As an inclusive Academy we do not seek to closely define the special educational needs for which we will make provision. Historically we have had success in providing for a wide range of different needs, when budget, resources and availability of expertise has allowed. This has included students with:

• Dyslexia
• Dyscalculia
• Autistic Spectrum Disorders
• Dyspraxia
• Visual Impairment
• EAL
• Hearing impairment
• ADHD
• SEBD

In admitting students with special educational needs we would expect to have informative discussions with both the student's family and the Local Authority to ascertain the suitability of our provision. We understand that it is initially our responsibility to make provision for a student with special educational needs through the Academy's devolved SEN budget.

Thereafter we are aware of the process of applying for High Needs Funding, if the student's and the Academy's needs make that a necessity. As a mainstream academy, it would clearly be difficult for us to make provision for students whose needs and/or demands are significant, severe or profound - to the extent that it could be argued that they would be most appropriately placed in a special Academy.

The 2015 SEN Code of Practice defines SEN as:

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age

or

• have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

The following methods are used to help us identify students with Special Educational Needs:

• attendance at Year 6 Annual Reviews by the SENCO
• liaison with primary schools during transition visits in Year 6
• additional visits offered where required for all students
• information collated from Brooke Weston Academy staff who visit all new Year 6 students
• SATs scores from Primary schools
• Information collated from the transfer of school files from primary schools
• analysis of screening tests taken on entry into the Academy
  • Cognitive Ability Tests (CATs)
  • reading and spelling tests
  • baseline assessments in each department
  • ongoing formative reviews of progress every three weeks and through Termly end of Module testing
  • concerns/information received from a parent/guardian and outside agencies
• Ongoing identification is also completed alongside the school reporting process as data is collated and analysed in all subject areas by Heads of Department. If a member of staff identifies a student whose special educational needs are not being met by at least good teaching and a fully differentiated curriculum the class teacher will work with the student setting clear target and providing additional differentiation.

Should you believe your child has special educational needs you should contact the SENCO (details above) who will be able to undertake investigations and appropriate assessments to see if they meet local and national SEN criteria.

All students regardless of needs are set both minimum and aspirational targets. Data collated during the school report process is analysed and strategies are pu in place to support those that are not achieving as expected. All interventions and support offered to students is tracked on our provision maps. These maps are regularly monitored and evaluated by the SENCO. Adjustments are then made accordingly. Effectiveness of provision for students with SEN is evaluated in the following ways:

• provision maps
• observations of teachers
• pre and post intervention testing and analysis of the data collected
• termly reports

• termly reports every eight weeks
• reading and spelling tests
• parents/guardian consultation evenings
• during the year parents/guardians are invited to an interim review and the full review takes place annually for those students with a statement/EHC Plan
• internal target setting data
• attendance data
• through discussions with the student and parents / guardians

Brooke Weston Academy ensures that lessons are fully differentiated to address the needs of all students. The school is committed to a Continuous Professional Development Programme for all staff which includes support and training for teaching and working with students with SEND. A variety of resouces are used to ensure that all students are able to access lessons as independently as possible. The school has a clear Pastoral support process in place and the staff supporting students include:

• Tutor
• Class Teacher
• Learning Support Assistants
• SENCo
• School Careers Advisor
• School Nurse
• School Counsellor
• Head of Key Stages
• Senior Leadership Team
• We recognise that all students have the right to be involved in making decisions and exercising choice. In most lessons, all students are involved in monitoring and reviewing their progress through the use of layered targets. We endeavour to fully involve all students by encouraging them to:
• state their views about their education and learning
• identify their own needs and learn about learning
• share in individual target setting across the curriculum so that they know what their targets are and why they have them
• self-review their progress and set new targets
• monitor their success at achieving the targets on their Individual Education Plan

• the Principal is responsible for making strategic decisions which will maximise students opportunity to learn
• the Principal and the Governing Body will delegate the day to day implementation of this policy to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)
• the Principal will be informed of the progress of all vulnerable learners and any issues with regard to the Academy's provision in this regard through:
  • analysis of the whole-school student progress tracking system
  • maintenance and analysis of a whole-school provision map for vulnerable learners
  • student progress meetings with individual teachers
  • regular meetings with the SENCO
  • discussions and consultations with students and parents

In line with the recommendations in the SEN Code of Practice 2015, the SENCO will oversee the day- to-day operation of this policy in the following ways:

• maintaining and analysing whole-school provision maps for vulnerable learners
• identifying on this provision map a staged list of students with special educational needs - those in receipt of additional SEN support from the Academy's devolved budget, those in receipt of High Needs funding and those with statements of Special Educational Need or Education Health and Care plans
• co-ordinating provision for students with special educational needs
• liaising with and advising teachers
• overseeing the records on all students with Special Educational Needs
• contributing to the in-service training of staff
• implementing a programme of Annual Review for all students with a statement of special educational need. Complying with requests from an Education Health and Care Plan Coordinator to participate in a review
• carrying out referral procedures to the Local Authority to request High Needs funding and/or an Education Health and Care Plan when it is suspected, on strong evidence arising from previous intervention (additional SEN support from devolved budget), that a student may have a special educational need which will require significant support
• overseeing the smooth running of transition arrangements and transfer of information for Year 6 students on the vulnerable learners' provision map
• monitoring the Academy's system for ensuring that Individual Education Plans, where it is agreed they will be useful for a student with special educational needs, have a high profile in the classroom and with students
• evaluating regularly the impact and effectiveness of all additional interventions for all vulnerable learners (including those with special educational needs)
• meeting at least termly with each teacher to review and revise learning objectives for all vulnerable learners in their class who are being tracked on the Academy's provision map
• liaising and consulting sensitively with parents and families of students on the SEN list, keeping them informed of progress and listening to their views of progress, in conjunction with class teachers
• attending area SENCO network meetings and training as appropriate
• liaising with the Academy's Inclusion Governor, keeping him/her informed of current issues regarding provision for vulnerable learners, including those with Special Educational Needs (nationally, locally and within the Academy)
• liaising closely with a range of outside agencies to support vulnerable learners

• liaising with the SENCO to agree:
  • which students in the class are vulnerable learners
  • which students are underachieving and need to have their additional interventions monitored on the a vulnerable learners' provision map - but do not have special educational needs
  • which students (also on the provision map) require additional support because of a special educational need and need to go on the Academy's SEN list. Some of these students may require advice/support from an outside professional and, therefore, an Individual Education Plan to address a special educational need (this would include students with statements/EHC Plans)
• securing good provision and good outcomes for all groups of vulnerable learners by:
  • providing differentiated teaching and learning opportunities, including differentiated work for EAL students which reduces linguistic difficulty whilst maintaining cognitive challenge
  • ensuring there is adequate opportunity for students with special educational needs to working on agreed targets which are genuinely "additional to" or "different from" those normally provided as part of the differentiated curriculum offer and strategies". (SEN Code of Practice 2013)
  • ensuring effective deployment of resources - including learning support - to maximise outcomes for all groups of vulnerable learners

Brooke Weston Academy is a truly inclusive school and all students regardless of need are provided with access to a broad balanced curriculum that is differentiated to address the needs of all. All staff are responsible for the progress students make within their classroom. Within lessons the subject teacher is responsible for differentiating learning. Where students are underachieving and/or identified as having special educational needs, the Academy provides for these additional needs in a variety of ways and might use a combination of these approaches to address targets identified for individual students:

• teachers differentiate work as part of quality teaching
• small group withdrawal time (limited and carefully monitored to ensure curriculum entitlement is not compromised)
• individual class support/individual withdrawal
• further differentiation of resources
• Use of upper school mentors to provide small group support (limited and carefully monitored to ensure curriculum entitlement is not compromised)
• Spelling / social / reading and dyslexia group work

Teachers have high expectations and plan carefully to meet the learning needs of all our students. We give all students the opportunity to show what they know, understand and can do, and we achieve this in a variety of ways when planning for student's learning by providing:

• a common activity that allows the students to respond at their own level
• an enrichment activity that broadens a student's learning in a particular skill or knowledge area
• an individual activity within a common theme that reflects a greater depth of understanding and higher level of attainment
• the opportunity for students to progress through their work at their own rate of learning

Students meet a variety of organisational strategies as they move through the school. Each strategy supports all students in their learning, but gives due regard to the more able and very able learner.

We offer a range of extra-curricular activities for our students. These activities offer very able and/or talented students the opportunity to further extend their learning in a range of activities. Opportunities include a range of sporting and musical clubs. Academy based provision includes opportunities for performance, artists in residence, specialist teaching and partnership with primary and secondary schools.

The monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of our provision for vulnerable learners is carried out in the following ways:

• classroom observation by the SENCO and senior leaders
• ongoing assessment of progress made by intervention groups
• work sampling on a termly basis
• scrutiny of planning
• teacher interviews with the SENCO
• informal feedback from all staff
• student interviews when setting new IEP targets or reviewing existing targets
• student progress tracking using assessment data (whole-school processes)
• monitoring IEPs and IEP targets, evaluating the impact of IEPs on students' progress
• attendance records and liaison with Education Entitlement Service
• regular meetings about students' progress between the SENCO and the Principal
• Interim reviews held in term 2
• Annual review

• all learners will have access to quality teaching
• some vulnerable learners will have access to carefully differentiated activities or approaches directly related to the Academy curriculum which are part of our good practice in making teaching and learning accessible to students learning at different rates. These will probably be students who are underachieving and have been identified by the Academy as needing to make accelerated progress but will not necessarily be students with special educational needs. This is considered to be a differentiation of the usual Academy curriculum - not a special intervention for students with SEN
• all vulnerable learners will be included on a detailed whole-school provision map which outlines and monitors all additional intervention across the Academy. The whole Academy provision map enables the Academy to:
  • plan strategically to meet students' identified needs and track their provision
  • audit how well provision matches need
  • recognise gaps in provision
  • highlight repetitive or ineffective use of resources
  • cost provision effectively
  • demonstrate accountability for financial efficiency
  • demonstrate to all staff how support is deployed
  • inform parents, LEA, external agencies and Ofsted about resource deployment
  • focus attention on whole-school issues of learning and teaching as well as individual needs, providing an important tool for self-evaluation
  • Exam access arrangements
    • From entry into the School data is analysed and students are identified that may require additional support. The student will then be asked to complete additional assessments, normally during the first Term of Year 10, to determine what support is required. The support a student can have is dependent on the scores they receive in these tests alongside the history of need. Additional support may include; a reader, writer, extra time, prompter, transcript. When internal assessments are taking place subject teachers will request support from the SEN team to enable students to develop the skills to use this form of support during external examinations. It is important to note that there is clear criteria set by exam boards for this support so as your child makes progress this support may not be available for the duration of their study at Brooke Weston Academy.

• the SENCO is a trained teacher and has the National Award for SENCOs
• there are two learning mentors who also have a wide range of expertise including literacy and autism
• we have a trained counsellor available to all students
• we have a school nurse who is able to meet students within school
• external expertise is also available through the Educational Psychologists service and Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

Accessible facilities include: disabled parking spaces; disabled toilets throughout the Academy; and a lift to all floors. It should be noted that the Academy is carpeted throughout, which can present some difficulty for wheelchair users.

Students have access to computers throughout the entire Academy. Needs of students are reviewed and where additional equipment or changes to facilities are required these are discussed with the Principal and decisions made with regard to reasonable adjustment.

The Academy aims to work in partnership with parents and carers. We do so by:

• working effectively with all other agencies supporting students and their parents
• giving parents and carers opportunities to play an active and valued role in their student's education
• making parents and carers feel welcome
• encouraging parents and carers to inform the Academy of any difficulties they perceive their student may be having or other needs the student may have which need addressing
• instilling confidence that the Academy will listen and act appropriately
• focusing on the student's strengths as well as areas of additional need
• allowing parents and carers opportunities to discuss ways in which they and the Academy can help their child
• agreeing targets for all students, in particular, those not making expected progress and, for some students identified as having special educational needs, involving parents in the drawing-up and monitoring progress against these targets
• keeping parents and carers informed and giving support during assessment and any related decision-making process
• making parents and carers aware of the Parent Partnership services available as part of the Local Offer
• providing all information in an accessible way, including, where necessary, translated information for parents with English as an Additional Language

We recognise that all students have the right to be involved in making decisions and exercising choice. In most lessons, all students are involved in monitoring and reviewing their progress through the use of layered targets. We endeavour to fully involve all students by encouraging them to:

• state their views about their education and learning
• identify their own needs and learn about learning
• share in individual target setting across the curriculum so that they know what their targets are and why they have them
• self-review their progress and set new targets
• monitor their success at achieving the targets on their Individual Education Plan
• the SENCO will identify sources of support as they develop and evolve as the Local Offer is defined through Education, Health and Social Care (including the establishment of joint commissioning arrangements)
• we seek to respond quickly to emerging need and work closely with other agencies including:
  • CAF team
  • CAMHS
  • Educational Psychology Service
  • Northamptonshire Parent Partnership Service
  • NCC Sensory Impairment team
  • Local NHS services
  • Targeted Prevention Team
  • Education Entitlement Service
  • Multi-agency safeguarding hub
• in accordance with the SEND Code of practice 2015 we invite all relevant agencies to annual review meetings, transition meetings and specific provision planning meetings involving students with special educational needs in our Academy. For students with Education, Health and Care Plans, we comply fully with requests from independent facilitators to provide information and cooperate fully with other agencies
• often at the request of families, we liaise with voluntary bodies in order to be as familiar as possible with best practice when the special educational needs of a student are very specific (eg autism, visual impairment etc)
• we have a clear point of contact within the Academy who will coordinate the support from outside agencies for each student. Most often this will be the SENCO or Designated Teacher for LAC, but in some cases it can be another member of staff who we have identified as a Learning Mentor
• we will ensure smooth transition into our Academy from the previous phase of education and from our Academy into the next phase of education
• we will ensure early and timely planning for transfer to a student's next phase of education and, in the year before the year in which they leave, will offer transition meetings to all students in receipt of Additional SEN support and all those with statements of Special Educational Needs. Students with Education Health and Care Plans will have next phase destinations and transition arrangements discussed at plan review meetings convened by the plan coordinator
• a transition timeline will be produced, with specific responsibilities identified
• support for the student in coming to terms with moving on will be carefully planned and will include familiarisation visits and counselling. Students will be included in all "class transition days" to the next phase but may also be offered additional transition visits
• students and parents will be encouraged to consider all options for the next phase of education and the Academy will involve outside agencies, as appropriate, to ensure information is comprehensive but easily accessible and understandable. Accompanied visits to other providers may be arranged as appropriate
• Parents will be given a reliable named contact at the next phase provider with whom the SENCO will liaise

Any complaints relating to the learning support provision should be directed to the SENCO. Complaints relating to a specific subject should be directed to the Head of Department. Complaints can be made by telephone, in writing or in person. Any complaints relating to staff should be directed to the Principal.

Year 6 to Year 7 transition:

All feeder primary schools are visited by a member of staff. Information about SEN or emotionally vulnerable students is collected. The SENCO identifies suitable secondary teaching strategies. Information is shared with all teaching staff in preparation for the student's arrival in September. All Year 6 students have a transition day before starting in September and some students with specific special educational needs have several visits to the school, to familiarise themselves with key staff and the building. Where appropriate, additional transfer time is allocated to student and their parents / guardians, they are invited to meet the SENCo separately and at different times of the day.

During Years 9, 10 and 11, the SENCO works with our Careers Advisor to support students with identified special educational needs and/ or disabilities with transition to 6th form or further education. Information is passed on to the college of further Education establishment to ensure they are aware of specific needs and strategies to support. The Head of Sixth Form will actively advise and gather information during year 11 to ensure all students are successful with applications for their next steps. The SENCo attends transition and open evenings for Year 11 to discuss transition and exam access arrangements with parents.

Northamptonshire County Council, along with all other local authorities, are required to publish information about services they expect to be available in their area for children and young people from birth to 25 who have special educational needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). This is known as the Local Offer. The Local Offer outlines all services and support available across health, education, and social care and leisure services and will improve choice and transparency for families. For further information about the Northamptonshire Local Offer please visit: