Trentham Academy

Trentham Academy strives to be an inclusive school where the achievements, views and attitudes of all members of the school community are valued. All students have the same entitlement to a broad and balance curriculum and the school seeks to include all students in all aspects of school life. A young person has Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND) if they have a learning difficulty or disability, which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. If the impairment has a substantial and long term effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-today activities it may amount to a disability.

We have an excellent relationship with local primary schools and work closely with them to ensure that we are fully informed about individual student’s needs, prior to transition. If a need has been identified, we will meet with the Educational Psychology Service and SEND Services for further information on how best we can support these needs. If an Educational, Health and Care (EHC) Plan is in place, the Local Authority will be involved throughout the transition process.

We offer a range of support during transition to help students become familiar with the school, staff and mentors before starting with us in September An electronic transfer of student data occurs on the 1st September. This includes a student’s SEND status. Soon after the students start Trentham we complete a range of diagnostic and baseline testing (literacy and numeracy tests and some medical screening i.e. hearing screening), which allows us to identify students who require further interventions for literacy and numeracy or may have some learning needs in other areas.

We also identify students within the school who have special educational needs through close liaison with subject departments and a process of screening and assessments. External support services play an important part in helping the school identify, assess and make provision for students with special education needs. If your child is identified as having a SEND we will inform you and place them onto the SEND register. The SEND register is kept in school and enables our staff to access information and implement recommended support strategies for individual students, along with close monitoring of progress. Parents are encouraged to share information about their child’s needs with the Form Tutor or SENCO.

If you are still concerned about your child’s educational needs, in the first instance please raise your concerns with your student’s form tutor. If you still require further guidance, contact the school’s Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENCO).

Trentham caters for all students with SEND. It does not have any specialist units but will work closely with the Local Authority to ensure that the appropriate support is in place for each individual student.

We are a Dyslexia Friendly School, Level 2 and have two staff specifically trained to deliver Dyslexia Programmes. The SENCO and the Assistant SENCO have both received appropriate training to support students with ASD successfully.

The school has an experienced and well-trained team of staff who offer a range of support both in class and in small group tutorials.  The school ensures that its staff continues to develop its knowledge, skills and understanding in the field of SEN through a continuous process of professional development.

For the majority of students, Quality First Teaching will fulfil their learning needs. Quality First Teaching is excellent classroom practice where the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class. The teacher may put in place specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCO or outside staff) to support your child’s learning. Some students may require the curriculum to be slightly adapted or differentiated for the individual student to access the curriculum in order to make progress. These students will not be on the SEND register. Other students may require small group interventions from specific members of staff, the SENCO, a member of the Learning Support Team (LST) - or may be run by or in partnership with outside agencies e.g. ASD Outreach Team, Speech and Language therapy, EP etcin order to address gaps in learning or to develop strategies to overcome a particular need. They may also access some support from an LSP in lessons. Teachers will differentiate the curriculum as a usual way of working. These students will be identified on the register as School Support.

You will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward. You may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional, e.g a Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist. This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs and be able to support them better in school.                                                  The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations. The school may suggest that your child needs some agreed individual support in school. They will tell you how the support will be used and what strategies will be put in place. For a few students with more complex needs they may require more intensive and long-term support in order to make progress at school. These students will have an Educational, Health and Care (EHC) Plan - previously called a Statement, which will set out clearly what the student needs to achieve at school. We will discuss and plan this in partnership with student and parents.       

This specified Individual support for your child of more than 15 hours in school.is usually provided via the Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This means your child will have been identified by the SENCO as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching (more than 15 hours a week), which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school.  Usually your child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a Statutory Assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process and you can find more detail about this in the Stoke-on-Trent Local Offer.                                      

The SENCO will oversee all suggested interventions and strategies put in place. All interventions are carefully monitored and evaluated to ensure that your child is making progress. The school has a team of specialist LSPs who have been trained to deliver recognised interventions which impact on learning, These interventions may be delivered daily or for a set number of lessons each week. Some of these interventions are run between 8.30 a.m. and 9.00 a.m. while others may be run during lesson times. As a rule we avoid taking students out of the core lessons English, Maths and Science.

Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed to meet your child’s learning needs and increase your child’s access to what is on offer. Class Teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class, and will ensure that learning tasks are adjusted in order to enable your child to access their learning as independently as possible. Specially trained support staff can implement the teachers’ modified/adapted planning to support the needs of your child where necessary. Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.

We will endeavour to provide identified students with assessment/examination support at KS3. This might be someone to help with writing or reading or we may allow some students extra time to complete assessments. At the end of Year 9 identified students will be assessed by the SEND Service using a range of tests stipulated by the examinations boards. The results of these tests will determine the exam support the student requires. Mrs Hopley, Assistant SENCO oversees this area of practice, working closely with the School’s Examination Officer.

At Trentham, we aim to work in cooperation with parents and students to create the best outcomes for individual students. We will invite you into school regularly throughout the academic year to discuss your child’s progress. We encourage all parents to contact your child’s form tutor if you have any concerns in the first instance. The school’s website provides contact emails for all staff and general school numbers of enquiries. The website is regularly updated and provides general information on events, access to policies and procedures and help and advice for parents. Parents can contact the school via the website, or directly via staff emails or school email/telephone calls.Many Subject Leaders and Heads of Year/Houses (Progress Leaders) and the SENCO have direct lines so can be contacted directly from parents/outside agencies.

The SENCO is available at parents’ evening to discuss any concerns or worries that may arise at that time. If your child is placed on the SEND register at School Support level we will invite you into school to meet with the SENCO who will explore with you the strengths and difficulties of your child and together help to identify and develop strategies to achieve the best possible outcomes for your child at school. These strategies will be discussed with your child and a Learning Profile will be completed together. Once implemented, this Learning Profile will be reviewed termly with students and parents. For a few students that have a EHCP we also hold an Annual Review of the EHCP which is monitored by the Local Authority. We endeavour to keep parents informed of any changes and adjustments to support arrangements when necessary. We would like you to talk to your child’s teachers, Form Tutor and Progress Leader regularly so we know what they are doing at home and we can tell you about what we are doing in school.  We hope this will make sure that we are doing similar things to support your child both at home and school and can share what is working in both places.The SENCO is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have. All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report. The SENCO will also arrange to discuss with you to any new assessments and ideas suggested by outside agencies for your child.

All staff take responsibility for the wellbeing of our students. Initially the Form Tutor develops a positive relationship with the student supported by a Progress Leader who oversees the wellbeing of a particular year group. Progress Leaders are alerted if students voice a concern, need support or are not making expected progress. Every child is very much an individual and their needs are assessed as such. The Inclusion Team offers a comprehensive package of social, pastoral and medical support from specially trained members of staff. Inclusion staff will refer students to a number of supportive outside agencies. The Education Welfare Officer works closely with the Progress Leaders and the Attendance Officer, identifying attendance issues and working closely with parents and students. All safeguarding issues are referred to the Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion.                                               

If there is a need to deal with a medical emergency, we have a large number of staff who are trained first aiders, who would respond to any situation in the first instance, but we would always contact parents/carers and special medical support where necessary. All students with medical needs will have an agreed Care Plan. Care Plans are held in the school office and in the Learning Centre Office and are managed by Mrs. A Hopley, Assistant SENCO. They are reviewed by the School Nurse at least annually or if circumstances change. A medical Register is kept up to date and is regularly sent out to staff. Additional training for staff or first aiders is arranged via the school nurse, or specialist nurse practitioners. The Learning Support Department offer nurture clubs and homework clubs after school. The team works very closely with the Careers Service to ensure a smooth transition post 16 arranging additional visits and days in college to familiarise those students with the post 16 establishments. Student Peer Mentors are specifically trained to support vulnerable students and are highly successful. Progress Leaders can refer students to Learning Mentors for social, emotional and behavioural support. The School believes in rewarding success and has a clear credit,  merit and house point system, celebrating achievement at all levels.

The Inclusion Team includes a range of highly qualified staff who have a wide range of experience. The nine Learning Support Practitioners (LSPs) have specific areas of specialism and expertise including Literacy, Numeracy, Science, ASD, Nurture, Support for students with physical disabilities and Dyslexia Tutors. These LSPs work closely with all staff to support students. The Team also includes a range of staff who have specific skills and expertise in behaviour management and social and emotional wellbeing. A wide range of outside agencies support the School including the Educational Psychology Service, SENSS Service, Health Services, CAMHS, Dove, REACH, Careers Service, Merit, EAL, Hearing and Visual Impairment Service. It is very important to be fully informed when supporting students. We liaise with a range of external agencies and we will follow guidance given when possible. We will always seek your consent before referring your child to an outside agency. We do encourage parents to allow agencies to share information with a key member of staff at school.

We hold regular training session on different areas of SEND and all staff have access to information and strategies to best help students with SEND. If we feel that your child will benefit from additional interventions the SENCO or members of the Learning Support Team will contact you to discuss this. You may be asked to support your child with the programme at home. Those students who tend to make the best progress are those where there is an effective home school partnership. We will support any training that is required for parents to offer additional programmes at home. The school has a training plan for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children, including those with SEN. This includes whole school information and training on SEN.

The school has a close working relationship with Stoke-on-Trent SEND Service whom provide a range of training and continuing professional development (CPD) related to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) delivered by qualified Specialist Advisors and Teachers. The School has been awarded Dyslexia Friendly School Status (Level 2) which requires that all staff are fully trained to a high level in Dyslexia and demonstrate excellent practice in this area.

All students have access to enrichment trips and activities throughout the year. Reasonable adjustments will be made to accommodate students with Special Educational Needs, including where appropriate risk assessments. These adjustments will be discussed and agreed with parents. Learning Support Practitioners accompany identified students on trips to ensure they have full access to the activities.

The building has been adapted to ensure full wheelchair access including ramps and a lift. Art and Food Technology have specially adapted furniture to enable full access. There are disabled toilet facilities throughout the school and showering and changing facilities. The School works hard to ensure that parents have good communication with the School. We send out information by email and text which enables parents to use text to speech facilities.

We recognise that ‘moving on’ can be difficult for a child with SEN/and or disabilities and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible. Staff visit all feeder primary schools and meet both the year 6 pupils and their class teachers. Information is gathered on every pupils’ academic levels, their social and behavioural skills and friendship groups. We will endeavour to ensure that pupils have one or two familiar friends from their existing schools, in the same Form Groups. Information regarding the support the pupils may have accessed and any other relevant information, is then fed back to the Head of Year and the Learning Support Team.

The school holds Open Evenings in the Autumn term and parents of years 5 and 6 are encouraged to attend. The SENCO and LSPs are available to talk to you on these visits about your child and the support the School can provide. They can be found in the Learning Support Centre. Follow-up visits can be arranged on a one to 
one basis and further discussions and contact with the SENCO is encouraged. Direct contact details are made available so that parents can feel confident about contacting the Learning Support Team for any help. Y6 students will also spend a taster day in school meeting their new class-mates and prefects. They will also meet their form tutor, spend time familiarising themselves with the physical layout of the school and have a ‘taste’ of different lessons. This is followed up in the evening with an Open Evening for parents where concerns can be addressed. The SENCO is available to speak to in the Learning Support Centre on these evenings. Additional information is available to parents on Open evenings regarding how pupils are assessed, supported and additional needs met at Trentham.

New year 7 students will have an older student to act as a mentor who will help the students’ transition. If other professionals are involved meetings will be held to discuss your child’s needs, share strategies used, and ensure provision is put in place before your child starts.

Transition visits start in the summer term for year 6 pupils needing additional support. Identified students are invited to attend a transition week where they enjoy taking part in a programme of events designed to familiarise them with the school and an opportunity to make new friends. They complete a Transition Diary with photographs of the school. This is then taken away to help with transition follow-up 
work at primary and home.

Some pupils have a number of visits in the summer term, to spend time in 
school over break and lunchtimes so they can experience the noises and see what activities and safe places with support we have, to look at what happens in lessons and also to feel confident about moving school. The new pupils meet key workers from the Learning Support Team and also buddy up with existing pupils in school.

If your child is moving onto College/Apprenticeships (Post 16)

Throughout Key Stage 4 there are further opportunities for individual careers appointments with our adviser. Students in key stage 4 have more specific careers advice and guidance to enable them to make the best choices concerning post 16 education.

A Careers Fair is organised at KS4 which includes, local employers, colleges and training providers. All pupils have access to the Careers Service. Transition visits are carried out for students to find out options available to them and to meet tutors from various providers. Visits to colleges, training providers and employers are all arranged so identified staff can accompany the year 11 students who are considering their options. Help will be given in filling in all Post 16 application forms.

Additional advice and information is provided to colleges and training providers by the school. Follow up drop in visits are made by colleges to support potential students in completing applications.

The Careers Service engage with SEND students prior to Transition Reviews in Year 9 and stay in contact through to leaving year 11. Students and parents can request an interview at any point. Prior to leaving, the parents, Careers Service, student and SENCO will put together a plan of support which will need to be put in place with all Post 16 providers. If a student has a Statement or EHC Plan they will receive support until the age of 25.

If your child is moving to another school

We will contact the school SENCO and ensure they know about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.

The School is allocated a budget for SEN which includes the funding for Learning Support Practitioners. The Headteacher allocates funding to the SEN and Inclusion Team to buy specialist resources and equipment for individual students and small groups. The SENCO can also put in a bid for Developmental Projects which will accelerate progress.

If your child has a Statement or EHC Plan the document will stipulate the hours of support and how it should be allocated. Discussions will take place termly with the SENCO, parents, student and LSP who will continually review the effectiveness of the support outlined on the Pupil Profile and the impact it is making on progress.

Students who are at School Support will receive support, if appropriate, following discussions with staff, parents and the student. All support will be monitored and evaluated by the SENCO.

We are proud of the leadership opportunities we provide for our students, operating a House Council and Junior Leadership Team which provides a voice for our young people.

The Ipad is used as a learning resource in every lesson and it provides the platform to capture students feedback about their learning quickly and efficiently. This further supports the 1:1 conversations with Form Tutors and Progress Leaders on a daily basis.

Prior to an annual review, the students are asked for their voice about their learning, progress, achievements and aspirations. An essential element of the review as the young person is at the centre of their EHCP. 

At Trentham Academy we host a settling in evening for the Year 7's and their parents in the first half term. This is followed by data reports and parents evening in the summer term. 

Every year group has at least one face to face parents evening however any concerns regarding learning and progress can be raised with the relevant Subject Leader throughout the year.

When it is time for the Year 8 students to decide on their preference pathways, a face to face parents evening is held which is followed the following week by a preference evening for both parents and students to discuss the options available for your child.

At Trentham we aim to work in cooperation with parents and students to create the best outcomes for individual students. We will invite you into school regularly throughout the academic year to discuss your child’s progress. We encourage all parents to contact your child’s form tutor if you have any concerns in the first instance. The school’s website provides contact emails for all staff and general school 
numbers of enquiries. The website is regularly updated and provides general information on events, access to policies and procedures and help and advice for parents. Parents can contact the school via the website, or directly via staff emails or school email/telephone calls.

Many Subject Leaders and Progress Leaders/Inclusion Leads/SENCO have direct lines so can be contacted directly from parents/outside agencies. Parents are invited to give feedback to the school each opening evening. If there is any information, advice or guidance we can provide to parents, we will do so, upon their request.

In the first instance please discuss your concerns with the SENCO and/or headteacher. A copy of the complaints policy can be emailed and/or posted if you require or can be located on the school's website.

We operate clear lines of communication, please do not hesitate to contact us with any concerns.