Welcome to Trinity’s SEND page

 

 

Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Mrs C Lowther who can be contacted by email: [email protected] or telephone 0208 504 8946

On this page you will find information on the support we provide for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We hope you will find this information useful and that it will give you further insight into how we support students with SEND throughout their learning journey at Trinity and into further education or employment.

At Trinity, we aspire for all students to reach their full potential. We will use our best endeavour to ensure that provision is made for all students who have SEND and we constantly strive to improve the accessibility of our school and curriculum for all learners. We will make reasonable adjustments to ensure that students with SEND are not disadvantaged. All students are valued equally, and it is our aim to help all students reach their full potential in order to prepare them for their future pathway.

What are Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)?

A student has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability, which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

They have a learning difficulty or disability if they have:

• A significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age or
• A disability which prevents or hinders then from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools

Special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other or young people of the same age by mainstream school.

What are the school’s aims for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disabilities?

Our aim for students with SEND is that our young people access an appropriate education, one that is appropriate to their needs, promotes high standards and the fulfilment of potential. This should enable students to:

• achieve their best
• become confident individual living fulfilling lives
• makes successful transition into adulthood, whether into employment, further or higher education or training

What underpins Trinity’s practice for students with SEND?

At Trinity, as with all schools in the United Kingdom, we use the following key documents to inform our policies and practices for students with SEND:

• The Equality Act (2010) which protects students with SEND from discrimination and ensures that inclusive practice is adopted and adhered to within the school.
• Part 3 of the Children and Families Act (2014), which sets out the schools’ responsibilities for pupils with SEND.
• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations (2014), which set out schools’ responsibilities for EHC Plans, SENCOs and the SEN Information Report.
• The SEN Code of Practice (2014/15) which sets out guidelines for all schools to follow and maintain in order to ensure appropriate support for all students with SEND.

 

Who supports students with SEND?

• There is a collective responsibility at Trinity, in that all teachers teach and support students who have SEN.

 

How does Trinity know if a student has SEN?

The identification of SEN is built into our overall approach to monitoring the progress and development of all students. At Trinity we adopt the graduated approach and four-part cycle of ‘assess–plan–do-review’ as recommended in the SEN Code of Practice. The graduated approach is a 4-part cycle of assess, plan, do, review.

This allows us to identify students whose progress:

–  Is significantly slower than that of their peers, starting from the same baseline

–  Fails to match or better the student’s previous rate of progress

–  Fails to close the attainment gap between the student and their peers

–  Widens the attainment gap

This can also include progress in areas other than attainment. For instance, where a student needs to make additional progress with wider developmental or social needs in order to make a successful transition to adult life.

Slow progress and low attainment do not necessarily mean that a student has SEN and will not automatically mean a student is recorded as having SEN.

When deciding whether special educational provision is required, we will start with the desired outcomes, including the expected progress and attainment, the views of the student and their parents and information provided by any specialist assessors. We will use this to determine the support that is needed and whether we can provide it within our core offer.

The following could also indicate that there is a need:

• a learning concern is raised by a member of staff
• a concern is raised by the student
• a concern is raised by parents/carers
• there is a change in the student’s behaviour or progress

In all of the above circumstances, the concerns will be assessed by the Special Educational Needs Department and/or an external specialist in order to provide further support or advice where necessary.

 

What happens at Trinity to support students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities?

• All students on the Special Educational Needs Register will be supported by an Individual Education Plan. The IEP is student-centred and offers clear objectives for students. These profiles will be reviewed on a termly basis.
• High quality teaching, differentiated for individual students, is the first step in responding to students who have or may have SEN.  Most students will have their needs met through Quality First Teaching. This may include appropriate differentiation of learning tasks, adaptations to the curriculum and learning environment, the provision of additional practical or visual resources etc…
• Students can be supported by time-limited interventions. We focus on early intervention to ensure ‘gaps’ are targeted and intervention is put in place at the earliest opportunity. All interventions will be planned with clear objectives in mind; time constrained (usually for a term) and reviewed by all involved in order to judge the effectiveness of the intervention.
• Occasionally a student may need more specialist support from external agencies. If this happens, a referral will be made by the SENCo with the parent/carer’s consent and forwarded to the appropriate agency.

 

How will the curriculum be matched to meet a student’s needs?

• When a student has been identified with SEN their work may need to be differentiated / adapted by the class teacher to enable them to access the curriculum and make progress.
• Teaching Assistants may be allocated to support teaching staff where there are students who have an Education Health Care Plan in a lesson.
• All students identified with SEN will have an IEP which is monitored termly.
• Appropriate agreed specialist equipment may be used to support students within lessons e.g. laptop, reading pen.

 

How will I know how my child is doing?

• At Trinity we promote a partnership with our parents to ensure that all students enjoy, achieve and continually make progress.
• Parents and class teachers can communicate with one another daily through the students’ journal.
• Parents can make appointments to see subject teachers, form tutors, Year Leaders, the Directors of Site and the SENCO if they wish to discuss matters relating to their child’s progress and learning.
• Parents are provided with subject progress reports at the end of the autumn term and at the end of the summer term. Parents have an opportunity to meet with each student’s class teachers to discuss their child’s progress at the parent / teacher evenings which are conducted in the spring term.
• Following an early discussion with the students and their parents when identifying whether there is a need for special educational provision, parents will then be formally notified when it is decided that a student will receive SEN Support.
• The SENCO coordinates a programme of reviews with the parents of students with SEN  to help gather family/pupil views and to agree and plan out all support.
• Parents are made aware of the Parent Partnership services available as part of the Local Offer.
• The SEN Team conducts SEN Annual Review (AR) meetings with the parents of students that have EHC Plans.

 

What support is there for students’ overall well-being?

The school offers a wide variety of pastoral support for students who have emotional, social and mental health difficulties, these include:

• Each year group has a Head of Year who is available to support students during break, lunchtime and after school. Our school encourages students to discuss concerns with key adults and we provide opportunities for students to talk with teachers and key pastoral staff in a safe environment where they can share any information that may be concerning them.
• Our school completes regular Student Voice Surveys with students and also has a confidential email address that students can use to raise any concerns.
• Lunch clubs are available to students who find long periods of unstructured times difficult.
• The outside space is divided into distinct areas so students can choose their own activities during break and lunch.
• The school has two trained ELSAs who provide individual and group based support for students’ social, emotional, mental health needs.
• The school’s counsellor provides counselling and support for student’s social and emotional needs. This service is accessed via a referral in school.
• For students with more complex special educational needs, advice is sought from outside agencies as required.

What specialist services are accessed by the school?

The school works with a range of specialist services in order to support a wide range of needs. The services provide advice and support for teachers within school as well as providing individual or small group intervention for students.

The main services accessed by the school are:

• SEATSS (Specialist Education and Training Support Service)
• Speech and Language Therapy Service
• Occupational Therapy Service
• SERC (Special Education Resource Centre)
• CAF Team
• CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
• BCCS (Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society)
• Virtual School for Children Looked After
• Social Care services
• Local NHS Services
•  Education Welfare and Support Service (EWASS)
• Parent Partnership Service
• Local Authority Safeguarding Services

 

How does the school support students’ medical needs?

The details of all student’s medical needs are kept on a central database. The NHS Associated School Nurse visits the school regularly and provides up-to-date information on students’ medical needs.

For those students whose medical needs are severe, or pose a high risk, care plans are drawn up by the designated medical officer and the School Nurse.

 

What training have the staff supporting students with SEND completed?

The staff supporting students with SEN have completed a comprehensive training package, these include:

• An Introduction to SEN
• Solution-focussed briefings
• Teaching students with ASC
• Teaching Students with ADHD
• Teaching students with SPLD
• Differentiation / Adaptation for students with SEN
• Making the Best use of Teaching Assistants
• Medical training; Asthma awareness; EpiPen, First aid

 

How accessible is Trinity?

Trinity has an Accessibility Plan to ensure that all students with SEND can take part in all aspects of school life. The plan can be found on the school’s website.

Trinity is a split school made up of numerous school buildings. The school has some of the following adaptations in place to meet sensory and physical needs and those not yet present are being planned for in the future:

• appropriate seating, acoustic conditioning and lighting
• adaptations to the physical environment of the school. There are ramps at the entrance to the main school building on both sites.
• adaptations to school policies and procedures
• specialist equipment may be provided by the relevant LEA as an assessment of need indicates. This may
• include: access to specialist aids, equipment or furniture
• regular and frequent access to specialist support
• clear route signage to assist in general access around the school as well as emergency escape routes.
• disabled toilet facilities on both sites
• should the need arise, Trinity will make every endeavour to provide an interpreter in order to communicate with Parents/Carers whose first language is not English.
• We endeavour to provide different ways for all students to access the same learning experience, rather than withdrawing students and providing an entirely different activity. All teachers address the learning needs of all students in the classroom. Teachers receive regular training and support to ensure that they are skilled in making the curriculum accessible to all students – this is quality assured through monitoring of planning, lessons and progress data by senior leaders. The differentiation of teaching includes scaffolding, explicit instruction, metacognitive strategies, giving longer processing time, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, reading instructions and texts aloud, the use of graphic organisers etc… Students are regularly encouraged to review their own learning and reflect on their learning styles. They are given the opportunity and the support to develop self-help strategies to ensure their full access to the curriculum and to help them develop as independent learners.

 

How does the school support the transition of students from primary into secondary?

At Trinity we have a thorough transition process that supports students with SEN from primary into secondary from the point of induction.

• Parents and primary SENCOs can arrange visits to see Trinity’s facilities & SEN resources and thus inform planning for the transition to secondary education.
• For students already identified as having SEN, the school provides for these needs by regularly consulting with External Agencies, who are already involved in the support of these students.
• Parents are consulted regarding the needs of SEN students through a “SEN Information” document that is circulated during Y6 to the parents of all students that have been offered a place in Y7 at Trinity. Similarly, a “SEN Information” document is also circulated to the families of all students that are offered a place in Trinity’s Sixth Form thus ensuring that new needs in Y12/Y13 are identified and supported from the outset of a student being offered a place in the Sixth Form.
• At the start of Y7 the English department assesses the current attainment levels of all students literacy skills. The SENCO works closely with the English department in helping to implement the tests and to analyse the results.
• Where available, Key Stage 2 test data is gathered from primary schools and this is analysed alongside the school’s own intake assessment data to support the identification of children with SEN.
• At the end of the first half term all staff at Trinity are surveyed regarding the progress of all Y7 students.  This information helps to ensure that all students with SEN have settled into secondary school life and it also helps to inform the identification of new or emerging needs in Y7.

 

How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to the student’s SEND?

• The SEN budget is allocated each financial year. The money is used to provide additional support or resources dependent on an individual’s needs.
• Additional agreed resources may include:
  • Teaching Assistant support in classroom
  • One-to-one or group interventions
  • Specialist learning tools or materials

Some students receive Higher Needs Funding through an Education Health and Care Plan. These students receive extra funding which is allocated in partnership with the relevant LEA. This allocation is reviewed annually.

 

How is the decision made about how much support students will receive?

• The decisions are made in consultation with the SENCo; the Special Educational Needs Department; subject teachers; Year Leaders and external specialists. Decisions are based on termly tracking of student’s progress, concerns raised by staff or assessments by external agencies.
• Students with Education, Health and Care plans have an individual package of support created and maintained by the relevant LEA. The SENCo’s role is to ensure this support is directed, monitored and supported.

 

What should I do if I think my child has Special Educational Needs or require further information?

If you are concerned about your child’s progress, you should contact their form tutor / subject teacher in the first instance. If your child has a SEN and you require more information, or would like to discuss their needs further, please contact the SENCo using the contact details at the top of this page.