SEN Local Offer

SEN Information Report for King’s Lynn Academy –

Part of the Norfolk Local Offer for Learners with SEN.

2023/2024

Introduction

Welcome to our SEN information report which is part of the Norfolk Local Offer for learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN.) All governing bodies of maintained schools and maintained nursery schools and the proprietors of academy schools have a legal duty to publish information on their website about the implementation of the governing body’s or the proprietor’s policy for pupils with SEN. The information published must be updated annually. The required information is set out in the SEN Code of Practice regulations.

At King’s Lynn Academy we are committed to working together with all members of our learning community. This local offer has been produced with pupils, parents/carers, governors, and members of staff. We would welcome your feedback and future involvement in the review of our offer, so please do contact us. The best people to contact this year are:

Name of SENCO: Charis Prevett

Name of Principal: Alan Fletcher

Name of SEN Governor: Stuart Graver

If you have specific questions about the Norfolk Local Offer please look at the Frequently Asked Questions by visiting:

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/children-and-families/send-local-offer

Alternatively, if you think your child may have SEN please speak to their Head of Year or contact Charis Prevett our SENCO on 01553 779654 or charis.prevett@kla.eastern-mat.co.uk

Our Approach to Teaching Learners with SEN

At King’s Lynn Academy we believe in participation for all. We want all adults and children to participate in learning and we celebrate all members of our community. We aim to create an inclusive culture in our school and therefore value high quality teaching for all learners, actively monitoring teaching and learning in the school.

We aim to create a learning environment which is flexible enough to meet the needs of all members of our learning community. We monitor progress of all learners, and staff continually assess to ensure that learning is taking place. Our whole academy system for monitoring progress includes regular pupil progress meetings, and staff engage in coaching and supervision.

At King’s Lynn Academy we value:

Success in all we do

How we identify SEN

At different times in their school career, a child or young person may have a special educational need. The Code of Practice defines SEN as:

“A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:

have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age: or
have 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 mainstream post-16 institutions.”

If a learner is identified as having SEN, we will provide provision that is ‘additional to or different from’ the normal differentiated curriculum, intended to overcome the barrier to their learning.

Learners can fall behind in school for lots of reasons. They may have been absent from school, they may have attended lots of different schools and not had a consistent opportunity to learn. They may not speak English very well or at all, they may be worried about different things that distracts them from learning. At King’s Lynn Academy we are committed to ensuring that all learners have access to learning opportunities, and for those who are at risk of not learning, we will intervene. This does not mean that all vulnerable learners have SEN. Only those with a learning difficulty that requires special educational provision will be identified as having SEN.

All staff at King’s Lynn Academy have regular training on the Equality Act 2010. This legislation places specific duties on schools, settings and providers including the duty not to discriminate, harass or victimise a child or adult linked to a protected characteristic defined in the Equality Act and to make ‘reasonable adjustments.’

The Equality Act 210 definition of disability is:

“A person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if (s)he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to day activities.”

Section 1(1) Disability Discrimination Act 1995

This definition of disability in the Equality Act includes children with long term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEN. Children and young people may therefore be covered by both SEN and disability legislation.

For more information about the Equality Act, the protected characteristics or duties on public bodies, please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/equality-act-2010-guidance

Assessing SEN at King’s Lynn Academy

Teachers, support staff, parents/carers and the learner themselves will be the first to notice a difficulty with learning. At King’s Lynn Academy we ensure that assessment of educational needs, directly involves the learner, their parents/carer and of course their teacher. The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) will also support with the identification of barriers to learning.

There are several ways that students with assessed at King’s Lynn Academy. In addition to in class and whole school assessments, the department use a selection of standardised tests, these include:

Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) – this test measures and monitors fundamental reading, spelling and comprehension.
Visual Stress Testing - A test to identify whether you suffer from the effects of visual stress, this may lead to a student being offered an overlay to use when reading.
Total Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) - This test measures of an individual’s ability to pronounce printed words and phonemically regular nonwords accurately and fluently. It also allows to assess a student’s processing.
Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) – This tests assesses the major components of intelligences such as verbal and non-verbal intelligence, memory and processing.
Sandwell Early Numeracy Test (SENT) – This test is designed to identify gaps in a student’s understanding of number skills.

For some learners we may want to seek advice from specialist teams. We have access to services universally provided by Norfolk County Council, which are described on the Local Offer website available here:

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/children-and-families/send-local-offer

In the SEN department we also employ five Higher Level Teaching Assistants and three Teaching Assistants who deliver the interventions in the provision map as coordinated by our SENCO.

What we do to Support Learners with SEN at King’s Lynn Academy?

Every teacher is required to adapt the curriculum to ensure access to learning for all students in their class. The Teacher Standards 2012 detail the expectations on all teachers, and we at King’s Lynn Academy are proud of our teachers and their development. The Teacher Standards are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards

Our teachers will use various strategies to adapt access to the curriculum, this might include using:

Visual timetables
Simplified/scaffolded texts
Alternative tasks
Memory aids
Writing frames
The use of technology
Peer buddy systems
Positive behaviour rewards system

Each learner identified as having SEN, is entitled to support that is ‘additional to or different from’ a normal differentiated curriculum. The type of support is dependent on the individual learning needs, and is intended to enable access to learning and overcome the barrier to learning identified. This support is described on a provision map, which although does not detail the individual learner names, describes the interventions and actions that we undertake at King’s Lynn Academy to support learners with SEN across the year groups. We modify the provision map regularly, and it changes every year, as our learners and their needs change. The provision map includes:

Small group work
1:1 focus for intervention
After hours catch up/Homework Club
Residential trips

Enterprise visits / visitors
College taster days
EAL support
Accelerated Reader
Self-esteem groups
Numeracy / Literacy intervention
Student interviews
Regular meetings with key staff members
Personal Development Plans
Counselling
Mental Health first aid
Fine motor skills intervention
Life Skills intervention
The Catch-Up Base (CUB)

Details of our provision is shared with Governors who are able to ensure that we monitor the impact of these interventions on learning across the school.

Funding for SEN

When a student has an EHCP or is at SEN Support but with needs that cannot be fully met within the Academy’s budget, an Identification of Needs Descriptors in Educational Settings will be submitted by the SENCo to the Local authority who will then place each individual student in a funding band therefore allocating additional funding to meet the student’s needs. The local authority may also offer further advice and support to the school, if in school resources and provision is not enough, to ensure successful provision for the student.

How do we Find Out if this Support is Effective?

Monitoring progress is an integral part of teaching and leadership within King’s Lynn Academy. Parents/carers, pupils and staff are involved in reviewing the impact of interventions for learners with SEN. We follow a structured programme of assessment and ensure that parents/carers and children are involved in each step. Before any additional provision is selected to help a child, the SENCO, Teacher, parent/carer and learner, agree what they expect to be different following this intervention. A baseline will also be recorded, which can be used to compare the impact of the provision.

Students, Parents/carers and their Teaching and Support Staff will be directly involved in reviewing progress. This review can be built into the intervention itself, or it can be a formal meeting to discuss progress and next steps. If a learner has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC plan) but the EHC plan will also be formally reviewed annually.

The SENCO collates the impact data of interventions, to ensure that we are only using interventions that work.

Progress data of all learners is collated by the whole school and monitored by Teachers, Senior Leaders and Governors. Our academy is also monitored by the Trust, Local Authority and Ofsted.

Other Opportunities for Learning

All learners should have the same opportunity to access extracurricular activities. These can be found on our website:

http://kingslynnacademy.co.uk/current-parents-carers/trips-extracurricular/

Preparing for the next step

Transition is a part of life for all learners. This can be transition to a new year at the academy, having a new teacher, or moving on to another school, training provider or moving into employment. King’s Lynn Academy is committed to working in partnership with students, families and other providers to ensure positive transitions occur.

Planning for transition is a part of our provision for all learners with SEN. Transition to GCSE will be discussed in the spring term of Year 9 while further education will be discussed in the summer term of their Year 10, to ensure time for planning and preparation. In addition, we work closely with our feeder schools to ensure that students joining us in Year 7 have a positive and supportive experience when transitioning to King’s Lynn Academy.

Have your say

King’s Lynn Academy is at the heart of the local community. We can shape and develop provision for all of our learners ensuring achievement for all. This SEN report declares our annual offer to learners with SEN, but to be effective it needs the views of all parents/carers, learners, governors and staff. If you would like to provide feedback, then please contact the SENCO on the details above.

Dispute Resolution and Mediation

The Children and Families Act 2014 has an emphasis on mediation and dispute resolution being used to enable disputes to be settled early. The LA must make these services known to parents of children with SEN, young people with SEN, headteachers, governing bodies, proprietors and principals of schools and post 16 institutions.

The Act uses the term ‘mediation’ when a parent or young person can appeal against a decision of the Local Authority to the SENDIS Tribunal. ‘Dispute resolution’ is used for all other cases.

Both are requested and carried out in the same way. Mediation and dispute resolution are non-adversarial processes which help to resolve disputes early, quickly and without too much paperwork. They are free at the point of access and can bring about positive outcomes enabling parents, young people and educational establishments to discuss issues, decide the way forward and agree a plan of action acceptable to all; they take a person-centred approach.

Dispute resolution has been used very successfully in Norfolk, bringing together those who have been at loggerheads and cannot accept or understand each other’s points of view. Parents who have doubted an educational establishment’s motives or not fully understood what is being said have had a chance to have things explained with an impartial mediator keeping the meeting moving in the right direction. Educationalists are also able to have a greater understanding, explain and agree changes in an environment where everybody can have their say and feel listened to.

Mediation and dispute resolution can be used for:

* SEND related disagreements – these may be between parents, young people, the education provider, the Local Authority including health and social care if they are involved with the child or young people.

* Disagreements about Continuing (health) Care for children and young people up to age 18. To access the service call 03330 062 835 or email senmediation@kids.org.uk.

For further information go to www.kids.org.uk/mediation or the Norfolk County Council web section Local Offer – Help when things go wrong, or contact the Norfolk SEND Partnership Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS), who oversee the contract on a day to day basis, on email sendpartnership.iass.org.uk or phone 01603 704070.

For further information on our admissions and accessibility plan please view our policy page.

SEN numbers 2023/2034

Group	Total		Percentage		National Average 2022/2023
Total	168		%		N/A
EHCP	42		4.3%		4.3% (all settings) 2.4% (secondary)
K (SEN Support)	123		12.7%		13% (all settings) 12.4% (Secondary)
Year Group		EHCP		K- SEN Support
Year 7		13		20
Year 8		10		44
Year 9		8		25
Year 10		7		16
Year 11		4		18

*Please note that this data is correct as of 27th November 2023. The register is reviewed regularly; therefore, numbers may change.

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