Special Educational Needs

This page set outs the provision available at Acland Burghley School (ABS) for students with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). It aims to be simple and accessible; should further detail be required, please refer to the Special Educational Needs Policy on the Policies page. Please also refer to your Local Authority’s Local Offer for further services and support available to you and your family:

ABS and Additional Educational Needs (AEN)

At ABS we use the more inclusive heading of Additional Educational Needs (AEN) rather than SEND as the faculty name and in our daily language. AEN encompasses SEND and any other barrier to learning that means a student may require additional support to achieve their potential. The term AEN will be referred to throughout this document and includes SEND. 

Our vision

The Governors and Staff at ABS are committed to the inclusion of students with AEN in the full life of the school, with equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum.

We will provide the support and personal encouragement our students need to participate and make progress to achieve their full potential, and, to make a successful transition to adulthood. We work in partnership with parents and carers to achieve this vision.

Contact

Dylan Owen
Director of Learning  Inclusion
Designated Safeguarding Lead and SENDCo
sen@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk

SEND Information Report

This information is reviewed every year in collaboration with parents and carers of our students with SEND and external professionals such as SaLTs and EPs. The SEND Team and parents hold these collaborative meetings every half-term.

Glossary

SEND: Special Education Needs and Disability

EHC plan: Education Health Care Plan

K Student: A student that receives SEND support but does not have an EHC plan

ARP: Alternative Resource Provision. At Acland Burghley School we have an ARP for students with complex Autism Spectrum Disorder.

SaLT: Speech and Language Therapist

EP: Educational Psychologist

SOC: Student Outcome Coordinator

LSP: Lead SEND Practitioner

IEP: Individual Education Plan

CoP: Code of Practice

APDR: Assess, Plan, Do, Review

QFT: Quality First Teaching

IHCP: Individual Health Care Plan

AET: Autism Education Trust

 

1. What types of SEND are supported at Acland Burghley School?

Acland Burghley School is an inclusive school that welcomes application forms for all students with Special Education Needs and Disabilities.

Our Mainstream Provision

We accept students with special education needs from the four broad areas of needs namely: Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Sensory and/or Physical needs as stated in the SEND Code of Practice (CoP). We welcome consultations from all students and families that are interested in joining Acland Burghley School.

Our Alternative Resourced Provision (BASE)

Young people who are given a BASE placement will have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan with a diagnosis of autism and have the most exceptional complex needs. Decision about entry to the BASE are managed by Camden Local Authority.  

2. How does Acland Burghley School identify pupils with SEND and assess their needs?

We receive information from primary schools regarding students who have been on their Special Education Needs register – that is to say the student is receiving SEND support at their Primary School. These students are then automatically placed on our SEND register.

For students who join the school after the start of Y7, or who were not previously identified as having SEND we take referrals from teachers, students and parents regarding concerns that there are learning difficulties.

Our team of Lead SEND Practitioners then assess students using a combination of standardised test such as LUCID screeners and student observations to determine whether there is a learning difficulty, the type of learning difficulty and how much the learning difficulty is impacting on the student’s ability to engage with their education.

We group students into one of the four broad areas of SEND:

  • communication and interaction,
  • cognition and learning,
  • social, emotional and mental health
  • sensory and/or physical needs,

This helps us determine what type of SEND support is most suitable.

When appropriate we draw upon the expertise of our team of Education Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapist, CAMHS workers and Occupational Therapist to further advance our assessments.

 

3. Who are the key members of staff for AEN?

Director of Learning  Inclusion 
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo) 

Associate SENDCo
Communication & Learning and Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Billy Pinches  |  bpinches@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk 

Curriculum Lead for Autism Provision
Communication & Interaction and Physical & Sensory
Antonios Siorovigkas  asiorovigkas@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk

Deputy SENDCo
Keerat Sira  |  bsira@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk 

Teachers

English: Anja Donn  |  adonn@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk 
Maths: Faisa Guled  |   fguled@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk 

Specialist Instructor of SEND

Adrian Ruda  |  aruda@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk   

Lead SEND Practitioners (LSP)

Hani Ali  hali@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk 
Chloe Bland  |  cbland@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk 
Tessa Wolfe  |  twolfe@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk 
Leah Jones  |  ljones@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk
Annabel Hickingbotham  | ahickingbotham@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk

Link Governor for SEND

Rachel Hermer  |  governors@aclandburghley.camden.sch.uk

And a well-qualified team of Teaching and Learning Assistants (TLAs)

4. How does the school consult with students with SEND and their families to make sure they are all involved in the education of the students?

Students are involved in decisions about their support as part of ongoing reviews but also through daily conversations with staff. We use student voice panels once per term to gain further feedback on our general approach so we can make effective and helpful changes, for example we recently met with students to discuss break and lunch provisions and as a result changes were made to our extracurricular activities.

If your child has an EHCP (E) they will have a Key Worker who will be your first point of contact and will be in regular communication. If your child is on SEN Support (K), they will have a Student Outcome Coordinator (SOC) or you can contact the Lead SEND Practitioner (LSP) responsible for their primary area of need. The role of the Key Worker or SOC is to coordinate the interventions being put in place and share successful strategies with teachers and will be responsible for measuring the impact. This will be in the form of a pupil profile for E students and an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for K students. These profiles and plans are reviewed termly, following an Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle, as outlined in the SEND CoP. 

There is an AEN Parent Network Group who meet together to share experiences and offer support when needed. These meetings are attended by the SENCO and is an opportunity to problem solve and improve the provision together.

You will be able to give your feedback during annual and termly reviews but also at any point in the year as things arise.

5. How does Acland Burghley assess and review student progress?

All students at Acland Burghley School are given aspirational targets for each of their subjects. These aspirational targets are informed by the student’s past scores in national examinations e.g. Year 6 SATS in primary school. Student’s progress is routinely measured against these targets and we can assess if a student is making expected progress, is below expected progress or is exceeding expected progress.

In addition to this, students on the SEND register have additional targets that are not always linked to academic performance. For students with EHC plans this is taken from Section E and F of the plan and includes outcomes around education and employment, independence, friends, relationships and community involvement and health and wellbeing. These are outlined on the pupil profile. For SEND Support students, these are taken from diagnostic reports and from working with the wider AEN Team and external professionals and will appear on the IEP. The profiles and IEPs are updated regularly, in line with APDR cycles as stated in the SEND CoP.

Students on the SEND register (E and K) may also have short term targets relating to specific interventions such as being able to identify their emotional state and to use strategies to regulate behaviour or be able to share concerns and problems with a trusted adult.

6. How does Acland Burghley School support students to transition between phases of education and/or in preparation for independent living?

KS2-KS3

Prior to joining Acland Burghley School students will have a number of transition days at the school. This involves a tour of the school, meeting members of staff, taster lessons and team-building exercises. This allows students to become familiar with the school surroundings and procedures.

KS3-KS4

The transition from KS3 to KS4 sees students select their GCSE options. To assist with this, the school runs an options event where both students and parents/carers can speak to teachers and understand how the course runs. Students with a key-worker will have contact with them to discuss options in more detail.

Students with AEN are, at this point, given Access Arrangement assessments by a trained member of the AEN Faculty. Access Arrangements are put in place when a student displays a need for extra support in exams. For example, this support might include extra time and/or a scribe to write or use of a laptop.

KS4-KS5

Students at this stage are supported in making choices about college and apprenticeships. This includes assistance with applications, CVs and interviews. Students with EHCPs are supported with their transition by members of the AEN Department who take them to their college and help them to understand what a day at college is like.

 

7. How does Acland Burghley School approach teaching pupils with SEND and what additional support is available to SEND students?

Key to our approach is the understanding that all students benefit from strategies that support SEND students. Therefore, all our teachers use ‘Quality First Teaching’ (QFT) in their lessons. This is our universal level of support and is a style of teaching that emphasises high quality, inclusive teaching for all pupils in a class. QFT includes adaptive learning, such as using a visual resource, breaking down instructions into smaller chunks of information or modelling techniques. These adaptive techniques will meet the learning needs of most students with SEND without the need for additional support or interventions.

See section 9.5 of the SEND policy for more details on our QFT strategy. The SEND Policy is available on our Policies page.

Some SEND students will require support in addition to QFT. This is where a combination of universal and targeted intervention will help. This second wave of support can include withdrawing a student from lessons to complete work in small groups or it can include in-class additional support. In-class support can come from a trained professional for example Teaching and Learning Assistants (TLAs). Our interventions are grouped to meet the needs of students in the four broad areas of SEND and include:

o For Communication and Interaction: Circle of Friends; Positive Interaction, Life Skills and Zones of Regulation.

o For Cognition and Learning: Use of laptop in lesson, rapid reader, touch typing, homework club, differentiated homework

o For Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH): Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA), mentoring, restorative conversations

o For Physical and sensory needs, including medical needs: Ear defenders, sensory diet, morning gym, Individual Health Care Plan (IHCP)

Wave 3 – Specialist/targeted support

If the combination of universal and targeted support have not resulted in a student making progress, we then use specialist/targeted interventions. These interventions include direct work with our EPs, SaLTs or other external professionals such as CAMHS.

 

 

8. What SEND specific training is in place for staff?

We are the Autism Education Trust Hub for Camden and all staff, and new staff who join Acland Burghley as part of their induction, complete Making Sense of Autism and further training from the Autism Education Trust (AET). This is in addition to a general introductory SEND training session ran by the wider AEN Team.

We run regular training sessions for staff, delivered by our EPs, SaLTs, CAMHS Clinicians and Occupational Therapists (OT). This is in addition to staff attendance at external training sessions e.g. dyslexia, dyscalculia, access arrangements, first aid etc.

The AEN Team also put on a number of whole-staff training sessions throughout the year during INSET days, morning briefings and faculty meetings.

9. How do we know our provision for students with SEND supports their progress?

We operate a data led approach to evaluate the effectiveness of our practice. At least once a term, the progress of each student on the SEND register is measured against their identified targets, this includes measuring the impact of any intervention they have been receiving.

This information is shared with the students and families who are invited to give their views on the next cycle of support. Discussions as to whether to move support from targets interventions back to universal provision or forward to specialist support happens during these review cycles.

 

10. How do we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with SEND?

Key to our approach is the understanding that all students benefit from strategies that support SEND students. This is captured in the school’s QFT strategy. This is a style of teaching that emphasises high quality, inclusive teaching for all pupils in a class. QFT includes adaptive learning, such as using visual resources and/or breaking down instructions into smaller chunks of information. 

See section 9.5 of the SEND policy for more details on out QFT strategy. The SEND Policy is available on our Policies page.

For students with significant needs we run an adapted parallel curriculum which is differentiated to make it accessible to students with SEND. This parallel curriculum continues to meet the subject requirements of the National Curriculum, but it is delivered to students in smaller class sizes by specialised SEND teachers.

 

11. How accessible is the Acland Burghley building to students with physical disabilities?

ABS is a Grade 2 listed building that was built in the 1960s. It has a unique design which is appreciated by many but may not be suitable for all learners. We welcome and encourage families to visit so that they understand the layout and structure of our learning environment.

See our Accessibility Plan on the Policies page which includes how the school has increased the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school's curriculum; how the school has improved the physical environment to ensure that disabled pupils are able to take advantage of the education and benefits provided in facilities and services.

We are committed to increasing the extent to which disabled pupils participate in the school's curriculum and will be regularly reviewing the accessibility plan.

 

12. Is there a lift?

Yes, this is located in one part of the school so that students can access the ground and 1st floors and we are able to make classroom adjustments to ensure a full coverage of the curriculum for pupils who require the use of the lift.

 

13. How do we ensure pupils with a disability are treated equally?

At Acland Burghley School we pride ourselves on our inclusive approach to education. We are compliant with the 2010 Equality Act as is evidence in our Medical Needs Policy, Behaviour Policy and Accessibility Plan.

We review these three key document regularly to ensure our practice is inclusive. In addition to this we review key data such as attendance, progress and behaviour data to ensure our own internal data is consistent with that of an inclusive school. This data is submitted to our governing body for scrutiny. We take swift action when any incident is not consistent with a fully inclusive education.

 

14. What training and expertise do staff at Acland Burghley have to support pupils with SEND

We have a large team within our Additional Education Needs Faculty. The structure of the team, with 5 Lead SEND practitioners – at least one in each of the four broad areas of SEND – ensure we have SEND specialists in the team. These colleagues regularly lead staff training for the faculty and the wider school on their area of specialty.

Our Lead SEND specialists, along with our EPs and SaLTs run faculty specific intervention strategies for groups of students or individual students where best practice and strategies are share and reviewed.

The whole staff receive regular training from the SENCo around best practices and our pupil profiles and IEPs share student specific strategies to support staff to adapt their teaching to meet the needs of the students.

Our Curriculum Leader of the ARP is the lead trainer for the Autism Education Trust training programme and contributes to delivering AET training material to schools across Camden. All staff at Acland Burghley School receive ‘Making sense of Autism ‘and ‘Good Autism Training’ as part of their staff induction programme.

 

 15. Which external professionals do we work alongside?

We work alongside a range of external professionals to ensure our students receive the best support they can. These include:

  • 3 Educational Psychologists who are based at Acland Burghley School for the equivalent of 1 day per week each.
  • 1 Speech and Language Therapist who is in school 3 days per week.
  • 1 CAMHS Clinician who is in school for half a day per week.
  • 1 School CAMHS Practitioner who is in school 2 days per week.
  • 1 Occupational Therapist who is in school 4 days per term.
  • Social workers who are assigned to families.
  • Learning mentors from different organisations.

We also work closely with SENDIAS which is an impartial, confidential and free service to families that offers advice and support to young people with SEND and their parents/carers.

To contact SENDIAS at Camden please email SENDIASS@camden.gov.uk 

To contact SENDIASS at Islington please email islingtonsend@family-action.org.uk

16. How does Acland Burghley enable students with SEND to engage fully in school life?

On average over 25% of the total school population at Acland Burghley School are on the SEND register. Our inclusive approach to education ensures there is no segregation and students with SEND have the opportunity to engage with all aspects of the school’s curriculum including our extracurricular activities and clubs.

We regularly review attendance to extracurricular activities to ensure SEND students are taking part. Where we notice a lack of SEND students attending we speak to the students that have shown an interest and their families to understand any barriers. For example, we have had cases where a student with high levels of anxiety might find it difficult to attend an activity. In this instance we support students in overcoming this, for example, using a Teaching and Learning Assistant to support the student to attend a session or using a buddy system where the student is paired with another student to encourage attendance.

 

17. How do we secure equipment and facilities to support pupils with SEND?

If a student requires additional equipment beyond what is available in school and that cannot be covered from the money assigned to that student, we would request additional funding from the relevant local authority.

 

18. What anti-bullying measures are in place?

At Acland Burghley School we take a zero-tolerance approach to bullying. We do not accept bullying of any kind. Our behaviour policy outlines the rigorous systems that we have in place to ensure bullying is not part of the school culture - see section 16 of the behaviour policy.

Disagreements are an inevitable part of human interaction and the frequency of disagreements are higher in young adults as they learn how to positively interact with others, including those with different personalities and mindsets. Our goal is to equip our students with the necessary skills to work through disagreements.

Our students are excellent at talking to staff and raising concerns. Students can always turn to their tutor or a trusted member of staff. Every lunch time we run the Place2Talk service (on the first floor in yellow block) where a trained member of staff is available to talk to individuals or to groups of students about their concerns. We have an anonymous and confidential application called ‘Whisper’ where students or parents can alert the school about any concerns.

We see education as the key component to tackling bullying and this is an important component of our Personal Development Curriculum that all students access, for example, below is a brief outline of some of the topics that were taught to students on the drop-down day on the 14 November to launch anti-bullying week.

Year 7 topic: Bullying Vs Banter (social media included)

Year 8 topic: Emotional literacy and the power behind hurtful language (social media included)

Year 9 topic: Being a leader and creating change in your community by standing against bullying

Year 10 topic: Our role in the wider world (digital footprint)

We also run parent workshops. For example, in the sessions that were run during the Autumn term the following were looked at:

1. Open discussion - A chance for parents/carers to talk about the emotional challenges of dealing with bullying and discuss the specific issues affecting them. The trainer will offer steps and techniques that may be useful for the whole group.

2. Understanding “modelling behaviour" – introducing how your experiences or behaviour may influence your child and explore positive ways to communicate.

3. Assertiveness training – will ensure parents and carers are familiar with assertiveness skills, how families can practice these with their child and everyone’s role in tackling bullying.

 

19. What if I am not happy with how my child is being supported?

If you are not happy with the support your child is receiving, and have raised issues with relevant staff and these are still unresolved, then you can follow the school's Complaints Policy on the Policies page of the website.

We also work closely with SENDIAS which is an impartial, confidential and free service to families that offers advice and support to young people with SEND and their parents/carers.

To contact SENDIAS at Camden please email SENDIAS (contact details) SENDIASS@camden.gov.uk 

 

If you have any concerns email send@aclandburghley 

 

20. What if my child is Looked After and has SEND?

Acland Burghley School works alongside the Virtual School and the local authority to ensure Looked After Children receive the support they need. Dylan Owen, the school’s SENCO is also the school’s Designated Teacher for Looked After Children. One of the responsibilities of the school’s designated teacher is to work with the local authority to ensure the student’s personal education plan (PEP) is implemented and reviewed regularly. This PEP would sit alongside the SEN support being implemented and would be routinely reviewed and updated as needed.

Progress, attendance and behaviour data for Looked After Children are reviewed at least termly and presented to governors at least annually for scrutiny to ensure appropriate support is in place. 

 

Base (ARP) Information

What If I think my child needs a place at the Base?

Young people who are given a base placement will have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan with a diagnosis of autism and have the most exceptional complex needs. Admissions are formally managed by the Local Authority. Acland Burghley School does not make decisions on who receives a base placement. The agreed place number for the base is 20 places, with the distribution of 4 base students per year group.

 

What is the purpose of the Base?

The purpose of the base is to provide targeted support for students with autism and complex needs in a mainstream school setting. This support enables young people to make progress, achieve their identified outcomes, and continue to access the mainstream curriculum to the fullest extent possible whilst being provided with a specialist intervention programme.

The base provides a flexible approach, tailored and adapted to the needs of each individual pupil. The base is intended for pupils who need to spend significant proportions of their time away from large class settings in order that they receive high level of targeted support to maximise the extent to which each pupil can access the school’s broader learning and social settings. However, the extent to which this can happen will be dependent on an individual young person’s needs. Students receiving support from the base are on the mainstream school’s roll but receive more intensive support to deliver the interventions that are specified in a young person’s EHC Plan.

 

What support does the Base offer?

The aim of the base is to meet the needs of its pupils through wider inclusive practice. Using the additional resources we will strive to eliminate the physical, organisational and attitudinal barriers experienced by young people with autism so that they feel fully and equally a part of the school and wider community. Acland Burghley will:

  • Offer every young person with a base placement an education in social and learning contexts alongside their mainstream peers to the greatest extent that they are able to manage, to ensure that they see themselves as part of a mainstream class/tutor group as far as each individual base student is able to manage
  • Provide support at a variable level, guided by assessment, as needed for the young person in the context of the classroom/activity. This will vary between:

- independent access in a specific context, subject or activity

- support pre-and/or post activity (pre-teaching, study skills, revision/over-learning and reflection)

- support to and from the activity -scaffolding to support the activity by an adult

  • Provide a differentiated curriculum to support the young person’s preparation to adulthood
  • Will individualise some of the young person’s curriculum as part of a bespoke programme tailored to meet each young person’s needs.
 

What Curriculum do students follow in the Base?

It is a requirement that all students who are placed in the base will follow the national curriculum. Base teachers, in collaboration with mainstream teachers will be responsible for planning, modification of curriculum materials and delivery of the special educational provision to meet the needs and objectives specified in pupils’ EHC plans. Base students study academic subjects both within mainstream classes alongside their peers and within the base. Within the base students are taught 1:1, 1:2 or in small nurture groups and they are generally supported 1:1 or 1:2 in mainstream larger classes. As students develop greater independence, academic and/or social emotional support is withdrawn gradually as appropriate, to support students with achieving positive outcomes and making successful transition into adulthood.

For some KS4 base students it may be appropriate for them to study GCSE options, however, it may be more suitable for some KS4 base students to receive a tailored curriculum content or delivery by studying one of the courses from our AEN pathway.

 

What Facilities are there in the Base?

Physical adaptations such as workstations

Yes

Small group teaching spaces

Yes

Low sensory demand spaces 

Yes

Toilets with easy reach of teaching spaces

Yes

Sensory room

Yes

Quiet/accessible outdoor space

Yes

Gym

Yes