SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS POLICY DISS HIGH SCHOOL SPECIALIST

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Special Educational Needs Policy

Special Educational Needs Policy.

Diss High School.


Specialist Provision.

Diss High School is a co-educational comprehensive school, which is situated in the market town of Diss. Pupils with SEN are admitted to the school on the same basis as any other child. The Governing Body uses the LA admissions criteria.

Diss High School has a well equipped room called the Learning Support Centre, where much of the intervention work of the Learning Support department is carried out.

It is the policy of the school to integrate pupils fully and to teach students with learning disabilities alongside their peers in small class groups and often with classroom support. The Learning Support Centre is used as a facility to support and enhance the learning of students who need a more individual approach or to work in very small groups.


Introduction-Every Child Matters

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001) outlines the entitlement of all students to a broad, balanced and relevant education, including the National Curriculum. Achieving maximum access to the curriculum and subsequent progress for students with special educational needs requires the cooperation, understanding and planning skills of teachers, support agencies, parents and governors.


This policy is produced firmly within the context of the Education Act 1996, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Duty to promote Disability Equality (2005) and the Children Act 2004












Definition of Special Educational Needs.


(The Code of Practice (Nov 2001))

Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty, which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

Children have a learning difficulty if they:

  1. have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children the same age; or

  2. have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for the children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority

  3. are under compulsory school age and fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them.


Children must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught.

The school is committed to inclusion of all students. The school aims to identify and break down possible barriers to learning.

The objective of this policy is to provide a framework, which enables:


This policy will contribute to achieving these objectives by ensuring that provision for pupils with SEN is a matter for the whole school and is a part of the continuous cycle of assessment and review.


The school will follow the guidelines laid out in the Code of Practice when carrying out its duties towards all pupils with special educational needs and ensure that parents are notified of a decision by the school that SEN provision is being made for the child.


The school recognises that parents hold key information and have knowledge and experience of their child, which is an invaluable factor when making decisions regarding SEN provision for their child. Parents of children with SEN are treated as partners and supported when playing an active role in their children’s education.

Students with special educational needs are encouraged to participate in decision-making processes and to contribute to the assessment of their needs, the review and the transition processes. They are encouraged to take possession of their specific targets as well as being involved in evaluating their progress in these targets.


Identification, Assessment and Provision.

All teachers are teachers of special educational needs. We recognise that it is the teacher’s responsibility to meet the needs of all children in their class through their classroom organisation, teaching materials, teaching style and differentiation. However, if the pupil does not make adequate progress even when teaching approaches are targeted at a pupil’s identified area of weakness, then the pupil may be identified as having special educational needs.

Identification of a pupil’s special educational needs usually starts before the child enters the school. Much work is done at the transition stage from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3. SENCO’s from the feeder schools are visited by Mrs Lewell to enable a sharing of information, which means that the necessary support can be put in place prior to the pupil’s attendance at the start of the academic year. Mrs Lewell attends the Annual Statement Review of those year 6 pupils who hold a Statement of Special Educational Need. Meetings with parents of prospective pupils with SEN are arranged to discuss anxieties and the provision, which can be expected for these pupils.

An Annual SEN Alert document is written for the start of the academic year and issued to all teaching staff. The document highlights key facts about all students with SEN and is designed to give staff an initial understanding of the nature of the child’s difficulties.

Provision for pupils with special educational needs is a whole school responsibility. In addition to the governing body, the head teacher, SENCO and learning support team, all other members of staff have important responsibilities.

Central to the work of every teaching group and every curriculum area is a continuous cycle of planning, teaching, assessment and evaluation that takes into account the wide range of abilities, aptitudes and interests of the pupils. For pupils with special educational needs, there may need to be an enhanced level of provision that supports and enhances their learning abilities. Additional resources are implemented to make this provision.

Intervention takes place on a graduated scale and the school records the steps taken to meet an individuals needs. In the initial instance intervention is at the level of School Action. At this level the school provides interventions that are additional to or different from those provided as part of the school’s differentiated curriculum. Triggers for School Action may be the result of a concern, underpinned by evidence, about a pupil who, despite differentiated learning opportunities:

If the school concludes that the child needs additional support outside the normal support given in the classroom, the SENCO will assist in the planning of provision, consult with the parents and monitor the progress. In some cases other professionals may be working with the pupil and in these cases the SENCO will seek their professional advice.


Nature of Intervention.


The SENCO in consultation with the pupil’s teachers and Head of Year should decide on the action that is best suited to the pupil.

Much of the support for pupils with SEN is provided through in class support and smaller class sizes. In addition to this support there are a wide range of structures, which are implemented to meet the needs of the pupils who need additional input.


The school currently provides a structured paired reading scheme, for those pupils who have not yet reached a level of reading competence that enables them to access print without some assistance.


Small groups are provided for those who need additional support for Literacy skills.

Small groups are provided for those who require additional support for Numeracy.

Some individual tuition is provided for specific pupils who need individualised progress to enable them to progress in a specific area.


For those pupils who find the demands of a full timetable too much, provision of support for catch up time for their adapted timetable is provided.


The school runs several commercial programmes to aid the learning of pupils of SEN and these include: Lexia, Tracks, Smart Numeracy Workout, Toe by Toe and Word Wasp. Pupils working on these programmes are scheduled for two sessions of 35minutes or three sessions of twenty minutes per week.


The school is currently running the TITAN programme (Travel Independence Across the Nation) for those pupils who need training on developing safe practice when travelling.


Speed Stacking is run as a lunch time activity which encourages the development of hand eye coordination and manual dexterity.


A lunch time club for vulnerable pupils is run on a daily basis which provides a safe environment where pupils can meet to play games with their friends or just sit and chat. This is a good place for the development of social skills in a relaxed supported environment.

Individual Education Plans.


The IEP will only record that which is different from the differentiated curriculum provision. It will focus on the current targets of a student, usually about three individual targets, which will be focussed on specific strategies being used to meet the need of the individual pupil. The IEP will be reviewed at least twice a year when both the parent and child’s views will be sought.

In the case of those students whose IEP is solely to do with behavioural difficulties, the Head of Year, in liaison with the Deputy Head for Pastoral Support, will take responsibility.

The SENCO will be responsible for the organisation of all other students’ IEPs.



The IEP should contain information on:



School Action Plus.


This is characterized by the involvement of external services such as special needs advisory services, educational psychologists, health care professionals etc.

A request for external help will be the follow up of consultation with both staff and the child’s parents. The normal preferred referral route for contacting these services will be followed unless an emergency arises which in the view of the SENCO needs immediate action.

At School Action Plus the advice of external support services is sought so they can advise on fresh targets and accompanying strategies. Their help is sought so that specialist assessments can be made and advice can be given on materials and strategies that the school can employ.

The School Support Team may also be sought regarding exam dispensation for students at Key Stage 4 and in those cases where the SENCO needs further evidence to support the request of special exam provision.

The type of triggers for School Action Plus could be:


In order for there to be a good working partnership with the supporting agencies the school will, when requesting support, provide evidence of the pupils difficulties and successes as well as records of the support, provision and strategies that the school has employed.

The resulting IEP will remain the responsibility of the school’s staff to deliver.

Parental consent will always be sought before further advice from other professionals is requested.


School request for Statutory Assessment.


For a few pupils the help given to a pupil through Action Plus may not be sufficient to enable the pupil to make adequate progress. In consultation with the parents and any external agencies already involved, the school will ask the LEA to initiate a statutory assessment. For the school to deem this process as necessary the pupil will have demonstrated significant cause for concern and the school will have written evidence detailing:


Statutory Annual Statement Reviews.


These are conducted annually for those pupils who hold a Statement of Special Educational Need. The SENCO sends invites to those with parental responsibility, the pupil and all those who are involved in support the pupil’s education/welfare.

Information is gathered from staff, and drawn together through the County’s Annual Statement Review Report which is then sent to all those invited to the review 2 weeks prior to the actual review. The SENCO is responsible for coordinating the meeting and completing the Review which should include the pupil’s views and the views of those with parental responsibility. Any recommended changes to the Statement are sent along with the Annual Review Report to the LEA Administration Officer.

Preparing Students for Post 16 provision.

All pupils are entitled to support from the Connexions service when considering their transition from Key Stage 4 to post 16. Pupils who hold a Statement of Special Educational Need should have met with a Connexions Officer, who is known as their personal advisor, prior to their Annual Statement Review in year 9. The advisor should subsequently be invited to attend all Annual Statement Reviews from year 9 with a view to supporting the student through the transition stages either into further education, entry into employment schemes or into employment.

Liaison between the SENCO, the school’s Careers department and the Connexions service starts for students as they approach year 9. Specialist SEN Connexions provision is made available for those pupils who have a disability which is likely to lead to specialised SEN provision for the Post 16 years.









Roles and Responsibilities/ Co-ordination of provision


The current SENCO is Mrs M. Lewell and her responsibilities include:



The SENCO meets regularly with SENCOs in other schools, which enables her to keep up to date with current initiatives, locally and nationally, and to seek out and share best practice.

Mrs Lewell is assisted by thirteen teaching assistants, ten of whom are full time and three are part-time. Three of the teaching assistants have specific responsibilities:


The governor with responsibility for SEN is Mrs J. Dennis.

Overall responsibility for Special Educational Needs provision is that of the Headteacher, Dr. J. Hunt.


Success Criteria


The success of the education offered to children with SEN will be judged against the aims set out above. The policy will be reviewed regularly and the Governing Body’s Annual Report will report on the implementation of the policy.

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