SEND Annual Report
SEND Annual Report
Date created - October 2022
Date reviewed - November 2023
Date approved - 29 November 2023
Next review date - September 2024
Document owner - Designated Safeguarding Lead (Jude Baldwin)
“The governing body of maintained schools and maintained nursery schools and the proprietors of academy schools MUST publish information on their websites about the implementation of the governing body’s or the proprietor’s policy for pupils with SEN’. The information published should be updated annually and any changes to the information occurring during the year should be updated as soon as possible. The information required is set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.”
What kinds of special educational needs do you provide for in your school?
How do you know if my child needs extra help?
Who do I speak to at the academy if I think my child might have special educational needs?
How do you help parents to support their child’s needs?
How do I know what progress my child is making and how am I kept informed?
How do we support students in the classroom and adapt teaching to meet need?
How we check how well we are doing in meeting the needs of students with SEND
How we provide for your children’s overall wellbeing
How are the school's resources allocated to support children with SEND?
Where can I find the academy’s SEND policy and who can I contact for further information?
What kinds of special educational needs do you provide for in your school?
Co-op Academy Manchester is an inclusive school where every child is valued and respected.
As a school we follow the Ways of Being Co-op, shared across our Trust:
- Show you care
- Be yourself, always
- Do what matters most
- Succeed together.
To do this we ensure the following:
- All teachers take responsibility for the teaching of SEND students
- All SEND students take part in a broad and balanced curriculum that meets their need
- Child voice is used to underpin any decisions involving their education
- Students are educated as equals throughout the academy and high ambitions and aspirations are maintained
- A collaborative approach is taken when working with parents, carers and external providers
We use this to underpin our commitment to the inclusion, progress and independence of all of our students, including those with SEND. We strongly champion the ethos that quality first teaching and learning should be at the heart of our SEND provision.
The SEND Department provides support for students across the 4 areas of need as laid out in the SEN Code of Practice 2014 :
- Communication and interaction
- Cognition and learning
- Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
- Sensory and/or physical needs
We are currently catering for students with a range of needs such as literacy and numeracy difficulties, autism, emotional needs, ADHD, dyslexic tendencies and hearing impairment.
As of this academic year we now have an increased number of students with more complex physical needs, including students who are wheelchair users. Staff receive relevant and up to date training in all of these areas. This is delivered by external experts and also in house.
Students are only put on the register if their needs require something different or additional to the quality teaching taking place in the classroom. The register is reviewed during the year and students may be added or taken off if their needs can be met with the universal provision that exists for all students.
How do you know if my child needs extra help?
The SEND Code of Practice classifies a learning need 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'' (SEND Code of Practice, 2015). This means that, despite receiving differentiated learning opportunities, a student does not make expected progress.
In order to identify this, rigorous assessment is conducted by the SEND team.
To ensure in house baseline data we use a set of assessments. These are reviewed termly and updated as and when necessary
- Speech, Language and Communication Needs – Progression Tool Summary (The Communication Trust)
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health – Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) – completed by staff and student
- Cognition and Learning
- Specific Learning Difficulties
In addition to this, other information is used to gain a holistic picture of students.
- Transition information from primary / previous schools
- KS2 results, baseline testing and progress data
- KS3 and KS4 outcomes and progress data
- In house lesson observations
- Heads of Year referrals
- Staff referrals
- Student/self referrals
- Parent referrals
- Outside agency referrals
- Round robin feedback forms
- Behaviour data (classcharts)
- Attendance data
- Student voice
An in house referral system has been established which can be found on the staff portal. This is used to collate concerns that staff have with regards to students. Alongside this there is a support document which highlights signs of different needs. This is aimed to help staff identify different SEND needs and ensure the referral is as detailed and bespoke as possible.
It is the SENCO’s duty to regularly deliver in house CPD surrounding different SEND needs to raise awareness across the school. In turn, staff will feel confident in identifying students with SEND within their classroom/ day to day school interactions.
If there is an ongoing and more complex concern with a student’s progress, a parent/carer may be asked for consent for an Educational Psychologist to carry out an assessment. This is a more detailed assessment where a report and recommendation can be made to help us identify the next steps.
If a student is registered as SEND, they are identified through the in-house student data software (SIMS and Classcharts). This informs staff whether a student is SEND support (SEND K) or has an EHCP (SEND E)
Parents are kept informed of the results of specialist assessments and of any particular intervention that may be offered.
Who do I speak to at the academy if I think my child might have special educational needs?
If you have any questions or queries please contact the SENCO or Deputy SENCO. Alongside this there are additional contacts available for support.
The most efficient means of communication is via email. However, if you would prefer to speak over the phone (especially for more confidential and complex questions) you can also call reception and the message will be passed through.
Co-op Academy Manchester Phone: 0161 795 3005
Co-op Academy Manchester email: manc- enquiries@coopacademies.co.uk
SENCO: Judith Baldwin judith.baldwin@coopacademies.co.uk
Deputy SENCO: Laura Marchant laura.marchant@coopacademies.co.uk
SEND Governor: Aideen McCaffrey
Parent Governor: Neil Dimelow
The SENCO or Deputy SENCO will return your query and discuss next steps.
It may be that other relevant staff members could be asked to support your enquiry e.g. your child’s Heads of Year or key worker.
An example of an enquiry could be: (note: every case and child is different so this may not be appropriate for all students_
- Parent emails with concerns
- SENCO calls parent/carer to discuss concerns in more detail
- SENCO conducts student voice to triangulate information
- SENCO carries out in class observation
- SENCO reviews the findings and reports back to the parent
Onwards, the student may be put forward for further assessment or intervention. Alternatively, the cycle may conclude that quality first teaching and learning will be the most beneficial way to support that student.
Here at Co-op Academy Manchester we also have a robust team of SEND Support Staff who also act as key workers for general and wellbeing support.
In addition to this, the SENCO will be present at all the Parents’ Evenings and Open Days for any additional queries.
How do you consult with young people with special educational needs and involve them in their education?
We need you to support us and your child by encouraging them to fully engage with their learning and any interventions offered by:
- Assigning SEND students key workers who support them with involving them in the wider academy
- Tracking and monitoring of attendance and progress data
- ILT Club (homework club) within the Student Support Centre (SSC) which allows students to complete homework in a supportive and inclusive environment
- All SEND students are invited to and are welcome at whole school extra curricular activities – pupil passports can be used by staff across the whole school to communicate the needs of students in extracurricular settings
- The SEND department also offers Student Support Centre after school clubs e.g. football and music club
In addition to this, students with SEND are encouraged to take part in Pupil Voice activities e.g. department, whole academy and SEND reviews.
When annual reviews take place, Co-op Academy Manchester ensures that student voice is used to identify and monitor progress. This is done through the ‘Views of the Child/Young Person’ documents prior to reviews. Parents / Carers will also be asked to complete a ` Views of the Parent/Carer` document and together, these will support the SEND team in creating a holistic picture of need for that child.
If a progress, attendance or behaviour meeting takes place, the child is invited to attend so their voice can be heard. This may also include an invite to the child’s key worker who will have background information and a rapport with that student.
Each term, key workers will work 1:1 with their SEND student to ensure that their pupil passport is updated and accurate. This takes student voice into consideration as well as teacher feedback.
How do you help parents to support their child’s needs?
The most common areas of which parents/carers ask for advice / support for are:
- Referrals e.g. CAMHS
- Mental health support
- Applications for EHCPs
- General SEND advice and support for the home e.g. Autism awareness or emotional regulation
For any processes e.g. EHCP applications, we have in house leaflets that guide parents through the process. This also includes signposting to other agencies for support. As a SEND team we can also support with preparing and sending paperwork for referrals. Conversation and / or a meet would be beneficial to ensure that any documentation is up to date and accurate.
For other enquiries, the SENCO and SEND team will take parent referrals and call parents to discuss their concerns further.
You can also seek independent advice from the SEND Information and Support Service (SENDIASS) ( 0161 209 8356 weekdays from 10am – 3pm or email: parents@manchester.gov.uk)
Alternatively you can contact Talbot House who support parents and carers of people who have learning disabilities in Manchester. (www.talbot-house.org.uk 0161 203 4095 admin@talbot-house.org.uk)
In some cases, the Local Authority will offer a caseworker to give additional support.
How do I know what progress my child is making and how am I kept informed?
The SENCO tracks a range of data to monitor and evaluate student progress. This data includes:
- Outcomes / target data
- Behaviour / class charts data e.g. class charts or behaviour logs
- Interventions data
- Student and teacher voice
- Classroom observations
- Reports from external agencies
Here at Co-op Academy Manchester we use the graduated approach of ‘assess, plan, do, review’. This is in line with the SEND Code of Practice.
We use the above methods to conduct the ‘assess’ and ‘review’ stage of the cycle. In the interim, it may be that students are taken for small group or 1:1 interventions. If this is the case, assessment and baseline data is used to track and monitor progress. Exit data is then used to judge progress and the impact of the intervention such as an improvement in reading ages or softer measures such as decreased scores on the Strength and DIfficulties Questionnaires. We also use other measures such as comparing students' confidence before and after interventions. Signs that a student’s confidence has improved might be that the student contributes more answers in lessons or is making more friends at social times.
With regards to academic progress, all SEND students have targets for each subject and they are regularly assessed to see if they are working on, below or above this target. The teachers track each student’s assessment results to identify how many sublevels of progress they are making. If ,despite quality first teaching and learning and student specific classroom strategies, the student is still not making expected progress; there will be further investigation to assess what the barriers to learning are. The student may then be given an intervention to address a particular need. These outcomes are sent home to parents.
The SENCO is present at all mainstream parents evenings and appointments at convenient times can be requested.
How do we support students in the classroom and adapt teaching to meet need?
How well does your SEN provision map illustrate the range and level of support for individual students or groups with similar needs and the resources allocated to meet those needs?
As stated in the SEND Code of Practice, quality first teaching and learning is the first step of intervention for all students, including those with SEND.
The SENCO is also a classroom teacher and previous Lead Teacher. The SENCO is therefore part of the whole school teaching and learning team.
As a result of this, the first step of meeting need is through whole school teaching and learning strategies with a rigorous evidence base e.g. questioning and modelling.
If this does not meet the needs of the student then other adaptations can be made. Examples of these include
The curriculum /learning environment may be adapted by :
- Pupil passports shared with all staff which highlight students needs and strategies
- Classroom visits from the teaching and learning team and the SENCO with bespoke feedback to the classroom teacher
- Scaffolding of resources e.g. knowledge organisers or examples to refer back to
For some students where this still does not meet need, a student may have further intervention. Examples are listed below:
For Cognition and Learning Needs
Literacy and Numeracy Catch-Up, Guided Reading, Lexia, Think2Read (to develop students’ inferential skills). Specific literacy support to develop phonological skills with resources such as ‘Toe by Toe, and ‘Beat Dyslexia’, IDL and spelling programs. Pupil Support Group for students with ADHD.
For Communication and Interaction Needs.
Social stories, emotional literacy, tutor time preparation for day, group projects
For Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs
Key adult, 1:1 support in tutor time, Draw to Talk interventions, social emotional aspects of learning, mentoring, counselling, music therapy, CAMHS advice.
Sensory Needs
Training and support from Lancasterian Outreach and Inclusion Service. Advice disseminated to all staff, sensory support room within the Student Support Centre (SSC).
Physical Needs
Risk assessment to ensure a student with a physical need can access all parts of the Academy and use its facilities with ease, support in PE if required.
Dyspraxia: intervention to develop co-ordination skills, gross and fine motor skills.
External support includes:
Educational Psychologist
Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Consultant
How have decisions been made to adapt the curriculum or change the learning environment to best meet your children’s needs?
Teachers at Co-op Academy Manchester continually strive to plan and deliver outstanding quality lessons which are appropriately scaffolded to meet the needs of all students.
We have an alternative curriculum pathway that is designed to support students with more complex needs. These are focused around gaining life skills as well as qualifications.
Within the mainstream classroom, examples of support include:
- Quality first teaching, with appropriate adaptations in place;
- Extra adult support in classrooms where appropriate;
- Reduced class sizes where appropriate;
- Personalised provision through time limited programmes;
- Personalised provision through adapted resources and interventions.
Support in exams
Support received in exams includes:
Readers; extra time; scribes; supervised rest breaks; prompters.
Students are referred by staff members and are then assessed by the SEND team and an external assessor.
How are staff in the academy supported to work with young people with special educational needs and what training do they receive?
The SENCO is completing a PG Cert in Special Educational Needs (NASENCO) and is knowledgeable about a range of SEND needs. The SENCO is an established and experienced senior leader at Co-op Academy Manchester and has worked with multidisciplinary teams and within a range of educational settings. This alongside their experience of teaching and learning means that the SENCO is well equipped to deliver in house training to staff.
The SEND Code of Practice leads have received relevant external training to support them in becoming specialists within their area. Examples of these include
- Comic Strip Conversation training from the Educational Psychologist
- Moving and Handling Training from the Lancasterian Outreach Team
- ELKLAN training from the Speech and Language Therapy Team
- Level 1 training on Autistic Spectrum Disorder
At the beginning of every academic year, all staff are made aware of the needs of the students with EHC plans and other students with significant SEND needs. All new staff receive training on supporting students with a range of SEND needs. This is very personalised training, responding to teachers’ individual concerns over how they can adapt their teaching to meet their students’ needs. Teachers seek advice from specialists in the SEND Team on a regular basis.
When we have needed expert advice and support how have we secured that and what services have they provided?
The SENCO and SEND team work closely with all teams within the academy to ensure that expert advice and support is triangulated. This includes the welfare, safeguarding, pastoral, Heads of Year, senior leadership teams.
Other external agencies who we work with include:
- Early Help Hub when families have required multi-agency support
- Educational Psychologist.
- Lancasterian Outreach and Inclusion Service for advice on supporting students with hearing difficulties and physical disabilities.
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- School Nurse (Laura Edwards) who has provided emotional support and a drop-in service for students. The nurse has also completed health assessments for Looked After Children and attended multi-agency meetings to ensure the health needs of the students are met.
Referrals can be made by the SENCO, CP team, Heads of Year, vulnerable students co-ordinator, ALT and school nurse. All referrals are made in consultation with parents and carers.
How we check how well we are doing in meeting the needs of students with SEND
There are a number of measures in place to monitor the progress of students with SEND. All students are assessed in each subject every half term and subject leads track this data closely so any underachievement is picked up quickly. There are also regular reviews of students’ books and lesson observations which look at the engagement and progress of students. There is a quality assurance process for all departments carried out by the senior leadership team. There are regular drop-ins into classrooms to observe good practice which is shared with departments and following this the teachers are given advice on how to improve the provision for all students.
Interventions are regularly reviewed to evaluate their impact. This will inform next steps. This is summarised in an annual report for governors.
All students with SEND have a pupil passport which is utilised by teachers to ensure that lessons are meeting the needs of students. These are quality assured by the SEND team and also by Directors of Learning Zones (DLZs)
How we ensure that your children are included in activities outside the classroom, including physical activities and academy trips
We strive to be a very inclusive academy. For further detail about accessibility please refer to the accessibility plan. For children with physical disabilities a risk assessment is carried out to see if any adjustments need to be made. If needed, a child will be given a lift fob to use the lifts and will have extra support in practical subjects.
All students are equal and are entitled in accessing all lunchtime and after school clubs. Trips (including residentials) are accessible to students with SEND and an individual plan can be put together to ensure that the child is fully supported when off site.
Parents/carers are notified about any trips and are able to contact the school and SEND department with any questions.
Examples of clubs within the SEND department include breakfast club and football club.
How we provide for your children’s overall wellbeing
At Co-op Academy Manchester we take our pastoral responsibilities seriously. We pride ourselves on providing a high level of student support and guidance. One way we support our students is by assigning them to a form tutor who will (in most cases) remain with them as they progress up the school. This provides continuity and builds a strong relationship between tutor and students.
At certain times, a child may need a particular adult in the academy to talk to. This may be one of their teachers, their Heads of Year, or a support staff member who will act as a key worker. In some cases a child may wish to see the Academy Counsellor. The SEND Team have designed a ‘confidence scale’ to rate a student’s confidence with strategies on how to raise confidence levels. Some students may be given a ‘time out pass’ which enables them to leave a classroom and go to an identified adult if they feel they are having difficulty coping in the classroom. All students can use ‘Speak Out’ where they can email a concern and receive advice. Students can also receive help through a peer mentoring scheme. Bullying is not tolerated in the academy and is dealt with promptly.
We offer a range of support for students who need additional support with their SEMH and wellbeing needs. Examples which students may be part of include:
- Music therapy
- Draw to talk interventions
- Key workers
- Reasonable adjustments: time out pass, leave early pass
- Access to the student support centre (SSC)
- Breakfast club
- Friendship groups
- Zones of Regulation and other SEMH interventions
The academy uses an online service for pupils to speak confidentially. Speak out allows students to report any incidents or concerns that occur within the academy, community or home to the Designated safeguarding leads. Speak out is available on all desktops, iPads, intranet and VLE for students, allowing them to report concerns at any time of the day in a confidential manner. Once the message is received the DDSL triages the concern and involves the relevant support mechanisms in the academy to promptly respond to the concern. The message is acknowledged and students receive a prompt and confidential response to the concern involving the young person throughout any decision and support making processes
Children with medical conditions have a Care Plan drawn up by the parent, child, school nurse and the designated member of staff for Care Plans (Laura Edwards). All medication is stored securely and administered appropriately. All staff are made aware of children’s medical conditions and if any trip is planned, there is always a risk assessment undertaken to ensure any child with a medical need can participate safely.
The academy has a school nurse (Laura Edwards) who attends the academy on a weekly basis. The school nurse will work with students where there are health / wellbeing concerns or if referrals to CAMHS needs to be made.
We also have the following wellbeing team
- Child Protection and Safeguarding:
- Designated Safeguarding Lead: Judith Baldwin
- Deputy Safeguarding Lead: Amanda Ram
How accessible is our school both indoors and outdoors for young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (our accessibility plan/policy)?
Co-op Academy Manchester is a fully accessible building which can currently accommodate up to 1650 students at full capacity, and with its full complement of staff.
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. There are accessible parking spaces for visitors and staff.
All doors throughout the Academy are wheelchair accessible and disabled toilets are available throughout the Academy.
The academy has a specialist SEND suite which is fully accessible for most disabilities. There are ‘sound boards’ throughout the Academy to reduce noise levels. A thorough risk assessment of the suitability of all the chairs and desks for a student with physical disabilities has been carried out, as well as a risk assessment for moving around outside the Academy.
Academy staff within a range of areas across the school have completed the Moving and Handling training day which was provided by the Lancasterian Outreach Team.
What are our admission arrangements for young people who are disabled and how do we prepare and support your children when joining the school and moving on from the school?
The academy works to the same policy as Manchester Admissions Policy.
Please refer to website http://www.manchester.gov.uk/admissions
If a parent of a child with SEN /disabilities chooses Co-op Academy Manchester then special arrangements will be put in place.
Transition
Transition information is shared between the SENCO and the pastoral / wellbeing team.
This information will help the SENCO to identify if further SEND assessments or interventions are needed. For Year 6 to 7 transition, there are additional transition days which are organised for summer. Students will be invited to these once information sharing has taken place with primary schools.
Work Placements/ Work Experience
In Year 10 all the students have a work experience opportunity. For students with SEND, the work placements are carefully quality assured to ensure that as a school we maintain high aspirations and ambitions for our students whilst still ensuring appropriate support is in place for those with a higher level of need.
Examples of support we offer for SEND students include:
- Extra visits to support the students in familiarising themselves with the work environment
- Travel training, to support students in travelling safely and efficiently
- In Year 11 students with SEND have the opportunity to have additional meetings with our Information and Guidance Officer to discuss the options open to them for the following years ahead.
- Key worker/ intervention sessions to practise and prepare for scenarios that may happen in the workplace
- Emotional support from key workers/ SEND team to support in managing any work place anxieties or other concerns
- Regular parent contact
Further education
- Students with EHC plans have termly review meetings to discuss their aspirations and hopes for the future.
- The students are supported with their college applications and a range of colleges and apprenticeship providers attend an annual careers evening at the school.
- Particular care is taken to ensure our students with EHC plans receive as much support as possible from our Information and Guidance Officer
Access arrangements
A robust teacher referral system is in place for teachers to refer concerns to the SEND team. Access arrangement assessments take place at the earliest convenience to ensure students have appropriate support.
How are the school's resources allocated to support children with SEND?
The SEND funding for SEND students is allocated in the following ways:
- Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) has a strategic overview of the SEND department and uses data including attainment, achievement, teaching and learning and other areas of the code of practice. This is a strength and needs based approach.
- A team of Teaching Assistants (TAs) support students in a variety of ways with an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP)
- Learning resources including specific resources to meet individual needs linked to disabilities and as identified in the EHCP
- Service level agreements including; Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Art therapy.
- Behavioural and Pastoral support through a team of non-teaching Learning Pastoral Support Officers (Heads of Year)
- Specialist provisions for support e.g. Alternative Provision
- Other interventions e.g. social skills groups
The SENCO has overall responsibility for the SEND provision and reports back to staff, governors, parents and other key stakeholders on progress.
Those students with an EHCP receive support based on the provisions outlined in their plan from school and top up funding. Where specialist support is needed the student may be referred to a specialist provision. This is dependent on the needs of the individual student.
Where can I find the academy’s SEND policy and who can I contact for further information?
The academy’s SEND Policy and Accessibility Policy are published on the academy website at https://www.manchester.coopacademies.co.uk/policies.
For any further information on SEND issues please contact the SENCO.
For information about national and local services and organisations which can offer support to Manchester families go to the Manchester Local Offer.
There are also details of clubs, groups and activities especially for children and young people with disabilities and special educational needs.
What are our arrangements for handling complaints from parents of children with SEND about your provision?
If you have any worries or concerns, or you wish to make a complaint, then please contact the SENCO.
Please refer to the Trust’s complaints policy, for further details.