SEND

SEND

Welcome to our SEND page. We hope you will enjoy reading about the variety of ways in which Kentmere Academy is able to support SEND pupils to reach their full potential.  We are proud to hold the Inclusion Quality Mark Centre of Excellence Status for the third year running.

Our Inclusion Manager is Miss Lorna Mangan (SENCO). If you have any questions regarding our Special Educational Needs and Disability provision, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Learners’ needs are met through a graduated approach starting at a whole-school level of personalised teaching, with additional support that can be introduced to overcome barriers.  Provision should continually evolve with our students’ development to maximise on successes and to overcome emergent or developing needs. We are committed to working with all families and the community to support our children.  If a child with SEND is not making the expected progress, we offer targeted intervention and whole-school initiatives as outlined in the links on this page.

We have a commitment to high quality and meaningful teaching and learning, captured in our Teaching and Learning policy.


Our SEND Provision

Our approach to teaching children with SEND

● SEN provision is underpinned by high quality teaching which is closely monitored to ensure maximum impact for all pupils.

● The school continuously strives to use relevant, researched based practice to support all pupils with SEND to experience high quality first teaching.

● Our school endeavours to remove barriers to learning across all areas of development. 

● We value working in partnership with our families to make high aspirations a reality for every child.

● We are proud to have achieved the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) Centre of Excellence Award.

● Provision for children with SEN is a matter for the school as a whole. ALL teachers are teachers of children with SEN. Teaching such children is therefore a whole school responsibility.

● Those with SEN will receive support that is additional to or different from provision made for other children.

How we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for children with SEND

  • Personalised visual timetables for children.
  • Quiet work stations.
  • Use of coloured overlays, books and wipe boards.
  • Use of specialist technology and equipment, where appropriate.
  • We encourage children to be involved in their learning and reflect on what they have achieved and what their next steps are. We call this Assessment for Learning e.g. thorough questioning, no hands up, talk partners.
  • Scaffolding to enable access at the right level at the right time.
  • In the mornings, we have additional teachers and smaller class sizes (around 24 per class) for maths and English.
  • Some classes also have a teaching assistant.
  • Teachers and teaching assistants run a range of interventions which are designed each term, to specifically meet the needs of the learners.
  • We work in partnership with external agencies (HYM, Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologists etc) to agree targets to meet the child’s individual needs.
  • We use a mastery approach to teacher: we hold high expectations of all children and provide the appropriate scaffolding and support to enable them to reach their full potential.

How we identify, assess and review children with SEN?

  • At Kentmere Academy we follow a Graduated Approach when identifying and deciding the level of SEND Support any child needs.
  • We use Wave 1, 2 and 3 to support decision making on the level and nature of support required. 
  • Every term, teachers identify the varying levels of need within their class. 
  • This is categorised into Wave 1- in class, Wave 2- SEND Support, Wave 3- High Needs or Education Health Care Plan. 
  • With collaboration from the SENDCo, teachers then look at the support children require and then after a period of 10 weeks, review the impact they have had.
  • If pupils continue to demonstrate need after a term of focused in class support, the SENDCo and teachers meet with parents to discuss the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle. 
  • If a pupil presents with new or immediate needs, collaboration with parents is escalated. 

How do we evaluate the effectiveness of SEN Provision?

SEND provision is the responsibility of all staff members. The first port of call for all effective SEND provision is Quality First Teaching. This is evaluated as part of the whole school schedule for Quality Assurance by the leadership team and subject leaders. This also verified by external Quality Assurance partners. 

Teachers follow the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle where all additional support is monitored and evaluated for effectiveness and impact. This may be day by day, week to week or half termly, depending on the nature of the provision.

Further evaluation is carried out by the SENDCO through ‘drop ins’, observations and Provision Map reviews. These take place termly through SEND Clinics with class teachers.