SEND

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information Report

This SEND Information report details the provision that The Falkland Islands Community School offers to students with special educational and disability needs.

We base our provision on the UK SEND code of practice, but do not have statutory Educational, Health and Care Plans.

Proportion of the school population with SEN provision: 19%

Students are placed on the Record of Need if they:

• Have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.
• Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools in the area.

The Record of Need classifies students into four categories:

• Communication and Interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)
• Sensory and/or physical

We are currently providing support for students with the following SEND:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Dyslexia
• Cerebral Palsy
• SEMH
• Moderate learning difficulty (MLD)

Identifying pupils with SEND

For students who are currently residents in the Falklands, we monitor progress and an initial concern is raised to the SENCO at any point by members of school staff, family or other professionals.

If a family is looking to move to the Falkland Islands, immigration will assess individual learning needs to determine if there will be an educational burden, and whether that burden can be met without additional funding.

Specific provision for students on the Record of Need

Provision is made through a graduated response and tailored to the individual:

Wave 1

Universal Provision for all students and young people in educational settings: Enables all students to make good progress within mainstream classes, with reasonable adjustments for needs via Quality First Teaching.

Wave 2

Targeted Support for some learners:  In-Class support, by trained Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) and small group interventions tailored to the needs of the students.

Wave 3

Personalised provision for a smaller number of learners with SEND and disability:  These students will usually have input from outside agencies and professionals. Agencies we currently work with include:

• Clinical Psychologist
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) nurse
• School Nurse
• Physiotherapist
• Occupational Therapist
• Educational Psychologist

Personalised Provisions can be implemented at FICS, as required, to meet the needs of learners with significant barriers to learning and whose needs cannot partially or wholly be met in the mainstream classroom.  Personalised provisions take place within the HUB classroom within the main school building. Students with complex needs have opportunities to be taught within these provisions as well as being supported to learn within mainstream classes where appropriate. Students at this level are likely to have additional funding (EXCO) due to the significant and complex nature of their learning difficulties.                     

Monitoring and review                           

Students at SEND Support level will have a Learner Support Passport (LSP) outlining their individual short and long term intended outcomes and actions required to achieve them.  These are student centred and involve student, parents, and relevant school staff.

All student progress is carefully monitored by class teachers.  However, students identified with SEND will have a minimum of 3 SEND reviews each academic year, one of which may be at parents evening.  We follow ASSESS-PLAN-DO-REVIEW.  Intended outcomes are reviewed and reset as appropriate.

Referrals to agencies are made as part of the graduated response when appropriate.

Some students will have a Medical Care plan instead of, or as well as, an LSP.

Examination Access Arrangements (EAA)

A diagnosis or inclusion on the Record of Need does not mean that the student is entitled to additional support for external examinations.  A “normal way of working” must be established alongside meeting stringent criteria after assessment by a qualified EAA assessor, before an application can be made to the examination boards.

SEND Support Team

Rachel Whitehouse

SENCo

RWhitehouse@primary.ac.fk

This team comprises:

• Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) Rachel Whitehouse
• Complex Need teacher
• Behaviour Specialist Teacher
• Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA)
• LSAs

Roles and Responsibilities

Teachers - Class teachers will make regular assessments of progress for all students and identify those whose progress:

• Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
• Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
• Fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers
• Widens the attainment gap

This may include progress in areas other than attainment, for example, social needs. Referrals are made to the SENCo as appropriate.

Learning Support Assistants (LSAs)

• Targeted support in class
• Targeted 1 to 1 and group interventions

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo)

• Oversees the day-to-day operation of the schools SEND policy
• Co-ordinates provision for learners with SEND
• Advises on the graduated approach to providing SEND support
• Advises on the deployment of the school’s delegated budget and other resources to meet learners needs effectively.
• Liaises with parents of student with SEND
• Liaise with agencies and other provisions
• Liaise with potential next providers of (e.g. Post 16) to ensure a learner and parents/carers are informed about options and a smooth transition is planned

The SENCo works across both the primary and secondary schools.

Additional Funding

• Students in the Falkland Islands do not have Education Health Care Plans (EHC plans- formally Statements). There is no statutory assessment process that provides the information needed to define the needs and resulting targeted support for an individual. Individual learners here can be supported via Executive Committee (ExCo) funding.
• Where a student has significant and complex needs which cannot be met within the school’s resources, a formal paper is written by the SENCO, supported by the Principal and then sent to the Executive Headteacher. The paper is taken to ExCo for review. This support, in the form of the equivalent cost of appointing an LSA will be with the student until he/she leaves school (after Y11) if needs of the student continue to require this support.
• Additional support for a student is only requested when it is assessed that the additional support a student needs cannot be provided from within the schools current resources. These resources may include funding for staff and/or specialist equipment.

Complaints about SEND provision

All complaints should be dealt with at the lowest possible level.  In the first instance a complaint should be made to Rachel Whitehouse, SENCo, (RWhitehouse@primary.ac.fk).  If the SENCo is unable to resolve the complaint then this should be escalated to the Executive Headteacher Falkland Islands Schools, Karen Steen, ExecutiveHead@education.ac.fk.