Special Education Needs Policy -
EQUALITY IN DIVERSITY
Each student at the Angmering School has equal value. The policy of equality of opportunity in diversity is based on the principle of respect for the individual. The school is an integrated whole, inclusive of the students with physical or sensory impairments, communication, learning, social, emotional or behavioural difficulties. It addresses each person's unique needs, intellectual, physical, spiritual, emotional or social.
All members of the school community work together to create an atmosphere in which each member can grow and flourish regardless of race, class, colour, creed, sex, age or ability. Positive interpersonal relationships are fostered in a climate of high expectations and respect for individual achievement.
All students experience a community of diversity in which they value and celebrate the unique contribution that each individual makes. They learn to respect the rights not only of each other but also of groups in the local and wider community.
The language used in the school community, spoken or written, fosters a positive attitude to each person whatever her/his race, class, colour, creed, sex, sexuality, age or ability.
Students have full and open access to a broad and balanced curriculum and to a range of extra-curricular experiences. Attention is given to adequate resources and the development of an appropriate environment to meet the needs of individual students and groups within the school community.
Every area of school life reflects this attention to individual needs and rights, as all school policies are founded on these basic principles, which are embodied in the school aims and values.
The Learning Support and Development Faculty:
The Learning Support and Development (LSD) Curriculum Area forms a network
within the support structures of the school, identifying and responding to
need, monitoring and evaluating support, planning and developing strategies
to meet the changing individual needs of all students and achieve the “Every
Child Matters” outcomes for each one.
The Curriculum Area includes a special support centre, the Lavinia Norfolk Centre (LNC) for up to sixty-four students who are subjects of Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN). These students have physical disabilities, medical conditions or sensory impairment.
The Curriculum Area also meets the needs of more than fifty additional
students with Statements of Special Educational Needs in the school and
significant numbers of students at any one time who experience varying levels
of difficulty (identified as Action and Action Plus).
Roles and Responsibilities:
Governors, in partnership with the Headship Team, ensure the fulfilment of statutory requirements, the provision of adequate resources and the opportunity for staff to develop and evaluate an appropriate curriculum.
The statutory responsibility delegated by the Governing Board to the Student Support Committee which incorporates responsibility for Special Educational Needs, is in turn delegated, within the Headship Team, to Deputy Headteacher, Geraldine Tisdall, who is responsible for overseeing the provision of education for all students with special educational needs and for responding to complaints or queries. She manages the work of the Learning Support and Development Curriculum Area through two Directors of Studies, Mark Andrews the Head of Learning Support and Development and SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) and Penny Meaney, Learning Skills Development and Inclusion Coordinator. Mark Andrews manages Stephen Richards responsible for students with physical disabilities and Teacher in Charge of the Lavinia Norfolk Centre, who manages and works with Stuart Whyte, the Teacher in Charge of Sensory Impaired students. There are Specialist Leadership posts, created to meet the needs of significant groups of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Specific and Global Learning Difficulties. The School is working to achieve Dyslexia Friendly and Autism Aware Status. (Appendix A)
The Learning Support and Development team leads the whole staff in their responsibility for identifying, assessing, monitoring, evaluating and recording information on the progress of students with individual needs and providing support and individual education/behaviour programmes as appropriate. The Curriculum Area leads the monitoring and review of all strategies for support. It has regard to all current legislation and is committed to the achievement of the five outcomes of Every Child Matters: be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution; achieve economic wellbeing. A teacher in the LSD team, with the title of LSD Year Coordinator is responsible for monitoring and evaluating progress of students in the year group with identified special needs on Action and Action Plus.
Learning Support Assistants are led by a manager, responsible to Mark Andrews, Deborah Kempson. They receive induction training and ongoing development. They are highly valued members of the team whose insights inform planning and implementation of support. A detailed Handbook outlines their responsibilities.
Year Team Leaders and Learning Support Supervisors liaise closely with
the Inclusion and LSD Year Coordinators to monitor academic, emotional,
behavioural and social aspects of students’ learning in the Year Group.
The group tutor has the responsibility to be aware of the needs of
her/his tutees and to share the information with colleagues. She/he
plays a central academic mentoring role in enhancing access and learning
for the students in her/his care, working with the year team leader
and the learning support and development team. She/he works closely
with the Year Team Leader, the LSD team and parents to monitor and
support students with identified individual needs, and participates
in the writing of individual education or behaviour support plans.
Heads of Curriculum Area ensure that schemes of work contain differentiation and extension materials for all students. Each subject teacher has the responsibility to be aware of the learning needs of her/his students, to differentiate materials appropriately and to seek additional information and advice as appropriate, from the Head of Curriculum Area, group tutor or the learning support and development team. S/he will set and review targets.
Liaison with the Children’s Services Authority, the Integrated Services Delivery Area, known as the East Arun Hub and all other professionals working with students is strong and working practices established so that, working collaboratively together, a framework may be provided within which each member of the school community is able to grow and develop. (Appendix B)
Partnership with Parents and Students:
Parents' wishes feelings and knowledge inform all decisions made in respect of the education of their children. They are given the opportunity to share their unique knowledge of the children in regular meetings throughout the school year. They are encouraged to participate in the collaborative effort of education of their children directly by involvement in school events, attendance at the meetings with tutors, subject teachers or review staff and, more particularly, by supporting and encouraging the children and monitoring their progress.
Students are encouraged to play a full and active role in decision-making. They have a right to be heard and are consulted about what provision may be made to meet their individual needs. Students with statements participate in regular target-setting and the collation of their Annual Review reports, as well as attending the Annual Review as full participants.
Within the Support Centre, a Council has been set up to enable students with different special needs to nominate a representative who will help to identify internal priorities and allow the “voice of the child” to be heard more clearly. Students have a representative on the whole School Forum either through nominations from the year group or from the Council.
LSD Meetings Structure:
Staff who are full time members of the LSD Curriculum Area attend regular staff meetings, year team and curriculum area meetings as well as taking part in working groups and other programmed group meetings. Whole school meeting schedules are published annually.
Admission Arrangements:
Priority places in the Special Support Centre (Lavinia Norfolk Centre) are reserved for students who are the subjects of statements of Special Educational Needs. These places are provided for students who meet the Local Authority criteria for children with physical disabilities, medical conditions or sensory impairment. All other students, including some who are the subjects of statements, are admitted in accordance with statutory and nationally and locally agreed criteria. Overall, places for students with Statements should not exceed ten per cent of the total intake.
The school also works closely with special schools to reintegrate students
after consultation and assessment and within the limits of available places.
Special Provision:
A range of provision, as well as differentiation within subjects, is available to meet the special educational needs of all students:
o In-class support o Individual education plans
o Small group work o Supported self-study
o Individual tuition o Advice and counselling
o Literacy tuition o First Aid
o EAL tuition o Technological aids
o Modified curricula o Mentoring
Some special support in physiotherapy, speech therapy or occupational therapy is available for students who have been assessed as requiring it.
In addition the LSD Curriculum Area provides special support for students with statements of special educational needs with a physical disability, medical condition and/or hearing or visual impairment, which includes:
o Specialist teachers o Physiotherapy
o Learning Support Assistants o Audiology
o Independent living skills o Speech therapy
o Occupational Therapy o Sign supported English
o Hydrotherapy o Specialised extra curricular activities
o Purpose-built teaching, physiotherapy and hygiene facilities o Specialist
careers advice
o Examination Concessions
Physical Access:
There is physical access to all areas of the school. Where some areas are less accessible there are plans in the Premises Development Plan for improvement, which are regularly updated. A strategic review of access was undertaken to improve overall access in the light of disability discrimination legislation and forms the basis for ongoing improvements.
Resources:
The main sources of funding are:
? Funding identified for special educational needs from the main budget
(7%)
? Funding delegated from centrally held funds for planned places in the
SSC.
? Funding provided by the LA for named mainstream students with statements.
? Funding delegated according to a formula for additional educational
needs.
? Standards funds from central Government according to changing priorities.
? Additionally there is occasionally, some income generation.
These funds are allocated to the staffing and resourcing needs identified by students’ statements, or other identified individual needs. Governors and the Headship Team, in consultation with the staff responsible, ratify their allocation.
Identification, assessment, monitoring and review:
Each Curriculum Area in the school follows the whole school policy that includes reference to prior attainment, student profiles, self-assessment, target-setting and reviews with tutors, the storage of samples of work, reporting to parents and evaluating progress.
The school incorporates the process of planning, intervention and review of students' special educational needs as outlined in the revised Code of Practice (2001). The requirements of “School Action” and “School Action Plus” interventions are developed in line with national best practice guidelines.
The LSD Curriculum Area has well-developed systems to identify, evaluate, monitor and record the progress of all students with Special Educational Needs. The whole team is led by the Director of Studies, Learning Support and Development and the Systems and Review Coordinator manages their review and implementation.
Students with SEN/individual needs have access to the balanced and broadly based curriculum open to all students insofar as this is compatible with the delivery of their special educational provision.
Annual reviews are conducted for all students who are the subjects of Statements of Special Educational Needs. These reviews are timed to coincide with the school's internal cycle of reports and meetings and provide parents and staff with an additional opportunity to share information.
Students, with their Year Coordinators, or Specialist Leaders compile the initial review reports, which incorporate parental comments where possible. At the Annual Review meeting parents consider the student's profile and initial review reports and the final review report is produced. Year Coordinators, within their delegated responsibilities, and Specialist Leaders ensure and monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the report.
Individual Education Plans are written for all students with identified needs requiring action within the school (School Action) or by use of additional resources or outside agencies (School Action Plus) to ensure progress. Individual Behaviour Plans or Pastoral Support Plans help to support students at risk. These are monitored by the LSD team and implemented by the named people. The targets agreed with tutors or in students’ planners as well as curricular arrangements mirror those negotiated for individual education plans.
Evaluation
Target-setting takes place within statutory guidelines. Individual targets are also set for each student within the academic mentoring framework and Faculties develop evaluation processes as part of the school and Curriculum Area self-reviews, which incorporate assessment targets for progress and evaluation of success for groups of students as well as for each one.
Priorities within the School Improvement Plan and the Student Support Committee are drawn up with targets for success and evaluation criteria, as part of a cycle of review, development, implementation and evaluation. By monitoring the whole school target-setting and evaluation procedures, Governors ensure the efficient use of resources and the optimum progress of students with individual needs.
The school participates through individual members of staff, in Best Value Reviews conducted by the Local Authority and evaluates its practice in the light of the research and review findings.
Staff Development:
The school's staff development programme provides opportunities for all staff for in-service training in aspects of student support and SEN. Staff in the LSD Curriculum Area have additional staff development opportunities directly related to their areas of responsibility.
Considering Complaints:
Parents are afforded every opportunity to discuss any concerns or difficulties with the Deputy Headteacher, Geraldine Tisdall, or with any member of the team. However, in the event that no agreement can be reached in informal meetings, parents may make a written complaint to the Headteacher and /or Chair of Governors. The Governors may appoint a panel of three members to hear the complaint. County complaints procedures are followed to resolve the issue.