SEND
Bredon Hill Academy is very proud of its inclusive ethos – we are a nurturing and happy school , committed to the inclusion of all our pupils within our school community. Pupils may have a range of additional needs, which include the following four broad areas:
- Cognition and learning difficulties;
- Communication and interaction needs;
- Social, emotional and/or mental health needs;
- Sensory and/or physical needs
Every teacher is a teacher of special educational needs and is responsible for identifying and supporting pupils to help meet their individual needs. Beyond this, our school community is dedicated to contributing towards ensuring any pupil with additional needs feels safe and thrives at Bredon Hill Academy.
Every child’s progress and learning is the responsibility of the class teacher who, under the SEND Code of Practice (2014), is accountable for a pupil’s progress and development, including where a pupil may access support from a teaching assistant or other specialist staff. The SENCO will make sure that relevant school staff are aware of your child’s needs and appropriate support is in place to ensure that they become confident learners.
Our team of teaching assistants are experienced, committed practitioners, who go above and beyond to provide all of our pupils with social and emotional support, helping to remove any barriers so pupils can access their learning.
Strong relationships with our pupils are fundamental to this, helping provide our young people with the necessary support to fully access our broad, rich and ambitious curriculum. We ensure that the curriculum is not narrowed for our SEND pupils – we are aspirational and have high expectations for all.
Support for pupils with SEND is visible across our school. We celebrate neurodiversity and embrace the unique strengths of all our pupils. In the classroom, needs are supported through high quality first-wave teaching. Additionally, our teaching assistants, led by our SENCO, offer a range of interventions to help pupils overcome barriers to their learning and to address specific literacy, communication and interaction and social and emotional needs. Our classrooms are resourced and equipped to support a range of needs. Pupils are taught and encouraged how to access these resources and, over time, learn strategies to promote independence. The voice of our SEND pupils is important – we involve them in any support and interventions. A range of our SEND interventions can be seen below.
A smooth and successful transition into Bredon Hill Academy for our most vulnerable pupils is vital. We provide additional visits to our school for those pupils and families who would benefit from this, together with personalised meetings with teaching assistants and the SENCO. Our strong pastoral support will help your child to settle quickly into our school community and ease any anxieties they may have. Likewise, the transition from our school into the next phase of a pupil’s education is met by having a close involvement with their next school. This is achieved through purposeful liaison, visits and where necessary, an individualised plan of support.
SEND pupils make good progress in their time at Bredon Hill Academy. Pupils progress well between Year 6 and year 8 with a significant percentage of pupils working at or exceeding our Curriculum Related Expectations. GL Assessments, which are externally validated also show the high levels of progress made: Click here to see our entry to exit data. SEND pupils are fully included into life at Bredon Hill Academy through trips, extra-curricular clubs, the prefect system, Reading Buddies and much more.
Our SEND register is a flexible list that is reviewed regularly in line with the SEND Code of Practice. Pupils can be removed from the SEND register if they make progress in line with their peers. We find that as some pupils with SEND settle into life at Bredon Hill Academy, they no longer need support from the intervention groups that we offer as they have developed their own skills to access the curriculum or develop their own friendship groups.
As pupils progress through our school, we find that their organisation and presentation improve. We see the confidence in our SEND pupils blossom through increased social interactions and they become independent learners. Our SEND pupils feel safe at BHA, take pride in being active learners and enjoy coming to this school.
If you believe your child may have a special educational need, please contact their form tutor in the first instance to discuss your concerns and implement a plan. An appointment can then be made with Ms Vaughan, our SENCO by clicking here.
Further information can also be found within the School Information Report and SEND policy, both of which you can find links to below.
Ms Sarah Vaughan
Assistant Headteacher - SENCO
Bredon Hill Academy
Last Updated: September 2024
Local Authority Local Offer.