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Early identification of students with SEND is a priority. The College adopts a holistic approach, taking into consideration the impact of environmental factors in addition with academic performance and engagement. Where necessary, we use appropriate screening tools, together with external agency support, to identify barriers to student progress and to develop appropriate strategies to address them. The SENDCo will also liaise with feeder primary schools ahead of transition.

Students’ progress will be identified as being of concern where it:

• is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline;

• fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress;
• fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers;
• widens the attainment gap.

There may also be Social, Emotional, Mental Health (SEMH) and communication concerns raised by guardians and staff not identifiable through academic progress measures.

The first response to concerns raised by guardians, College staff, or the SEND department will be through Quality First Teaching (QFT). If a students’ progress or behaviour continues to be a cause for concern, assessments will be undertaken to identify if the child has any obstacles to learning that could be associated with an identifiable SEND. These assessments may take the form of screening tools and standardised assessment (Boxall, NGRT, BDA Neuroprofile, About My Feelings). They do not provide a diagnosis.

Other information used in assessment can include:

• Reports and/or observations from staff
• Academic progress records
• Records from feeder schools, including Education Health and Care Plans, Individual Education Plans, SATs (Year 6)
• Information from guardians
• Existing medical or specialist reports
• Risk assessments

Where a student is identified to benefit from additional provision, which is ‘additional to and/or different from’ the provision made generally for others of the same age, we will follow the 4 Point Plan – Assess, Plan, Do, Review. This will be conducted termly or whenever necessary due to transition in a student’s progress.

• Minimum of fortnightly liaison with students by the graduate coach team
• Pastoral tutor and Head of Year team engagement
• Head of Department engagement
• Proactive reporting through College’s Red Flag system for staff
• Reviewing outcomes at data points and cross-referencing against targets/previous attainment
• Through College screening (see above)
• Through the assessments by outside agency specialists
• Through observation and behavioural data (particularly in the case of students with SEMH difficulties)
• Through their behaviour record

• Our inclusive curriculum is developed to ensure that all students with SEND can participate in our vast and diverse array of extracurricular activities.Risk assessments are carried out and procedures/adaptive provisions implemented and monitored to allow all students to participate in activities of their choosing.If additional adult support is required for an activity then guardians would be consulted and support put in place for that student.If a student has a transport arrangement provided by the authority, best endeavours will be made to provide adjustments to schedules to accommodate extracurricular participation in negotiation with a student’s legal guardians.

Ms S Hickinbotham (BA, MA, PGCE, NCTJ)

SENDCo

shickinbotham@jhncc.org

0121 770 5331

The College is committed to supporting children and young people with special educational needs disabilities, and works alongside professionals at an array of accredited organisations and services to ensure students receive the support they need to fulfil their potential. These include:

• SISS (Solihull Specialist Inclusion Support Service)
• SAS (Specialist Assessment Service)
• SALT
• SENAR/START (EHCPs)
• Community Paediatrics Team
• Educational Psychology Service
• CAMHS/SOLAR

• • Frequent telephone and email liaison between graduate coach team and guardians to provide updates on progress;
  • Frequent communication from subject teachers and form tutor;
  • Progress reviews with form tutors, individual subject teachers, and members of the SEND Team;
  • Guardian information events (e.g. options meetings, Year 7 settling in evenings);
  • Meetings with students assigned Graduate Coaches;
  • Through Area of Need specific coffee mornings e.g. Hearing Impaired Coffee

  Mornings/ASC guardian coffee mornings;

  • Home targets/produced in progress reviews;
  • Development of support plans in consultation with guardians;
  • Annual and emergency reviews of EHCPs;
  • Outside agency involvement (specific).

• Profiling meetings with form tutor;
• Co-building and review of strategies and support plans with students (person centred approach);
• Student voice;
• 1-1 sessions with allocated Graduate Coach or Learning Mentor fortnightly or when necessary;
• Cooperative analysis of academic and behaviour progress;
• Personal target setting;
• Peer mentoring;
• Access to SENDCO/Heads of Year/Graduate Coaches/Learning Mentors;
• Options choices at KS3-4 and KS4-5 transitions.

• We pride ourselves in, first and foremost, listening to the needs and aspirations of our students and their families. Therefore, we would like you to talk to the SEND Team first if you wish to raise concerns about the support your child is receiving.Should you wish to proceed with a complaint, there is a form available on the College website. This will then be dealt with via the appropriate process.The SEN Code of Practice outlines additional measures the LEA must up provide for preventing and resolving disagreements. These can be requested, if required.

• SENDCo provides termly report to Governors
• Governing Body is aware of all external agencies involved in provision in College, along with what they do
• Governors are aware of support available across Birmingham and Solihull
• SEND Governor: Mrs V McMenamin (vmcmenamin@jhncc.org)

How are we supporting inclusive learning during the COVID-19 lockdown?

From March 20, 2020, parents were asked to keep their children at home, wherever
possible, and for schools to remain open only for those children of workers critical to
the COVID-19 response – who absolutely need to attend.

Schools and all childcare providers were asked to provide care for a limited number
of children – children who are vulnerable, and children whose parents are critical to
the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

Vulnerable children include those who have a social worker and those children and
young people up to the age of 25 with education, health and care (EHC) plans.

Those with an EHC plan have been risk-assessed in consultation with the Local Authority
and parents, to decide whether they need to continue to be offered a school or
college place in order to meet their needs, or whether they can safely have their
needs met at home. This could include, if necessary, carers, therapists or clinicians
visiting the home to provide any essential services. Many children and young people
with EHC plans can safely remain at home.

The SEND Department continues to provide support to all students on our SEND Register via digital platforms.

All SEND Students have:
Been added to a Google Classroom where they can receive prompt support from their allocated graduate coach.

All SEND students and their guardians have:
Email access to their allocated graduate coach and the SENDCo for support between the hours of 8.30am and 3pm, Monday to Friday during term time.

Further measures:
Paper home learning packs issued to those students with difficulty accessing digital platforms;
Monitoring phone calls and emails to proactively identify support needs for EHCP students;
Support plans updated and circulated to teaching staff with home learning in mind;
Teacher-graduate coach liaison to overcome obstacles to learning;
Guidance sought from local authority officers in delivering sufficient and appropriate support for SEND students;
Reasonable adjustments made available where possible.

Some of the services available include:

• Solihull Parents’ Partnership
• SEND Information Advice and Support Service (Birmingham)
• Autism West Midlands
• British Dyslexia Association
• National Deaf Children’s Society
• More contacts are available on the local authority Local Offer website (Solihull or Birmingham)