Special Needs

Special Educational Needs Support

In addition to the support provided by teachers, tutors and Well-Being Team, the school employs a dedicated team of learning support professionals trained to identify, assess and support students with special educational needs (SEN). The aim of the learning support team is to ensure all children with special educational needs are able to fully access the curriculum. In addition, it provides support for children who need short-term interventions to support academic progression.

The school works in accordance with the 2015 SEN Code of Practice to adopt a graduated response to a student’s individual needs. This approach recognises that SEN are varied in nature and complexity, and, where necessary, brings an increasing range of strategies and specialist expertise into effect to support and address the difficulties that a student may be experiencing.

Even before a student arrives at Shrewsbury, our assessment and admissions procedures seek to identify any special learning support that a student may need once they are at the school. A process of continual monitoring and assessment of our current students also seeks to identify any emerging issues that were not apparent in the previous assessment stage, and to devise action plans and additional support measures as appropriate.

Our school employs a team of three full-time Learning Support specialists, led by the Director of Learning Support. Should another member of staff express any concern about a child that may indicate the requirement for specialist assessment and support, the matter will be referred directly to the SEN team.

The team provides support, and oversees support provided by others, to students with a variety of needs, including those students with:

• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
• Physical difficulties including visual, hearing, gross and fine motor delay.
• Cognitive learning difficulties (such as Dyslexia and ADHD).
• Communication and interaction difficulties.
• Expressive and receptive language and social communication disorders, including ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

Specific Provision

Our specific provision for children with special educational needs is as follows:

Specialist Staff:

• Director of Learning Support
• 2 Learning Support Teachers
• 6 Learning Support Assistants (LSAs)

Support Measures:

• Internal standardised assessments for a range of learning barriers.
• Support available for students in Early Years 1 to Year 13.
• Support with class teachers and teacher assistants to develop strategies and resources to support children in and out of class.
• Regular meetings with parents to support learning at home.
• Some children have additional support provided by a member of the Learning Support Team, free of charge.
• Some children have 1:1 Learning Support Assistants to support learning in class, at additional cost.
• Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Pupil Passports, which are reviewed termly.
• Work closely with Learning Mentors to support children with SEMH needs (Social, Emotional and Mental Health).
• Liaison with external providers for Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy, and a number of different educational and child psychologists (assessment and therapy fees paid for by parents).