The SEND team is keen to ensure that every young person makes excellent levels of progress, through a careful journey of bespoke support and personalisation.

At John Smeaton Academy, we believe that all young people, regardless of ability or need, can flourish in our ambitious and inclusive environment. We are extremely proud of our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision. The SENDCo, Miss Hanif, is responsible for the coordination of the offer we provide for our young people.

The SEND team is keen to ensure that every young person makes excellent levels of progress, through a careful journey of bespoke support and personalisation. We aim to develop independent learners who secure the gift of choice and are able to aspire beyond any limitations.

The SEND team is centralised from our support centre, the Beacon. It is here that students can receive additional support with their learning and where they can attend 1:1 or small group interventions which focus on the essentials of literacy, reading and social skills. The Beacon ‘social times pass’ is available to those students who may benefit from a quiet, serene environment in order to eat their lunch. This pass is also available to those young people who may require additional support with developing their social skills and peer relationships. The Beacon is staffed by a member of the SEND team throughout the school day. Students may access the Beacon for a plethora of reasons – our aim is to remove barriers to learning so access to learning is re-established.

We pride ourselves on well-established links and close co-operation with external agencies and our feeder primary schools. This enables us to work closely with you as parents/carers to ensure your child received the additional support they may need from both within the academy and also via appropriate external agencies. It is this strong partnership that strengthens the holistic support we aim to offer our young people.

Meet the SEND Team

Mrs Brennan
Senior Assistant Principal

Mr Derbyshire
SEND Manager

Parents/carers support

Frequently Asked Questions

  • A strong and experience pastoral and SEND team
  • Differentiated materials in lessons
  • Personalised tasks within lessons
  • Teaching Assistant support
  • Individual and small group literacy programmes
  • Additional numeracy support
  • Help and advice from mentors
  • A variety of programmes to help pupils improve their social skills and their behaviour
  • Access to the Beacon
  • After school home work club based in the academy’s Library
  • Bespoke 1:1 intervention and/or small group intervention for literacy based concerns
  • Technology for access

We value the involvement of parents and carers, and offer them assistance through our Pastoral Officers and Safeguarding team.

At John Smeaton Academy, excellent relationships are fostered between students and members of staff to ensure all young people feel comfortable and confident when having conversations about their education.

When a student requires additional provision, this will be explained to that young person as appropriate.

Every week, students receive an opportunity to speak one-to-one with their form tutor and voice any concerns or troubles they may be experiencing during the Positive Discipline lesson. The form tutor will then deal with this by any appropriate means.

When reviewing provision, students will meet as appropriate with the SENDCo, Pastoral Support Officer, Behaviour Leader, or form tutor to resolve any worries they may have and promote understanding.

At John Smeaton Academy we are committed to including and supporting pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

We seek to meet the individual needs of all pupils and an extensive range of intervention strategies is available both inside and outside of the mainstream classroom setting.

Close co-operation with feeder schools will ensure that appropriate provision is in place when pupils start at John Smeaton Academy. Parents and carers are encouraged to provide relevant information about their child’s Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities prior to transition. Parents and carers of SEND children will be invited to meet with a member of the SEND team prior to their child transitioning to the academy.

If a student has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), the school will ensure the student has access to the provision described in that document. The provision will be reviewed in partnership with parents along with the student to ensure it is suitable in enabling them to make good progress whilst at the same time taking responsibility for their own learning and development.

If the SENDCo wishes the student to be placed on the SEND Register, the student’s parents/carer will be invited into the academy to discuss the reasons for this and what its impact will have.

The impact will be measured through the student’s progress in lessons.

A member of the Senior Leadership Team will oversee and assure the quality of this process.

If students have any additional needs, or are on the SEND Register, they may be selected by their school to attend additional transition days which will support the transition process and allow us to further identify any additional support a child may need.

For students with existing SEND, we invite parents to contact us if they wish to meet regarding the transition of their child.

Wherever possible, the SENDCo will attend to the annual review of all Year 6 students with existing statements of SEND or Education, Health and Care Plan. This will allow a dialogue between the academy and primary school.

In Year 6, all prospective students and their parents will be given the opportunity to attend a new intake evening, where the policies and procedures for the academy will be given.

In July, all students transitioning to John Smeaton Academy will be invited to attend two transition days where they will be introduced to elements of a typical school day. Students with SEND are also invited to an additional transition day to allow us to get to know them in a smaller group capacity.

The academy has strong ties with specialist services within the area. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Educational Psychologists
  • Occupational therapy
  • Complex needs team
  • Speech and Language Therapist Team
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
  • Hearing Impaired Team
  • STARS

This list is not exhaustive and John Smeaton Academy is committed to communicating and working with professionals involved with a child or family.

Pastoral support for all students will primarily be given by the student’s form tutor, Pastoral Support Officer, Behaviour Leader and SLT Link.

Throughout the academy, students will be part of the Positive Discipline system and be given regular and specific praise in lessons in the form of subject stamps. This system provides a consistent approach to behaviour.

If the child needs any further specific and personalised support, the SENDCo may, if appropriate, assign them a Teaching Assistant.

Attendance Officers monitor attendance and devise strategies for improving attendance.

PSHCEE/RSHE is delivered termly to all students through Be Smart days.

At John Smeaton Academy, teachers personalise teaching and learning to promote engagement and progress.

In English and mathematics, students are set by ability in order to maximise progress for all. The sets are regularly reviewed to ensure that no student is being restricted in their learning.

Although all students will receive quality first teaching, other interventions may be necessary, such as small group work or specific 1:1 intervention.

Teaching Assistants are deployed on a personalised, flexible basis to ensure a student has the necessary support to achieve whilst experiencing the freedom to become an independent, resilient learner.

All teachers at the academy are teachers of students with SEND and will support students in their classes by personalising their lessons in response to a student’s needs.

The SENDCo oversees the education programme on a day to day basis for students with SEND.

Each child is assigned a form tutor who is the main point of contact for any concerns or advice about a student’s education. Form tutors are managed by a Behaviour Leader who can also be contacted via the academy’s main telephone number.

We speak with primary schools about each new student joining John Smeaton Academy in Year 6 in order to gather as much information as possible.

Most students requiring any additional support will be identified at this stage or sometimes earlier.

The SENDCo holds meetings with appropriate colleagues about any students who have a SEND and may then assess the student.

The SENDCo maintains strong relationships with outside agencies should a child need to assessed for SEND. These agencies will provide examples of good practice for the academy to follow.

Students are assessed on an individual basis to identify any extra help they may need.

If parents are worried that their child may have SEND, the SENDCo is the first point of contact.

Every student in the academy is assessed formally on a termly basis and data is reported to parents along with information about whether or not your child is on track to achieve their target grade. Once per year this data is accompanied by summary comments from the form tutor and Year Team Manager.

At each Assessment Point the SENDCo, along with the Senior Leadership Team, analyses the data of students with SEND to ensure they are making progress in line with their peers. If students are not making, or are not on track to make expected progress, appropriate intervention and sourcing of any additional support will be put in place.

The Student Planner provides the opportunity for regular home-academy contact. Parents are able to see rewards received for good behaviour, comments about negative behaviour and homework.

There is a Parents’ Evening for each year group every school year, with an additional evening for Year 7 students to review the transition from primary school.

We are a mainstream secondary academy and welcome students with SEN in the following areas:

  • Communication and Interaction (For example: Speech and Language, or Autism Spectrum Condition)
  • Social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH)
  • Sensory and/or physical needs (Inclusive of visual, hearing and multisensory impairment)
  • Cognition and learning

The SENDCo is a qualified teacher who is also a member of the academy’s Senior Leadership Team as an Assistant Principal. The SENDCo works closely with the Principal and the wider senior team to ensure that all students with SEND make excellent progress.

SENDCo: Miss Hanif

Telephone Number: 0113 8313 900

Email: [email protected] marked FAO: SENDCo or [email protected]

Important Links

Early Help

EHCPs

Educational Psychology Service

Mindmate

SENDIASS

SENIT