Safeguarding arrangements are secure and effective
OFSTED; June 2017
Students with particular needs
Outstanding educational opportunities for all, regardless of prior ability, are at the heart of our mission. We take a personalised approach, with each student at the centre of a personal education plan. This helps us ensure that the needs of students with differing abilities and potential barriers are fully met. This focus on individual achievement and progress drives our target setting and school improvement systems, the delivery of our curriculum and our approaches to behaviour, attendance and well-being.
We have access to a fully qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). Our Trustee for SEND is Mr Roger Margand.
Special educational needs (SEN)
It’s very important that students with special educational needs are properly identified, assessed and supported and that the support is tailored to each child’s particular needs. In deciding what those needs are and how we can support the student to overcome any “barriers to learning” arising from those needs, we will work closely with the student and their family. This 3-way partnership underpins all our work and is a major contributory factor to our success; it is essential in making sure that all students make the best possible progress whilst at SET Ixworth School.
For those students with more complex and specialist needs, we may also call on the expertise and experience of specialists from outside the school. These may be people who work for the SEN specialist teams in the Local Authority or specialists in children’s issues in the Health service. For students who need this extra and more specialist input, we work in close partnership with these external partners as part of an “Education, Health and Care Plan”. This provides a detailed and properly coordinated plan of action to provide additional support to the student to enable them to benefit fully from their time at SET Ixworth School. The plan is always drawn up in partnership with the student and parents and carers and clearly identifies the contributions that each partner needs to make to help the student to progress in their learning. There are regular reviews of the progress that the student is making and the extent to which the Plan is working. Parents and students have an important role to play in helping us to review and, if needed, improve the Plan.
As an inclusive school where every student is valued, we want all students to take a full part in all lessons and in every aspect of school life alongside their peers. Our teachers plan and deliver quality lessons that are well differentiated so the needs of all students are catered for and all students can benefit fully from them. Sometimes though, a student’s personalised assessment shows that they would benefit from additional one-to-one tuition or to work as part of a small group. If this is needed, then it is carefully planned by skilled teachers, and delivered with support from teaching assistants and pastoral support assistants.
The Special Education Needs Coordinator at SET Ixworth School is Mrs Heath. You can contact her via the school office. Please call SET Ixworth School to make an appointment. Alternatively you can contact the Inclusion Team via email.
Our beliefs and goals are encapsulated in an SEND Policy and an Accessibility Plan that lay out clearly the way that SET Ixworth School operates with regard to inclusive practice. All staff are expected to know every student’s name and needs. Our ethos, founded on the 6Cs to Success (Co-operation, Commitment, Confidence, Community, Challenge and Celebration) will ensure that every student has the same access to the experiences and challenges of School life.
At SET Ixworth School, inclusion is part of a much larger picture than just placement in regular classes. Inclusion is about having access, but it is also about being welcomed and embraced as a member who belongs to our diverse community. We believe that the objective of inclusion is achieved only when a student is participating in the activities of the School and their classes with the support they need to achieve to their highest potential.
Other needs
From time to time, students may need access to additional support because of specific short-term issues. For example, if a student has had to deal with the bereavement of a close family member or friend, then they will need special emotional support. In these circumstances we will work closely with the family and other agencies to make sure that we provide the support the student needs to help them deal with their emotions and to enable them to continue to make progress in their studies.
For some students, issues in the home or other external matters can affect their attendance or behaviour in school. In these circumstances, the school provides intensive support to make sure they get the help and support they need to improve in these areas and to continue to succeed in their learning.
The school’s pastoral support, including the external mentoring programme, provides specialised, individual guidance for any young person in need. Sometimes the student and family need access to more specialist help. In these cases, we work in partnership with other agencies (the Local Authority, Health Services, voluntary organisations) to plan and provide this specialist support.
Personal Education Plan
Each student has a Personal Education Plan (PEP). In this PEP, any special arrangements to meet the needs of students are clearly laid out. All of our work is underpinned by our strong pastoral and enrichment systems. Our tutors are the main people that guide, support and care for every student in our schools.
SET Ixworth will be offering 18 places to support children who require support with Communication and Interaction. These places will be in addition to our current PAN (Planned Admission Number). This means that there will not be a reduction in the number of places available in the usual admissions round. Allocation of specialist places will follow a separate admissions process.
Communication and Interaction Centre Provision
Seckford Education Trust is working alongside Suffolk County Council to develop additional specialist education places. Across Suffolk there is a shortfall of specialist places available. This can mean that some students have to be educated away from their local communities.
As part of a local authority capital programme, additional new specialist places have been and will continue to be made available for children with special educational needs across Suffolk. This is on top of existing specialist provision.
As part of provision across the Seckford Education Trust, we have developed the following in order to provide more students with their education at a school in their area.