SEND Information

At Seven Kings we pride ourselves on knowing our students well and being able to put in early intervention using the graduated approach as outlined in the SEND Code of Practice (2015). All teachers and Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) have a responsibility to identify and support students who may need additional support and to liaise with the relevant teams within the school to put this in place.
Students who have additional needs are identified in a number of ways including:

• Gathering information from nursery settings, primary schools or previous secondary schools through the transition process. 
• Home and Nursery visits for our children new to Reception. 
• Student’s own views
• Parental views
• Teacher feedback
• Feedback from Learning Mentors
• Data drawn from termly progress reports which include formative and summative assessments
• Reports from external professionals which include Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, SEaTSS (Specialist Education and Training Support Service), Speech and Language Therapists, Educational Psychologists, Social Workers, EWMHS (Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service, formerly known as CAMHS), GPs.

Class teachers make regular assessments of progress for all students and they and the learning mentors and form tutors identify students whose progress:

• Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
• Fails to match or better the student’s previous rate of progress
• Fails to close the attainment gap between the student and their peers
• Widens the attainment gap. 

This does not just refer to academic progress but encompasses the four areas of SEND set out in the Code of Practice- Communication and Interaction; Cognition and Learning; Social Emotional and Mental Health; Physical and Sensory Needs.

The SENCo, key workers (secondary) and year group leaders meet regularly with class teachers, year leaders and subject staff after each data drop or when concerns have been raised and will always seek to involve the student and their parents closely in discussions about identification of need. The SEND team and departments/ year group leaders work closely with learning mentors to identify difficulties with emotional wellbeing as well as other barriers to learning.  

The Pupil Support Department will also support with the identification of barriers to learning using a range of assessment tools including:

• The Access Reading Test- used as a screener for all students at the beginning of Year 7 to support reading interventions and at the end of Year 9 to support assessment for exam access arrangements.
• The Access Maths Test- used to identify particular areas of difficulty in mathematics
• Detailed Assessment of Handwriting Speed (DASH)- to the speed and legibility of handwriting as well as process speed.
• Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP2) to assess phonological knowledge, working memory and processing speed
• The Academic Assessment Battery (AAB) to measure speed of processing, decoding and comprehension skills
• Referral to SEaTTS, the Speech and Language Therapist, EWMHS, the Educational Psychologist, Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist as necessary for individual specialist assessments.
• The school employs a p/t Speech and Language Therapist and Play Therapist who offers specialist interventions based on their own assessments of the children’s needs. The therapists work closely with parents, staff and the children to best meet their needs. 

These assessments are standardised and norm referenced and are used to inform next steps, including working with the subject teachers and, where necessary,  interventions and teaching programmes. Interventions are time limited and reassessment takes place after 6 months to measure progress.

On the primary campus, if you have a concern over your child’s progress, you should contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance. 
On the secondary campus, if you have a concern over your child’s progress, you should contact their Year Leader who will liaise with the subject teacher. 
If your child has a known SEND or is being assessed for this, contact the SENCo.

Seven Kings has a wide range of interventions on offer as well as a large team of LSAs who provide support in lessons. 

On the primary campus, the class teacher and the SENCo will liaise closely with parents about support and interventions that will be put in place to support children’s learning and progress. 
On the secondary campus, each year group has an identified key worker from the Pupil Support Department who is the student’s and their parent/ carers’ link person. The key worker liaises with the student and their parent/carer about the support and interventions to be put in place. 

We ensure that teachers are aware of SEND students’ needs through their One Page Profile which includes sections from the student and the parent/carer on what works.
EHCP students and their parents/carers are directly involved in reviewing their progress through an interim and annual review and through parents evenings. Targets are set at both interim and annual reviews. Students on School Support Plus also have an annual review of their progress with their key worker/ class teacher.  

Seven Kings is a highly successful mainstream school where each student follows the EYFS/ Primary  National Curriculum before transitioning onto the Key Stage 3 and 4 curricula with appropriate support. 
 
In Primary, children take part in whole class teaching that is personalised and tailored to their needs. Some children have additional interventions such as 1:1 reading, phonics catch up programmes and Speech and Language groups. These interventions are personalised to allow all children to flourish and narrow the attainment gap in learning. 
 
In Key Stage 3 some children may be withdrawn for interventions such as reading, social skills and gardening, the majority of their learning takes place in mainstream lessons. Students with physical needs may take part in adapted PE lessons or follow their physiotherapy programmes. Some students use assistive technology following an assessment by SEaTSS. If a student is unable to attend school for medical reasons such as recovery from an operation, we have used the AV1 robot to enable them to access live lessons from home.

At Key Stage 4, some students who may struggle to achieve the full range of GCSEs take Tutorial Support which enables them to take one fewer GCSE and focus on key skills and support in their core subjects. A small number of students take Entry levels in some subjects if they are finding it difficult to gain a grade at GCSE. The life skills programme, ASDAN Bronze Award, is also offered in Tutorial Support. 
Every student on an EHCP and those on School Support Plus have a One Page Profile which informs teachers and LSAs of their strengths, barriers to learning and strategies which assist them in learning successfully. Teachers also regularly track student progress and provide appropriate support and differentiation as required.  SEaTSS staff and other professionals who support students send regular strategies and updates which are shared with LSAs and teaching staff to enable students to access the curriculum.

Interventions are based on the assess, plan, do, review cycle from the Code of Practice. Current interventions include reading, speech and language, social skills and Lego. We also have a gardening intervention which is run once a week by Organiclea for students with social, emotional and mental health needs and those with communication and interaction needs.

Parents/ carers are informed of their child’s progress through termly Interim Progress reports and parent meetings. Key workers (secondary) and the primary SENDCo also run interim and annual reviews for EHCP students, annual reviews for students on School Support Plus and are available at Parents Evenings as well as through the school’s reporting systems.

Your child’s key worker (secondary), class teacher (primary) will support you with this. In addition on the primary campus we run a range of parent workshops for example how to support your child with their phonics. On the secondary campus, the department runs a weekly lunchtime home learning club to support students who are having difficulty in this area. At Year 6 transition we meet with parents of SEND students and explain how the online learning platform works and also provide a booklet about how best to support your child at Seven Kings.  Curriculum evenings also suggest how to support your child and keep them safe as well as enabling parents to experience how our young people learn at Seven Kings.

We have a very strong pastoral team at Seven Kings. On the primary campus we have a number of LSAs who support groups of children and classes and class teachers, year group leads and phase leads get to know the cohort of children thus personalising planning where need be. On the secondary campus, students’ Year Leaders, Deputy Year Leaders and Form Tutors know them well and LSAs are allocated to each form class. We encourage students to take part in the full range of clubs on offer. These include girl’s football (KS2) ,boccia, cricket, ipad and creativity clubs which aim to foster friendships. We have a strong CPSHE curriculum that supports children’s well being and social and emotional development. In addition, students regularly meet with their key worker (secondary) to discuss school and any issues or concerns are discussed and success is celebrated. Where there are concerns about well-being we may make a referral to the school’s learning mentor team, our student counsellor or SEaTSS or EWMHS if necessary. 

The school has two welfare officers and a large team of LSAs who are trained in assisting students with a range of needs including ASD and physical needs including with hoisting, toileting, feeding and using equipment such as standing frames and walkers. The secondary SENCo is trained to assess students for literacy needs and exam access arrangements. In addition we have a school counsellor and a team of learning mentors on site and work closely with external services including the specialist teachers from SEaTSS, the Educational Psychologist, the Speech and Language Therapist, the Occupational Therapist and the Physiotherapists. Seven Kings employs our own p/t Speech and Language Therapist and Play Therapist who build personal programmes for children with communication and language/ SEMH needs. We also have a gardening intervention which is run by Organiclea once a week and work with Super 1s Cricket Club which offers cricket training for young people in Redbridge who have a learning need or physical disability. 

The school has regular training for teaching staff and LSAs on meeting the needs of young people with SEND. This has been provided by SEaTSS specialist teachers, the Educational Psychologist and the Speech and Language Therapist. Staff working closing with specific students with physical needs have training provided by occupational therapists and physiotherapists as required. Our welfare staff and a number of our LSAs are qualified First Aiders and trained in manual handling. Two of our staff are qualified to Train the Trainer in Manual Handling. 

Our LSAs have dedicated CPD time on SEND and have worked with outreach staff to deliver interventions. In secondary, they are being trained on guided reading this year and those supporting students in external exams have annual training on assisting with access arrangements. Our Primary LSAs have received training on inclusive practice and will be receiving training on delivering speech and language groups such as ‘Talk Boost and Makaton’. Our LSAs have a range of qualifications, many at degree level. Some have Level 2 or Level 3 NVQ Teaching Assistant Qualifications. Both SENCos have achieved the National Award for SEN Coordination and one has the PostGraduate Diploma in Special and Inclusive Education and is qualified to assess for exam access arrangements. Sessions on working with students with SEND are delivered by the SENCo as part of the programmes for student teachers and Early Career Teachers (ECTs).  In primary we have dedicated CPD time given to SEND and inclusive practice. In secondary, a member of each department attends the SEN Link Team Meetings every half term where the SENCo or a member of Pupil Support trains staff on working with students with different types of SEN. Our students and their parents are proactive about informing LSAs and teachers about what works best for them and some took part in the Disability Awareness Week Assembly.

Students with SEND are encouraged to take part in all school activities. This includes all clubs and trips. We have a minibus which is adapted for students with wheelchairs so students are able to attend theatre trips and sporting events. We have taken part in trips such as the Year 6 Kingswood Residential, France, represented the school at the Panathlon Games and attended GCSE Drama trips to the theatre. We risk assess all external activities and support is given by LSAs and welfare staff as appropriate. Students who have difficulties adapting to change are prepared for the trip in advance to ensure they are comfortable. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments so that everyone can participate.

On the primary campus we are a four form entry year group. Inside the building we have wide corridors and lift access to all floors for those unable to use the stairs. We have accessible toilets on all floors so children with additional needs can access them. We ensure that equipment and adaptations are put in place to meet children’s needs. The school has interactive whiteboards in every classroom and there is access to laptops and iPads for all children.  Our classrooms are communication friendly and our teachers use whole class visual timetables to schedule the day. Staff across the school use various communication aids to support children who have difficulties with their communication, including Makaton signs, visual supports, communication and choice boards and more.  We have two sensory rooms and various sensory resources that we use to support children to better regulate themselves, or for children who benefit from additional sensory experiences as part of their learning. On the secondary campus, all classrooms, apart from two, are fully accessible so that students can be taught in a subject specialist setting. Automatic doors, ramps and lifts enable access throughout the building and all areas of the playground. We have disabled toilets throughout the building and a toilet equipped with a hoist in the Medical Centre.

Seven Kings is committed to working with students, parents/ carers and other settings and providers to ensure that positive transitions occur. For transition into our Reception we visit children at their Nursery settings and gather information from the key workers that know them best. We also conduct home visits where we meet the parent/s/ carers and child in their home helping to develop a trusting relationship between the school and family before the child’s school journey begins. We offer a stay and play sessions in the summer term before the children are due to start and a staggered start in September that gently introduces the child into the school day and routines. 120 of our children transfer over to the secondary and because of the all-through nature of our school, our children are already familiar with the secondary site and many of the staff that work there – therefore building trusting relationships from an early start. For transition to Year 7 we work closely with primaries to ensure that we have current information about the child and aim to attend any transition reviews in addition to organising visits to Seven Kings over and above the borough Transition Day to ensure that the student has met key staff and has had a tour of the building. We organise a coffee morning in July before transition for new parents to meet Pupil Support staff who go through key information and answer any questions so that parents/ carers are also able to support their child. We have been  part of the SEaTSS Transition Project  for the last three years and have found this successful in helping students meet each other and prepare for transition to Seven Kings.  In the summer term before they start, teachers are given key information about SEND students and how to support them. LSAs are also given this information and are allocated to a form class.
 
At Key Stage 4 we work closely with the careers service Connexions. All SEND students have several interviews with the careers advisor who sets them up with their preferred course and setting and helps them with applications. We work on interviews and application forms in Tutorial Support and invite colleges to attend transition reviews. We also work with SEND students on their UCAS applications, ensuring any access arrangements are in place for entrance exams and liaising with university regarding SEND needs as required.

Primary SENCo: Ms Muslimah Khanom: m.khanom@sevenkings.school
Secondary SENCo: Ms Caroline Coleman: c.coleman@sevenkings.school
Secondary Senior Welfare Officer: Ms Dace Pune: d.pune@sevenkings.school
Primary Welfare Assistant:  Ms Hardeep Rattan:  primary@sevenkings.school
 
Please read this SEND Information Report in conjunction with our SEND Policy which is on the school website.