Special Educational Needs and Disability & Inclusion

Our SENDCo, Miss Roberts, can be contacted via the School Office on:

Blakeney 01594 510270

Walmore Hill 01452 750373

Pillowell 01594 562244

You can also contact her by email:

senco@blakeney.gloucs.sch.uk

Each of our schools have ongoing identification procedures for SEN as part of continuous assessment. We also establish as much information regarding a child's individual needs when we meet with parents/carers when their child is starting at our school.

Definition of Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND)

A child has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
• Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools. Code of Practice (April 2014)

Within classes children often need some extra support and/ or challenge to consolidate their learning and to enable them to access the curriculum at an appropriate level. At our schools, teachers use their professional judgements to effectively plan and provide for each individual child. This could be providing slightly different tasks for child and adapting teaching and learning styles to meet the needs of the children.

Sometimes this is not enough, and a child may need additional support on top of this. Within classes children often need some extra support and / or challenge to consolidate their learning and to enable them to access the curriculum at an appropriate level.

If our experience and expertise indicates that a child has special educational needs, we will always discuss this with parents/carers, either initially with the class teacher and/or the school's Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).

If a child's name is placed on the school's SEN register then an appropriate programme of school action is devised and reviewed at regular intervals. If a child is not responding sufficiently to any additional support we are able to provide, and after discussion with parents/carers, we may refer to the Educational Psychologist or other outside agencies for advice (this is called School Action Plus).

In certain circumstances it may be necessary for a child to be given a Statement of Special Needs.

We have a strong commitment towards inclusive education for all children, and in line with the revised Code of Practice take steps to provide appropriate curriculum opportunities, teaching and learning approaches, organisation of environment and resources in order to meet a wide range of individual needs, including more able pupils.

SEN Complaints

In the first instance, parents are encouraged to speak with their child's teacher if they have any concerns. If, however, parents feel that their issues have not been resolved, then they can make an appointment with the SENCo, a senior member of staff or the Headteacher. If the complaint remains unresolved then parents should refer to the complaints procedure.

Equalities

The federation has published the following information in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty which requires all public bodies to take action over equality in the workplace.

Staffing

Staff ages range from school leavers to retirement age across all grades, none are registered disabled and all current staff are white British. There are male and female employees

All staff are appointed in line with Gloucestershire Local Authority guidelines and recommended practices. Teaching Staff are subject to the Teachers' Pay and Conditions document (DfE, Sept 2018). Support Staff are graded and paid in relation to the work undertaken in line with South Gloucestershire Local Authority guidance.

The Federation is an equal opportunities employer and operates policies to ensure that no staff or applicants are discriminated against, directly or indirectly, as a result of age, gender, health, disability, race, sexual orientation, religion or other protected characteristics.

School Diversity

Please click on the link for information regarding our the different school demographics

Blakeney School

Pillowell School

Walmore Hill School

*In 2012 FSM changed to represent pupils eligible to claim at any time in the last 6 years (FSM6)

Our Equality Objective is:

To help children have a greater understanding of the cultural, ethnic and racial diversity locally, nationally and globally by designing a curriculum which includes the opportunity to learn about different religions, cultures and races as well as developing links with contrasting schools in the UK, Europe and the wider world.