Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

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.

If you require further information please contact us. The Academy at St James’ SENDCo is Suzanne Harrison.

Mrs Harrison

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. Over the last 24 months, our training has featured on autism (ASC), ADHD and sensory difficulties, and prevalent aspects of SEND, which we are currently supporting children with.

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.

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