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SEND

Our Provision

Rebekah Longley - SENCo

Chloe Falder - SENCo

Birchwood has the ability to support a wide range of needs from the four main categories:

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  • Cognition and Learning - including Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and other Specific Learning Difficulties

  • Speech, Language and Communication - including verbal processing difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Disorders and selective mutism

  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health - including ADHD, anxiety and other social communication difficulties

  • Sensory and Physical Difficulties - including visual and auditory impairments and varying levels of physical needs

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Our team of Teaching Assistants provide support in the classroom and focused interventions to small groups and individuals.  The curriculum is highly differentiated for each pupil’s needs and the full teaching and support teams plan together.

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KS3 students participate in a variety of targeted interventions to support their SEN. These include:

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  • a programme to aid the development of social skills and encourage positive conversations

  • developing life skills such as using money, cooking and healthy living

  • 1:1 reading and reading for pleasure

  • Mindfulness 

  • Positive communication and teambuilding 

  • Anger Gremlin/Zones of Regulation

  • Anxiety Gremlin

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Our KS4 cohort also have access to interventions that are timetabled throughout the day.

Each pupil with identified SEND needs will have a personalised learning plan which is completed in collaboration with the pupil, teachers, parent/carer and the SENCo.  This plan is then shared with all staff and reviewed termly. 

 

All pupils have a Boxall Profile which identifies key developmental and diagnostic areas of strength and development. This is completed after 6 weeks of the pupil commencing their placement with us and is shared with the home school and parents. This is then used to help set targets for improvement in their personalised plan.

 

Before commencing their placement, students are required to complete a number of tests to enable us to support them with their learning. These include:

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  • reading/spelling age test

  • dyslexia screener

  • baseline testing for Maths, English and Science​


Measurements of pupil academic and behaviour progress are collated each term and discussed with parents/carers and pupil on review days.  This information is a mixture of teacher assessment, formal assessment and behaviour evaluation through Class Charts behaviour system, SDQ’s and Boxall Profiling. Parents or the school can request additional progress meetings where concerns are raised.

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Where pupils are likely to return to their home school regular meetings with the home school, parent/carer and Birchwood will be carried out to determine when and how the reintegration will take place.  For pupils where a move back to the home school is not possible then a managed move to another mainstream school or other provision will be considered whenever possible.

 

For some pupils it is beneficial to work with and seek advice from external agencies such as Children and Young People’s Service (CHYMPS), Specialist Children’s Services, Local Inclusion Forum Team (LIFT) and the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service (STLS) amongst others.

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The school SENCo's are Rebekah Longley and Chloe Falder.

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