- How does your school know if my child needs extra help?
- What should I do if I think my child may have a special educational need or disability? Who can I contact for further information?
- What is an EHCP?
- How will I know if your school is supporting my child? How will I know how my child is doing? How is student progress monitored?
- How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs? How are the school’s resources allocated to these needs?
- What specialist services and expertise are available at the school?
- How will you help in supporting my child’s learning at home?
- What support will be there for my child’s well-being?
- How will the school help prepare my child for transfer to post-16 education or to another school?
- If your child is transferring to North Gosforth Academy and already has a special educational need, your primary school will inform the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator at the school. These children form the majority of SEND students at the school.
- There is planning between the schools and with parents/carers in Year 6 to support the student’s move from primary to secondary school.
- On entry to the school, all students are screened on key skills. This system can pick up potential needs at the earliest stage.
- Some children do well at primary school but find the transition to secondary education more difficult. The teachers are highly alert so that such areas of need are spotted early and referred to the Pastoral and Learning Support Teams so that support can be co-ordinated promptly.
- The school listens to parents/carers. Sometimes, the first signs of needs are identified through conversation at home so parents/carers are always welcome to contact the school to talk about concerns.
- If you are concerned about your child’s abilities, the school will listen to your concerns, discuss them with you and agree on a plan that requires monitoring or may require assessment by specialist staff or external agencies.
- You can contact the school by phone, letter or e-mail (please see contact details on the home page of the school website).
- If your child is still at primary school, talk to your child’s teacher there who can help you look at any issues and make links with North Gosforth to help prepare for the next year.
An EHCP is a legal document that identifies a child’s SEND needs and focusses on the support required to meet agreed outcomes. EHCPs also outline the child’s health and social care needs, outcomes and support alongside educational needs.
About 4% of children require a statutory assessment for an EHCP.
For more information on the statutory assessment process and EHCPs please visit: https://youtu.be/ughC-a5RhAc or https://youtu.be/8ElkB6NzWi8.
All students:
- The school will send correspondence (for example a letter or e-mail) to let you know if we are proposing to offer your child support that is additional to or different from what is already in place for all mainstream students.
- Parents’ evenings are opportunities to discuss your child’s progress and needs and to find out about support options.
- Parents/carers are always welcome to contact their child’s form tutor at any time to discuss particular concerns as they arise.
Students with EHCPs:
- Your child will have identified needs and an education plan in place from the time they start at North Gosforth. Their support lessons will show on their timetables and parents/carers receive termly news on outcomes of this extra intervention.
- Students will have an Annual Review of their progress and needs. This comes in the form of a full written school report and a specially arranged face to face meeting between parents/carers and staff. During this meeting, students, parents/carers and staff have the chance to express their views about the progress being made and the provision they are receiving at school.
- All staff are trained, (through a yearly programme of Continuing Professional Development sessions), in adapting lesson plans to increase the use of elements known to support students who need extra help. For some students with less complex needs, this is all that is required to help them make progress.
- Teachers also have access to the profiles of students known to have specific needs and they can collaborate with the specialist staff to build adaptations to activities especially for those individual students.
- Individual strategies meetings will be held with teaching and support staff, where appropriate.
- Many lessons benefit from having a Learning Support Assistant in the class who can spot difficulties and help to give instant support.
- You will have opportunities to discuss exam choices in Year 8 with the aim of selecting subjects based on your child’s strengths and interests. We offer a wide choice of courses and qualifications, ensuring a greater depth of learning and development of skills. This also enables students to focus on the subjects that interest them or will be helpful for their future whilst maintaining a broad and balanced curriculum. There is a vocational offer and this will be discussed with you on an individual basis. For more information on the curriculum North Gosforth offers please visit the relevant pages on the website.
- If your child is specifically funded through their EHCP, meetings with the SENDCo will include discussion and agreement about how that funding is used and monitored.
- The Learning Support Team includes staff who have received additional formal training in their area of specialism learning/literacy, speech/language/social communication needs (SLCN) and/or mentoring for social/emotional/mental health
- All Learning Support Assistants receive regular Continuing Professional Development training and coaching for specific SEND areas.
- The school brings in additional expertise from outside agencies, including:
- Educational Psychology
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech and Language Therapy
- CAMHS/CYPS
- North Tyneside Dyslexia Team
- North Tyneside Language and Communication Team
- North Tyneside Student Support Centre
- The school provides parents/carers with advice on how to support your child’s homework. Parents/carers are always welcome to contact their child’s Form Tutor for more specific advice at any time.
- Parents/carers are always invited to feedback sessions from outside agencies
- Outcomes from strategies meetings will be shared
- Parents/carers will be invited to attend other specific events during the year e.g. Options Evening which give further support to parents/carers and students.
- Annual review reports written at North Gosforth often contain advice that will be discussed and developed with you at the face-to-face Annual Review meeting.
- Parents/carers are always welcome to contact the Learning Support Team for ongoing advice.
- It is vital that all students in our school feel valued, cared for, confident and supported.
- Staff providing additional support to students with special educational needs automatically include:
- Ensuring that the student knows who they can talk to if they have any worries.
- Sessions about making and keeping friends.
- Tutorial programme.
- Students who have social, emotional and mental health issues or develop them later on are offered additional measures to help them cope read more on the Social, Emotional & Mental health page.
- All students will have at least one meeting with a member of staff from the Connexions advisory service. During this meeting students will have the chance to talk about different Post 16 options.
- Staff consider work related learning opportunties within the curriculum.
- Students attend trips or extra-curricular activities which help them prepare for the world of work
- Students may take part in programmes of work which help prepare them for life post-16 e.g. Life Skills.
- Students will receive support with completing college applications.
- School staff will liaise with work experience placements to ensure that their staff are aware of student needs.