By the time students start at Croxley Danes, the school already knows a great deal about them from contact with their primary school. 

Over the last few weeks, the Head of Year 7 and other key staff have been in contact with the majority of primary schools to receive information about individual children. Mrs C Lewis Lead SENDCO and Miss L White, SENDCO have also spoken to some schools specifically to discuss students with special educational needs. Information regarding previous tests and SAT predictions is also obtained.  Relevant staff will also have attended the START event hosted by Chessbrook which allows primaries and secondary schools to discuss provisions and strategies for key students.

During the Autumn Term this information will be supplemented by data from primary schools, Cognitive Ability Tests (CATs) and various internal assessments, including reading, spelling and speed of writing tests. Any students highlighted by these baseline tests will undergo  an additional diagnostic assessment in the Learning Support Department to determine whether additional help is needed. 

We will use every opportunity to identify students’ needs from their first contact with the school. Students with additional needs will have these recorded on an ‘SEND register with relevant strategies available for staff to access. All students on the SEND register will create a ‘Personalised learning plans’ with a member of the learning support team, you will receive an invitation to complete this with the team. This document allows the student’s voice to be heard regarding their strengths and challenges and how they wish to be supported.  Strategies to address ‘barriers to learning’ will be shared with teachers alongside a record of examination access arrangements and interventions and strategies recommended by the primary school to meet their needs. 

Access arrangements reflect the support that is usually given to the student in the classroom, internal exams and mock examinations. This is commonly referred to as the ‘normal way  of working’ and evidence building for this begins in Key Stage 3. The decision to apply to the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for access arrangements in Key Stage 4 is the school’s, based on evidence of a history of need, history of provision and diagnostic assessment undertaken by the SENDCo as the School’s Specialist Assessor. The SENDCo is required to gather qualitative evidence from teaching staff that the access arrangements reflect the candidate’s needs and their normal way of  working within school. Students with an EHCP will have 25% extra time for all assessments. All other students are at the discretion of the teachers at key stage 3 and they will inform Mrs. Lewis of students who have required additional provisions for exams. As the access arrangements assessor, Mrs. Lewis would then assess these students at the end of year 9 to ensure arrangements are in place for key stage 4.

Privately commissioned assessments are not necessary and are not accepted by JCQ. The school will exercise its judgement regarding applications for access arrangements in line with the relevant criteria from JCQ. 

The majority of students will have their Special Educational Needs met in mainstream classes through Quality First Teaching. As part of the graduated approach to special educational needs provision in line with the SEN Code of  Practice (2015), the cycle of ‘assess, plan, do and review’ helps teachers identify student needs and target appropriate intervention. Parents will be contacted prior to any  intervention taking place. 

A few students will be identified through assessment of needs as requiring additional support with reading and/or phonics intervention. This is subject to reviews of cognitive abilities and academic abilities. There is a strong emphasis on keeping a broad and accessible curriculum for all students with additional needs. 

A small number of teaching groups receive additional support from Learning Support Practitioners (LSPs). The majority of this support is found in core subjects such as English, Maths and Science. The emphasis for in-class support is on helping the student to access the work and developing students’ skills as  independent learners. We use the Education Endowment Foundation’s research on effective use of teaching assistants to ensure that we do not have a velcro model of support. Students with an EHCP will be allocated a key worker who will make termly contact with home.

The school works closely with a number of external agencies and through referral provides support to students and guidance to teachers. Key partners include: The Educational Psychology Service, Speech, Language, Communication and Autism advisory service and Chessbrook Education Support Centre. 

The SENDCo and Learning Support Team work  closely with members of the Pastoral Team to  support students’ social, emotional and mental health and well-being. Students can be referred for additional support including assessment, intervention and referral to external agencies. 

Please refer to the SEND Information Report available on the school website for additional information regarding Special Educational Needs.