A physical or mental impairment includes:

•    Learning difficulties

•    Medical conditions, including epilepsy, diabetes, more severe forms of asthma and eczema

•    Specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia

•    Autism

•    Speech, language and communication impairments

•    Visual Impairment

•    Hearing Impairment

The Equality Act 2010 states that a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

A young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

A young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

(a) Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

(b)  Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in a mainstream school.

If you would like to discuss any educational needs that you feel your son or daughter may have please contact the SEN Coordinator.

We receive information from the student’s previous school informing us if they have special educational needs.

We further compile information about each student through CAT (Cognitive Ability tests) and Literacy assessments which include a reading test, a spelling test and a writing test.

We will carry out additional assessments to support applications for Exam Access Arrangements and to provide teaching and support staff with a detailed picture of need.

At Priestlands we respond to needs by identifying waves of support.   At Priestlands students are identified as Waves 1, 2 and 3.

We use data to accurately track student progress.  Your child will be set challenging targets.  Our challenge is to support your child in attaining the targets.

In the classroom

• We share examples of good practice during departmental meetings; colleagues overcome learning barriers by working together.


• Staff plan using differentiation.


• We celebrate learning achievement at the close of each lesson.

 Here are some practical examples of support beyond the classroom:

• Staff use a radio mic on a daily basis for students with a hearing impairment.


• We have staff trained to help students cope with loss and bereavement.


• We develop learning programmes with parents and the student when facing new challenges within SEND.


• We have an excellent transition programme for students in Year 6 and work very closely with the feeder primary schools to ensure students feel happy and confident in Year 7.


• We have a Year 7 programme to support specific students with social skills and self-esteem.


• We have supported lunch and homework club for Year 7 and 8 students.


• We have a programme of Equine Assisted Learning for students who have low self esteem.

At Priestlands, students and parents will be at the heart of decision-making, ensuring high quality individual education pathways are carefully planned around the specific needs of the student.

Our individual education pathways put a greater emphasis on understanding and addressing students’ wider needs, resulting in a more personalised approach.

We believe in working in partnership with parents.

We will appoint a member of staff to the role of keyworker to liaise with and support every student identified at Wave 2 and Wave 3 whilst attending Priestlands.

We have a highly motivated, enthusiastic team of colleagues including Pastoral Support Managers (PSMs), Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) and Achievement Support Assistants (ASAs).

All our staff are involved in and committed to providing education and support for SEND students.  If you are concerned about your child please contact one of the staff listed below:

SENCO

ELSA support

Pastoral Team information, including Head of Year (HoY) and Pupil Support Manager (PSM) can be found on the relevant year group pages:

Year 7                 Year 8                   Year 9                  Year 10                  Year 11

The aim of our provision is to identify and assess the SEND and to plan the provision needed for each young person to achieve his or her best at Priestlands.

At Priestlands we have identified three categories of need:

Wave 1 students will require some  intervention to ensure that they get back on-track in terms of their attainment in literacy and numeracy.   They may be students who have additional needs such as being looked after by the Local Authority.

Wave 2 students will have some outside agency support in place for example CAMHS, medical professionals or counselling, whose advice will help to inform our decision about how best to support the student.

Wave 3 students will have an EHCP or have severe and complex needs such as being a new arrival in the country and not being able to speak any English.

This is what we will do to identify if a young person needs support and identified as Wave 1, 2 or 3:

1.    We will assess the needs of that student to clearly identify their area of need.  

2.    We will arrange a meeting with the young person and their parents to talk about what is needed to put together a Student Support Plan.

Before the plan can be drawn up we will need to gather the following information:

•    The young person’s views and what he or she wants to achieve on their learning journey through Priestlands.
•    The views of the parents and what they would like to see as an outcome from their child’s time at Priestlands.
•    A school-based learning assessment.
•    Current and expected levels of attainment.

We will meet again and look at all this information and then, together, we will draw up a plan.  The plan will include outcomes, so everyone at the meeting will have something to do to help the young person on their learning journey.  We will set a review date in the meeting.  The Student Support Plan will be reviewed by the keyworker termly basis at Wave 2 or 3.

A letter outlining the Student Support Plan will be sent home at least once a year.  This is in addition to the normal reporting arrangements.

Some SEND young people may need support from professionals outside of the school setting to achieve a successful learning journey.  If this is the case then those views will be considered in drawing up a Student Support Plan. This could include:
•    Parents seeking medical advice about the young person.
•    School requesting Educational Psychologist involvement with the young person.
•    School requesting advice from specialist disability teams.

EHC Plan:
EHC Plan has replaced the Statement of Educational Needs.  It includes in one document: Special education provision, health provision and social care provision.

Hampshire SEN department will be responsible for the EHC Plan and reviews will be held at least once a year to make sure that the student is making progress.

Students who currently have a Statement of Educational Needs will continue to be provided with support to meet the objectives in part B.

At Priestlands our premises include eight different buildings two of which are Grade II listed buildings.  As a result of this, unfortunately most areas are not accessible to wheelchair users.  

Students identified as Wave 1 will access tailored teaching in classes with additional, time-limited, tailored intervention support programmes

The effective inclusion of all students occurs when:  •    teaching is based on clear objectives that are shared with students and returned to at the end of the lesson;  •    links are made to learning in different contexts;  •    new vocabulary is carefully explained;  •    lively interactive teaching styles are used and maximum use is made of visual and kinaesthetic as well as auditory / verbal learning.   Approaches of this nature are the best way to accommodate the learning of all students within each class.  

In addition to high quality inclusive teaching some students will require Wave 1 intervention to ensure that they get back on-track in terms of their attainment in literacy and numeracy and to address their needs with Cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties, Communication and Interaction and Physical and Sensory difficulties.  Students may also be identified as Wave 1 if they have low levels of attendance or are under achieving.

Wave 1 intervention is support which is designed to increase rates of progress and secure learning for groups of students, putting them back on course to meet or exceed national expectations.  This takes the form of tight, structured programmes of small-group support, carefully targeted and delivered to help students achieve their learning objectives.  Wave 1 intervention helps students apply their learning in mainstream lessons.  

Wave 1 intervention is characterised by small-group intervention and/or programmes such as Springboard, Literacy Progress Units, Learning Challenge, Reading Challenge, Writing Challenge, Lexia and Booster classes.  Wave 1 intervention is intended for students who can be expected to ‘close the gap’ with their peers as a result of the intervention.  Interventions at Wave 1 are designed for students for whom a well- structured, short-term programme will enable them to make progress.  

Students with SEN who may be included in Wave 1 interventions are students who can be brought back “on track”; that is those students whose attainment in English and mathematics is not significantly out of step with their peers.  Students with SEN receiving Wave 1 intervention for English and /or mathematics may have special educational needs such as Cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties,  Communication and Interaction and Physical and Sensory difficulties.  These students will receive other forms of support for their SEN.  

Students identified as Wave 2 will access

Everything at Wave 1 plus increasingly individualised programmes, based on independent evidence of what works

At Wave 2, students will have their needs addressed through inclusive teaching and in addition, will receive specific targeted approaches in terms of a SEN intervention. Students placed at Wave 2 will have particular needs related to Cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties, Communication and Interaction and Physical and Sensory difficulties.  Their needs will be likely to be greater, in terms of literacy and numeracy, than those students placed at Wave 1.  We will appoint a member of staff to the role of keyworker to liaise and support every student identified at Wave 2 whilst attending Priestlands.

Students identified as Wave 3 will access

Everything at Wave 2 plus increasingly individualised programmes, based on independent evidence of what works.  In addition, there is likely to be specific support allocated by the Local Authority

Wave 3 is support which will accelerate and maximise progress and minimise performance gaps.  Wave 3 may entail one-to-one or very small group support to ensure that students achieve very specific targets.  We will appoint a member of staff to the role of keyworker to liaise with and support every student identified at Wave 3 whilst attending Priestlands.

Provision at Wave 3 is likely to entail adjustment of learning objectives and teaching styles and /or the nature of support.  Wave 3 may need to be a more intensive programme than that provided at Wave 2 and may involve individual support.  At Wave 3, students will have access to SEN interventions such as the Catch Up Secondary School Programme for literacy and/or the Primary National Strategy Wave 3 maths programme.

Students receiving Wave 3 support will be identified as having an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) or are identified as a New Arrival English as an Additional Language (EAL).

We have a number of Achievement Support Assistants (ASA) working with our SEND and Pupil Premium students.  ASAs have high expectations of all students, and use their subject knowledge to enable all students to achieve the learning objective in lessons.  Teaching staff plan lessons to make effective use of ASAs, therefore their impact is significant in contributing to the learning and achievement in our classrooms.

In addition to our ASA team, we have an experienced Teacher of Special Educational needs whose role includes specialist assessment and intervention.

All our ASAs run the Lexia Program.  This is a “personalised learning”, multisensory phonics approach.  Lexia’s  web based reading skills software focuses on improving reading comprehension by strengthening phonemic awareness, sound-symbol correspondence, decoding, fluency, phonics and vocabulary.  The reading software is designed to serve all ages of students, including students with dyslexia.  It provides independent practice and instruction, all of which aligns to synthetic phonics instruction.  This can also be accessed at home (IT Help page).

Each ASA is allocated  a number of students for whom they act as Key Worker.  Key Workers are members of staff individually assigned to our most vulnerable students in order to track and support their progress and well-being on a week-to-week basis.  

A Key Worker will work over a long-term period - often throughout the whole of a student’s school life – building up a close working relationship with the student, assisting them with difficulties as and when they arise, being an advocate for their needs within the wider school setting and acting as a positive link between the student, colleagues, outside agencies and families.  

Looking after the learning progress of students with a Special Educational Need by:

•    Ensuring that all students with special educational needs/disabilities are provided with the opportunity to achieve academic, social and economic success.
•    Advising teaching staff about the individual needs of students with special educational needs/disabilities.
•    Assessing students to ensure that the most appropriate access arrangements are put in place during formal assessment periods/ exams.
•    Providing additional out of lesson activities to progress individual students and groups of students.
•    Co-ordinating Achievement Support Assistant in-class support to ensure that all students with SEND achieve appropriate academic progress in line with target grades.  

Looking after the learning progress of students who are experiencing difficulties in maintaining progress by:

•    Advising teaching staff about the individual needs of students 
•    Assessing students to ensure that the most appropriate access arrangements are put in place during formal assessment periods/ exams.
•    Providing additional out of lesson activities to progress individual students and groups of students.

Looking after the learning progress of students with temporary/long term medical needs by:

•    Supervising and recording the administration of prescribed medicines.
•    Completing health care plans for individual students.
•    Ensuring that correct procedures are applied when administrating medicines during school trips/visits.
•    Providing opportunities for staff to be trained to supervise diabetic and severely allergic students.

Looking after the learning progress of students who are in the care of Hampshire or neighbouring Local Authorities by:

Appointing a Key Worker who will:
•    Monitor academic progress every half term.
•    Attend reviews.
•    Maintain close liaison with carers, Children's Services and parents.

Looking after the learning progress of students  who have been placed on a Child Protection Plan or a Child in Need Plan by: Appointing a Key Worker who will: •    Ensure that confidentiality is maintained and that the student is provided with a discreet and confidential individual support package within the school setting.
•    Attend core group meetings to ensure protection plan is adhered to.
•    Liaise with other professionals.
•    Be available during the school day to provide support for the student if required.

Looking after the learning progress of students with temporary /long term behaviours which prevent them from accessing full time mainstream education by :

•    Providing access to our Student Support Centre whereby students are provided with learning/social and emotional support to access mainstream curriculum lessons under the supervision of specialist staff.
•    Providing individual learning programmes for students in order that they will achieve academic success as well as social/emotional support to overcome learning barriers.
•    Providing and co-ordinating educational training opportunities available for KS4 students on an individual basis.  
•    Seeking advice and support from Hampshire’s Education Inclusion Service, including the possibility of placement at the Forest Education Centre where students are provided with temporary or long term learning/social and emotional support to access KS4 qualifications under the supervision of specialist staff.

Provision for students with disabilities and additional educational needs.

Admissions

At Priestlands we look at the needs of a student with special educational needs and, in liaison with all other professionals involved with the student, plan a comprehensive learning package, which will allow for measurable learning opportunities to be put in place.  This means that the student and all adults involved in supporting that student will meet to plan the educational provision best suited to the needs of the individual student.  At all times we will work closely with parents to ensure that their child receives the very best educational experience that Priestlands can offer.

Additional educational needs

The Board of Governors is confident that every student with additional educational needs who is currently on roll at Priestlands will be provided with an educational support package designed to cater for their individual educational requirements.  The Board of Governors is involved in any changes of policy which may affect the education of students with additional educational needs, and in what way the school will respond to those changes.  If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Discrimination

At Priestlands we have a Special Educational Needs Policy and an Equalities Policy, therefore every Priestlands  student is provided with equal opportunity to access all aspects of our curriculum.  Priestlands  welcomes any suggestions as to how we can further improve this facility.

A range of policies underpin our SEND offer; in particular:

Admissions Policy

Anti-Bullying Policy

Attendance Policy

Behaviour Management Policy

Child Protection / Safeguarding Policy

Equalities Policy 

Health and Safety Policy

Student Mental Health Policy

Special Educational Needs Policy

These can be found on our Policies page

Priestlands works in a collaborative partnership with many different agencies.  This means that a supportive plan can be developed to meet your child’s needs both in and out of school.  

We hold regular meetings to monitor the plan and make changes, when necessary, to the plan.  We call these meetings Team Around the Child (TAC) because that is what they are – a meeting where you and your child consult with the team members to implement the plan developed to support your child.  

Listed below are some of the outside agencies with whom we work collaboratively:

•    Hampshire Special Educational Needs Team 
•    Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) 
•    Visual Impairment Service 
•    Hearing Impairment Service 
•    Educational Psychologists (EPs) 
•    Communication and Language Service
•    Hampshire’s Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service

The Achievement Support Department is responsible for looking after the learning progress of:

• Students with special educational needs and disabilities.


• Students with temporary or long-term medical needs.  


• Students who are in the care of Hampshire or neighbouring local authorities (Looked After Children)


• Students who have been placed on the Child Protection Register.


• Students with temporary or long-term behaviours which prevent them accessing full time mainstream education.


• Students who are experiencing difficulties in maintaining progress.