SEND Support
Hello, my name is Ms Davis and I am the SENCO at Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich.
At Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich, we are proud of the inclusive provision we offer to ensure every student can thrive. We want you to feel fully supported throughout your child’s educational journey, so please do reach out if you need any advice or guidance.
You can download a copy of our SEN Policy below, and further details about the governor responsible for SEN are available on our Governors page.
We look forward to working with you and supporting your child to achieve their very best.
Ms M Davis, SENCO, Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich
How do we identify learning or developmental needs?
We identify learning or development needs through:
- entry assessments in literacy and language
- advice from primary schools
- referrals from parents
- feedback from teachers
- self-referrals from students
- considering documents and information we have from other professionals and any assessments
This process may lead to further support or referrals, which are discussed in conjunction with the pupil’s family.
What support is available?
Local authorities and schools publish a local offer which sets out what support a student can be offered. It is from this ‘offer’ that we will be selecting the appropriate support that we can offer to individual students.
Our current local offer can be downloaded from the bottom of this page. Information about the Southwark Council local offer can be found at http://localoffer.southwark.gov.uk/.
We have four ‘tiers’ of support:
- Tier 1 – Universal - Quality First Class Teaching
- Tier 2 – Targeted - additional support with curriculum or communication skills
- Tier 3 – Specialist - tailored support students with more complex needs
We involve parents and students in any decision to offer additional support because their views are extremely important.
There are four headings under which a student might be considered to have special and additional needs:
- Communication and interaction
- Cognition and learning
- Social, mental and emotional health
- Sensory and/or physical
The academy will have evidence for considering a student to have additional needs in one or more of these areas and this can be shared with parents.
How we monitor provision and review progress towards outcomes
Governors monitor the provision for students with additional needs through monitoring visits, governing body meetings and by looking at the data provided by the academy and Department for Education. We analyse behaviour, attendance and performance for all students, including those who are categorised as needing additional help.
Each term, we review the support each student is receiving and assess whether it is having impact, whether it should continue, whether it can be discontinued as it is no longer needed. Parents will be consulted over any changes. Students who have an EHCP also have an annual review of the provision being made for them and their progress against targets.
Support between phases/preparing for adulthood
The academy will ensure that students with identified special needs get an early opportunity to have one-to-one information, advice and guidance from a careers adviser. EHCP reviews will include someone with careers experience wherever possible.
The academy will engage with other educational providers to ensure the best provision is accessible to families looking for something non-mainstream.
The academy constantly reviews the curriculum offer we make for students; if we feel that our mainstream curriculum is not the most appropriate for a young person, we would discuss an alternative curriculum for a student with them and their family.
Staffing
The Academy's SENCO is Ms M Davis
Other staff include:
- Assistant SENCO
- Specialist dyslexia/literacy teacher
- Life coaches (3 days per week)
- Mental Health Practitioner (1 day a week)
- Teaching assistants, who support work within class and deliver out-of-class interventions
- Trained ELSAs
We can also access services including, for example, educational psychology, occupational therapy, specialist hearing or sight impairment teachers and the Autism Outreach Service. We will assess the need for these services on an individual basis and consider whether we can provide or access other external support.
The academy works with a range of professionals to support all its students. These include Speech and Language, Autism and OK, Lets Talk Autism, counsellors, an Educational Psychologist where necessary, social workers, health professionals, CAMHS and the NHS.
Access arrangements
From Year 7 some pupils have access arrangements for assessments and exams. These may include extra time, rest breaks or use of a computer and as the pupil goes evidence based testing and JCQ rigorous system determines any applications that might be made for public exams.
Policies & Documents