Unity Centre
SEND
Information Report
Updated July 2014
Unity Centre
SEND Information Report
CONTENTS
Page
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Who are the best people to talk to in the Academy about my child’s difficulties/ Special
Educational Needs or Disability (SEND) if they have a Local Authority commissioned place in
the Autism Provision (Unity Centre)?
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What are the different types of support available to children with SEND at Biddick Academy if
they have a commissioned place via the Local Authority for the Autism Provision (Unity
Centre)?
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How can I let the Academy know that I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?
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How will the Academy let me know if they have any concerns about my child with SEND’s
progress in learning?
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How is extra support allocated to children and how do they move between the different levels?
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Who are the other people providing services to children with an SEND in the Academy?
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How are the teachers in school helped to work with children with an SEND and what training
do they have?
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How is Biddick Academy accessible to children with SEND?
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How will we support your child when they are leaving the Academy?
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How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?
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How will we measure progress of your child at the Academy?
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What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with SEND?
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Who are the best people to talk to in the Academy about my child’s difficulties/
Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND) if they have a Local Authority
commissioned place in the Autism Provision (Unity Centre)?
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The Assistant Head for Inclusion (Gavin Jackson)
Responsible for:
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Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing
the school’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs
in school.
Ensuring that you are:
o involved in supporting your child’s learning
o kept informed about the support your child is getting
o involved in reviewing how they are doing
Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g.
Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.
Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are
known) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs.
Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in
the school achieve the best progress possible.
Assistant SENCo (Karin Sehnal)
Responsible for:
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Liaising with the Assistant Head for Inclusion to coordinate all the support for children within the Autism Provision
to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech
and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.
Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in the
school achieve the best progress possible.
To work with the Deputy Head teacher of monitoring progress and impact of interventions for identified children
who are looked after.
Deputy Head for Inclusion (Sarah Dickson)
Responsible for:
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To lead and support the Student Support team, including:
-The SENCo and Assistant SENCo’s, to ensure all pupils with SEND are fully supported to overcome their
difficulties to learning
What are the different types of support available to children with SEND at Biddick
Academy if they have a commissioned place via the Local Authority for the Autism
Provision (Unity Centre)?
Subject teacher input via excellent targeted classroom teaching also known as Quality First
For your child this would mean:
Teaching.
 That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
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 That all teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
 Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve
things like using more practical learning.
 Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCO or outside agencies) are in place to support your child to
learn.
All children in school should be getting this as a part of excellent classroom practice.
Small Group Interventions
This group may be:
 Run within the Unity Centre.
 Run by a teacher or sometimes a Unity Centre Key Worker who has had training to run these groups.
For your child this would mean:
 He/ She will engage in group sessions with specific targets to help him/her to make more progress.
This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning
specifically for English, Maths and Social Skills.
Specialist groups run by outside agencies e.g Speech and Language therapy OR Autism Outreach Team groups
Stage of SEN Code of Practice: Statement or EHC Plan with named Provision Placement
which means they have been identified by the Local Authority as needing a tailored approach within a speciality Autism
environment to support their specific needs.
For your child this would mean:
 The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which
may include:
o Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g some individual support or changing some
aspects of teaching to support them better
o Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise
o A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g a social skills group
o A group or individual work with outside professional
 The school may suggest that your child needs some agree individual support in school. They will tell you how the
support will be used and what strategies will be put in place.
This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First
Teaching and intervention groups.
Specified Individual support
This is provided via a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).This means
your child will have been identified by the Local Authority as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group
teaching, which cannot be provided from the mainstream school.
Your child will be allocated a key worker to support your child and one other child with similar needs. The key worker will be
the main home school link.
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How can I let the Academy know that I am concerned about my child’s progress in
school?
 If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s form tutor initially.
 If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress you should
speak to the Head of Year, Assistant Head of Year who will then inform the Assistant Head for Inclusion and
Assistant SENCo.
 If you are still not happy you can speak to the Head Teacher.
How will the Academy let me know if they have any concerns about my child with
SEND’s progress in learning?
If your child is then identified as not making progress the school will set up am meeting to discuss this with you in more detail
and to:
 listen to any concerns you may have too
 plan any additional support your child may receive
 discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning
How is extra support allocated to children and how do they move between the
different levels?
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The school budget, received from Sunderland LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND in the Autistic
Provision.
 The Head Teacher/ Bursar/ Board of Trustee’s decide on the budget for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
on the basis of needs in the school.
 The Head Teacher and the AHT Inclusion discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including:
o the children getting extra support already
o the children needing extra support
o the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected and decide
what resources/training and support is needed.
 All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed.
Who are the other people providing services to children with an SEND in the
Academy?
Directly funded by the school:
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Deputy Head for Inclusion
Assistant Head for Inclusion
Assistant SENCO- SEN
Assistant SENCO- Unity
1 Student Support Intervention Teacher
1 Student Support- Learning Outside the Classroom Teacher
3 Level 5 Support Assistants
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6 Student Support Assistants- Whole School SEN
10 Student Support Assistants- Unity Centre (ASD)
5 Head of Year’s
5 Assistant Head of Year’s
Lead Behaviour and Intervention Professional
Paid for centrally by the Local Authority but delivered in school:
 Autism Outreach Service
 Educational Psychology Service
 Youth Offending Service
 Youth, Drugs and Alcohol Project
Provided and paid for by the Health Service but delivered in school:
 School Nurse
 Occupational Therapy
 Speech and Language Therapy Team
 CAMHS
 Children and Young People’s services
How are the teachers in school helped to work with children with an SEND and what
training do they have?
 The AHT Inclusion’s job is to support the subject teachers in planning for children with SEND.
 The school has a developmental plan for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those
with SEND. This includes whole school training on SEND issues such as ASD and Speech and language
difficulties.
 Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of
specific children in their class e.g. from the ASD Outreach service.
How is Biddick Academy accessible to children with SEND?
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The school is now almost totally accessible to non ambulant students.
After school provision is accessible to all children including those with SEND.
Extracurricular activities are accessible for children with SEND.
How will we support your child when they are leaving the Academy?
We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as
possible.
 If your child is moving child to another school:
o We will contact the school SENCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that
need to be made for your child.
o We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.
 When moving to a different subject teacher within the school:
o Information will be passed on to the new class teacher
How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?
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 Class Teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class, and will ensure
that your child’s needs are met.
 Specially trained support staff will implement programmes of study addressing social skills and social
communication so that students can make the most of their integration into the social, pastoral and extracurricular
life of the school.
 Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.
 Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed to meet your child’s learning needs.
How will we measure the progress of your child in school?
 Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her subject teachers.
 His/her progress is reviewed formally at three assessment points throughout the year and their progress will be
tracked and monitored.
 Children with SEND will have a student overview which will be reviewed with your involvement at each review
meeting.
 The progress of children with a statement of SEND/ EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all
adults involved with the child’s education.
 The AHT Inclusion/ Assistant SENCo will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual
work and in any intervention they are taking part in.
What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with an SEND?
 The Assistant Head for Inclusion/ Assistant SENCo/ Key Worker is regularly available to discuss your child’s
progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and school
so similar strategies can be used.
 The AHT Inclusion/ Assistant SENCo/ Key Worker's are available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress
or any concerns/worries you may have.
 All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where
this is not possible, in a report.
 Student Overview’s will be reviewed with your involvement at each annual review.
 Where appropriate, home/school communication books will be used to send messages home/ share information e.g.
what is ingredients are needed for a cooking lesson tomorrow.
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