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3. SEND support 'beyond the classroom'

We firmly believe that the best way to support our children with SEND is through the provision of high-quality inclusive and adaptive teaching in the classroom.

We also firmly believe that every child has a right to access a broad and balanced curriculum.

However, it is also clear that some children, particularly some children with SEND, require additional support away from their 'normal' classroom and the usual curriculum offer.

As such, we offer the following levels of additional support:

  • Bespoke individualised teaching strategies
    • Every child on the SEN register has an online SEN profile which provides bespoke teaching strategies for each student's classroom teachers.  These strategies are collated and updated by our SEND support team.  Classroom teachers then utilise these strategies to ensure high-quality adapted teaching is in place for all children on the SEND register.
  • Key Adults
    • Some of our children with SEND, usually those with EHCPs, are allocated key adults who work with the parents and children to develop a 'student passport' which outlines appropriate SEND support whilst also including students and parent voice, giving teachers some added information about how to support those individuals and their additional needs.  The 'student passports' also provide a summary of current and past interventions and targets, similar to IEPs used by other schools. 
  • 'SEN A' 
    • Some students are added to our 'SEN Awareness' list and coded as SEN A.  These children are not on the SEND register because they are making the expected levels of academic progress; however they have either previously been on the SEND register (possibly at a junior school) and/or have a formal diagnosis (e.g. ADHD/ASC) and/or are on a diagnosis pathway (i.e. in the process of being diagnosed). We believe that our staff should be aware of these children so that adaptations can still be made in the classroom to support those children in a way which means they can continue to perform at least to the expected standards.  
  • Curriculum Access KS4 pathway
    • For a small number of identified students, we offer a curriculum access pathway at KS4.  This does mean these students study one less GCSE, but do receive lessons to work on entry level English and maths, as well as undertaking a Kings Trust Life Skills course during curriculum time.  Identified students are invited to participate in this options pathway and meetings between the SENDCOs and parents will always take place in advance – this pathway is only ever a recommendation and students/parents can either opt in or out according to their preference.
  • Curriculum literacy and numeracy interventions:
    • Identified students are taken out of some lessons in Yr7 and 8 to develop literacy and numeracy skills in hope of improving these levels so they can better access their GCSE subjects from Year 9 onwards.  These lessons take place in the Hive classroom, twice a week and are led largely by our SEND catch-up teacher, but also supported by our SENDCOs and HLTAs.
    • Students still causing concern after these group sessions are often targeted with additional 1-to-1 support after their literacy/numeracy 'booster' group has finished.
  • Dyslexia Support Groups
    • Identified students with a formal dyslexia diagnosis or displaying dyslexic traits (when screened by Mrs. Harris) may be invited to take part in dyslexia support groups during the school day.  These groups are run by Mrs. Harris and focus on teaching students key skills relating to reading, writing and organisation; these groups are often specifically tailored to the needs of these children.
  • Hive Interventions, including the following group and 1-to-1 support offers:
    • Additional catch-up in English
    • Additional catch-up in Maths
    • Reading support
    • ELSA sessions
    • Zones of Regulation sessions
    • Key Vocabulary groups
    • Friendship/Social Skills groups
    • Lego Club
    • Occupational Therapy 
    • Speech and Language Therapy
    • Touch Typing course
    • Dyslexia Gold
    • Art Therapy
    • Handwriting Support
  • Additional Hive 'individualised support (this support is always agreed through the Head of Year and SENDCO and is part of a student support plan and/or EHCP)
    • OPT - specific teaching strategies for individuals shared with staff
    • FLS/SLS support individual students in specific lessons
    • Timetabled support for targetted lessons
    • Provision of coloured overlays/paper
    • School approved 'fidgets/concentration aids'
    • Laptop provision
    • Tablet loan scheme (coming soon)
    • Uniform adjustments
    • Doodle books
    • Different coloured pens and mini-whiteboards
    • Early lesson exits
    • Increase font size printing
    • Time Out cards: for supported movement breaks
    • Time Out cards: for co-regulation support
    • Time Out cards: for self-regulation support
  • Access Arrangements including:
    • Computer-based reader
    • Computer-based scribe
    • Human Reader
    • Human scribe
    • 25% extra time
    • Rest Breaks
    • Prompts
    • Separate Room
    • Specific seating (medical row / back row)
    • Coloured overlays
    • Diabetic snacks
    • Diabetic mobile phone use
    • Live speaker
    • Modified papers
    • Reader pens
    • Use of a word processor/laptop

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