Students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Our ambition is to ensure every student leaves Alsop High School articulate, resilient, compassionate and culturally aware. That they are inspired to contribute to society, are able to pursue careers they are passionate about and live healthy, happy and fulfilled lives.

Any additional support required will be identified early, implemented seamlessly working collaboratively and in partnership with stakeholders to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed and thrive at Alsop High School regardless of the challenges they may encounter. Intervention will be coherently planned and have a tangible impact on student’s wellbeing and academic success.

From time to time, students may need access to additional support because of specific short-term issues. For example, if a child has had to deal with the bereavement of a close family member or friend, then they will need special emotional support. In these circumstances, we will work closely with the family and other agencies to make sure that we provide the support the student needs to help them deal with their emotions and to enable them to continue to make progress in their studies.

For some students, issues in the home or other external matters can affect their attendance or behaviour at school. In these circumstances, we provide intensive support to make sure they get the help and support they need to improve in these areas and to continue to succeed in their learning.

Sometimes students and families need access to more specialist help. In these cases, we work in partnership with other agencies (including the Local Authority, Health Services & voluntary organisations) to plan and provide this specialist support.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

It’s very important that students with special educational needs are properly identified, assessed and supported. As an inclusive school where every student is valued, we want all students to take a full part in all lessons and in every aspect of academy life alongside their peers. Our teachers plan and deliver quality lessons that are well differentiated, so the needs of all students are catered for and all students can benefit fully from them. Sometimes, however, a student’s personalised assessment shows that they would benefit from work as part of a small group.

For a small minority of students with more complex and specialist needs we are also able to call upon many external services such as Speech and Language therapy, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), School Nurse and occupational, physiotherapy and sensory impairment services, to help us support children’s educational development. This is not an exhaustive list but an example of the services we work with most frequently. We work with these services so that we are able to provide intervention and support as identified by assessments completed by relevant professionals.

The individual needs of all students are different and they will be categorised into one of the four broad areas of need. In practice, individual children or young people often have needs that cut across all these areas and their needs may change over time.

Communication and interaction, including:

ASC (Autistic Spectrum Condition)
Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)
SLCN (Speech, Language and Communication Needs)

Cognition and learning, including:

MLD (Moderate Learning Difficulties) - the general level of academic attainment of these students will be significantly lower than that of their peers.
SLD (Severe Learning Difficulties) – when students are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication.
PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties) – when students are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.
SpLD (Specific Learning Difficulties) - when students have one or more learning difficulties, these may include but are not limited to dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties, including:

A wide range of difficulties that manifest themselves in many ways e.g. becoming isolated, withdrawn, displaying challenging, disruptive behaviour. They may reflect underlying mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or other physical symptoms that are medically unexplained.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder( ADHD)
Attachment Disorder
Sensory and/or Physical Needs, including:
Vision Impairment (VI)
Hearing Impairment (HI)
Multi-Sensory Impairment
Physical Disabilities

Key Information