Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
At Badger Hill Academy our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) is Mrs Morgan. She ensures that all children, regardless of their needs, receives the same high-quality education as every other student within our academy.
If you have any questions or concerns that you would like to discuss with Mrs Morgan, please contact the main office to arrange a telephone call or appointment.
Our telephone number is 01287 676289
Our email address is [email protected]
Mrs Morgan
SENDCo
Our Offer
At Badger Hill Academy, our vision is ‘Outcomes Focused, Child Centred.’
This ensures all children within our academy, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), have the best start to life. This is achieved through the delivery of our high quality, inclusive educational provision which provides a common entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum for all – especially those students who are most in need of support and SEND.
Meaningful access to learning and the curriculum and realising personal potential, is at the centre of what we do. Alongside this, we aim to develop personal worth, respect for others, resilience, the skills to overcome barriers and independence.
The voice of the student is important and it sits at the heart of all provision – this is captured in assessments and SEND support plans.
SEND provision in action
How can my child get help? What are the different types of support?
Our teachers have the highest expectations for every student in their class, with a particular focus on students most in need of support, including those with additional needs.
Help for your child – general
All teaching is based upon building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand. Your child’s teacher will carefully consider next steps in learning and will ensure this is broken down into smaller steps, providing resources to support practical understanding and or tools to help your child succeed. Specific strategies may also be in place to support your child, depending on need.
These systems are in place for every single student in our academy.
Help for your child – additional needs
Where a student has additional needs, support will be specific to their individual needs. An individual learning plan is created based upon the assessment information, knowledge of professionals and also information shared by the student and parents. On some occasions, the support may all be provided by the class teacher, or it may involve:
- Other staff from the academy
- Other professionals from the local authority, such as the Educational Psychologist, Portage or specialist support services, such as ASD Team, Hearing Impairment Team and Visual Impairment Team
- Professionals from the NHS, such as Health Visitors, School Nursing Team or Speech and Language Therapy
Support for your child’s needs will always be in place in every lesson. For some individual needs, this may also include the following:
- Small group work outside of the classroom focusing on a particular target identified by the class teacher
- Specialist support groups led by outside agencies, for example speech therapy sessions, sign language lessons, braille lessons etc.
If you have a concern and feel that your child requires further support or help with their learning, please speak to your child’s class teacher or our SENDCo.
For a more detailed explanation of the steps we take to identify needs, please see the link: How we Identify Need
Reviews of our provision as quoted by Ofsted in our most recent inspection
Here is a snapshot of Ofsted’s evaluation of the impact we have for all students, including those with special educational needs:
Pupils at Badger Hill enjoy learning. They are happy and safe here. Leaders have created a curriculum that is ambitious and challenging.
Leaders and staff have high expectations both about pupils’ behaviour and their achievement. The ‘life’ curriculum that leaders have created raises pupils’ aspirations. They learn about jobs they may be interested to do in the future. This inspires them to work hard. Since joining Northern Education Trust changes have been made to both staffing and the curriculum at Badger Hill. Leaders ensure that pupils’ success is at the heart of these changes
Leaders have a relentless focus on teaching pupils to read. They encourage all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to read regularly for pleasure using ‘Reading Routes’. Pupils enjoy following the school map to visit different reading ‘lands’. They can choose inspiring and interesting texts. A focus on reading is evident in every corner of the school.
In mathematics, leaders have a secure understanding of the curriculum. They ensure that there is a wide range of mathematical resources available in all classes. Most teachers use these well to support pupils, including those with SEND, to learn.
Ofsted, 2022
Code of Practice and the Equality Act
The Code of Practice and the Equality Act are at the centre of our decision making. We have included some information here to show our duties for students with special educational needs and disabilities:
Further information
If you would like some further in-depth information about our offer, please explore the links below:
Policies
Local Authority – Local Offer
https://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/children-and-families-services/local-offer