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The Education Act 1996 states that a child has special educational needs (SEN) if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made or them.

A learning difficulty means that the child either:

  1. a) has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the
    same age.
    b) has a disability, which either prevents or hinders the child from making use of the
    educational facilities which are provided for children of the same age in a mainstream school.

Special educational provision means educational provision, which is additional to, or
different from, the provision made generally for children of the same age in a
mainstream school.

Everyone at St Claudine's Catholic School for Girls is committed to providing the conditions and opportunities to enable any pupil with SEN to be included fully in all aspects of school life. Our vision is for all members of the school community to be respected and seen to have potential for improvement. Through effective teaching and learning, support and encouragement and working closely with parents and carers we can enable the fulfilment of each child’s potential.
 

Name of Senco: Miss J Christiansen
 

Objectives

In order to meet the special educational needs of pupils we:

  • Identify those children who have SEN as soon as possible.
  • Provide intervention at a suitable level when a child is identified as having SEN.
  • Use a variety of teaching styles, and cater for different learning styles, to allow
    children with SEN to access the National Curriculum.
  • Use resources effectively to support children with SEN.
  • Assess and keep records of the progress of children with SEN.
  • Work with outside agencies who provide specialist support and teaching for
    children with SEN.
  • Inform and involve the parents of children with SEN so that we can work
    together to support our children.
  • Encourage active involvement by the children themselves in meeting their
  • Provide on-going training for all staff working with children with SEN.
  • Pay heed to statutory Guidance for the SEN Code of Practice.

Pupils with Educational Health Care Plans are allocated support hours delivered by the learning support assistants, learning support coordinator and learning support teacher. Support is delivered in class, with some occasional withdrawal to work in a small group when needed.

Pupil progress is constantly monitored and specific needs identified.

Intervention is planned according to individual pupil needs. This can be in the form of in-class support, small groups or individual support.
 

The following Literacy and Numeracy programmes are used to support pupils:

  • SRA Reading Laboratory
  • Read Write Inc.
  • Colourful Semantics
  • White Rose

Other Support Programmes include:

  • Transitional summer school for Year 6 pupils due to attend the school in September.
  • Lego club
  • In-Class support with a designated Learning Support Assistant
  • Work with Brent Outreach Autism Team
  • Speech and Language support
  • AQA Unit Award Certificates in Numeracy and Literacy skills
  • Social skills

We offer homework club to all students. Students have access to computers, the internet, printing facilities and assistance from staff with homework from all curriculum areas.
 

Teaching and Learning:

ASPIRE is a unique program established at St Claudines in 2023. It has been designed to meet the diverse needs of learners within a mainstream school setting. Students are provided with opportunities to work towards a variety of AQA certificates in a small group setting.  The approach within the ASPIRE program is flexible and aims to target specific goals across a variety of subject areas.

More specifically, it aims to:

  • To facilitate students’ academic progress by addressing their learning and social, emotional and mental health needs.
  • To build students’ self-concept, confidence and self-esteem
  • To improve students’ social and communication skills
  • To provide outreach to the mainstream school and wider community

Learn more about the AQA Unit Award Scheme here: https://www.aqa.org.uk/programmes/unit-award-scheme/introduction
 

Useful websites and resources for Parents and Carers

Brent’s Local Offer is a single point of information and advice for children and young people from 0 to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. Website: https://www.brent.gov.uk/localoffer

Brent’s Children’s and Families Information Service provides information on a range of services and activities for children and young people aged 0 to 19 years old (or up to 25 years for young people with special needs). Website: https://www.brent.gov.uk/services-for-residents/children-and-family-support/

Talking Point is a website that provides parents and carers with information to help their children develop skills in speech, language and communication. Website:  http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation UK provides information and support families who have children with specific learning difficulties who display challenging behaviour(s) website: http://www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk/

 

 

SEND Information Report 2024-2025

What kinds of special educational needs are provided for at St Claudine’s School for Girls?

A student has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

They have a learning difficulty or disability if they have:

  • A significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
  • A disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools

St Claudine’s is a mainstream school that operates a policy of inclusion recognising that all children are entitled to equal access to the curriculum. The school supports students with a variety of physical, sensory, learning and emotional needs. Admission of children with special educational needs is considered in line with our admissions policy, which relates equally to all children. It should also be recognised that some children may have needs beyond those which we cater for. The school is not a fully accessible building and also split over a large area so there is therefore some restrictions regarding meeting the needs of some physical difficulties.

Special Educational Needs and provision can be considered as falling under four broad areas:

  1. Communication and Interaction
  2. Cognition and Learning
  3. Social, Mental and Emotional Health
  4. Sensory and/or physical We use our best endeavours to ensure that necessary provision is made any individual who has special educational needs, in cooperation with our local authority.

We make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled children are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers. We are constantly striving to improve the accessibility of our school and curriculum
 

Arrangements for consulting parents/carers of children with SEN/ involving them in their education

The SEND and Pastoral team will have an early meeting and discussion with the student and their parents/carers when identifying whether they need special educational provision.

These conversations will make sure that:

  • Everyone develops a good understanding of the student’s areas of strength and difficulty
  • We take into account the parents/carers’ concerns
  • Everyone understands the agreed outcomes sought for the child
  • Everyone is clear on what the next steps are
  • Notes of these early discussions will be added to the student’s record and given to their parents/carers.
  • We will formally notify parents/carers when it is decided that a student will receive SEN support.

Students who have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) are fully involved in the Annual Review Process with their parents/carers.
 

How will my child be able to contribute their views?

Students will be able to contribute their views in meetings, at parents’ evenings and if they have an EHCP they will complete an ‘All About Me’ document as part of the review process. Students will also be able to work with the SENCO to add to their Learning Passport.
 

How will students be identified as having SEN?

By the time students reach secondary school most SEND issues have already been identified through early years and primary school. However, when students join our school community in Year 7, they are tested to assess their reading and spelling ages alongside their cognitive ability (Cognitive Ability Tests). These scores along with their KS2 data and any other existing information is used to make an assessment of the child.

As students move through their school career, they will be regularly monitored through the whole school tracking system and should this highlight any concerns further assessment may be carried out by the SENCO. The SENCO meets regularly with departments through SEN Liaison meetings and this provides a forum for concerns to be raised about particular students.
 

What is the school’s approach to teaching children and young people with SEN?

The nature of SEND provision is that these students require something additional or different to others; often this will be through class work being adapted by the subject teacher. All SEN support begins with quality first teaching. A range of generic strategies will be used across the school to support SEND students’ learning e.g. copies of PowerPoints printed out, one to one explanations from the teacher and support to understand homework. However specific strategies from particular agencies involved will also be disseminated to staff and implemented during lessons to support students’ learning. As well as this staff will be able to make use of the aforementioned ‘Learning Passports’.
 

What types of support are available for my child?

This is dependent on the nature of your child’s needs and difficulties, but we have a range of educational provisions to match the needs of the four areas of need. There is now a 3 three-tiered approach to support learning: Tier 1 Mainstream This is the quality teaching that your daughter will receive from her teachers which may include language friendly classroom resources and learning aids. We have targeted Enhanced Learning Assistants in core subjects for the classes with the highest needs. Tier 2 Targeted at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls we have targeted withdrawal groups for Literacy, Numeracy and Social Emotional Development. We also offer 1 on 1 support with an Enhanced Learning Assistant on an extra-curricular basis to focus on particular areas of needs including subject specific support, homework support and organisational support. Tier 3 Specialist It may be necessary to seek specialist advice and regular long-term support from a specialist professional in order to plan the best possible learning outcomes for your daughter. This may include our school counsellor, educational psychologist or speech and language therapy. The school may need to prioritise referrals to these services
 

How do you evaluate the effectiveness of the provision made for children and young people with SEN?

Teachers at the school will also take part in an ‘SEN Audit’ which allows us to assess experience and knowledge amongst staff so that their training needs can be met either through our in-house training program or through external training.

The SEN Department is also accountable to annual development planning and review, line management by the senior leadership team, analysis of tracking data and regular reports to the school governors accessing effectiveness of provision by evaluation of practice.
 

How are children and young people with SEND enabled to engage in activities available to students without SEND?

All clubs, activities and trips are available to all students, but may be subject to risk assessment. All of our extra-curricular activities and school visits are available to all our students, including our before and after-school clubs. All students are encouraged to go on our residential trip(s). All students are encouraged to take part in sports day/school plays/special workshops.
 

What support is available for improving emotional and social development?

Catholic education is committed to the formation of the whole person, which aims to develop gradually every capability of every student intellectually, physically, psychologically, socially, morally and religious capacities.

The Pastoral Team encompasses Form Tutors, Pastoral Year Leaders and Heads of Year who are supported by the Behaviour Management Team. Particular programmes of support are put in place for students who have a range of social and emotional issues.

Outside agencies can be utilized as and when required to support emotional and social development. We have a variety of lunchtime and after school clubs that all students are invited to join and take part in, including: sports, language and science and clubs to enhance their positive experience at St Claudine’s School for Girls.
 

What are the contact details of the school SENCO?

The SENCO has day-to-day responsibility for the operation of this SEND policy and the co-ordination of specific provision made to support individual students with SEN, including those who have EHC plans.

Please use the details below if you need to make contact with the SENCO:
Miss J Christiansen
Crownhill Road, Harlesden
London,
NW10 4EP

Email: office@stclaudines.co.uk

 

All statutory documents can be accessed via our school website:

https://www.stclaudines.co.uk/