SEND

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities at The Becket School

Welcome to The Becket School SEN Information Report which is shared as part of our

statutory duty within the Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Regulations (2014).

The SEND Information Report contains information on how The Becket School implements

policy with regard to students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This is published online to meet governing body requirements, set out in the SEN Code of Practice (2015).

The information in this report is for the benefit of students with SEND, their families and our Becket School colleagues; and advises on our graduated response to SEND as well as advice on how to access local information and support services.

The Becket School follows the SEND Policy set out by the Our Lady of Lourdes

Multi-Academy Trust. This can be found by clicking on the image below:

Our SEN Co-ordinator
Mr P Mullins

The Becket School is committed to its duty for early identification of SEND as set out in
the SEND Policy. We follow a graduated response to SEND which is set out below:

Core Offer:

The Core Offer is what The Becket School provides all students within the classroom. The
SENCo, alongside the Leaders of Learning, have developed a departmental approach to
SEND. This sets out the reasonable adjustments classroom teachers can make for all
students to support their participation and progress in the classroom. This includes those
students who are diagnosed with conditions such as Autism and ADHD or identified as
having a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia. The SENCo also shares additional
resources to support the inclusion of students with more specific SEND needs within the
classroom.

For each year group, progress is measured on a termly basis as part of our assessment
cycle. Our school data manager then produces a report which will identify those students
who are not making the expected progress in each subject area.

This information is shared with Parents/Carers. If you have any concerns about your
Child’s progress in a specific subject area, this should be discussed with the class teacher
in the first instance. If there are concerns about your Child’s progress across a range of
subjects then these concerns should be discussed with your Child’s Tutor and Progress
Leader in the first instance. Contact details for these members of staff can be found on
The Becket School website.

Intervention:

Class teachers are at the forefront of our process for identifying students with
SEND. If a student is not making expected progress in the classroom, the class
teacher may choose to provide some form of intervention within that subject. As
subjects have different requirements of students in terms of the knowledge and
skills they need to show, interventions may vary from subject to subject. The
SENCo may be consulted during the intervention stage to discuss possible
approaches to intervention for students with SEND.

Pastoral Intervention:

Any student, including those with SEND, having difficulty in meeting the social
expectations set out in The Becket Way, may be placed on Pastoral Monitoring
with the Form Tutor to explore the reasons and any patterns.

Any student who does not show sufficient improvements whilst on pastoral
monitoring may be placed on a higher Pastoral Report to their Progress Leader.
Again, this includes students with SEND.

Members of the Inclusion Team can be consulted for advice on the specific needs
of a student during any stage of pastoral intervention. The Inclusion Team consists
of

SEN Support:

6.15 A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special
educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that
normally available to pupils of the same age.’

Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2015)

If your Child continues to show difficulty in making progress across the curriculum,
in spite of the reasonable adjustments set out in the core offer and subject
interventions, then they may be provided SEND Support.

At this stage, teachers and the tutor will be asked to share their views on your
Child’s engagement and progress within school. You and your Child will also be
asked to share your own views on the strengths and areas of development
experienced by your Child. The same applies if your Child continues to show
difficulty in managing the social expectations set out in The Becket Way.

You will then be invited to a meeting to discuss these views. At the end of this
meeting, either:

1. We will identify a specific need which requires additional or different provision for your Child. Any specific interventions will be identified and your Child will be placed on the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice Register.

OR

2. Your Child will not be placed on the SEND Code of Practice register but there
will be further recommendations shared for you, your Child and/or their
teachers. This may include further assessments, access to short term
interventions or referrals to external support services. Your Child may be placed
on the SEND Monitoring list.

If your Child is at Primary school, and already on the SEND Code of Practice
register, please view our transition information in Part 12.

SEN Support:

SEN support follows the assess, plan, do and review cycle.

Assess – Progress data, pastoral information and the views of the student,
caregivers and school colleagues will be used to find any barriers that may be
preventing progress in school.

Plan – Any SEN Support provision will be identified and agreed based on the views
of the student, caregivers and school colleagues. The views of external
professionals will be sought where involved.

Do – The SEN Support Provision will be implemented. Subject teachers will be
responsible for the implementation of provision in their classrooms. The SENCo
and Director for Inclusion will be responsible for provision delivered away from the
classroom.

Review – This will explore how successful the SEN Support provision has been in
meeting the needs of the student and whether any adjustments need to be made.
Again, the views of the student, caregivers and school colleagues will be sought.

A minimum of three SEND Reviews will take place per academic year. These will
normally take place once per term. If the review shows a student is making good
progress, it may be agreed the SEN support and provision is not needed.

Other students will require SEN Support for a longer period of time.

EHC Plan:

On occasion, the Special Educational Needs of a student require provision which is
significantly additional or different to that which is normally available in the school
setting. If this is the case, an EHC needs assessment from the local authority may
be discussed. Most children and young people with SEND will have their needs met
in local mainstream settings and will not require an EHC Plan.

Whilst Caregivers can request an EHC Plan, it would be appropriate to discuss this
with the SENCo to ensure that sufficient evidence of need exists. For this purpose,
the following is considered:

• Academic attainment and rates of progress
• Information about the nature, extent and context a student’s SEN
• SEND Reviews of provision which has been available to the student in school.
• Whether gains by the student could be made without significant support which
  is above what is normally available.
• Evidence of the student’s physical, emotional and social development and
  health needs — this will include evidence from health professionals.
• Evidence of what has been done by health professionals and other agencies to
  meet these needs.

Further questions on the EHC Process can be found for each local authority below:

 

If your Child is not currently accessing SEN Support, the need for this must be
discussed first.

If your Child has an EHC Plan, they will follow the graduated response set out on
Page 8. One of the three SEND reviews will be an annual review. The date for this
will be discussed and agreed with the SENCo.

If your Child is at Primary school, and already has an EHC Plan, please view our
transition information in Part 12.

Please direct any questions about the EHC Process to the SENCo

Diagnosing SEND:

‘…schools should have arrangements in place to draw on more specialised assessments
from external agencies and professionals.’

 

Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2015)

The Becket School will not make formal diagnoses of medical conditions which can
contribute to Special Education Needs or Disabilities (For example, Autism, ADHD and
dyslexia).

Diagnosing Medical Conditions:

Dependent on whether you live in Nottingham City or Nottinghamshire County, there are
different systems of referring into health care services.
More information about the different agencies and services which can be referred into
can be found in Part 10.

Diagnosing dyslexia:

The Becket School uses the definition of dyslexia given in the Rose Report of 2009 which
is endorsed by Nottinghamshire County Council:

‘Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and
fluent word reading and spelling”

We do not formally diagnose students as having a specific learning difficulty such as
dyslexia. This can only be done by a specialist assessor who has a Level 7 Qualification in
assessing for Specific Learning Difficulties.

According to the Rose Report of 2009, ”A good indication of the severity and persistence
of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual responds or has
responded to well-founded intervention.”

We are currently working alongside the local authority to review our approach to
identifying and supporting students who demonstrate difficulties which might be
considered consistent with dyslexia. This will be added to the SEND Information Report at
the start of the 2022-23 academic year

Exam Access Arrangements:

These are  reasonable adjustments, as part of our Core Offer, which can be made for students in formal exam conditions. Whilst this list in not exhaustive, it includes:

• Reading Support
• Additional Time
• Use of a Word Processor or Scribe

During GCSE courses, all Exam Access Arrangements are overseen by a national body called the JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) and must be formally applied for. Year 9 is the earliest time students can be formally assessed for Exam Access Arrangements.

Essentially, any formal application for an Exam Access Arrangement is dependent upon:

• Evidence that the use of the Exam Access Arrangement is part of the students normal way of working (This will be seen during Year 7 & 8).

And

• Needs identified through a specialist assessment, conducted by the schools specialist assessor (This is the SENCo)

Or

• Medical Evidence outlining a students medical needs and the impact this has on their learning (This will be through a specialist consultant).

Please note that whilst private assessments conducted outside of school will be considered, any recommendations for Exam Access Arrangements will not be agreed unless there is evidence that these are part of the students normal way of working in school as indicated above.

Please direct any further questions regarding exam access arrangements to the SENCo.

Mr P Mullins, is the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) and responsible for the day to day implementation of the SEND Policy.This includes:

• Working with the Head teacher and SEN governor to determine the strategic direction
and development of SEN policy and provision in the school to ensure the school meets
its responsibilities towards the Equality Act (2010) in providing reasonable adjustments
and access arrangements.
• The provision of professional guidance to colleagues on matters of SEND
• Working closely with colleagues, parent/carers and external professionals
• Having an awareness of the Local Offer
• Advise and develop the graduated approach to SEND to ensure that students with SEND
receive high quality teaching
• Advise and develop the graduated approach to SEND to ensure that students requiring
SEND Support receive high quality provision

Mr P Greig, as Head teacher, will:

• Work with the SENCO and SEN governor to determine the strategic direction and
development of SEN policy and provision in the school
• Have overall responsibility for the provision and progress of learners with SEN and/or a
disability

Mr A Solomonsz, as The Becket School SEND Governor Lead, has specific oversight of The
Becket Schools arrangements for SEN and Disability. He will:

• Help to raise awareness of SEN issues at governing board meetings
• Monitor the quality and effectiveness of SEN and disability provision within the school and update the governing board on this
• Work with the headteacher and SENCO to determine the strategic development of the SEN policy and provision in the school

Funding:

Initial funding for students with SEND is secured through the Notional SEND Budget within school. This ‘Place’ funding can be used to provide appropriate support and provision to support students to access the curriculum and the wider school environment. At the Becket School, we want students to develop their independence and social skills. Therefore funding is not intended to be used to provide one to one in class support to a specific child.

The Becket Family of Schools:

Local Authority:

The views of our students are also an important influence on how we develop our SEND
provision and achieve successful outcomes for students accessing it. Students at The
Becket School have opportunity to share their views in the following ways:

During tutor time:

All students are assigned to a tutor group which they attend at the start of every morning.
During this, students will participate in acts of collective worship and share their views on
range of topics. Students are encouraged to share concerns with tutors at the start of the
day so that any issues might be addressed.

In the classroom:

Students are encouraged to contribute their views on topics and respond to verbal and written feedback within lessons.

Stop The Clock:

A key part of our PSHE curriculum; Stop The Clock Sessions occur half termly and provide
students an opportunity to discuss key topics in their personal and social development.

SEND Reviews:

If you are receiving SEND provision, or have an EHC Plan, there will be three opportunities
per academic year to share your views on this. Your opinions will be gathered during or
before a review meeting to ensure you are involved in any decisions made about your
education.

Student Voice Events:

The SENCo intends to establish opportunities for students with SEND to share their
opinions about SEND provision in school. These will be through surveys and focus groups.
Your views are important and will contribute to the future development of SEND provision
within the school; and this report.

Please contact Mr Mullins if you are a current student who would be interested in
participating in one of these sessions, or have a suggestion on what can be discussed.

The Becket School has the opportunity to collaborate with a range of external colleagues to support a student with SEND. Please click on your local council to learn about the teams within your local authority.

Students will not necessarily need to access these services, or all at the same time. These can be referred to as part of the Graduated Response.

Whilst Parents/Carers can refer directly to Health Services, it would be appropriate to discuss this with your Child’s Progress Leader or the Inclusion Team as Health professionals are likely to request information about how your Child engages with Education.