Principal - Anouska Gardner
Principal - Anouska Gardner

BARLBY HIGH SCHOOL IS PART OF

SEND

Supporting students with SEND

Caring for Carers, Children & Young People

Barlby High School is a fully inclusive school and we aim to help all students to achieve their potential. A new Code of Practice for special educational needs came into force on 1st September 2014 and the school operates with due regard to this Code.

The Code of Practice defines Special Educational Needs in the following way;

A child or young person has Special Educational Needs (SEN) if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for Special Educational Needs provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:

  • Has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children the same age, or
  • Has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or post 16 institutions.
  • For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that generally made for other children

Students who have a disability but do not have SEN support are covered by the Equality Act 2010. Some students may have Individual Healthcare Plans.

The School caters for a wide range of special educational needs including cognition and learning needs, social, emotional and mental health difficulties, communication and interaction needs and sensory/physical needs.

The named SENCo at Barlby High School is Richard Anderson.

The school’s SEN Policy is available on our Policies page.

Barlby High School works closely with primary schools to identify students with SEN to ensure that appropriate provision is in place for the beginning of Year 7.  The SENCo attends progress meetings in Y6.  If we believe that a child has SEN parents/carers will be consulted and notified and will have the opportunity to attend progress meetings during the academic year. Parents/carers will also have the opportunity to contribute to a SEN Support plan for their child.  Additional meetings with the SENCo can be requested at any time.  Students who are identified as SEN will receive a comprehensive plan which will be shared with all parties, including the student, parents/carers, multi-agency representatives and subject teachers.  This plan will be regularly updated and provision will be evaluated and reviewed accordingly.

The School regularly collects data from all subject teachers to identify students’ progress towards outcomes.  The SENCo uses this data to identify and review progress of SEND students. This information will then inform Annual Review and SEN Support plan discussions. The school will also consider the following possible indicators of SEN when reviewing the progress of all students (as recommended by the Code of Practice);

  • Progress which is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
  • Progress which fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
  • Progress which fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers
  • Progress which widens the attainment gap

Barlby High School works closely with primary schools to identify students who are likely to require additional support.  This allows us to ensure that appropriate interventions and arrangements are in place when students first arrive at the school.  The School also works closely with other Post-16 providers to ensure that relevant information in transferred in order for students to make a successful transition in the next phase of their education.

The SENCo and the SEND team support teaching staff to effectively meet students’ needs within mainstream lessons.  Some students require more intensive support and may follow a differentiated timetable to ensure that they are able to gain essential skills to enable them to access the wider curriculum.  Parents/carers will be informed if we feel that this is appropriate for their child.  This decision will be made after gathering a variety of assessment data upon entry to the school.

The school works with a variety of agencies to ensure that the needs of all students are met. These include;

  • Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service
  • Hearing Impaired Service
  • Visual Impairment Service
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
  • Educational Psychology
  • Hospital Tuition Service

The SENCo has strategic oversight of SEN at the school. Teaching staff have access to in school training and can request further training on a specific SEN issue through the school’s arrangements for professional development.  Learning and Teaching Assistants receive regular training from external providers and in school specialists. Recent training has included;

  • Attachment Disorders
  • Moving and Handling
  • Introduction to counselling skills
  • Supporting students with English as an additional language

The school works in partnership with other agencies whenever possible and is committed to multi-agency working.  The school uses documentation such as the ‘common assessment framework’ to identify where there is a need for other agencies to become involved in meeting a student’s needs.

The effectiveness of the provision made for students with SEN is evaluated through the performance management arrangements of the school in conjunction with regular analysis of outcomes for students with SEN.

Students with SEN are encouraged to engage in all activities in school including visits and extra-curricular activities.  Support is provided to enable students to do this. The school seeks to ensure that students with SEN are represented within student voice mechanisms in school (e.g. school council).

The school runs additional sessions to help to improve students’ social and emotional development.  Some form groups are also organised in a way that enables the school to meet the social and emotional needs of vulnerable students. The school may need to seek advice from external agencies (e.g. the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) if we are concerned about a child’s wellbeing.  This will be done in consultation with parents/carers.

Please click here for our SEND Information Report 2023/24

We endeavour to make all reasonable adjustments where reasonably practicable for students who wish to attend our school.  This would be considered and support gained from NYCC in consultation with parents/carers and the young person (as appropriate).  With having a site that is predominantly on one level we are ideally suited to support students with limited mobility and/or additional needs.  We have considered key areas on premises and these are detailed on the accessibility plan information available on the link below.

Should you have any queries relating to this please contact Richard Anderson, Assistant Principal: SENCo.

 

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