SEND Information Report

SEND Annual Report

PDF Click here to view the SEND Annual Report

Ethos

Leeds West Academy supports the principles of the Equality Act 2010, and will make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent students being put at a substantial disadvantage. We have a legal and moral obligation to support all students regardless of the difficulties that they have. ‘If a child can’t learn the way we teach, then maybe we should teach the way they learn’. It is our duty to ensure that we find different ways to help students learn and meet their needs: every teacher is a teacher of SEND.

At Leeds West Academy there is currently one qualified Special Educational Need Coordinator who has completed the National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination: Mrs Lindsay Bishop-West.

The Assistant SENDCO, Donna Hobson can also be contacted via hobson.d@whiteroseacademies.org who is the Lead Practitioner (Level 3) for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She also works closely with local Primary schools through her work as Transition Leader.

SEN falls into four broad categories:

Communication and interaction;
Cognition and learning;
Social, emotional and mental health difficulties;
Sensory and/or physical needs.

What is the Leeds Local Offer?

The aim of the Leeds Local Offer is to make sure families can easily find what services are available for children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) and disabilities in their local area.

The Leeds Local Offer will provide accurate, accessible, up to date information about all services from birth to 25, including all education, health and social care services, in one place. It will help families find out what help they can access to meet their individual needs.

The Leeds Local Offer will also provide a place where families can share their views of services and how they would like to see them develop. These views should then be taken into account as services are reviewed and developed.

Click here to find out more about the Leeds Local Offer.

Support for students

Leeds West Academy employ the following 10 Teaching Assistants to provide additional help and support for students with Special Educational Needs:

Intervention Specialists

1 x Numeracy
2 x Literacy
1 x Speech, Language and Communication and Dyslexia
1 x Autism and ADHD
5 in class Teaching Assistants

We also have 4 in-class Teaching Assistants

All Teaching Assistants support students in exams who are eligible for access arrangements.

Interventions

Where students require additional support to meet their needs, specialist intervention will take place; this can be by external agencies such as a Speech and Language Therapist or internally via the Inclusion Team.

Currently, Leeds West Academy’s Inclusion Team offer the following interventions:

Small group Literacy or Numeracy intervention
Intervention to develop fine motor skills
Nurture Provision to support students with Social and Emotional development
Read Write Inc
Lego Therapy
Relax Kids
B Squared
1:1 Dyslexia Intervention
Zones of regulation
Social stories

Please see the SEND report for more detailed information regarding identification, support and referrals.

Appendix 1: Areas of Need

Communication and interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

Children and young people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication, social interaction and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.

Cognition and learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.

Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

Schools and colleges should have clear processes to support children and young people, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour so it does not adversely affect other pupils.

Sensory and/or physical needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties, which makes it even more difficult for them to access the curriculum or study programme than for those with a single sensory impairment. Information on how to provide services for deafblind is available through the Deafblind guidance.

Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.