SEND
All staff at St. Aidan's Academy recognise that every pupil is entitled to a quality of provision that will enable them to achieve their potential.
We believe in high quality first teaching and 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 and/or disability.
All staff working within St Aidan’s Academy will strive to make reasonable adjustments to ensure your child can access all aspects of Academy life.
All teachers are responsible for every child in their care; including those with special educational needs
To ensure there is an overarching inclusive strategy, we have appointed a SENDCo who is responsible for SEND, who works closely with staff to ensure all teachers in the academy understand the implications for children with additional needs or barriers to their learning.
A pupil has SEND if they have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn, than most other pupils of the same age.
Should a parent or carer have a concern about the provision made for their child they should in the first instance discuss this with the SENDCo. To contact our SENDCo, please email SENDCo- Contact, with the title FAO, Mrs Keane SENDCo.
If the concern cannot be satisfactorily dealt with by the SENDCo it should be brought to the attention of the Headteacher. If the Headteacher is unable to resolve the difficulty the concern should then be put in writing to the Chair of Governors in accordance with the St Aidan’s Academy Complaints Policy.
General Information
St Aidan’s Academy recognises there are particular groups of pupils whose circumstances require additional consideration by those who work with them to support their SEN.
At St Aidan’s Academy we ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs make the best possible progress.
Types of SEND at the Academy:
At St Aidan’s Academy, we have experience of supporting children and young people with a wide range of needs.
There are four broad areas of SEND, these are:
Communication and Interaction
This area of need includes children with Autism Spectrum Condition and those with Speech, Language and Communication Needs.
‘Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them, or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.’
Cognition and Learning
This includes children with Specific Learning Difficulties, Moderate Learning Difficulties, Severe Learning Difficulties and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties
‘Specific learning difficulties (SpLD) affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.’
‘Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD).’
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
This includes any pupils who have an emotional, social or mental health need that is impacting on their ability to learn.
'Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.’
Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties
This area includes children with hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment and physical difficulties.
'Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or habilitation support. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties. Information on how to provide services for deafblind children and young people is available through the Social Care for Deafblind Children and Adults guidance published by the Department of Health.’
Please see the tables below for our current data regarding SEND at our academy (2024-2025):
| Year Group | K | EHCP | Total |
| 7 | 19 | 1 | 20 |
| 8 | 14 | 1 | 15 |
| 9 | 15 | 5 | 21 |
| 10 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| 11 | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| Total | 66 | 17 | 84 |
| Year Group | Communication and Interaction | Cognition and Learning | Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties | Sensory and / or Physical Difficulties |
| 7 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 8 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 30 | 31 | 18 | 4 |
Curriculum
Arrangements for ensuring access to a broad and balanced curriculum
All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and pace suitable for their ability and we endeavour to make our curriculum appropriate for all needs.
At times modifications to the curriculum may be implemented. To successfully match pupil ability to the Curriculum, we continue to be committed to:
· A range of teaching and learning styles.
· Differentiated materials (both for support and challenge).
· Access to ICT.
· Additional in class support.
· Additional out of class support.
· The appropriate use of rewards and consequence sanctions.
· Pastoral support.
· Applications to examination boards to obtain access arrangements as appropriate.
Transition
Other Academies and Schools
When pupils with SEND are transferring to or from other educational establishments, the Year Lead and the SENDCo will liaise with all parties concerned to ensure that the transfer is for the benefit of the pupils and disruption to the pupil’s education is kept to a minimum. An early review of progress is arranged and parents are invited to join the review.
Primary to Secondary Transition
At St Aidan’s Academy, we are aware how overwhelming transition to secondary school can be, especially for a young person with Special Educational Needs. To support our young people and their families, families can book a meeting, organise a tour of the school, meet key staff or ask any questions about their child’s transition to secondary school.
St Aidan’s Academy promotes links with partner primaries to ensure early identification of pupils who will be moving to our academy. We encourage this link to start from as early as year 5 depending on the level of need and current SEND support that they require. This link can be done through liaising with the school SENDCo, Joanne Keane.
Contact Details:
01325 373770
KS3 – KS4: Options time can be difficult, especially for pupils who have a SEND. Parents are welcome to contact the school to discuss the options booklet and a parent’s information evening will be available to allow any concerns or queries may be discussed. This is also a crucial time for the SENDCo to identify Access Arrangements in an official capacity, through testing and JCQ approval documents.
KS4 –KS5: SEND Support Plans will be amended to allow the information being shared with the pupils’ future educational setting be up to date and portray a clear picture of any objectives that may need to be transferred on.
Parents
A positive and supportive relationship with parents is one of our most powerful resources and has a significant impact upon pupil progress. All Parents are actively encouraged to be involved in their children’s education.
Additional support can be obtained from the SENDIASS team at Darlington: SENDIASS link
Darlington SEND Information Advice and Support Service is a statutory service supporting parents/carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and children and young people with SEND.
External Agencies
Partnerships
The SENDCo works closely with the following professionals in order to provide the highest levels of support for pupils with SEND.
· Educational Psychologists.
· The Service for the Hearing Impaired.
· The Service for the Visually Impaired
· Social communication outreach service
· Emotional Wellbeing Team
· The Health Authority,
· The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHs).
· Neurolodevelopment Pathway Team.
Accessibility and Equality
Finance
The budget allocation is agreed between our academy and the Local Authority at the beginning of each financial year. Detail of how this money is used to support children and young people with SEND is shown below.
This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
· An innovative and supportive curriculum
· Small academic pathway
· Training to ensure quality first teaching
· Small group interventions
· Academic tutoring
· Specialist support from outside agencies
· Specific individual support for children whose learning needs are severe and/or complex
· Ensuring a range of teaching styles are used
· Specialist equipment to support and enhance learning
· A broad range of extra-curricular activities
· Differentiated materials.
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
A Costed Provision Map will be developed in liaison with the child, young person, parent or carer.
Feedback
With regards to SEND, if you would like to pay us a compliment, or make a complaint, you can contact us at: Enquiries
Link to the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service.
Darlington BC - Information, advice and support service
Useful Policies and Guidance
Please Note
This section of the website has been produced to meet the criteria outlined in section 69 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and contains SEN information specified in schedule 1 of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations 2014 contained in paragraphs 6.79 to 6.82 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years.
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