SEND Information Report – September 2023

Key information for parents

This page provides regularly updated information on the support we provide for students with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities. This support is specific to The Charter School Bermondsey, and is in addition to the Local Offer provided by the London Borough of Southwark.

The Charter School Bermondsey SEND philosophy and approach

At The Charter School Bermondsey we are committed to ensuring that all students make good progress, regardless of their starting point. In order to achieve this, we understand that students may require additional small group support before and after school plus additional help within the school day, individually or in a small group, focusing on individual needs. Our over-arching aim however, is to ensure that students remain in their lessons and are included in the full curriculum of the school – no exceptions.

If your child has a Special Educational Need or Disability, The Charter School Bermondsey will work with you as parents, together with relevant professional agencies, to ensure that we have a complete education and pastoral package which best suits the individual needs of your child.

Who is your Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO)?

Our SENCO is Ms Hayward (chayward@charterbermondsey.org.uk). Please contact Ms Hayward if you have any questions about this report or our Inclusion and SEND policy.

The Charter School Bermondsey SEND Provision

What support does The Charter School Bermondsey currently offer students with SEND and their parents?

The Charter School Bermondsey is committed to educating the whole child; not parts in isolation. Therefore, we work together to address key areas as identified collectively in the best interests of your child and an Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be prepared and reviewed termly with our Senior Leader of Inclusion and the Inclusion Team. The Charter School Bermondsey staff team – including both teachers and support staff – have a broad range of training, skills and experience working with young people with SEND, including:

Communication and interaction – including Speech Language & Communication Needs (SLCN) and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Cognition and learning – including Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD), Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD), Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia
Social, emotional and mental health difficulties – including anxiety, depression and diagnosed disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) & Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)
Sensory and/or physical needs – including Visual Impairment (VI), Hearing Impairment (HI) and Physical Difficulties (PD)

SEND training forms a regular part of our staff CPD and all members of The Charter School Bermondsey Staff Team are constantly kept up to date with both local and national changes regarding SEND.

What support is currently on offer to disabled students at The Charter School Bermondsey?

The Charter School Bermondsey is a fully inclusive school and offer support as much support as possible to students with physical disabilities. This includes lift access around the site, and ramped entrances and exits. Unfortunately given the temporary nature of our current building, we are unable to provide full wheelchair access to all areas of the school site. However, access arrangements can be devised to ensure that students receive full access to our curriculum, regardless of any disability. If you would like to discuss the accessibility arrangements at The Charter School Bermondsey, please contact us.

What additional support for learning is available to students with special educational needs and how are equipment and facilities to support students with SEN secured?

The Charter School Bermondsey receives funding for students with SEN. This funding is used to support and enhance the Quality First Teaching at The Charter School Bermondsey. It helps to ensure there are sufficient resources for students requiring special educational provision.

The support offered is matched to needs of individual students with SEN and evidenced based. The amount of support required for each student to make good progress will be different in each case. In some cases a very high level of resource is required. In this case the school will request ‘top up’ from the Local Authority through the High Needs Funding (HNF) process. The Principal has the final say in the use of any personal budgets within the school.

Specialist equipment will be considered on an individual basis where appropriate.

How will teaching be adapted to meet my child’s learning needs?

At The Charter School Bermondsey we believe in Quality First Teaching. This means that all teachers are expected to provide the first line of support to all students through inclusive teaching and learning.

In practice this means ensuring that our learners with additional needs have reasonable adjustments in place to ensure that they can access the learning in lessons. It also means that adaptations are made to support them, scaffold learning and activities where necessary and appropriate.

Some examples of these adaptations in lessons are below:

seating plan adjustments
chunked tasks in small achievable steps to reduce cognitive overload and support metacognition
increased checking for understanding
1:1 support from the teacher during the ‘We’ section of lessons before the independent ‘You’ tasks
increased checking during live marking or classroom circulation
increased support for memory difficulties – recap, revisiting previous work, prompts such as sentence starters and support
using the ‘I do, we do, you do’ model as worked through examples
increased reading support (inc. ruler reading prompts and guidance) for decoding, fluency support, vocabulary and comprehension
use of a scribe to support students in verbal rehearsal before they write
use of reading fluency strategies to support with comprehension activities
use of mini-whiteboards to provide low stakes extended writing opportunities ahead of writing in books
attendance to homework club with Inclusion

Sometimes, Quality First Teaching will not be enough and our SENDCo will work with staff to establish further support, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Early Identification and Assessment

What is the process for identifying SEND learners?

All students joining The Charter School Bermondsey undergo an entry profile and assessment of reading age, and Cognitive Ability Tests are administered. This, alongside classroom-based assessment and monitoring arrangements, information from parents/carers, individual tracking over time and liaison with primary schools and various external services, gives us a focused and complete picture of the needs of our students.

In addition, we regularly monitor the academic progress and achievement, behaviour, social interactions and attendance of all students. Any concerns or difficulties identified through this monitoring may indicate an SEND requirement that can be investigated and addressed.

Where a concern or difficulty has been identified, there are two ways in which we can start the process for diagnosing more specific needs of your child:

Referral from the classroom teacher, who has identified that support beyond Quality First Teaching is required
Referral from the parent who has concerns about support for their child’s learning needs

Once a referral has been made, our Inclusion Team will carry out assessments and diagnostics to identify the child’s needs. Following this there will be a formal meeting at the school between the staff team and the family. Strategies are put in place to ensure that successes are built upon and negatives addressed in a timely manner, with parents involved at each stage for clarity. All teachers are made aware of your child’s particular need and classroom strategies put in place at the basic level e.g. your child sitting near the teacher. It can often be the small things that make a huge difference, e.g. the size of print or colour of paper used in the class, or use of visual supports that can help your child to access the learning.

If your child’s need is greater than the examples above, then targeted provision will be provided and agreed collectively. These range within school from helping learners to cope with conflict, build self-esteem and/or learn how to make best use of extra allowances such as extended time in exams. In some cases, it is necessary for the school to seek support from outside agencies.

My child already has a statement/Education Health Care Plan. How will The Charter School Bermondsey support them?

If your child already has a statement of special educational needs/Education Health Care Plan (or is currently being assessed for one), then please contact us. We should already have been notified by the Local Authority, and will already be putting in place the necessary support for your child, in consultation with outside agencies already involved with your child’s needs.

All new referrals for additional support will be Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and The Charter School Bermondsey will work closely with the Local Authority to ensure that additional support is provided where necessary.

Partnership with children and young people and their families

What are the school’s arrangements for consulting parents/carers of young people with SEND and involving them in their education?

The Charter School Bermondsey gives parents and carers opportunities to plan an active and valued role in their child’s education, and we wholly encourage parents/carers to inform the school of any difficulties their child may be having or other needs the child may have which need addressing.

We agree targets with all students, including those with SEND, and regular meetings are held to communicate these targets with parents.

We aim to provide all information in an easy to access format, including translated information on request for parents/carers with English as an additional language.

How does The Charter School Bermondsey evaluate how effective its SEND provision is?

All policies associated with Inclusion and SEND at The Charter School Bermondsey are reviewed annually, by the Inclusion Team, Senior Leadership and Governing Body of the school. In addition, feedback from parents is regularly sought, in particular where additional inclusion or SEND support has been provided.

How can I let the staff at The Charter School Bermondsey know that I have a question or am concerned about my child’s progress?

Your first point of contact is your child’s learning family tutor. This is the teacher that they see each morning, and who will maintain an active involvement in your child’s well-being and academic progress at The Charter School Bermondsey. In addition to the learning family tutor, you can arrange to meet with Miss Hayward, or speak with subject teachers if you have specific areas of concern.

Progress and Attainment

How will The Charter School Bermondsey measure my child’s progress? How will I know about this?

You will receive a report 3 times a year which sets out your son or daughter’s attainment and attitude to learning in each subject, as well as their level of attendance. We set aspirational progress targets for your child based on their Key Stage 2 assessment results.

Transition

What are the school’s arrangements for supporting young people in moving between phases of education and in preparing for adulthood?

All students at The Charter School Bermondsey are encouraged to explore their aspirations. This is embedded in our vision of ensuring that “everyone in The Charter School Bermondsey Community will confidently reach the destination to which they aspire”. Therefore our role is to support students in ensuring that their aspiration is both ambitious and achievable, and do out very best to ensure our students reach that goal.

All students receive advice on careers and further education. All SEND students have to opportunity to speak with the Inclusion Team and their Learning Family Tutor about their future aspirations, allowing them to be sure that they are appropriate for the student’s specific interests and abilities, ensuring they are prepared for independent living and are aware of the value of participating in society.

If my child has medical needs, how will they be supported?

All medical needs are supported by qualified first aiders in school. Prescription medication is held securely at the school, and we have a full register of student medical needs. In addition, all staff are aware of the specific medical needs of each student. A school nurse from Guys & St Thomas NHS Trust attends the school once per week, offering a drop in service as well as appointments where needed. If you have any questions about how The Charter School Bermondsey can support your child with their medical needs, please contact us.

Who is responsible for, and what training do staff have to support students with medical needs?

The Charter School Bermondsey currently has 8 qualified first aiders (First Aid at Work qualification) on the staff team, including the Principal. Each year, all staff are given the option to participate in a First Aid at Work course in order that they can better support students who require emergency medical attention. At least 15% of the school staff have received this training each year. In order to support students with specific medical needs, the Inclusion team ensures that appropriate training is received.

The Social Emotional Curriculum

How are students with SEND supported to improve emotional and social development?

An important feature of the school is to enable all students to develop emotional resilience and integrity, both through direct teaching for instance e.g. learning family time (LFT) and assemblies and indirectly with every conversation adults have with students throughout the day. For some students with the most need for help in this area we can also provide support such as pastoral support and mentoring by their Key Inclusion Mentor or pastoral leaders, and nurture and anger management interventions. In addition to referral to the school counsellor, CAMHS, and being issued with time-out/tally cards for students and positive reports, such as ‘Catch me doing good’.

We are interested in hearing parents’/carers’ and students’ views. At all times we encourage students to talk to their LFT tutor, and tutors make time available to students. Students with SEND are more likely to be the victims of bullying, and peer Anti-bullying Ambassadors are accessible to students, in addition to the above. It is important to ensure that students report any behaviour that concerns them. They will be provided with safe, supervised places that they can go to during social times.

Partnership with stakeholders

Are any external agencies or organisations involved in providing services to students with SEN at The Charter School Bermondsey?

The Charter School Bermondsey works closely with our:

School counsellor
Police Community Support Officer
School nurse
Education Welfare Officer
Other local partner agencies e.g. Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and Family Support Groups

Where can I find a copy of the School’s Inclusion/SEND policy?

This can be found on our school policies webpage

Complaints

Arrangements for handling complaints from parents/carers of students with SEND about the provision made at The Charter School Bermondsey

The arrangements made by the Governing Body relating to the treatment of complaints from parents of students with special educational needs concerning the provision made at the school. The same arrangements for the treatment of complaints at The Charter School Bermondsey are used for complaints about provision made for special educational needs and disabilities. We encourage parents to discuss their concerns with their child’s learning family tutor in the first instance. Parents may also contact a Heads of House, the SENCO or Principal to resolve the issue before making a formal complaint to the Chair of the Governing Body. The Complaints Policy can be found on our school policies webpage

Contact details for The Charter School Bermondsey SEND Governor

For the academic year 2022-23, Sally Wood is the link SEND governor. She can be reached by email at chairgovs@charterbermondsey.org.uk or by calling the school office.