Special Education Needs

SEND – Key information

Local authorities, schools and other services will set out a local offer of all services available to support children who are disabled or who have Special Educational Needs and their families.

The local offer will enable families to understand what services they can access and what support they can expect from a range of local agencies, including from the local authority, health services, schools, leisure services and the voluntary sector. The offer will include provision from birth to 25, across education, health and social care.

Inclusion Lead at Co-op Academy Hamilton Details

Mrs Emma Harrison - Inclusion Lead

Co-op Academy Hamilton

Barthomley Road

Stoke-on-Trent

ST1 6NW

Tel: 01782 234420

Co-op Academy Hamilton SEND Information Report

Co-op Academy Hamilton SEND Information Report

What kind of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are catered for at Co-op Academy Hamilton?

At Co-op Academy Hamilton, we have high aspirations for all learners to make progress from their starting points and reach their full potential.

At the Academy, we follow the Ways of Being Co-op, shared across the Trust:

Show you care
Be yourself, always
Do what matters most
Succeed together.

Our academy offers provision for children with a wide range of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities, in line with the Equality Act 2010 and provision is available for all the four areas of need outlined in the 2014 Send Code of Practice.

This includes:

Communication and Interaction
Cognition and Learning
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Sensory and/or Physical

We have extensive knowledge of a range of needs and we are always keen to extend our knowledge, seeking training where appropriate, to ensure that we are able to meet the needs of all children that choose our provision.

How does Co-op Academy Hamilton know if their children/young person needs extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

Initially, discussions are held with parents prior to the children starting the academy (which may include home visits) and multi-agency meetings are held to identify and discuss any pre-existing needs.

If a child is transferring mid-year, transition discussions will be held with the previous school/academy and parents and pre-existing needs will be identified through these. For children who are already members of the academy, they are continually assessed and progress is discussed as a team. Assessment information, along with observations and specific assessments completed by the SENCO and agency partners are used to identify specific needs.

If, as a parent, you feel that your child may have special educational needs, you should discuss your concerns with the class teacher or academy SENCO immediately so that we can work together to identify needs and potential provision opportunities to support your child in and out of the academy.

At this point, your child may be identified as needing School Support, as outlined in the SEN Code of Practice 2014. With your permission, specialist support and advice from a professional outside the academy will be sought, e.g. the academy SEN/D director, Educational Psychologist, Outreach Team, Sensory Service (for students with a hearing or visual need), Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy, School Nurse/Health Visitor, Physiotherapist etc.

How does Co-op Academy Hamilton assess and identify the needs of their children/young people?

Children are assessed when they start school through the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. This information is used to provide starting points for learning and to develop a personalised learning journey which shows appropriate support and challenge for every child. Other assessment tools are used, such as the Locke and Beech assessment tool. This allows us to identify the needs of individuals.

Who are the SENDCo and SEND Governor at Co-op Academy Hamilton?

Mrs Emma Harrison is the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) at Co-op Academy Hamilton.

Mr Paul Atkins is the Link Community Council Member for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

How do we involve and support parents of children/young people with SEND?

At Co-op Academy Hamilton, parents and carers are encouraged to share their views regularly. As a school, we operate an open-door policy and encourage parents to discuss their child’s progress at any time with class teachers, SENCo or other appropriate professionals. Class teachers offer termly meetings to parents to discuss their child’s progress against their individual targets, to share information and to raise any concerns.

Additionally, if your child has an EHCP you and other professionals who work with your child, will be invited to attend and feed back information to form part of the statutory or interim review.

How do we involve children/young people with SEND in shaping their education and future?

We have very high expectations of everyone in our school community. We are uncompromising in holding children at the centre of everything we do, and it is our ambition to ensure ALL of our children reach their full potential. Every child on the SEND register has a pupil passport which is developed with the child and their parents. Pupil voice is conveyed through the pupil passport to ensure that each child feels that they have ownership of what they need and how they learn best.

Additionally, children with EHCPs share their views as part of their statutory review. This builds into the idea that we want all learners to feel confident in understanding their difficulties and begin to advocate for themselves – all in a bid to prepare them for adulthood.

How do you and I know that your child/young person is making progress and meeting their targets?

Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by their class teacher. It will also be formally reviewed with Senior Leaders, including the SENCO, at each assessment point. Other assessments will be used to inform progress discussions, e.g. Locke and Beech assessment, Communication Screen, BPVS etc. Regular book scrutinies and lesson observations are carried out by members of the Leadership Team to ensure that the needs of all children are met and that the quality of teaching and learning is strong.

All children will receive an annual report, and you will be invited to attend a parents’ consultation bi-annually. You will be invited to review the targets and contribute to your child’s Pupil Passport at least termly as you and your child are valuable and respected partners within this process.

The progress of children with EHCP will be formally reviewed at a statutory review or interim review with all adults involved with the child’s education, health and care.

How will Co-op Academy Hamilton prepare and support my child/young person moving to or from our academy and how do we prepare them to join the next stage of education and life?

Parents are encouraged to make an appointment with the class teacher to discuss need and provision as and when needed/appropriate, in line with our open-door policy.

Standardised testing, for example BPVS, Renfrew, Salford, Vernon, and HAST can be completed and analysed for all children.

Within the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) children within the academy will be assessed using the Nuffield Communication Screen. This informs the need for targeted intervention, both within the academy and through external agencies (Speech and Language Therapy).

At the end of the Foundation Stage (Reception) all children are assessed using the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. The academy reports this information to parents as a part of their child’s annual report.

At the end of Year 1, all children are required to be formally assessed in phonics using the Phonics Screening Assessment. This is something the government requires all schools and academies to do and the results are published nationally. Where judged appropriate, due to their additional needs, children will be subject to disapplication.

How will the setting support my child/young person?

Your child may be supported in different ways. Our universal offer for all children in our Academy is very strong and the teaching, 'Quality First Teaching', is adaptive and responds to the needs of all children. For children with SEND, targets will be set and strategies will be identified. For example, additional reading sessions, phonics boosters, concentration aids, small group activity sessions or 1:1 specifically targeted interventions. The staff will then evaluate and review what progress is being made as a result of the intervention.

How will Co-op Academy prepare and support my child/young person moving to or from our academy, and how do we prepare them to join the next stage of education and life?

Transition is important for all children. For children with SEN/D, specific, personalised induction/transition plans with additional transition arrangements are implemented. These may include daily/weekly visits, transition books, Social Stories, talking points. Staff arrange induction/transition meetings for academy-school and parents/carers as appropriate.

How will teaching and the curriculum be adapted to meet the needs of my child/young person?

As outlined in the SEND Code of Practice, quality first teaching is the first step in supporting children with SEND. At Co-op Academy Hamilton, the quality of universal provision is strong. Classroom staff provide targeted support and provision through targeted classroom teaching. The teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class and teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand. The different ways of teaching are in place, so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. Your child’s teacher will carefully check on your child’s progress and will identify gaps in their understanding/learning and where they need some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

Pupil Passports will be developed with parents and pupils to reflect all provision in place.

How accessible is the environment?

Co-op Academy Hamilton is situated on two levels. All classrooms, including nursery, are at ground level. All entrances are accessible by walkways and ramps. Access to the lower ground floor is gained via an external pathway or an internal lift. Access to the nursery building is enabled by an assisted door. There are adult disabled toilet facilities on both levels and an electrically adjustable changing bed in the disabled toilet on the ground floor.

What expertise for supporting children/young people with SEND do our staff have and what training have they received in the last three years?

At Co-op Academy Hamilton, the SENDCo holds the NASENCO qualification, which is a mandatory qualification for SENDCO’s. Additionally, there is also support from the Co-op Academies Trust SEND directors who have expertise and qualifications in various other areas of SEND.

All teaching staff attend regular SEND CPD as part of the trust CPD programme.

We have staff within the trust who are trained and/or experienced in:

Speech and Language – Spirals, Language Steps, Targets, Time to Talk,

Stoke Speaks Out (Level 3), Talk Boost

Switch on

Precision Teaching

Dylexia

Numicon

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Nurture – Boxall Assessments

Emotion Coaching

Circle of Friends

Social Stories

Visual Impairments

Epilepsy

Stoma

Diabetes

Asthma

What other experts do we work with to support children/young people with SEND?

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Advisory teachers (Inclusive Learning Services Team through the Local Authority)

Educational Psychologist (EP)

Speech and Language Therapist (SALT)

NHS Mental Health Support Team

Occupational Therapist

Children and Adolescence Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

Family Services (Social Services, YMCA Family Support).

SEND/ SENIASS (Parent partnerships and SEN advisors from the Local Authority).

NHS Stoma Nurse

Hearing Impairment Team (HIT)

Caudwell Charity

Community paediatrician and school nurse

Specialist provision outreach support

How do we know that the support provided to children/young people is effective?

The support received by children at Co-op Academy Hamilton is regularly reviewed and quality assured to ensure that it is effective. Regular visits from Co-op Academies Trust SEND directors ensure that golden thread monitoring takes place to quality assure the effectiveness of the SEND provision. This is additional to the monitoring by the Leadership Team, which includes data analysis, book scrutinies, learning walks, pupil and parent discussions.

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom, including school trips?

We aim for all children to have access to all trips and extracurricular activities. We will ensure that necessary adaptations are made to provision to ensure that this can happen. Detailed risk assessments are completed prior to the trip to ensure safety and well-being.

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall wellbeing?

At Co-op Academy Hamilton, the ethos is to be caring, understanding and inclusive; we welcome and celebrate diversity, and believe that high self-esteem is crucial to children’s well-being.

Our pupils with SEND are known to all staff. The academy entrances are staffed with adults who greet and welcome pupils and their families each morning and implement additional support and intervention when required. This ensures a smooth transition between home and the academy each day.

The class teacher has overall responsibility for the pastoral, medical and social and emotional care of every child in their class, therefore, this should be your first point of contact via ClassDojo. Where required, a meeting will be held with the class teacher and, if further support is required, the class teacher liaises with their Key Stage Lead and Deputy Principal where appropriate. The Pastoral team can always be accessed for further advice and support. This may involve working alongside outside agencies such as Health and Social Care Services.

How do we ensure that all members of our academy community are valued and differences are respected?

At the Academy, we take pride in working within the Ways of Being Co-op:

Show you care
Be yourself, always
Do what matters most
Succeed together.

These values are what we all strive to work towards and all members of the Academy follow the simple rules of:

Be Ready
Be Respectful
Be Safe

Throughout the year, we engage in a wealth of experiences to promote diversity and individuality, such as, Good to be Me Day, World Mental Health week, Anti-bullying week, Positive Noticing Day, various religious festivals and cultures and celebration assemblies.

Any allegations of bullying follow a rigorous bullying allegation procedure which investigates and deals with this.

What other support is available to parents and how can I contact them?

At Co-op Academy Hamilton, there is the Safeguarding and Attendance Office and the Pastoral team, all of whom can be contacted via the academy office. Where further support is required an Early Help assessment and plan will be considered, which will enable parents to access support and guidance from a wide range of services.

You can access support via Stoke-on-Trent Local Offer:

https://localoffer.stoke.gov.uk/

You can also access support from SENDIASS:

https://sendiass-stoke.co.uk/

PEGiS - Parent Engagement Group in Stoke

Pegis holds an informal meeting on the first Wednesday of every month at Westfield Children’s Centre, Buccleuch Road, Longton, S-o-T, ST3 4RF. Meetings will last for 1–2 hours.

What do I do if I need to make a complaint?

Parents, initially, are asked to discuss their concerns with the class teacher and progress through the stages of leadership within the academy. Parents who feel the need to make a complaint are advised to access the complaints policy.

SEND Glossary of the most common terms

ADD	Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD	Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder
ASD	Autistic Spectrum Disorder
CAF	Common Assessment Framework
CAMHS	Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service
COP	Code of Practice
CP	Child Protection
DCD	Developmental Co-ordination Disorder
EAL	English as an Additional Language
EP	Educational Psychologist
FSM	Free School Meals
FLO	Family Liaison Officer
HI	Hearing Impairment
IEP	Individual Education Plan
LAC	Looked After Child
LEA	Local Education Authority
LM	Learning Mentor
MLD	Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI	Multi-sensory impairment
OT	Occupational Therapist
PD	Physical disability
PMLD	Profound and multiple learning difficulties
SEN	Special Educational Needs
SEND	Special Educational Needs & Disability
SENCo	Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
SLCN	Speech, Language, Communication Needs
SLD	Severe learning difficulties
SpLD	Specific Learning Difficulty
VI	Visual Impairment