SEND Information Report

We at Tor School believe that each pupil has individual and unique needs. Tor School believes in Inclusive education for all and welcomes diversity in all its forms. We strive to meet the needs of all the young people who may have a learning difficulty, disability, disadvantage or special educational need.  Our pupils will require additional help throughout their time in school. If our pupils are to achieve their full potential, we must recognise this and plan accordingly.  We aim to provide all pupils with strategies for dealing with their needs in a supportive environment, and to give them meaningful access to a broad and balanced curriculum that gives them a passport to post 16.

 

Written by: Matthew Hill
Adopted by Governors on: 30th November 2022
Review Date: September 2024

Contents

1. What provision is there for pupils with special educational needs?
2. Admission arrangements.
3. How does the school know if pupils need extra help?
4. Our approach to teaching children with SEN.
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of SEN.
6. How will I, and my child, be involved in making decisions about and planning for my child’s education?
7. What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?
8. What training is available to staff supporting pupils with SEND?
9. What Specialist services are available within, or accessible to the school?
10. How will the school support my child through transition?
11. Information on further support and guidance

1.What provision is there for pupils with special educational needs?

SEN definition:

A child is defined as having SEN if they have a learning difficulty, which calls for a special educational provision, namely a provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age. A learning difficulty means that the child has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age; or, that the child has a disability, which hinders them from making use of educational facilities from those generally provided by schools for children of the same age, within the same area.

At Tor School (a Pupil Referral Unit), we cater for a variety of young people.  We provide interim education for primary school and Key Stage 3 secondary school age young people who have been permanently excluded from mainstream schools before supporting them into another school.  At Key stage 4 our provision is a mixture of permanent and temporary placements.  The vast majority of young people in Key Stage 4 have SEMH or medical needs.

We also have a small Social Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) provision for those students in Key stage 4 who have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP).  This is through a Memorandum of Understanding with Somerset SEND panel.  As an alternative provision (AP) we have the flexibility to work with pupils in a variety of ways that support and enable them to engage with school successfully.  In addition to a pupil attending school, we also have limited capacity to deliver outreach teaching and support for schools, working with pupils at home whilst supporting their progress back into school.

As a fully inclusive school, we provide education to those pupils for whom mainstream school is too great a challenge at that moment in time and/or have complex needs.  We also work with pupils who have been out of education for a period to try and engage them so that they can once again attend school.  As a result, the school operates a personalised curriculum designed to cater for the pupil’s need that fall into the 4 general areas outlined below.  Many of our pupils may have a broad spectrum of complex needs that fall across some or all of these areas.

If the pupil’s needs are significant to a point where we are unable to meet them effectively, we may request that the County conducts a formal assessment of educational need – an Education Health an Care Plan needs assessment.

The Code of Practice (2015) provides an overview of the range of needs, which is divided into 4 broad areas. These areas are:

• Communication and Interaction – these children have a difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.
• Cognition and Learning – children with learning difficulties learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs and are grouped as: moderate learning difficulties (MLD); Specific learning difficulties (SpLD) that affect one or more specific aspects of learning, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties – children may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder
• Sensory and or Physical Needs – some children require special educational provision because they have a disability, which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. Many children with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and /or equipment to access their learning.

Tor School is primarily an SEMH provider, however if a young person is referred to us with complex needs we work with other agencies to support them.

School staff support pupils at a level appropriate to their needs through effective personalisation in the classroom whilst linking to and being mindful of their physical and academic needs.  Our aim is to remove as many barriers to engagement and learning as possible for all our students so that they may be able to experience positive learning.  Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs and transition needs are explicitly addressed at Tor through our Learning plans and pupil passport (the Tor School version of individualised plans). These are regularly reviewed with parents and pupil.

Pupils requiring more specific intervention to access the curriculum may be supported in a range of ways, for example:

• Use of alternative education used to directly support development in an area of need
• Individual or small group literacy and numeracy work
• Individual or small group social and emotional development programmes
• In class support
• Individual programmes to meet specific needs

2. Admission arrangements

Entry and access to Tor School is through the Local authority statutory allocation panel, where permanently excluded pupils and referrals for vulnerable pupils are discussed. This panel is a group of professionals and inclusion teams within the Mendip area, who decide on the most appropriate course of action. The LA Access Liaison Officer works with schools and parents, communicating information about pupils who have been excluded and may be at risk of Permanent Exclusion.

3. How does Tor School know if pupils need extra help?

When pupils that are referred to Tor School join, the mainstream school that the pupil leaves provides Tor School with the SEN transfer information, detailing all identification, assessment and intervention information.   Upon transition, pupils with identified needs will be supported through liaison meetings with parents, key staff from both settings and support agencies.  An individual support plan of transition will be created to ensure a successful move is achieved.

We recognise the benefits of early identification and making effective provision in improving the long-term outcomes for children with SEN. We strongly believe the purpose of identification is to work out what action the school needs to take, not to fit the pupil into a category. It is also important to identify the full range of needs, not simply the primary need of an individual pupil and we are acutely aware of underlying issues that impact on engagement and outcomes.

Initial screening is completed when pupils join Tor School.  This is so that any potentially undiagnosed need is highlighted and therefore planned for.  Additional assessments, staff feedback and the ongoing review of a pupils need is completed through using:

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) review
• Initial screening for learning needs that may have been missed
• Observations
• Solution circles
• Teacher feedback
• Parental concerns
• Pupil concerns
• Concerns from other staff such as Teaching assistants, school nurse,

In addition to the above, more thorough personalised diagnostic testing is completed in-house or through engagement with outside agencies when required. 

4. How will I and my child be involved in making decisions about and planning for my child’s education?

At Tor School we believe in a person centred approach to information gathering and planning using the cycle of ‘assess, plan, do, review.’

Parents and pupils are fully included in this process and all input is valued.

The process could include:

• Initial visit to school
• Introductory meetings
• There are academic review days 3 times a year where the pupil, parents/carers and any professional working with the family are invited in to discuss progress.
• Additional parent/carer and key worker meetings will be held if there is a specific area that needs addressing
• Planning and review meetings may also include other professionals that are able to support

5. Our Approach to Teaching Children with SEN (including adapting the learning environment/curriculum):

Our approach to teaching pupils with SEN focuses on the individual and their need, not a label that may have been attached to them.  We take a holistic approach, looking at all aspects of the child’s education and follow best practice guidelines in the provision of our services. We talk to all those concerned, sometimes organising a meeting, to get together and agree the best way to support the child and meet their goals.  All teachers are teachers of SEN and we believe strongly that the quality of the teaching and taking an understanding and supportive holistic approach is a major factor in meeting the needs of our pupils.

6. Monitoring and evaluation of SEN

The Senior Leadership Team and SENDCo, together, map provision for each pupil. The SENDCo and the head teacher monitor and evaluate the quality of provision for all SEN pupils. The school aims to use interventions in school that have proven outcomes and are evidence based. The impact of SEN provision on the progress and outcomes for children is measured through:

• analysis of pupil tracking data and test results at pupil progress meetings
• progress data and based on their age and starting points
• interventions baseline and exit data
• progress against individual targets
• pupils’ work and interviews
• SEMH targets and support programmes

The Senior Leadership Team and SENDCo, together, map provision for each pupil. Decisions are made as to whether specific interventions are proving to be effective in terms of impact and time spent on them for each pupil. Each year we review our provision offer and plan accordingly for the short, medium and long developing picture of need.

7. What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?

We are passionate about education and of meeting the needs of children so that they can succeed in a way that relates to them as young people.  Many of our pupils have SEMH needs and we pride ourselves in our ability to meet the SEMH needs and wellbeing needs of our pupils.  A large number of the pupils we work with have attachment difficulties that make it hard for them to engage in mainstream education.  We take a holistic approach that directly looks at the wellbeing of our pupils and the attachment issues that may underpin some of theirs behaviours. As a school we have an Education and Family Support Advisor, access to MHS mental Health practitioners based at school who serve the Mendip area and access to our allocated school Educational Psychologist.  Through a referral process we can also access specialist help and support.

8. What training is available to staff supporting pupils with SEND?

Training needs are identified in response to the needs of pupils we work with and through staff training requests and needs.

A number of school staff have specific training and expertise in areas such as: speech and language, supporting pupils with ASD, dyslexia, any many more.  The school operates regular staff training sessions on key aspects of Special Educational Needs teaching. These are carried out by the SENDCo, other members of the school or using external professionals, each with specialist knowledge and expertise in this area.

The SENDCo attends network meetings and regularly has input at staff training.

In addition there is regular training in:

• Child Protection (Safeguarding)
• Disability Awareness
• Personalised Teaching
• Awareness of approaches to managing behaviours that challenge
• Team-teach training is updated annually

9. What Specialist services are available within, or accessible to the school?

We as the Tor School have very strong relationships with outside agencies as well and host of services available within the school itself.School based:

• Basic testing for signs of learning difficulties. E.g speed of processing, comprehension, reading, numeracy. Literacy, speed of writing, etc
• Staff that are able to support pupils with Specific Learning Difficulties such as Dyslexia and Dyscalculia
• Staff have experience and training of working with pupils with general learning difficulties, Dyslexia, Autism and behavioural difficulties.
• Education and Family Support Worker
• Motional assessments
• Sensory assessments
• ELSA

External services that the school can use to support pupils and families:

• Educational Psychology
• Support Services- Learning Support; Language and Communication; Sensory; Physical Impairment and Medical Support Team (PIMST)
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
• Educational Welfare Service (attendance)
• School Nurses
• English as an Additional Language team
• Integrated Therapy Services, including Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy
• Counselling
• Family Intervention Service
• Careers Advisors
• Children’s Social Care

10. How will the school support my child through transition?

As a school, we have excellent links with all the education providers locally, and we have a strong tradition of supporting pupils to be able to engage with education pre 16 and then support transition to post 16 education.  In joining the school, the key worker will visit and meet with the pupil and in conjunction with the mainstream school plan transition package that should allow for a successful move to Tor School.  As pupils’ progress through the school they are given a vast amount of support from the schools post 16 advisor, who will personalise support and will ensure all pupils have individual transition programmes.

Should you have any questions regarding Special Educational Needs at Tor School then please contact the school SENDCo, Alex Clinkard: phone number 01458 258296, email: Alex.clinkard@torschool.org

11. Information on further support and guidance:

Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0-25 years. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Somerset County Council SEN local offer

The Local Offer provides information on the services available for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) aged between 0 to 25 in Somerset and how to access them.

https://choices.somerset.gov.uk/025/local-offer/

 

Special educational needs and disability: a guide for parents and carers. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-parents-and-carers

The Family Intervention Service is the early help and support for children, young people and their families in Somerset.