SEND

Who should I contact to discuss the concerns or learning needs of my child?

In the first instance contact your child’s form tutor or subject teacher. They are responsible for:

• Adapting and refining the curriculum to respond to strengths and needs of all pupils.
• Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivery of any additional support required to support progress
• Contributing to devising individual differentiation plans to prioritise and focus on the next steps required for your child to improve learning
• Applying the school’s SEND policy.

You then may be directed towards to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCO).

The role of the SENDCO (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator)

The SENDCO is responsible for coordinating provision for children with SEND and developing the school’s SEND policy, ensuring that parents are:

• Involved in supporting their child’s learning and access
• Kept informed about the range and level of support offered to their child
• Included in reviewing how their child is doing
• Consulted about planning successful movement (transition) to a new class or school
• Liaising with a range of agencies outside of school who can offer advice and support to help pupils overcome any difficulties
• Providing specialist advice and facilitating training to ensure that all staff are skilled and confident about meeting a range of needs.

Responsibilities of Head Teacher and Governors

The Head Teacher is responsible for the day to day management of all aspects of the school, including the provision made for pupils with SEND.

The SEND Governor is responsible for supporting school to evaluate and develop quality and impact of provision for pupils with SEND across the school.

How can I find out about how well my child is doing?

• All parents and carers are routinely invited to a Parents’ Evening and given the opportunity to discuss their daughter’s progress with her subject teachers and the some parents are invited also to meet with the SENDCO
• Additionally ongoing monitoring takes place throughout your daughter’s education administered by form tutors/ subject teachers and the SENDCO to identify those pupils who have difficulty or are not making adequate progress.
• Following further assessments and after discussions with key staff and parents, additional support may be put into place to help overcome any difficulties and your daughter may be identified as requiring SEND Support.
• This additional support is documented by the school. In consultation with the class teacher/form tutor, SENDCO and parents, short term targets are agreed which prioritise key areas of learning. Where external agencies are involved, their advice and recommendations are included in this planning. Actions agreed take into account each pupil’s strengths as well as their difficulties.
• In some cases and for pupils who already have an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plans), learning support assistance may be allocated. The level of support will be considered in respect of complexity and severity of needs. There will be an expectation that pupils should develop independent learning skills as far as possible and not become reliant on adult supervision.
• Formal review meetings are held as required. Those with statements or EHCP Parents, relevant external agencies and when appropriate, pupils are invited to this review. The impact of support offered is considered along with the progress towards targets set. Support arrangements will be updated and revised accordingly. If not involved already, this might include referral to external agencies. The outcomes of these meetings will be formally recorded.
• If your child continues to make little or no progress, an Education Health Care Plan may be requested. Further details about this process will be explained by the SENDCO and information published in the LA Local Offer.            

Tests and Examinations: Access Arrangements

For some pupils additional arrangements and adjustments can be made to enable them to fully access a range of tests. This might include additional time, rest breaks, use of a reader or scribe. The SENDCO will inform you about eligibility and applications for these arrangements.  

How will teaching be adapted to meet the needs of my daughter?

• Teachers are experienced professionals adept at adapting teaching to meet the diverse range of needs in each class.
• The teachers of pupils with SEND are provided with an Additional Support Plan (ASP) which identifies difficulties and the differentiation required in the classroom in order for the pupil to make progress. The ASP is also shared with parents.
• Daily planning takes into account individual pupil need and requirements.
• Differentiation is approached in a range of ways to support access and ensure that all pupils can experience success and challenge in their learning.

In addition to planned differentiation in the classroom, the following range of interventions may be put in place to help overcome learning difficulties.

This includes:

• Smaller classes for students working at lower levels
• Catch-up sessions
• Reading intervention programme
• Reading and Spelling groups
• In-class support for those with EHCP
• Both mixed-ability and set teaching groups
• Provision of learning equipment
• Multiple pathways for students at KS4
• Pastoral monitoring
• Pastoral mentoring
• Academic mentoring
• Progress monitoring
• Regular assessment

What arrangements are made to enable my child to benefit and take advantage of the full school curriculum and extra curriculum activities?

We have reasonable access in place to ensure that pupils with SEN and Disability can take part in all aspects of school life. However, wheelchair access is limited to the 6th Form block, DT block, ground floor administration block, and new Performing Arts Block. No access to uppers floors in main building where library, some IT and Science department is located. Some classrooms have the Sound Field System to enhance the acoustic field for those pupils with hearing impairment.

How skilled are staff in meeting the needs of my child?

An ongoing programme of training is in place to ensure that all teachers and support staff have appropriate skills and knowledge to support provision for children with SEND.

Our SENDCO actively engages in a range of opportunities to share best practice and keep abreast of current local and national initiatives and policy to support pupils with SEND.

​The school also seeks advice and guidance from local services such as the Visual and Hearing Impairment services, to review, evaluate and develop provision for pupils who have the most complex needs.

​We have staff with specialised expertise and qualifications including:

• PGCert in Language Literacies and Dyslexia
• PGCert National Award for SEN Co-ordination
• Assessor Accreditation for Exam Access Arrangements

What support from outside does the school use to help my daughter?

The school works with a number of external agencies to seek advice and support to ensure that the needs of all children are fully understood and met. These include:     

• Educational Psychology Service
• Our attached Educational Psychologist is: Karina Ng                 
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Croydon Sensory Support Service
• CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
• Virtual School for Looked After Children

Additionally, parents may wish to seek support from Family Lives Parent Partnership Service 

020 3131 3150

The Parent Partnership Service provides independent information and advice and guidance for parents /carers of children and young people with SEN.

Year 6 / 7 Transition

The SENDCO and/or Head of Year 7 will attend the Primary to Secondary Transition day meeting to discuss specific need of your child and the nature and level of support which has had the most impact.

On some cases additional multi-agency meetings may be arranged, or the SENDCO may attend the pupil’s termly review, in order to create a more detailed ‘transition’ plan which may include more visits to the new school and/or additional visits from the new school.

Sixth Form Transfer    

Children and young people with SEND can become particularly anxious about ‘moving on’, for example, to other Sixth Form provision, so we seek to support successful transition by:

• Preparing the student with advice from a career advisor and/or teacher.
• Liaising with the Learning Support department  at the new provision and sharing information about any special arrangements  that have been in place at Coloma.

Further information about support and services for pupils and their families can be found at:

Croydon.Gov.UK - Special Educational Needs