessment, planning and monitoring of the SEN of their child. Accordingly the school will: 1. Be pro-active in the prompt identification of Special Educational Needs via:a) Teacher or parental observation
and/or b) Test results c) Learner self-referral d) Information from other agencies e.g. CAMHS, Educational Psychologist, Speech & Language Therapist, referring partner schools 2. Adopt a graduated approach for identifying and meeting Special Educational Needs, in line with the Code of Practice (2014), structured according to the needs of the individual learner. 3. Communicate the needs of SEN learners to all staff by maintaining an up-to-date central Additional Needs Register. 4. Provide access to a full range of facilities to ensure full curricular access to comply with The Special Needs and Disability Act 2001 and current government legislation. 5. Provide enhanced staffing and additional teacher support within available resources for Special Educational Needs targeting priority areas. 6. Require all teachers to be aware of the differing needs of the learners in their classroom, and to be responsible for planning and analysing the difficulty of the materials they use; 7. Offer a curriculum which provides differentiated opportunities for success at all levels, promoting enjoyment and achievement. 8. Provide timetabled additional support where teachers and teaching assistants will provide identified students with personalised 1:1 or small group support with literacy, numeracy or other learning needs. This support will be regularly assessed, monitored and evaluated by the school SENCO. Evaluation The SENCO will consider the following indicators when evaluating the implementation of the Special Needs Policy: 1. The progress made by learners as revealed by a range of test results. 2. The progress made by learners in all areas of the curriculum as revealed by individual subject criteria. 3. The monitoring of programmes of intervention by the designated support staff. 4. The number of learners on the Additional Needs Register, including analysis of additions and discontinuations. 5. Feedback from keyworkers and other staff members as to the social and personal development of learners. 6. Feedback from learners and their parents/carers of the support they have received.
Special Educational Needs New Horizons School
Version 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Committee: Curriculum/Pastoral Signed: __________________________________________ Chair of Committee Signed: __________________________________________ Headteacher Date: Review date: April 2015
DOCUMENT STATUS Version 1 2
Author J Appleton J Appleton
Date April 2013 June 2014
Action New policy Amendment
It is our belief at New Horizons School that every child has the right to learn and to have access to a curriculum which allows them to do so. The 1981 Education Act asserted the right of each child to suitable educational provision and defined the term Special Educational Needs to refer to the needs of the substantial group whose needs differ in any way from those of the "average" child. At New Horizons, we operate a `Whole School’ approach to learners with Special Educational Needs. We believe that:
all teachers are teachers of learners with SEN learners with SEN deserve an enhanced level of resourcing to meet their needs all learners have the right to a broad and balanced curriculum, relevant and differentiated, which demonstrates progress and coherence all learners have the capacity to learn and make progress
The school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) is responsible for coordinating, monitoring and evaluating provision for students with learning difficulties across all of our sites. Identifying learners with SEND: At New Horizons, we represent a form of outside agency intervention so all of our students technically come to us at the ‘School Support’ stage of the Code of Practice (2014). Some students excel in the small group, supportive learning environment, whilst others need more support, therefore we have developed our own ‘graduated response’ to supporting our learners with SEN. Students who, after receiving ‘Quality First Teaching’, need additional and extra support will be placed at school support and will be placed on the provision maps for intervention. Assessments feeding into this process include:
NGRT reading and WIAT spelling tests Progress in Maths and GCSE Maths tests CAT testing Character survey Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
If the gap in attainment continues to grow, students will receive further support. At this stage, we begin to gather evidence for an Education, Health and Care Plan may it be deemed an appropriate action. The Purposes of the Special Educational Needs policy are to ensure that: 1. All learners with SEN have access to the full range of the curriculum and the life of the school 2. All learners are encouraged to develop an awareness of, and respect for, individual differences. 3.
All teachers have access to support in dealing with Special Educational Needs.
4. All parents/carers are fully involved in the assessment, planning and monitoring of the SEN of their child. Accordingly the school will: 1. Be pro-active in the prompt identification of Special Educational Needs via:a) Teacher or parental observation
and/or b) Test results c) Learner self-referral d) Information from other agencies e.g. CAMHS, Educational Psychologist, Speech & Language Therapist, referring partner schools 2. Adopt a graduated approach for identifying and meeting Special Educational Needs, in line with the Code of Practice (2014), structured according to the needs of the individual learner. 3. Communicate the needs of SEN learners to all staff by maintaining an up-to-date central Additional Needs Register. 4. Provide access to a full range of facilities to ensure full curricular access to comply with The Special Needs and Disability Act 2001 and current government legislation. 5. Provide enhanced staffing and additional teacher support within available resources for Special Educational Needs targeting priority areas. 6. Require all teachers to be aware of the differing needs of the learners in their classroom, and to be responsible for planning and analysing the difficulty of the materials they use; 7. Offer a curriculum which provides differentiated opportunities for success at all levels, promoting enjoyment and achievement. 8. Provide timetabled additional support where teachers and teaching assistants will provide identified students with personalised 1:1 or small group support with literacy, numeracy or other learning needs. This support will be regularly assessed, monitored and evaluated by the school SENCO. Evaluation The SENCO will consider the following indicators when evaluating the implementation of the Special Needs Policy: 1. The progress made by learners as revealed by a range of test results. 2. The progress made by learners in all areas of the curriculum as revealed by individual subject criteria. 3. The monitoring of programmes of intervention by the designated support staff. 4. The number of learners on the Additional Needs Register, including analysis of additions and discontinuations. 5. Feedback from keyworkers and other staff members as to the social and personal development of learners. 6. Feedback from learners and their parents/carers of the support they have received.
