SEND
Bredon Hill Academy is very proud of its inclusive ethos – we are a nurturing and happy school , committed to the inclusion of all our pupils within our school community. Pupils may have a range of additional needs, which include the following four broad areas:
- Cognition and learning difficulties;
- Communication and interaction needs;
- Social, emotional and/or mental health needs;
- Sensory and/or physical needs
Every teacher is a teacher of special educational needs and is responsible for identifying and supporting pupils to help meet their individual needs. Beyond this, our school community is dedicated to contributing towards ensuring any pupil with additional needs feels safe and thrives at Bredon Hill Academy.
Every child’s progress and learning is the responsibility of the class teacher who, under the SEND Code of Practice (2014), is accountable for a pupil’s progress and development, including where a pupil may access support from a teaching assistant or other specialist staff. The SENCO will make sure that relevant school staff are aware of your child’s needs and appropriate support is in place to ensure that they become confident learners.
Our team of teaching assistants are experienced, committed practitioners, who go above and beyond to provide all of our pupils with social and emotional support, helping to remove any barriers so pupils can access their learning.
Strong relationships with our pupils are fundamental to this, helping provide our young people with the necessary support to fully access our broad, rich and ambitious curriculum. We ensure that the curriculum is not narrowed for our SEND pupils – we are aspirational and have high expectations for all.
Support for pupils with SEND is visible across our school. We celebrate neurodiversity and embrace the unique strengths of all our pupils. In the classroom, needs are supported through high quality first-wave teaching. Additionally, our teaching assistants, led by our SENCO, offer 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. Our classrooms are resourced and equipped to support a range of needs. Pupils are taught and encouraged how to access these resources and, over time, learn strategies to promote independence. The voice of our SEND pupils is important – we involve them in any support and interventions. A range of our SEND interventions can be seen below.
A smooth and successful transition into Bredon Hill Academy for our most vulnerable pupils is vital. We provide additional visits to our school for those pupils and families who would benefit from this, together with personalised meetings with teaching assistants and the SENCO. Our strong pastoral support will help your child to settle quickly into our school community and ease any anxieties they may have. Likewise, the transition from our school into the next phase of a pupil’s education is met by having a close involvement with their next school. This is achieved through purposeful liaison, visits and where necessary, an individualised plan of support.
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 or exceeding our Curriculum Related Expectations. GL Assessments, which are externally validated also show the high levels of progress made: Click here to see our entry to exit data. SEND pupils are fully included into life at Bredon Hill Academy through 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 blossom 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.
If you believe your child may have a special educational need, please contact their form tutor in the first instance to discuss your concerns and implement a plan. An appointment can then be made with Ms Vaughan, our SENCO by clicking here.
Further information can also be found within the School Information Report and SEND policy, both of which you can find links to below.
Interventions
Lightning Squad
This is a reading tutoring programme where pupils work in small groups with a tutor to improve their reading skills. The tutoring is a blended approach with face-to-face tutoring supported by an online tutoring platform. The tutoring activities are designed and structured to improve reading skills, fluency, comprehension, spelling and phonics. Pupils work through 65 specially written, engaging and illustrated stories.
Literacy Gold
An online support package to help support pupils with their reading, writing and spelling and times tables. Pupils are initially screened in school and then supported to complete the intervention on a daily basis at home. Pupils complete a series of tasks and activities to strengthen vision, improve phonological awareness, phonics, develop spelling patterns and improve times tables.
Touch Typing
This is an invite only intervention for pupils who may need support with writing. It uses Ed-Club and increases pupil confidence and speed when using technology to aid learning.
SEND Mentoring
This is a rewarding activity which enhances the well-being of pupils by improving their ability to cope with life’s problems. It also identifies strengths and weaknesses and how to move the learning forward. Typical issues are anxiety, stress, anger and friendship problems. The success of this programme is difficult to quantify but there are several indicators including improved self-esteem, improved behaviour for learning, improved attendance, confidence and engagement in school life which ultimately translate into improved learning outcomes. An indication of success is when pupils no longer seek help. The programme runs in 2- 3 weeks blocks of 10-30-minute sessions.
Thrive and ELSA
Thrive and ELSA are specific ways of working with children and young people that support healthy social and emotional development. Sessions can be 1:1 with a trained Thrive Practitioner or can be through small group sessions. The Thrive Approach has consistently shown a positive impact on resilience and wellbeing that can, in turn, lead to improved achievement. Within this we offer group sessions that address factors such as resilience, social skills, teamwork and emotional literacy. Our Thrive practitioner is also ELSA trained and can deliver interventions around emotional regulation, self-esteem and friendship issues.
WAM mentoring
BHA is part of WAM (Worcestershire Autism Mentoring) which is an intervention designed for neurodivergent pupils overseen by the LA autism team. This intervention can help a pupil understand their diagnosis and develop skills to help them both at school and at home.
Early Birds Social Intervention/ Soaring Seven’s
This before school club meets daily a week and is designed to develop social and emotional skills. Pupils have a complimentary snack and drink while discussing their week and playing games to promote social interactions. It also helps to improve confidence, self-esteem and making friends. Pupils enjoy these sessions and often find that they make friends that they can interact with at break and lunchtimes. Pupils are taught coping mechanisms, learn about social stories and the sessions can help reduce anxiety.
Wildlife Wanderers
This is a small group intervention that is invite only, designed to build confidence, self esteem and resilience.
Home Learning Club
The teaching staff supervise a daily home learning club (Monday-Friday) where any pupil may use part of their lunch time to complete home learning, with assistance where needed. Prefects help to supervise and monitor home learning club and can support younger pupils when necessary. Pupils that have difficulties in coping with the demands of homework are invited to attend. Pupils who need more encouragement and assistance when there are barriers at home are able to access the room when needed.
Year 7 Number Stacks
This is a form time intervention where pupils work in small groups with a teaching assistant. The programme is a blended approach with face-to-face tutoring supported by an online platform. Much use is made of manipulatives within the programme to help support pupils master the foundations of the number system. Pupils will cover a number of aspects, based on their need, from the 60 key skills available.
Year 6 Mathematics Intervention
This is a form-time intervention where pupils work in small groups with a mathematics teacher. The aim of the intervention is to reinforce areas within Key Stage 2 which pupils feel less confident with. The programme is tailored to meet the needs of pupils within the group based on prior attainment.
Year 6 Girls' Maths Club
A lunchtime intervention where pupils work with a mathematics teacher. This is aimed at increasing confidence of the girls by pre-teaching areas of the curriculum in addition to reinforcing skills that have already been introduced in class.
Year 6 Problem Solving Club
A lunchtime intervention aimed at borderline greater depth mathematicians. Developing areas such as ratio and algebra through problem solving.
Handwriting Club
This is mainly aimed at year 6 and 7 pupils who have issues making their handwriting legible. It aims to improve their handwriting, speed of handwriting, presentation and fine-motor skills.
Birdwatching Club and Fossil Club
These weekly clubs give pupils an opportunity to make friends, build confidence and conversation skills. They are run in a small and calm environment by a teaching assistant and is aimed at pupils who want to try a different activity.
Craft Club and Rubbish Business
These weekly clubs improve confidence, develop friendships and improve motor-skills for pupils who need support or who enjoy a club that offers a calm, friendly and artistic environment. Pupils work on weekly activities that include drawing, creating puppets, jewellery making, making seasonal gifts and card-making.
Lego Therapy
Lego-based Therapy is an evidence-based intervention for children on the autism spectrum and those with related social communication difficulties and anxiety conditions. The therapy uses Lego® construction to encourage verbal and non-verbal communication, and social development such as joint attention, sharing, turn-taking and following social rules. The approach develops collaborative problem-solving and cooperative building with a group of peers, including some who do not have social skills deficits. Groups meet on a regular basis, and different responsibilities are assigned to group members who work as a team to assemble the project.
Talk for Wellbeing Club
The primary goal of Wellbeing Club is to promote wellbeing and to encourage our pupils to connect with peers by showing compassion, empathy and generosity. Through tasks, activities and campaigns, students will be inspired to think beyond themselves and spread goodwill to others! Enjoy mindfulness, colouring , craft and board games. Our trained counsellor leads this therapeutic group.
N.B Most interventions are in line with the principle of the Graduated Approach which is to ASSESS, PLAN, DO, And REVIEW. Where appropriate, pupils are tested on entry and exit and outcomes shared with pupil, parents and teachers. Results are used to inform next steps in learning and individual pupil plans and passports.
Ms Sarah Vaughan
Assistant Headteacher - SENCO
Bredon Hill Academy
Last Updated: January 2026
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