Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

We are committed to ensuring that all students realise their potential, through a broad and balanced curriculum that provides equality of opportunity and enables high achievement for all students regardless of specific need or academic ability.

The guidelines outlined in the Department of Education’s Code of Practice form the basis of our Special Needs policy, which is available from the school and on the website. Students experiencing difficulties with their learning will be identified through information from parents, teaching staff, primary school colleagues and the students themselves, and they might then be placed on the Special Educational Needs register. A student profile is created to alert staff to the needs identified and the strategies agreed to help the student. This enables teaching staff to provide additional classroom support to enable the student to access the curriculum, and we ensure that they are monitored closely and their progress discussed regularly with parents. Students with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) issued by the local authority are also supported and monitored closely, according to the provision outlined in their plans. Regular meetings take place with parents to review the outcomes for these students.

Increasingly, students are encouraged to work towards independence, with support from TAs and class teachers. We suggest a range of strategies, in consultation with external bodies, to achieve a greater level of autonomy for students with SEND, in the classroom and whilst working at home.

Kate Larminie, Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion, oversees special educational support in school including students with SEND and bilingual learners, supported by Jane Kavanagh - SENCo. Our Special Educational Needs Officer is Kay Ridout. Kay works closely with the subject departments and the team of Teaching Assistants to coordinate support for the students on the Special Educational Needs register, and others who have been identified as having short- or longer-term needs. The learning support team offers support for students with specific learning difficulties, including targeted interventions for those students who require additional help with literacy and numeracy.

The school has two attached Oxfordshire Special Educational Needs resource bases: one for students with hearing impairments (DHS) and one for students with communication and interaction (C&I) difficulties. The Deaf and Hearing ServiceResource Base (DHSB) and the Communication and Interaction Resource Base (CIRB) form part of a continuum of support offered within the Local Offer for children and young people with SEN living in Oxfordshire. Both resource bases are staffed with specialist teachers and support staff from the centrally held Special Educational Needs Support Services (SENSS). Students with HI or C&I are on school roll and are included as fully as possible in school life with support from the bases. The lead teacher for the DHSBis Liano Brown and for the CIRB are Pete Austin (KS3) and Claire Wilks (KS4/5).

Specialist support for students whose first language is not English is co-ordinated by Eileen Nolan.

Students who have been identified as having behaviour for learning needs or social, emotion, mental health (SEMH) needs benefit from guidance provided in the Inclusion Base managed By Dan Ormrod. This is a nurturing environment designed to enable students a chance to reflect upon their behaviour or receive targeted SEMH support to ultimately manage better in school.