Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

If they cannot learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn.

- Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas

The Academy at St James is an inclusive school, where every member of the school community is included in all aspects of school life.

Schools are required to publish information about services they provide for children with disabilities and special educational needs. All schools in the local area have a similar approach to supporting children with SEND and are supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school.

The intention is to offer choice and transparency for families, as well as providing a resource for professionals to detail the range of services and provision locally.

We are a fully inclusive school that ensures all pupils achieve their potential personally, socially, emotionally and academically in all areas of the curriculum (regardless of their gender, ethnicity, social background, religion, sexual identity, physical ability or educational needs). Children may have special educational needs that require additional support when progress has slowed or stopped. We implement a graduated approach based on Bradford’s Matrix of SEND need and support all children following their own individual needs and progress using the Bradford Progress Tracker.

Our local offer is intended to give you the information regarding the approaches we use to ensure all of our pupils are supported, including those with SEND, in order that they can realise their full potential. It may not list every skill, resource and technique we employ in order to achieve this as these are continually developed and used to modify our provision to meet the changing requirements for individual pupils.

Pupils are identified as having SEND when they have a greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age and/or a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age within the areas of the Local Education Authority. Once we have identified a pupil as having SEND we work collaboratively with the family and appropriate agencies, implementing specific needs-based plans and pupil profiles, which support the pupil’s development and accelerate progress.  We use the Bradford Matrix of Need to follow the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle to support children with SEND.

Contact Us

In the first instance you should speak to your child’s class teacher who has general day to day responsibility and understanding of your child.

If you require further information please contact our SENDCo.

 Mrs Harrison

Tel: 01274 777095

suzanne.harrison@stjames.bdat-academies.org

How children with SEN engage in all activities?

We do our very best to ensure that all children can access all things as best as we can. We do not see SEND as a barrier to accessing the full curriculum and ensure that children with SEND are fully included in all activities in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.

For example, if a child had a physical disability, they can always be incorporated in to a PE lesson with adaptation and effort; we make that effort. We are prepared to seek advice, resources, equipment and training when needed in order to provide quality-learning experiences for our children.

Admissions into our school for children with SEND

At The Academy at St James we look at the educational needs of a pupil with disabilities and, in liaison with all other professionals involved with the pupil, plan a comprehensive learning package, which will allow for learning opportunities to be put in place. This means that the pupil and all adults involved in supporting that pupil will meet to plan the educational provision best suited to the needs of the individual pupil. At all times we will work closely with parents to ensure that their child receives the very best educational experience that The Academy at St James can offer.

Discrimination

At The Academy at St James we have an Equal Opportunities Policy, therefore every pupil is provided with equal opportunity to access all aspects of our curriculum. The Academy at St James welcomes any suggestions as to how we can further improve this area.

Access 

The Academy at St James is all housed in one building and is contained on one site.  The school is all on one level and can be accessed through a number of entrances. We have ramp access and have facilities to accommodate physical disabilities, such as disabled toilets. We have made adaptations to parts of the building following advice from external agencies.  We have an adapted school minibus where wheelchairs can be belted into.

Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Report – SEND 

For details of the arrangements for the admission of disabled and special educational needs pupils please see our SEND and Equal Opportunity Policy on our Policies page.

Further information

The Academy at St James also follows the guidance and legislation in the following acts:

SEN ACT