Inclusion

At The Academy at St James we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development.

It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of additional opportunities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of our children. Our curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for life-long learning, personal growth and development of independence.

All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. Our SEND philosophy places SEND children at the heart of personalised learning and our curriculum is tailored to meet individual pupils needs.

At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented. To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum The Academy at St James remain committed to:

A range of teaching and learning styles
Differentiated learning materials
Access to ICT and Technology
Additional in class support
Additional out of class support
Many Enrichment and Enjoyment opportunities to stimulate and motivate learning
Flexible groupings – including small group support work
An innovative and supportive curriculum
The appropriate use of rewards and sanctions
A broad range of extra-curricular activities, including homework club, one to one support and booster/extension sessions
Assessment procedures that emphasise pupils’ strengths and achievements
Applications during national testing at Key Stage 2 to obtain access arrangements as appropriate

How we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for children & young people with SEN

This support will vary in individual cases and after a thorough assessment of needs. We ensure that provision for SEND children goes beyond the differentiated approaches and learning arrangements that are normally provided as part of quality first teaching. This may take the form of additional support or involvement of specialist staff or support services.

We monitor and document children’s progress over time. We identify children who might benefit from more intensive levels of teaching. Some of the approaches used may include:

Here are some of the strategies to support children that we use at The Academy at St James:

Read Write Inc (A quality first phonics programme) in a targeted group.
Precision Teaching.
Targeted reading books.
Daily reading.
Reading, Writing & Maths Booster groups.
Time Tables Rock Stars.
Toe-by-Toe.
Fine motor skills activities including dough disco and squiggle while you wiggle in EYFS.
Specific SALT which is planned and supported by our commissioned Speech and Language Therapist.
NELI – Language Development intervention which is run daily in Reception.
Teaching Assistant led games and activities.
From Reception to Year 6 children are supported by qualified teaching assistants.
Support Plans enable us to target support required by individual children.
Use of Clikker to support Reading and Writing.
Use of ‘Seeing Al’ app on iPads to support children with reading.

We have also successfully used the charity equipped4learning to purchase electronic equipment to support the access to the curriculum for 2 children in our school this academic year.