SEND Information Report

What do we mean by Barbara Priestman SEND Information Report?

Everything we provide for your son/daughter.

How can my son/daughter attend Barbara Priestman Academy?

• A proposed EHCP is produced before a final EHCP which provides details about your son/daughter, their needs and support required.
• Final Education Health Care Plan naming Barbra Priestman Academy as your child’s educational placement
• Assessment placement arranged through the Local Authority
• Intervention placement arranged through the Local Authority
• Part time place arranged directly through the academy

How will my son/daughter be supported and prepared before/after attending/leaving Barbara Priestman Academy?

•  Transition programme with dedicated transition staff
•  Settings sharing information to ensure individual needs are met.
•  Connexions/Health/Social Care/Post 19 provision
•  Links to colleges through visits
•  Transition Nursing Team/Learning Disability Nurse may also support identified individuals
•  Home visits where appropriate
•  Transition leads visiting previous provision
•  Independent travel team
•  Curriculum with appropriate progression pathways.

How will my son/daughter be transported to Barbara Priestman Academy?

•  Education transport dependent on the distance from your home to the academy.
• Local Authority SEN department will contact the Local Authority transport department and organise it.
•  Local Authority transport staff (taxi driver and passenger assistant where possible) introduce themselves to you and your son/daughter.
•  Date and time arranged and any medical information shared.

If Local Authority transport is not available due to distance from the academy parents arrange their own transport;

• Independent traveller/student will use public transport.
• The academy offers a Programme for Independent Travel Training to assist learners in becoming independent travellers

How will the curriculum be matched to my son/daughter’s needs?

•  Personalised input based on assessments/EHCP
•  All subjects, adapted, creative starting with students development needs
•  Indoor and outdoor learning
•  Range of offsite and residential learning opportunities
•  Use of therapies (rebound, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy)
•  Identified accredited qualifications appropriate to learner’s needs
•  Multidisciplinary Team input.

How will I know my son/daughter is making progress at Barbara Priestman Academy?

• EHC planning meetings/Annual review meetings and termly reports to parents
• Progress made in accredited qualifications
• Coffee morning opportunities to look at son/daughter’s work.
• Accreditation outcomes
• Data reported annually
• Learning plans
• Homework

What specialist resources, services and expertise are available at or accessed by Barbara Priestman Academy School?

• Speech and Language Therapist
• Occupational Therapist.
• Occupational Therapist Assistant
• Educational Psychologist
• Behaviour Support Manager
• Hearing impairment team
• CYPS (Children and Young Peoples’ Service)
• Educational Psychologist
• Medical Team (e.g. school nurse)
• Leisure and college facilities
• Together for children
• Adult social care
• Transition nurses
• Connexions
• Academy Counsellor

How are the Academy’s resources allocated and matched to my son/daughter’s needs?

• Individualised programme (referrals and professionals) to enable them to access the curriculum.
• Staff : pupil ratio
• Pupil premium funding
• Year 7 Catch up grant
• Post 16 bursary funding
• Other EHCP needs

What specialist teaching qualifications do staff have who support my son/daughter at Barbara Preistman Academy?

• Qualified Teacher Status
• OCN Autism Level 2/3
• Level 3 Teaching Assistant
• Forest School Practitioner Level 4
• Dyslexia /Dyscalculia trainer staff
• Thinking Tools
• Assertive Discipline
• Makaton signing
• Medically trained (Epilepsy, Epi-pen, Diabetes)
• Social Communication Emotional Regulation Transactional Support (SCERTS)
• Rebound therapy (trampoline)
• First aiders
• Safeguarding Training
• Team Teach/Advanced team Teach
• Staff trained to Masters Level in teaching and learning
• Staff trained to Masters Level in Autism
• NAS Accreditation

What activities could my son/daughter be included in within and outside the day/extra-curricular activities?

•  Curricular visits
•  Independent travel training
•  Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
•  Lunchtime clubs
•  After school club
•  Residentials (Sleep overs, Derwent Hill, France, Italy)
•  Performances including national competitions
•  Sports Day
•  Charity Events eg Great North Run

How can I as a parent be involved at Barbara Priestman Academy?

•  Invited to assemblies/celebrations of success
•  Coffee mornings/Parent voice
•  Learning plan
•  Attending annual review meetings/MDT meetings
•  Parents evening
•  Friends of Barbara Priestman
•  Volunteering
•  Surveys and questionnaires
•  Parent courses and workshops
•  Parent Trustee/parent forum

How can I support my son/daughter’s needs?

• Writing in the home school diary about news and activities at home
• Providing school with information re appointments or medical updates
• Attending parent evenings and meetings with academy staff
• Attending parent courses/workshops
• Use curriculum advice and activity ideas from the tutor
• Helping with homework
• Telling us when things are going well or equally when there is an issue that needs resolving
• Making medical appointments outside of academy hours

What support will there be at Barbara Priestman Academy for my son/daughter’s overall wellbeing?

• Curriculum and targets that meet the child’s behaviour and self-help needs.
• PASS data (Pupils Attitude to Self and School) that helps us understand individual wellbeing needs
• Safeguarding
• Positive school ethos
• School nurse
• Trained staff
• First aiders
• Student voice
• Independent travel training
• Personal Social Health Education
• Focus on mental wellbeing

Who can I contact for further information?

• SENCO
• Headteacher/Deputy/Assistant Heads
• Reception/Office
• Form Tutor
• Transition Team

Who can I contact if I have a complaint?

• SENCO
• Headteacher/Deputy/Assistant Heads
• Alternatively, Barbara Priestman Academy, part of Ascent Academies’ Trust have an Ascent Academies’ Complaint Policy.

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