Introduction

At Skerne Park Academy we recognise that all pupils are entitled to a quality of provision that will enable them to achieve their potential. We believe in positive intervention, removing barriers to learning, raising expectations and levels of achievement and working in partnership with other agencies in order to provide a positive educational experience for all our pupils including those with a special educational need or disability.

As a school, all our staff are teachers of SEND. We will use our best endeavours to ensure that teachers in school are able to identify and provide for those pupils who have special educational needs, which will allow them to be fully included in all activities, curricular or otherwise, alongside their peers.

Our SEND Information Report is updated and reviewed annually by all stakeholders and the Academy.

Key Contacts

Miss Clair Gooding is the Head Teacher and can be contacted on 01325 380831 or by emailing: admin@skernepark.org.uk

Miss Leanne Wilson is our designated Special Educational Needs Coordinator and can be contacted on 01325 380831 or by emailing: admin@skernepark.org.uk

Looked After children with SEND

We have a Designated Teacher for Looked after Children, Mrs Sue Wilson, who works closely with the SENDCO to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEND.

Teachers/SENDCO and Support Staff at Skerne Park Academy will work with children and young people to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes. The provision is planned and interventions are allocated to individual needs. The children take an active role with setting their targets and discussing them with the class teacher/SENDCO.

The children have regular meetings and their views are included in SEND Support Plans, EHC Plans and Personal Education Plans (PEPs).

SEND Specialist Expertise

SENDCO & Staff Expertise

Our SENDCO is Miss Leanne Wilson and she can be contacted by phoning the school on 01325 380831 or sending an email to Leanne.wilson@skernepark.org.uk

More details of the SENDCO’s role can be found in the SEND Policy which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.

At Skerne Park Academy the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCO) does the following:

• Day to day operation of SEND policy and co-ordination of specific provision made to support individual children with SEND, including those who have EHC plans.
• Providing professional guidance to colleagues and working closely with staff, parents and other agencies.
• Being aware of the provision in the Local Offer and being able to work with professionals providing a support role to families to ensure that children with SEND receive appropriate support and high quality teaching.
• Liaison with the relevant Designated Teacher where a looked after child (LAC) has SEND.
• Advising on the graduated approach to providing SEND support by overseeing SEND support plans and ensuring teachers and support staff work closely with parents/ carers to follow a graduated approach to SEND Support.
• Advising on the deployment of the school’s SEND budget and other resources to meet children’ needs effectively.
• Liaison  with parents of children with SEND.
• Liaison with early year’s providers, other schools, education psychologists, health and social care professions, and independent or voluntary bodies.
• Being a key point of contact with external agencies, especially the local authority and its support services.
• Liaison with potential next providers of education to ensure a pupil and their parents are informed about options and a smooth transition is planned.

Staff Training will vary each year depending upon the needs of the children.

External Specialists and Other Bodies

The school enjoys good working relationships with a wide range of people who provide services to children with SEND and their families.

The external specialists may:

• Act in an advisory capacity
• Extend expertise of staff
• Provide additional assessment
• Support a child directly
• Consult with all parties involved with the child

The external specialists include:

• Educational Psychology Service
• Future Steps Occupational Therapy
• Health Agencies, particularly School Nurse Service and Health Visitors
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
• Speech and Language Therapists
• Local Authority Special Educational Needs Team
• Low Incidence Needs Team (LINS)
• Virtual School for Looked After Children
• Specialist therapists – Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy
• Other specialist health services as required, e.g. hearing, speech, vision
• Medical Practitioners – GPs, Paediatricians, Clinical Psychologists
• SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) is a statutory service supporting parents/carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and children and young people with SEND. SENDIASS offer a vast range of support for parents/carers such as parental EHCP applications, support with parental voice, support with transition between key year groups and have access to all other SEND services across the local authority.
• Darlington Local Offer

How specialist expertise is secured

Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEND.

This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:

• Purchasing Educational Psychology to identify additional support for learners
• Purchasing Future Steps Consultancy Occupational therapy
• Training staff in relevant areas to meet and support the needs of SEND pupils

• Providing direct support for children in terms of the staff that support them throughout the day to meet their needs
• Purchasing a range of SEND resources to support pupils

If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding as part of an EHC Plan from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.

Support for Emotional and Social development

We are an inclusive school. We consult with a wide range of external agencies and we maintain close partnerships in order to access the best professional advice to ensure the emotional and social development needs of SEND children are met. All staff believe that high self-esteem is crucial and fully support and promote the emotional wellbeing of all children. On a daily basis the class teacher is responsible for the pastoral and social care of every child in their class, therefore this would be the parents’ first point of contact should further advice or support be required.

In order for children to achieve well, we have a strong focus upon pastoral care. Other than our dedicated Headteacher and SENDCO, knowledgeable teaching and support staff, we also have Paula Humphreys who is our home/school liaison officer. She works within our safeguarding team and supports many children, parents and families. She has a wealth of knowledge regarding local services and activities which help support our families.

We have close links with External Partnerships, such as the Mental Health Support Team (MHST), in order to access the best professional advice. We also link with Local Authority and Private Providers of additional services, such as Occupational Therapy, CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) School Nursing Service, Social Services and Medical Professionals. We often hold multi-professional meetings in school so that parents are comfortable in the school environment and the child can join us easily, if it is appropriate.