De Aston School
SEN Information Report
1. What should I do if I think my child has special educational needs?
 Discuss initial subject concerns with subject teacher
 If you are concerned about a number of subjects, discuss with your child’s tutor or
Head of Year
 Head of Year/your child’s tutor will discuss the concerns with Paul Cutts (Head of
Additional Needs/SENCo)
 The school works to the definition of special education needs outlined in the Code of
Practice for SEN 2014:
A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special
educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a
learning difficulty or disability if they:
(a) have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same
age; or
(b) have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities
of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream
post-16 institutions.

We can provide support for the four main areas of need identified in the Code of
Practice: communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional
and mental health difficulties and sensory and/or physical needs.
2. How will the school respond to my concern?
 Member of staff will listen to and investigate your concerns
 We will get back to you by phone or e-mail within three days
 If needed, we will set up a meeting in school to discuss your concerns
3. How will the school decide if my child needs extra support?
 Within a single subject, the subject teacher and Head of Department will decide
 If the concern is across a number of subjects, the SENCo and Head of Year will
decide
 Where possible, the decision will be based on data about your child’s attainment in
comparison to other children and their progress, as outlined in the definition of
special educational needs from the 2014 Code of Practice
 This data will include subject based assessments of attainment and progress along
with assessments carried out by the Additional Needs Department, such as baseline
literacy tests.
4. What is your school’s approach to teaching and including young people with special
educational needs and disabilities?






The school beliefs that all learners should be included in all school activities as far as
practicable, unless there are health and safety or safeguarding reasons not to do so.
Most support for learners with special educational needs takes place in the class
room, alongside learners who do not have special educational needs.
Teachers will differentiate lesson materials and adapt their teaching approaches to
meet the needs of children in their classes.
The Educational Support department runs clubs and havens before school, at break
and at lunchtime. These are open to learners who do not have special educational
needs as well as those who do.
Staff within the Educational Support department will work with you and your child
to make reasonable adjustments to make sure that your child is included in extracurricular activities and trips, where possible.
Displays in the Educational Support department will promote a positive image of
special educational needs, discourage bullying and encourage high aspirations.
5. What will the school do to support my child?
 If additional support is needed across a number of subjects, your child will be placed
on the SEN register
 Your child will then be allocated a Key Worker who will, under the supervision of the
SENCo, oversee and plan a programme of support with you and your child
 In most cases, your child will continue to be educated alongside other learners in
their normal classes. In this way they will benefit from the expertise of the subject
teacher. They may be supported in class by a teaching assistant or removed from
some lessons to receive specific support, either one to one or in a small group.
 The support will be based on the cycle of: assess, plan, do and review
 All additional support will be recorded on the school’s provision map.
 This will indicate the nature of the support, how often it takes place and its
effectiveness
 The Key Worker may also work with you and your child to put together an Individual
Education Plan, including some specific short term targets.
6. Who will support my child in school?
Where the school decides it is appropriate, your child may be supported by the following:







Class teachers
Form tutor
Head of Year
Teaching Assistants
Additional Needs Intervention Support Officers
Academic Intervention Support Officers
Attendance Officer
7. What training and experience do staff have for the additional support my child needs?





Within the Educational Support department there is a wide variety of training,
experience and qualifications including:
National Award in SEN Co-ordination
Training on running interventions such as Circle of Friends and Dyslexia Screening
Test
Training from a number of outside agencies on specific needs, such as autism,
attachment issues, dyslexia and dyspraxia
If the Educational Support department does not contain the specialist expertise to
deal with your child’s special educational needs, we will endeavour to use the
expertise of an outside agency.
8. Who else might be involved in supporting my child?
Depending on the needs of your child, the following agencies may be involved:











Educational Psychologist
Acorn Free School Emotional and Behavioural Outreach worker
CAMHS worker
School Nurse
Lincolnshire Pathfinder Social Communication (including Autism) Outreach Teacher
Sensory Education and Support Service
Young Carers/Spurgeons
Youth Offending Team
Occupational Therapist
Physiotherapist
Specialist Nurse Trainers
In most cases, parental consent will be obtained in order to involve an external agency in
meeting your child’s special educational needs.
9. What support will be there for my child’s emotional and social well-being?
 Pastoral support will be provided by your child’s tutor, supported by the relevant
Head of Year, who they will see on a daily basis
 Learners on the SEND register receive additional pastoral support from their
allocated Key Worker within the Educational Support department
 The Educational Support department has a number of interventions it can put in
place to support your child’s emotional and social well-being, such as Circle of
Friends and Art workshops
 Mike Bray, Deputy Head, has overall responsibility for pastoral support within the
school
 Jackie Chatterton, Attendance Officer, works closely with the pastoral team to raise
attendance
 The school’s behaviour management policy outlines how the school promotes
positive behaviour








The Educational Support area plays a large role in promoting positive behaviour and
avoiding exclusion
The first port of call if your child feels they are being bullied is their form tutor or Key
Worker (if on the SEND register)
This will then be followed up using the school’s anti-bullying policy
If your child requires regular medication, medicines are stored in a lockable cabinet
and are administered as per your instructions or care plan.
You will be asked to sign an admission form when your child stars at De Aston giving
consent for students to receive first aid and 1 paracetamol when needed
If your child has diabetes, epilepsy or other more serious conditions, or might need
to use an Epi-pen, then staff will receive additional, specific training
If your child feels unwell, they will be escorted to reception by a member of staff,
where they will be seen by a member of staff with first aid training. Every student
who presents themselves to first aid is logged in the medical book
First aid staff have a LIVES First Aid at Work certificate. Some have also been trained
to use the defibrillator.
10. How will my child be involved in the process and be able to contribute their views?
 If your child is on the SEND register they will have an allocated Key Worker within
the Educational Support department who will build up a good relationship with
them
 Your child will be invited to any review that takes place and will be asked to give
their views on the support they receive in school
 If your child does not want to attend the review, their Key Worker will speak to
them beforehand and present their views at the meeting
 The Key Worker will meet your child to discuss their progress update or school
report when they are issued.
11. How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
 As far as possible, your child will study a broad and balanced curriculum
 In most subjects, learners are grouped according to ability, allowing teaching staff to
gear their lessons at the appropriate level
 Teachers will try to prepare materials and teaching approaches to meet the
individual needs of learners
 These approaches include using seating plans to encourage learning, clear objectives
and differentiated success criteria for all lessons and the use of different ways of
recording information
 To help with this, teachers will have access to baseline data for your child and a
profile, outlining needs and strategies, for all students on the SEND register
 Baseline date includes Key Stage 2 SAT results, Key Stage 3 assessment scores, CAT
test results and reading and spelling ages
 There might be a teaching assistant in some of your child’s lessons to help with their
learning

In some circumstances your child may be withdrawn from lessons in order to
concentrate on the development of key skills, such as literacy and numeracy.
12. What opportunities will there be for me to be involved in supporting my child’s attainment
and achievement? How will I know how well my child is progressing?
 In addition to the termly progress updates that all students receive, SEND reviews
will provide the opportunity to discuss attainment and achievement
 Members of the Educational Support department attend Parents’ Evenings to
discuss progress
 You will be able to contact your child’s Key Worker to discuss progress. This is often
best done by e-mail
 Other forms of contact may be used, such as home-school books and monitoring
cards.
13. How does the school know how well my child is doing?
 Progress Updates are issued for Years 7 to 13. These are used to report current
attainment and progress towards aspirational targets. Full reports are also issued for
Years 7 to 13, reporting the same as Progress Updates but with additional detail on
skills, attitude etc. The overarching philosophy is the progression of skills, knowledge
and understanding over time towards the target grade.
 Your child’s reading and spelling ages will be tested every year.
 Learners receiving additional literacy interventions have their reading and spelling
ages tested every term
 Learners receiving additional numeracy interventions are assessed every term
against National Curriculum levels
 Assessment for Learning strategies ensure that your child is involved in monitoring
their own progress and setting targets
 If appropriate, students with SEND can be assessed, and their progress tracked,
using PIVATS. This is an assessment tool used to monitor the progress of learners
whose performance is outside national expectations.
 Parents and children will be involved in assessing and reviewing progress at SEND
review meetings and parents’ evenings.
14. How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?
 We will work with you and your child to ensure that, where possible, they are able
to take part in activities outside of the classroom
 This may include preliminary visits, reasonable adjustments and the preparation of
risk assessments
 If you are concerned about how your child will access an out of classroom activity or
school trip, contact the trip organiser in the first instance.
15. How accessible is the school environment? How accessible is the curriculum?
 The school is fully wheelchair accessible, including disabled toilets
 The school has a hoist and physiotherapy room



The school has yellow markings on the floor to help access for learners with visual
impairments
The school has an EAL Co-ordinator who can help to make the school and curriculum
accessible for learners and families whose first language is not English
Teachers differentiate their lessons in order to make sure that young people can
access the learning.
16. How will the school prepare and support my child to join the school?
 A member of the Educational Support department will attend SEND review meetings
at your child’s primary school, as far as possible
 A member of the Educational Needs department or the Head of Year 7 will visit your
child at primary school and talk to their class teacher
 Your child will have the opportunity to attend one full day and three morning visits
for students on the SEND register, in addition to the full Y6 induction day.
 Your child will meet their Key Worker on one of these visits
 If possible, you will be sent a copy of your child’s new timetable before the summer
holidays
 If your child is transferring from another secondary school, a member of the
Educational Support department will either speak to or visit your child’s previous
school to gather information
 In this situation, contact the Educational Support department to arrange a visit for
you and your child
17. How will the school prepare and support my child to transfer to a new
setting/school/college?
 In Year 9, your child will choose his or her options for Years 10 and 11. Your child’s
Key Worker will be able to support you and your child with these choices
 A member of the Educational Needs department will attend the Year 9 options
evening to offer advice
 In Year 11 your child till choose their next educational setting. This might be 6th
Form in De Aston, 6th Form in another school or a college.
 If your child chooses to stay at De Aston, their Key Worker will support them with
their application and choice of suitable courses
 The Key Worker will also be able to liaise with the Head of 6th Form, Kerry Rivett,
the ensure that your child applies for a suitable course
 The Key Worker will pass information on to your child’s 6th Form teachers about
their needs
 If your child wishes to apply to another school or college, their Key Worker will be
able to offer them advice on suitable courses and assist them with the application
process
 If your child applies to another school or college, we will liaise with their new setting
to ensure that they are fully aware of your child’s needs. We will support them with
visits to their new setting.
18. How can I be involved in supporting my child?
 You can check your child’s homework diary on a regular basis (at least weekly) to
monitor homework
 You can provide your child with an appropriate place to do homework and
encourage them to complete it at a regular time
 You can support your child with the organisation of their school equipment
 You can attend parents’ evening and review meetings
 You can reinforce and support the points outlined in the Home-School Agreement
 You can encourage your child to read on a regular basis. If your child finds reading
difficult, we can provide ideas about how to work with them, for example paired
reading.
19. How is the effectiveness of the provision made for learners with special educational needs
evaluated?
 Data is used to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and class teaching
 Quality assurance procedures are used to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching
assistant support
 The procedures include lesson observations, teacher surveys, young people surveys
and performance management interviews
 The overall provision is evaluated in meetings between the SENCo and the Line
Manager of the Educational Support department, Simon Porter
 Fortnightly meetings take place between the SENCo and the Headteacher
 Further challenge and support is provided by the SEN Governor, Alan Robson.
20. How can I access support for myself and my family?
 There are a number of organisations and agencies that can support you and your
family
 A good source of information is the Local Authority local offer website:
http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/lincs/fsd/localoffer.page?familychannel=2
 Another good source is the ‘parents’ section of the Local Authority website:
http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/parents/
 Liaise SEND Independent Advice and Support in Lincolnshire:
http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/liaise/about-us/the-team/121723.article
Advise on a range of issues relating to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
 Parent Carer Forum: http://www.lincspcf.org.uk/
 If w number of agencies are needed to support your family, you may be asked to
complete an Early Help Assessment form, possibly leading to setting up a Team
Around the Child (TAC).
21. Who can I contact for further information?
 For further information, contact Paul Cutts, Head of Additional Needs
 paul.cutts@de-aston.lincs.sch.uk
 School phone number 01673 843415
22. Who should I contact if I have a complaint about the provision made for my child?
 In the first instance, contact the SENCO – Paul Cutts
 If you don’t feel that your complaint has been successfully dealt with, contact the
Head teacher, Ellenor Beighton. This is usually best done through her PA, Alice
McNeill – alice.mcneill@de-aston.lincs.sch.uk
 Alice McNeill can also provide information on the school’s complaints policy.