'At Tornedale our shared vision is that of community, where everyone works together for the children. We wish to provide a safe and inclusive school where everyone is challenged and supported to reach their own individual potential

Our SENCO is Miss C Newton. To contact Miss Newton please call the main school office on 01302 868387 or email senco@tornedaleacademy.com

Our Aims:

• Provide an equal and accessible curriculum where possible for all the children in our care
• Develop a partnership with parents at all times
• Identify a child’s needs as soon as possible and support them individually
• Include and consider views of parents and children with SEND
• Where possible children will be involved in the development of their own programmes.

Provision for children with special educational needs is a matter for the school as a whole. In addition to the Governing body, the school’s head teacher, the SENCO, the class teacher and support staff all have responsibility to uphold this provision.

Definition of Special Educational Needs

According to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (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 him or her.  A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for other of the same age in mainstream school or mainstream post-16 institutions.

Doncaster Local Authority Local Offer for SEN

The local offer provides information for children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEND) and their parents or carers in a single place. It shows families what they can expect from a range of local agencies, including education, health and social care. Knowing what is out there gives families more choice and therefore more control over what support is right for their children.

https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/schools/local-offer-send

We support all children to access the curriculum wherever possible:

• Our school environment is a safe environment which celebrates the work of all children and supports them in all abilities and skills.
• As we are a small school, staff understand the needs of all pupils in each class.  

We support children with additional needs

If you and the school feel that your child has significant additional needs, they will be added to the school’s Special Educational Needs register.  Parents / Carers are invited to attend meetings, with our SENCO, about their child at least three times a year.  During these meetings, previous targets are reviewed, additional support and intervention is offered and planned for and new targets are set.  Where a child’s needs are more complex parents/ carers are invited annual reviews which may involve other professionals.

We work in partnership with other agencies to ensure we support all children with additional needs.  

We support speech and language development and children with ASD

For children with specific speech difficulties we are able to refer children to Doncaster’s Speech and Language Therapy Department and we work closely with our speech and language therapist to support these children.  We also receive support from the ASCETs team which, with parental consent, observe children and support teachers and support staff in providing a specifically differentiated curriculum.

What do I do if I think my child may have Special Educational Needs?

You should contact your child’s teacher initially or arrange a meeting with the SENCO Miss Newton. We will listen carefully to your concerns and put appropriate actions in place. This may involve suggesting other professionals who might be able to help.

How will School Support my Child?

The class teacher will plan specific targets and  put in place a support plan shared with parents, this will detail the support needed to meet those targets. This is likely to include lots of extra practice of a specific aspect of learning over the course of the week as well as differentiated tasks within lessons. This will be overseen  termly by Miss Newton and any other professionals involved with the child. Miss Newton will attend some support plan reviews based on the progress of the child and class teacher/parent invitation. Any alternative provision will be delivered by teachers and support staff and will be reviewed regularly by teachers. Any plans or targets will be shared with you at parents’ evenings or at review meetings with the SENCO.