Special Educational Needs
INFORMATION REPORT
Our Commitment
Education is clearly a shared responsibility and we aim to work in partnership with parents and other relevant professionals. We will assess your child on admission and put in extra help if this is merited within the limits of our resources. We train our staff to be alert to signs that a child is struggling and this may subsequently lead to a referral to the SENCO. We use the school’s mainstream funding and top-up SEN funding to furnish this support.
Admissions
Once a child has been admitted to Blessed Sacrament, those with the most severe/complex needs will be prioritised for support and parents of those who fall within this category, will be invited to bespoke consultation, planning and review meetings. Support is tailored to match the profile of four broad areas or needs as defined in the SEN Code of Practice 2014: Communication and interaction, Cognition and learning, Social, emotional and mental health and Sensory and/or physical needs. The wishes of the child will, of course, be taken into consideration at all times. The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator); a specialist teacher, can be contacted for assistance and there are a number of staff who support those identified as having special needs or disabilities (we do occasionally use the part-time services of an educational psychologist).
How we support Special Education Needs
All teaching staff have received basic training in special educational needs. SEN pupils tend to be supported in class, however, occasionally pupils are withdrawn from the mainstream. There is a homework club after normal school hours, twice a week to support pupils.
Our policy is to facilitate full access to the curriculum and meta-curriculum where feasible for SEN and disabled pupils so that they do not feel they are treated less favourably than other pupils. As well as considering academic progress, we have regard to emotional and social development needs. The school is a modern building, however, parts of the school might be difficult to access. The school has a strong and effective anti-bullying policy.
Pupils are taught in a mixed ability setting for the vast majority of curriculum time. We assess the success that those with special needs achieve by benchmarking against expected progress from early learning goals and then prior attainment levels at Key Stage 1. We build in regular consultation with parents to garner their views. At the beginning of each term parents will receive a curriculum letter giving an outline programme of work and indicating how parents can support their child. Three times a year we send home progress grades but if parents have any concerns they can contact the SENCO to arrange a meeting.
We work in partnership with a range of external agencies to provide effective support based on the needs of the students including CAMHS (Children & Adolescent Mental Health Service), social care and various charities. We have a SEN Governor who oversees this area of policy. We look to train new staff each year to develop our SEN expertise.
We liaise with local support services in Year 6, so that a smooth and successful transition is made to secondary education.
Contacts
Our SENCO is Ms I. Goursaud (contactable through the school on 020 7278 2187). Complaints about Special Needs are to be directed to the SENCO and if a resolution is not achieved, it should be dealt with as indicated in the Governors’ Complaints Policy.