SEND
Intent
Learning Support is an essential, welcoming and active part of school life at Bredon Hill Academy. Every teacher is a teacher of special educational needs and is responsible for identifying and supporting pupils to meet their individual needs.
The team of teaching assistants are strong practitioners who go above and beyond to provide vulnerable students with social and emotional support, to nurture and to remove the barriers so that pupils want to achieve.
It is our intention to build relationships and provide our students with as many opportunities to learn, progress and thrive as possible. We want our SEND learners to be part of a broad, rich and ambitious curriculum where their learning opportunities are not restricted. We want our students to develop as learners, feel included and to flourish socially as well as academically. We want our students to develop confidence in the classroom and be active learners. We would like them to know more, do more and remember more.
Implementation
Support for pupils with SEND starts in the classroom with needs being met through high quality first-wave teaching. Pupils with SEND have access to a rich and ambitious curriculum and we ensure that the curriculum is not narrowed for our SEND pupils. Teachers are supported by the highly qualified, experienced and passionate Learning Support team who are committed to developing achievement and strive to meet the needs of individual pupils. Additionally, the Learning Support department offers a range of interventions to help pupils overcome barriers to their learning and to address specific literacy, communication and interaction and social and emotional needs. We ensure that the voice of our SEND pupils is heard in involving them in any support and interventions. Where possible, these interventions take place out of curriculum time. The current number of SEND interventions, outlining the rationale behind each intervention can be seen at the bottom of this page, entitled “SEND Intervention List.”
Achievement for All is a whole school approach to school improvement that supports the teaching and learning for all children in the school, regardless of any need. All classrooms are resourced and equipped to support a range of needs. Pupils are taught and encouraged how to access resources and learn strategies to promote independence.
A smooth and successful transition into Bredon Hill Academy for our most vulnerable pupils from first schools is focused upon. Each tutor group in year 6 has a teaching assistant attached to them so that pastoral needs are met. Likewise, the transition from our school into the next phase of a pupil’s education is able to be met by having a close involvement with their next school. This is achieved by close liaison, visits and where necessary, an individualised plan of support.
Impact
SEND pupils make good progress in their time at Bredon Hill Academy. Pupils progress well between Year 6 and year 8 with a significant percentage of pupils working at Curriculum Related Expectations on exit. A number of SEND pupils also exceed Curriculum Related Expectations on exit in Reading, Science and Maths.
SEND pupils are fully included into life at Bredon Hill Academy through aspects such as trips, extra-curricular clubs, the prefect system, Reading Buddies and much more.
Our SEND register is a flexible list that is reviewed regularly in line with the SEND Code of Practice. Pupils can be removed from the SEND register if they make progress in line with their peers. We find that as some pupils with SEND settle into life at Bredon Hill Academy, they no longer need support from the intervention groups that we offer as they have developed their own skills to access the curriculum or develop their own friendship groups.
As pupils progress through our school, we find that their organisation and presentation improve. We see the confidence in our SEND pupils improve through increased social interactions and they become independent learners. Our SEND pupils feel safe at BHA, take pride in being active learners and enjoy coming to this school.
Mr Sam Timpson
Assistant Headteacher SENCO
Bredon Hill Academy