William Brookes School SEN Information Report & Policy This policy should be read alongside the Equal Opportunities Policy and the Accessibility Plan.

William Brookes School Support Policy is based on the following principles from the SEN Code of Practice 2014: Involving children, parents and young people in decision making; that children, young people and their families are given sufficient information and have a say around their SEN provision is a priority; Collaboration across education, health and social care, should be led and co-ordinated by the Local Authority; How we can help in supporting transition to adulthood; the SEN code now extends to 25 for those remaining in education or training.

We also embrace these principles from the guidance from Shropshire Council (July 2014): All children and young people are entitled to an education that enables them to make progress so that they: achieve their best; become confident individuals, leading fulfilling lives; make a successful transition into adulthood, whether into employment, further or higher education or training.

William Brookes School is committed to Student Support. We have roughly 1000 students on roll and we want all our students to make good progress. We believe that all teachers are teachers of students with SEN Support /Disability (SS/D).

William Brookes endeavours to identify, monitor and put interventions into place to foster student support in the 4 areas of need: 1.Communication and Interaction; 2.Cognition and Learning Difficulties; 3.Social, emotional and mental health; 4.Sensory and/or physical development.

William Brookes School believes in equal opportunities and aims to meet the physical, emotional and intellectual needs of ALL students. ALL students are fully integrated into the life of the school, both in lessons and other activities; we recognise individuals’ strengths as well as their support needs.

We absolutely believe in these principles from Section 100 of the duty to support pupils with medical conditions: Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. Governing bodies must ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school with medical conditions. Governing bodies should ensure that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure that the needs of children with medical conditions are effectively supported.

As of September 2014, we have 45 students on the list of those with Support Needs or Disabilities at SEN Support 32 of our students have Statements of SEN. 100 of our students are being monitored extra-carefully by teachers due to some barriers to learning.

While all teachers are teachers of students with support needs, we also have a lot of in-house expertise upon which to draw: 2 specialist teachers, 1 trained counsellor, 2 HLTAs, 4 student support officers, 8 departmental teaching assistants, 8 Special Support Assistants

William Brookes consults with parents and carers of students with support needs before they start at secondary school: We can arrange private consultations on our Open Evening in October; Our staff attend Year 6 annual reviews; We arrange meetings to liaise with Class Teachers of children with SEN in Year 6; We arrange additional visits as necessary for students in Year 6 before the 2-day induction visits in July; Key workers meet intensively with parents of high- needs children and also spend time with the children themselves at primary school.

We are also committed to consulting with parents and carers when their children are at William Brookes. The SENCO attends all parents’ evenings; Target Setting Evenings; We meet with parents of students with SEN Support 3 times per year; Our Key workers send regular s; We hold options pre-meetings; We hold transition meetings for post-16 provision for individual pupils; We are hoping to establish a parents’ working party to discuss SEN termly.

William Brookes School also consults with students themselves: Through individual interviews for annual review meetings; Small social skills groups; Informal feedback at lunchtimes in Games/ Homework Club; Through keyworkers; Review meetings do not take place without the student present.

William Brookes School supports YR 6 students with support needs as they start secondary school: We allocate tutors and keyworkers to match the specific needs of the students; During the 2-day induction, teaching assistants observe the students and then meet to feedback what they have seen; Staff have up-to-date information from their Yr 6 teachers; Our Junior Sports Leaders work with the primary schools and local primaries are invited to our Sixth Form panto so the new students will have some familiar faces; There will be teaching assistants in every lesson for the student’s first day at secondary school; After two weeks, classes may be redistributed to meet needs that have become apparent; Interventions will be established quickly and students’ progress in these will inform their SEN status.

William Brookes School is committed to supporting students with support needs during the transition between Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4: All year 9 students with statements/ EHCPs have a careers interview before their annual review; For students without statements, options pre- meetings with the SENCO are held where necessary; All year 9 students who have been on the SEN list are tested during the academic year for extra help during exams such as readers, scribes, using a laptop and extra time; A differentiated Key Stage 4 curriculum may give additional time for overlearning or 1:1 support.

We are also committed to supporting our students with support needs as they move to post-16 provision: All Yr 11 students with statements / EHCPs have a careers interview before their annual review; Representatives from local colleges/ training providers are invited to Yr 11 annual reviews; Information about support needs and exam help is ed to colleges; Time is given in school to complete application forms with support; Extra visits can be arranged to look at post 16 providers.

Students who have statements, EHCPs or are SEN Support have 3 meetings per year with parents, students, a teacher and a member of the SEN staff. The discussions should include whether more or less support is necessary to make sure a student feels safely supported, without becoming over- dependent upon support. For instance, wherever possible, we would move from 1:1 SSAs to departmental TAs when a student moves into Year 10.

What training has been provided for our staff? Loss & Bereavement Anxiety Self harm Anger management Social stories Attachment disorder Hearing Impairment Elklan (language) Visual impairments Occupational Therapy Specific Learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia Working with Autism/ ASD Providing readers and scribes for exams fairly

From which external agencies do we seek advice? Educational Psychologist Woodlands Outreach EnHance DIVERT Speech and language CAMHS Targeted Youth Service Sensory Inclusion Service Autism West Midlands Shropshire Youth Future Focus Early Help Team School Nurse Woodlands Outreach Education Welfare Relateen Red Cross Gender Matters

Complaints. We hope that you can discuss issues with the SENCO and come to a mutually-satisfactory conclusion, However, in the event of a dispute that cannot be thus satisfied, please follow the link from our website to the school complaints procedure.

We currently don’t have any knowledge of where Shropshire is publishing its ‘Local Offer, ’ but the websites for SEN Reforms are here: educational-needs-(sen)/send-reforms local-offer/ Similarly, we don’t know how the personal budgets will be allocated. These are only available if your child has a Statement/ EHCP for very high needs.

There are organisations that will help parents make their way through the ‘local offer’ and School SEN Information Reports. Parent Partnership is a great service. Their web page is at Their telephone number is Their is “We are here to give you help so that you can feel much more confident in being able to take an active role in making sure your child’s educational needs are being met.” (from their website)