Schools Extended Local Offer Response

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

• Educational Psychology
• School Nurse
• Inclusion Support Service (advisory teachers)
• Speech and Language Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Physiotherapists
• ELCAS (adolescent mental health service)
• Paediatricians

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

All TAs have received extensive training delivered mainly by professionals from outside school. This has included:-

• Visual impairment – advisory teacher for VI
• Hearing impairment – advisory teacher for HI
• Speech and Language – senior speech and language therapist
• Behaviour management – advisory teacher for sebd; senco
• Safer people handling – advisory teacher for physical needs; occupational therapist
• Promoting better literacy – advisory teacher for spld
• Autism – advisory teacher for autism; senco
• Working memory – senior educational psychologist
• Maximising the impact of TA support – senco
• Promoting English with EAL pupils – senco

In addition, staff delivering intervention programmes have received extensive training on Literacy Catch-up, Numeracy Catch-up, Dyslexia support, speech and language (one TA has the ELKLAN accreditation, ‘Secondary Language Builders’, which includes training for ‘TALC’ - Test for Abstract Language and Communication) and EALip (English as an Additional Language intervention programme). Many staff in school also have first aid training.

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's/young person's needs?

Extensive liaison with the primary school.

Information and advice from other professionals involved, e.g. speech and language service, occupational therapists, paediatricians.

Discussion with parents/carers, including visits to the school during the working day to look at provision and discuss priorities of need.

Expressions of concern from teachers.

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

Speak to the school in the first instance and the senco should be able to advise you on appropriate next steps. These may involve assessments being carried out within the school, or a referral being made to the appropriate service. Such a referral may be done by school or, dependent upon the nature of the concern, by the GP.

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall well being?

The Learning Support Department comprises a team of forty staff who work in a variety of roles to promote the learning and wellbeing of all pupils. The nature of the support provided is determined by the needs of the individual pupil.

Many teaching assistants work within whole class lessons, with the aim of removing the barriers to learning that pupils with sen can experience. This can involve the differentiation and adaptation of resources, as well as ensuring, through additional explanation, that the pupil is fully aware of the desired learning outcome of the lesson, i.e. what the lesson objective is and what is expected of them. Pupils completing work as independently as possible is an absolute priority; a teaching assistant will never complete the work for a pupil, as this would be detrimental to their progress, impacting negatively too, on the development of their independence skills.

Not all pupils with sen have access to additional in-class support. It may be that they attend interventions, usually taught 1:1 for 2 half-hour sessions per week. These include Literacy Catch-up, Numeracy Catch-up, Speech and Language, Dyslexia Support and Motor Skills Practice. The purpose of these sessions is to give pupils the basic skills to enable them to access the curriculum effectively throughout the wider school.

Pupils entering the school in Year 7 working at National Curriculum level 2 are taught in the Transition Group, within Learning Support. They study English, maths, history, geography, RE and ICT in a small class of up to fifteen pupils with four adults, including the teacher. The curriculum is differentiated to an appropriate level and the focus is on improving basic literacy and numeracy skills, while following the Year 7 schemes of work. Science, technology, music, art and drama are taught in specialist classrooms by subject specialists.

Pupils with high and complex needs follow personalised curriculums and are taught within Learning Support for all lessons. Some receive fulltime care, including at breaks and lunchtimes, are assisted with toileting and eating and are supervised by an adult at all times.

What specialist services and expertise are avaliable at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

In addition to extensive liaison with the primary school and with parents/carers, all pupils are assessed on entry to Pleckgate and this informs setting; at Key Stage 3, pupils are taught across 5 sets for all subjects. This enables pupils of similar ability to be taught together, ensuring the curriculum can be tailored to their ability levels with a relatively small range of ability within each set. In addition, in Year 7, a Transition group class, made up of pupils who enter the school working at National Curriculum level 2s, is taught within the Learning Support Department. The focus of this class is the acquisition of basic skills and the emphasis is very much on literacy and numeracy, which is embedded into the year 7 curriculum.

What training have the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had? Are any being trained currently?

Work is planned and delivered at a level appropriate to the ability levels of the pupils within the class. For pupils with specific needs, for example, dyslexia, visual impairment or hearing impairment, teachers follow strategies recommended by advisory teachers and the senco.

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom including school trips?

Half-termly assessment and monitoring takes place for every pupil across all subject areas and this is reported to parents/carers in the form of a mark sheet five times during the year. These include effort grades and an indication of progress towards end of year target levels. Full written reports are issued annually and parents’ evenings take place annually too. In addition, as well as the full parents’ evening held in March, year 7 pupils have a ‘settling in’ evening with the form tutors and head of year. This is usually held in November and is a valuable opportunity for any concerns to be shared, as well as for praise to be given. Year 11 pupils have an additional parents’ evening in the Autumn term too, ‘Raising Achievement’. This is an opportunity to discuss current levels of attainment in relation to target grades, teachers’ expectations of pupils and how parents/carers can assist in ensuring their child reaches their potential.

Pupils who attend interventions are assessed three times over the year, enabling adjustments to be made to provision as appropriate.

Of course, parents/carers are always welcome to contact the school should they have concerns and, likewise, school will contact home should it be deemed necessary.

How accessible is the setting/school/college enviroment?

Pleckgate has several initiatives in place to help you assist with your child’s education.

Accelerated Reader – you can encourage your child to read and discuss what they are reading with them.

Behaviour/Reward Record – this is accessible from home, so you can see any incidents of poor behaviour, as well as praise given.

You are encouraged to ensure that pupils have a suitable, quiet environment in which to complete their homework. It is useful to check homework diaries daily and these should be signed weekly.

Speaking and listening is an important focus of the school and you are encouraged to have conversations with your children as often as possible. Speaking in English is important too, as is having television and radio programmes on in English.

How will the setting/school/college prepare and support my child/young person to join the setting/school/college or the next stage of education and life?

Pleckgate has a strong pastoral network. Pupils have the same head of year and tutor for their five years at the school, so they get to know these people very well. In addition, there are four learning mentors who work with vulnerable pupils, sometimes long-term, sometimes short-term, providing a safe environment where the aim is develop a relationship of mutual trust with someone who is not a teacher. Learning mentors are accessible throughout the day, including at breaks and lunchtimes. Should there be serious concern about a pupil’s wellbeing, a referral may be made to the educational psychologist or to ELCAS (the child and adolescent mental health service), with parental consent.

Pleckgate treats all allegations of bullying seriously and all are fully investigated. Pupils are encouraged to let someone know immediately if they feel bullied. The school is proud of the fact that in a recent survey, 100% of parents felt that ‘the school deals effectively with issues of bullying’ (Ofsted Parent View in 2013).

How are the setting's/school's/college's resources allocated and matched to children's/young people's special educational needs?

Visits and activities, including trips abroad, mostly linked to the curriculum, are offered to all pupils and take place throughout the school year. In addition, pupils taught within Learning Support have enrichment visits, for example, to the pantomime at King George’s Hall, to Blackburn Museum and to a supermarket and to a café for lunch.

Pupils looked after at lunchtimes have activities arranged, both indoors and out (weather permitting), and all are encouraged to join in.

A small group of pupils studies life skills, taking part in sessions which include baking, shopping, washing up and putting bedding on. These are valuable learning experiences which the pupils both enjoy and benefit from, and which take place mainly in the life-skills area within Learning Support.

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

The senco visits all feeder primary schools and meets with key staff there. This enables information to be shared and appropriate provision to be put in place. In addition, vulnerable pupils are invited to pre-induction day visits. This gives them the opportunity to meet their prospective form tutor and head of year, as well and familiarise themselves with the school building, especially the Learning Support area. Some pupils have several pre-induction day visits and Pleckgate’s TAs often spend some time in the primary school, learning how best to support the pupil and meet their needs, facilitating a smooth transition. Parents/carers are encouraged to visit the school too, to discuss their concerns and make clear their expectations for their child.

How are parents involved in the setting/school/college? How can I be involved?

Advice is sought and acted upon to ensure that appropriate resources and equipment are in place prior to a child starting at Pleckgate.