North Chadderton

The Oak Trust will provide excellence in teaching, learning and leadership development.
This will be based on safe, inclusive practice which inspires and challenges everyone.
The Oak Trust

SEND Overview and Information Report

 Our Philosophy for Inclusion at North Chadderton School 

All children are unique. They all have their own skills, talents and abilities. At North Chadderton School we encourage all of our students to aspire to be the best that they can be regardless of their starting points, and we have a responsibility to ensure that every student has the appropriate teaching, learning and nurturing support to reach his or her potential. We believe that:

- All students are entitled to a relevant and challenging education, designed to enable individual pupils to participate fully in society and to contribute to and benefit from it. 

- All teachers at North Chadderton School are responsible for the effective delivery of a broad, balanced, relevant and adapted curriculum. 

- Many students may experience difficulties which may affect their learning and therefore may have special needs at some time in their school career; this makes a fluid SEND register with regular monitoring and assessment for all students essential.

- To maximise potential, education should be an equal partnership between parents, pupils and staff with the involvement of other agencies when necessary. 

The Local Offers 

Oldham: 

https://www.oldham.gov.uk

For any queries about the local offer please contact local.offer@oldham.gov.uk

Rochdale: 

https://www.ourrochdale.org.uk/kb5/rochdale/directory/localoffer.page?localofferchannel=0 

Manchester: 

https://hsm.manchester.gov.uk/kb5/manchester/directory/localoffer.page?localofferchannel=0 

Tameside: 

https://www.tameside.gov.uk/localoffer 

 

Other areas of support and information regarding support for your child can be found at the following:

 

Parents of Oldham in touch www.point-send.co.uk

Point Oldham Information Advice Support Service https://www.point-send.co.uk/pages/category/oldham-sendiass

 

NASEN SEND gateway www.sendgateway.org.uk/resources

Management of SEND

The Senior Director in charge of Inclusion is Mrs T Walker.  The SENDCO is Mrs C Thompson, together they have responsibility for the day to day operation of SEND provision at the school.

The SEN Governor is K Winterbottom. Contact details for these members of staff are given at the end of the Information Report.)

 

The SEND team will:

Oversee the operation of the provision for pupils with SEND.

Organise and manage the work of the Teaching Assistants.

Maintain the SEND register and the required documentation.

Ensure records on all SEN pupils are kept securely, regularly monitored, and reviewed.

Liaise with parents, teachers, and external agencies.

Ensure annual reviews for pupils in receipt of EHCPs are completed.

Provide regular professional growth and information sharing for all teaching staff.

Regularly review and monitor SEN provision within the school and oversee intervention as appropriate.

Initiate and participate in formal meetings with external agencies regarding pupils to be assessed.

Ensure standardised screening tests are provided for pupils demonstrating difficulties.

Carry out an assessment for Access Arrangements and liaise with the examinations officer.

Hold regular information-sharing meetings with the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Board.

Admission Arrangements 

The school adheres to the admissions policy of the LA, and therefore there is no special provision under admission arrangements for limiting or promoting access for students with SEN who do not have an EHCP. Students with an EHCP may name North Chadderton as their preferred school in line with the SEN Code of Practice 2015; the school will then complete consultations with the local authority about the provision required to maintain a place at North Chadderton.

 

Students must have an EHCP to be granted a place in the school's Additional Resource Provision.

SEN Areas of Need 

The school caters for students who experience the following difficulties in the 4 broad areas of need;

Cognition and Learning

Communication and Interaction

Social Emotional Mental Health 

Sensory and Physical

 

An extensive staff team, including the pastoral team and a team of teaching assistants support students at North Chadderton.

Resources 

Resources to support students with SEND in school include:

- Standardised tests for assessing reading, writing, and processing difficulties, including those used for assessing eligibility for exam access arrangements.

- Specific networked SEN programmes.

- Supportive technology, including laptops.

- Specialist multi-sensory programmes such as Lexia, and Lexonik.

- Ongoing purchase of resources around SpLD and SLCN as indicated by the needs of individual students.

- Educational Psychology services commissioned by North Chadderton

 

Students with SEND are equally represented in extra-curricular activities, including residential trips. If necessary, an additional risk assessment may occur to ensure the safety of the students involved and additional staff deployed if required. We are fully compliant with the terms of the Equality Act 2010. We monitor the participation of students with SEND in extra-curricular activities to ensure they can access them in line with their peers.

How do we approach SEND teaching?

The curriculum is delivered to all students in mainstream classes with adapted work and TA support where needed. Additional curriculum support is provided via 1:1 or small-group intervention in areas such as literacy, numeracy, and life skills in line with individual student needs. Some students follow differentiated pathways, for example, with qualifications such as AQA Unit Awards, Functional Skills or Entry Level courses. All interventions are baselined, planned in line with the curriculum, linked to the student's work in lessons and evaluated for impact. We follow guidance from the EEF regarding best practices for interventions. 

How do we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for students with SEND?

Students are taught in mixed-ability groups at KS3 and ability groups at KS4. We provide support in lessons where needed, and staff provide appropriate adaptive teaching in their lessons. All pupils with an identified SEND need to have a pupil passport that all staff can see; this includes examples of supportive provisions required in different curriculum areas.  All students in the school also have a reading passport that advises teachers on how they can support a child’s reading within the classroom.

We ensure that students have the tools they need to meet their learning needs; for example, those with ADHD are provided with discreet fiddle toys and allowed to stand up and move around as often as is practical. Students with specific needs are provided with tailored resources as appropriate; for example, those with a visual impairment might be provided with an iPad linked to the teacher’s computer to enable them to view PowerPoints. We also adapt text-based resources to suit the needs of students with literacy based difficulties and have a full range of coloured overlays for them to use if they find them helpful when reading.

What training and expertise do our staff have?

Professional Growth for all staff takes place every week throughout the year. SEND-specific training for all staff is always available in designated sessions throughout the year, and specialist outside speakers are invited into the school to train staff with the most up-to-date information. A drop-in session for staff to speak to the SEND team about any specific SEN queries or to discuss strategies to use with students is held every week.  Professional Growth sessions  for staff have included sessions on specific areas of need, such as ADHD or dyslexia, best practices when deploying TA's, and teaching approaches that benefit SEND students, as the EEF recommends. These will include training on using technology to support students, flexible grouping, metacognition, and scaffolding. In addition, our pastoral teams also participate in a comprehensive Professional Growth programme to increase their expertise to support the classroom.

How do we identify, assess and review our SEND pupils?

North Chadderton School follows the protocols within the SEND Code of Practice 2015. The gathering of information to identify SEN may be via:

 - Liaison with Year 5 (if on an EHC Plan). We also receive Year 6 information from primary schools.

- Baseline assessments in Year 7 and standardised screening and assessments.

- Referral from class teachers.

- Observations from Teaching Assistants.

- Concerns from parents.

- Performance against expected level of progress.

In addition, regular testing and monitoring takes place where specific areas of study are being undertaken, such as standardised reading or spelling scores for students on multi-sensory programmes of study for those specific reasons.
 

How do we assess and review students’ progress towards outcomes?

The SENDCo reviews the progress of SEND pupils in line with the school's assessment calendar. Where there are concerns or a need for accelerated progress, the SEND team immediately works with the student and relevant subject teacher and puts a support plan in place. We fully involve parents, and if concerns continue, they are invited in for a meeting to discuss the situation and contribute to the plan to improve progress. We also closely monitor the attendance and behaviour of students with SEND and take any appropriate action needed.

 

How we keep our records?

The SEND register is stored centrally and available to all staff; it is reviewed regularly and updated at least half-termly. All records are stored within Provision Mapper and shared with staff via class charts.  All staff have access to the most up-to-date information for all students using this system.

 

How do we ensure all our students are included in all aspects of school life?

Wherever possible, students are encouraged to learn in the mainstream classroom environment with in-class TA support if needed. Sometimes small group or 1:1 work is necessary, or an assessment/intervention is appropriate.

The SEND team uses the following rooms to accommodate this:

The ARP

Students with an EHCP and a need related to communication and interaction may be placed in our ARP provision by the Local Authority. The ARP offers specialist staff, enhanced staff-student ratios and specialist teaching and intervention. As well as being a space for teaching, the ARP is also a place for students to have a meet-and-greet in the mornings, individual mentoring sessions and where they can come at break and lunchtime if they prefer. We have a classroom, a sensory room, and a life skills room for discrete teaching of social and life skills.

ARP Leaflet 

How are our parents and students involved in the review process?

All students on the SEND register have a key worker. This person acts as a point of contact for students and parents in school. Key workers will invite parents in for at least two meetings a year; these are opportunities to review progress and set targets for the student to work towards at home and school. All parents of students with SEND are invited to make an appointment with the SENDCo at Parent's Evening should they wish to discuss the provision in place for their child. This enables all parents to have three SEND-specific meetings in school annually, in line with the SEND Code of Practice.

All students take regular progress assessments and data analysis throughout the year. The progress of groups of SEND pupils is disseminated and analysed separately by the SENDCo.

 

Year 9 Statutory reviews include the careers officer, and Year 10 and 11 students also have additional careers support whilst making post-16 choices. Student Progress reviews are held throughout the year, but parents are welcome to come and discuss their child’s progress with their key worker at any time by appointment.

At North Chadderton, we believe in a strong partnership between the school and our students, parents, and carers. We always endeavour to:

- Work together to support students with SEND. We appreciate the pressures a parent may face because of their child's needs.

- Inform parents/carers when a pupil has been identified as having SEND.

- Acknowledge and draw on parents’/carers’ knowledge and expertise about their child and involve them in the education planning process.

- Focus on the student's strengths and areas of additional need.

- Ensure that parents understand procedures, know how to access support in preparing contributions, and, where possible, are given documents to be discussed before meetings.

- Respect the validity of differing perspectives and seek constructive ways of reconciling differing viewpoints.

- Recognise the need for flexibility in the timing and structure of meetings.

- Respect parents/carers' differing needs, such as disability or communication and linguistic barriers.

- Encourage an active partnership with parents/carers and hold informal meetings and workshops where staff and parents can meet and share expertise and concerns.

- Speak to and meet parents at the earliest mutually convenient time whenever possible.

- Parents/carers will be informed of their child's progress by phone reports, interim and annual reviews and progress assessments.

- Be sure students are fully involved in the review process and have regular progress meetings with SEND staff to ensure they know their targets and how best to meet them.

- Always invite students to attend reviews with their parents/carers.

 

How do we involve other agencies to ensure our students’ social and emotional needs are met?

North Chadderton School works closely with other agencies and has an excellent reputation for providing close partnerships and information sharing with agencies supporting our most vulnerable students. We have an ever-changing network of partnership agencies as we seek to support our students. The following services/agencies are some of those we work closely with:

 

Educational Psychology Service

CAMHS

Speech and Language Therapy

Occupational Therapy

Looked After Children Team (Virtual School)

Visual Impairment Team

Hearing Impairment Team

LA Learning Support Team

School Nursing Service

Early Help

Education Inclusion Teams

MIND

Children’s Social Care

 

How are our SEND pupils supported pastorally?

Our vulnerable students are supported at unstructured times, and there are areas where they can play with board games and Lego to help alleviate any anxiety they may feel.

We also support students through our pastoral structure with Heads of Year, form tutors and assistant heads of key stage 3 and 4 supporting work around school on a daily basis.

Further information about how we support students' mental health can be found here:

https://www.northchaddertonschool.co.uk/Parents/Mental-Health-and-Wellbeing/

 

Our whole school approach to anti-bullying is substantial.  Child-on-child abuse of any kind is not tolerated; information can be found on the website using the following link:

https://www.northchaddertonschool.co.uk/Safeguarding/ANTI-BULLYING/

 

How are our SEND students supported through transition?

All North Chadderton students follow a very comprehensive transition programme from Year 6 into 7, but we appreciate that for those with SEND, there may be additional concerns from both themselves and/or parents/carers. We will attend Year 5 EHC reviews where North Chadderton is to be identified as the named school, and where possible, we will have a representative at the Year 6 review held in the summer term before transition.

We have a dedicated Head of Year 7 with specific responsibility for transition; they support the SENCo with the transition and continue to work closely with the learners when they start in September.

A member of the SEND team will contact families with children identified by primary schools as needing additional support to arrange additional visits to the school before the summer term to meet teachers and take photographs, see timetables, or experience the school restaurant; anything that will help to ease the uncertainty of the next step.

 

Our Careers adviser assists transition to post-16 in school, and SEND students receive additional support in this area; we also liaise with local colleges and post-16 providers to ensure a smooth transition for our students who move on after Year 11.

 

Further information about pupils access to post 16 information and providers is outlined in the policy below:

Provider Access Policy can be found in our Statutory Polices 

How do we evaluate our SEND provision?

- Ongoing use of self-evaluation tools

- External reviews by School Improvement Advisers

- Open dialogue with SEN Governor

-Progress is measured through usual school monitoring of progress and attainment.

-Standardised test scores for students on SEN-specific areas of study

-Regular review of SEND register by leaders for SEND, all parents are offered 3 review points each year one per term

-Stakeholder feedback and student review.

What to do if you have a query or complaint 

Parents and partners of the school are welcome to query decisions made by the school in the first instance with the SENCo, Senior Director or the Headteacher.

Any formal complaints should be written in writing per the school complaints policy.

Full details of Oldham SEND and the local offer for learners with SEND can be found at:

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/201095/education

 

Contact Details 

The Senior Director with responsibility for SEND is Mrs T Walker. 

TWalker@northchadderton.oldham.sch.uk

 

The SENDCo is Ms Catherine Thompson who has overall responsibility for day-to-day operation of SEND in school. 

CThompson@northchadderton.oldham.sch.uk

 

Deputy SENDCo is Mrs R Begum

RBegum@northchadderton.oldham.sch.uk

Deputy SENDCo is Miss Z Hitchen

ZHitchen@northchadderton.oldham.sch.uk

 

The SEN Governor is Mrs K Winterbottom. Contact details for these members of staff are given at the end of the Information Report.

KWinterbottom@northchadderton.oldham.sch.uk