We recognise that students have individual educational needs that should be taken into account. The academy seeks to raise achievement, remove barriers to learning and to increase physical and curricular access for all. All pupils with special educational needs and/or a disability (SEND) are valued and respected as equal members of the academy. As such, provision for students with SEND is a matter for the academy as a whole. Every teacher is a teacher of every student including those with SEND. We recognise that some students with SEND may require extra resources beyond a high quality teaching environment differentiated for the needs including those of students with SEND.

Responsibility for SEND

The Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), is responsible for the strategic direction of SEND provision to ensure all SEND students receive their full educational entitlement and have access to a suitable, broad and balanced curriculum.

Responsibilities of the SENCo are:

co-ordinating the team of teaching assistants who support SEND students;
supporting whole school professional development and liaising with the Finance Manager regarding management of the SEND budget.
The SENCo reports directly to the Vice Principal.
The SENCo is completing the National Award for SEN Co-ordination.

Definition of SEND

A student has special education needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

A student has a learning difficulty if they:

have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of students of the same age; or
have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in the academy

Disability

A person is disabled if they have a physical or mental difficulty which has a substantial or long term effect on their ability to carry out ordinary day to day activities (SEN & Disability Act 2001).

When appropriate, the SENCo completes a risk assessment and evacuation plan in collaboration with the student, parent/carer, Heads of Year and Facilities Manager to ensure a student with physical needs can access all areas of the academy and evacuate safely.

Broad areas of SEND

Students at the academy may have SEND as a result of one or more of the following needs:

Communication and Interaction
Cognition and learning
Social, emotional and mental health
Sensory and or physical

Behaviour difficulties do not necessarily mean that a student has special educational needs. However, where consistent disruptive or withdrawn behaviour, or a noticeable change in behaviour is observed, this could be an indication of unmet SEN and assessments will be carried out to determine whether there are any causal factors. If it is thought that these may be due to housing or family circumstances then an Early Help Assessment may be deemed appropriate.

English as an Additional language and SEN

Where there is cause for concern over the progress of a student with EAL, there is careful consideration by subject teachers and specialist EAL staff to determine whether the lack of progress is due to limitations in the student’s command of English or if it arises from a special educational need or both. An assessment in the student’s first language may be requested.

Aims of the SEND Policy

The aims of the SEND policy is to help create an inclusive and caring community providing opportunities for all its students, including those with SEN, to:

develop the academy values and Ways of Being Co-op
follow a broad and balanced relevant curriculum with high quality teaching and differentiation to take into account the needs of students with SEN
demonstrate their full potential, recognising their strengths and weaknesses
fully participate in all academy activities
meet their physical, emotional and intellectual needs
experience equal opportunities to their peers
become independent learners
be involved in decision making

Objectives of the academy’s provision for students with SEND

to identify and provide for students who have a special educational need or disability
to work within the guidance in the revised Code of Practice
to operate a ‘whole student, whole school’ approach to the management and provision of support for students with SEND
to provide support and advice for all staff working with SEND students
to develop and maintain partnership and engagement with parents
to put students at the centre of decision making

Identification of SEN

A student is identified as having a special educational need only if, despite high quality teaching and differentiation for individual students, the student still does not make adequate progress and so needs support or resources different from or additional to that provided by the subject teachers as part of the universal offer to all students in the academy. Some students may require some short term ‘catch-up literacy or numeracy’ which puts them back on track with their peers and in this case these students would not be recorded as having SEN.

All students identified as having a special educational need or disability are recorded on the SEND register.

The graduated approach

The academy uses a graduated approach to address the needs of its SEN students which takes the form of a four part cycle ‘assess –plan-do –review’

‘Assess –Plan-Do-Review’

Students are assessed on entry to the academy and during their academy career. The academy takes account of transfer information from primary schools and parental/carer comments.

To assess why a student is not making adequate progress and to identify the barriers to learning, the following are taken into consideration: teacher assessments; attainment data; attendance; student and parent views; advice and assessments from external support services if necessary such as the Specific Learning Difficulties consultant and Educational Psychologist.

The academy makes use of a range of screening tools to help identify the gaps in a student’s learning and the barriers to learning e.g. screening tools are used to help determine if a student has a probability of dyslexia or dyscalculia and if this is the case, the student will have a further assessment from an external specialist assessor.

‘Assess –Plan-Do-Review’

An evidence-based intervention is planned for the student after consultation with teachers, a member of the SEND Team (SENCo, Deputy SENCo and/or the TAs) and the student. The teacher remains responsible and accountable for the student’s progress. Parents are informed if their child is to receive any additional support for their SEND needs.

Student Passports

The SEND Team staff write Student Passports for students with more complex needs and an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). These state the student’s needs, triggers and strategies to help and are informed through a conversation with the student. This information about the student is shared with the student’s teachers and at review meetings with parents/carers.

For a student with an Education Health Care Plan, teachers, the SENCo and/or Deputy SENCo together with the student and parent/carer will agree on the strategies and expected outcomes. The student’s wishes and feelings will be central to this process. Teachers and Inclusion staff will monitor the student’s progress towards meeting the agreed outcomes.

‘Assess –Plan-Do-Review’

For every student on the SEND register, there is a plan for what needs to be done differently for the student in order to reduce the barriers the student has to learning. The strategies implemented may include: the teacher adapting their lessons; TA support to focus the student/clarify tasks and concepts/develop independent learning; support from an external agency such as a speech and language therapist or teacher of the deaf. In some cases, a student will have an intervention tailored to their needs e.g. a literacy or numeracy programme, a therapeutic programme, or activities to help enhance their social, emotional or communication skills.

‘Assess –Plan-Do-Review’

Teachers review students’ progress regularly. If the provision put in place is not successful in improving the outcomes for the student with SEND, then different strategies are tried. If the student requires a high level of support then the SENCo will make an application for an Education Health Care Plan to fund the provision. For those students with a statement or EHC plan, there are termly meetings to discuss progress towards planned outcomes.

Education Health Care Plans

EHC plans are co-produced with the family and are outcomes focussed. If the academy needs extra resources to meet the expected outcomes then ‘top-up’ funding is applied for. EHC plans are reviewed termly.

Access to the curriculum

All students have an entitlement to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum. All students with SEND are taught with their peers in mainstream classes by subject teachers and study the appropriate curriculum. The Academy aims to offer a greater range of options from Year 10 for students with SEND.

Teachers and teaching assistants use a range of strategies and resources to develop the students’ knowledge, understanding and independent learning skills.

Teachers differentiate the learning tasks to meet the learning needs of all their students with advice and support available from the SEND Team. Some students receive tailor-made interventions to meet their particular needs. All teaching and support staff strive to:

Provide suitable learning challenges
Meet the students’ diverse needs
Remove barriers to learning and assessment

Students with SEND can receive help with their Independent Learning Tasks at the ILT Club held three times a week after school in the SEND Department.

Special concessions

Teachers notify the SENCo if they think a student may be entitled to special access arrangements in lessons and exams e.g. a student with reading difficulties may qualify to have a reader, with poor handwriting – a scribe or use of a laptop. Other access arrangements include having extra time, supervised rest breaks and a prompter. The SENCo is responsible for making the applications for the special arrangements and all staff must ensure these arrangements become the student’s normal way of working in lessons.

Integration of students with SEND (the wider curriculum)

In addition to the statutory curriculum, the academy provides a range of extra-curricular activities. These include:

Sports activities and teams
School productions and theatre trips
Choir, band and instrument lessons
Cultural visits

Staff strive to ensure equal access to these activities for all students, including making reasonable adjustments for those with physical disabilities.

Accessibility around the academy

Co-op Academy Manchester is a fully accessible building which can accommodate up to 1650 students and with its full complement of staff.

The business hours of the Academy are: Monday – Friday 07-30 to 17-00 in term time.

The holiday opening times of the Academy are: Monday – Friday 08-00 to 17-00.

The academy grounds are enclosed within a perimeter fence, all access to the site is controlled by a secure electronic access system that is only accessible by a secure pass or with the reception desk permission.

There is access for emergency service vehicles at the front of the building and a member of staff will always meet any requested emergency service at this point.

In case of emergency we have a practised evacuation procedure that enables all its occupants to leave the building and make their way to a designated assembly area away from the academy buildings, so that checks can be made to account for everyone on site.

We have a radio system in place to co-ordinate any evacuation of the sports hall and the main building which we are able to achieve in 3-4 minutes.

Any students/staff or visitors who cannot manage the stairs can make their way to the disabled refuge points that are available on each of the upper floors, from there they can get in-touch with a member of our evacuation staff who can then organise their evacuation.

At Co-op Academy Manchester we have fire marshals at pre-designated points that will direct all occupants out of the building and check that the area that they hold responsibility for is clear.

We have fire drills on a regular basis and test the fire alarm weekly. Emergency lighting is tested regularly.

There are clear evacuation instructions available for all to read which is also easily visually understood on all floors throughout both buildings for anyone with any reading difficulty, all fire exits are clearly marked on these instructions and the evacuation routes are clearly marked.

All doors throughout the Academy are wheelchair accessible and disabled toilets are available throughout the Academy.

Our Facilities Manager holds the responsibility for the evacuation of the academy and after he is satisfied that the building is clear after a fire alarm, he will inform the Principal that all the buildings have been checked and cleared then he will make the decision when to return to the buildings. The Facilities Manager will liaise with the emergency services if they have been requested.

The academy has a specialist SEND suite on the second floor. The suite is fully accessible for all disabilities.

Admissions Arrangements

The Admissions Officer and Heads of Family liaise with the SENCo and Deputy SENCo regarding the admission of students with SEND.

Transition arrangements

The Deputy SENCo and Year 7 Heads of Year visit all the feeder primary schools and collect information on all the Year 6 students intending to come to this academy, including any student identified as having SEND. The students with SEND and their parents/carers are invited in to get to know the Academy prior to starting Year 7. Where possible, SEND staff make additional visits to primary schools with high need SEND students and attend Pre-Transfer Annual Review Meetings of the Year 6 students with EHC Plans.

The SENCo sends information to colleges regarding the SEND students, as requested.

CPD

All staff are involved in regular and on-going in-service training for SEND. New staff receive an induction with the SENCo.

Teachers and teaching assistants receive training on SEND as appropriate from specialist schools, schools in the local area and from external agencies.

Liaison with External Agencies

Referrals are made to the School Nurse, CAMHS, Educational Psychology Service, Specific Learning Difficulties consultant, Speech and Language Therapist etc when further assessments are required. To trigger support for families a referral for an Early Help Assessment is made if appropriate.

Appendix 1:

Fire evacuation strategy

SEND and Inclusion Policy