Shirebrook Academy is a mainstream setting, not an enhanced or specialist resource.

At Shirebrook Academy, we welcome visits from students and their parents/carers to discuss how Shirebrook Academy can meet needs.

Our school provides for students with the following needs:

Our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-Ordinator, or SENDCO  

Our SENDCO is Ms Lauren McKay Contact:  

lmckay@shirebrookacademy.org inclusionteam@shirebrookacademy.org  

Miss McKay has 10 years’ experience as a SENDCO including SENDCo in Specialist Provisions. She is a qualified English teacher and has taught within SEND for 10 years, including nurture groups and alternative provision cohorts. 

Miss McKay achieved the National Award in Special Educational Needs Co-ordination in 2017. 
She is allocated 17 periods a week to manage meetings and lead on SEN provision within Inclusion and across Shirebrook Academy. 

Assistant SENDCO  

Our Assistant SENDCO is Leila Mills.  

Mrs Mills has over ten years' experience working with young people with special educational needs, both personally and professionally. She is also a Humanities teacher and teaches across the faculty.   

Mrs Mills has undergone many areas of training relating to SEND; she is a dyslexia specialist, whilst being dyslexic herself.  

She is currently studying the Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing and Access Arrangements.  
Class/subject teachers

All of our teachers receive in-house SEN training, and are supported by the SENDCO to meet the needs of students who have SEN.   

In 2023-24 staff were trained in:   
•    Visual Impairment by the Derbyshire Visual Impairment team  
•    Grids For Learning  
•    Dyslexic Thinking- top tips for adaptive practice  
•    PDA  
•    Executive Functioning  
•    Meeting the sensory needs of Neurodivergent students  

Training needs are identified in response to need. One indicator is analysing the SEND register for the highest area of categories of SEND need. 
 
Teaching Assistants (TAs)  

We have a team of six TAs, including 1 higher-level teaching assistant (LTA) and 3 Apprentice Teaching Assistants who are trained to deliver SEND provision. 

All of our teaching assistants are trained or are working towards training in a specialism to deliver interventions such as ELSA, Talkabout for Teenagers, Fresh Start Phonics, Speech and Language, Safe and Healthy Relationships, Lego Therapy and SEMH Self Regulation.  

In the last academic year, Teaching Assistants have been trained in:  
•    ELSA  
•    Fresh Start Phonics  
•    Autism Spectrum Conditions  
•    Nurture  
•    Manual Handling (wheelchair assistance) 
 
External agencies and experts  

Sometimes we need extra help to offer our students the support they need. Whenever necessary we will work with external support services to meet the needs of our students with SEN and to support their families. These include:  
•    Speech and language therapists  
•    Specialist teachers (of the Deaf or Visually Impaired)  
•    Educational psychologists  
•    Occupational therapists  
•    Specialist Inclusion Team  
•    GPs or paediatricians  
•    School nurses  
•    Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)  
•    Education welfare officers  
•    Social services and other local authority (LA)-provided support services  
•    Derbyshire Information, Advice and Support Services (DIASS) 
•    Voluntary sector organisations  

Firstly, speak to your child’s class teacher and pastoral team to discuss your child’s progress and/or any barriers to learning. If further support is needed, the teacher will liaise with the SENDCO in school. You can also arrange a meeting with the SENDCO to discuss the next steps and any barriers you may have identified. If you think your child might have an undiagnosed neurodiversity, you can go to your GP for referral.  
Every child is different, so the level or types of support given and resources allocated will be dependent upon the individual child’s needs. The class teacher will adapt their own class practises to accommodate the child initially, before seeking advice and support from the SENDCO.    
   
Children who need additional to and from their peers, such as small group interventions and booster groups, will be identified in accordance to their need and performance scores; they do not require a diagnosis or an EHCP to access provisions, nor do children who have a diagnosis or EHCP automatically have access to additional provisions where their progress and needs are met with adaptive practice within the classroom.   
  
If necessary, a Grid For Learning (GfL) will be created for your young person by the inclusion team and SENDCO, to provide class teachers with key information on your child’s difficulties and strategies, including professional advice and specific targets for your child to work on.   The targets on the GfL will be reviewed and monitored regularly to ensure academic and social and emotional progression is achievable for each child. The academy will always ensure aspirational targets for your young person. Parents/carers and children will be invited to review Grids for Learning at least twice per year.   
  
If a child requires significant support to access the mainstream curriculum, school may apply for extra funding for adaptations to the building, curriculum and staffing, as necessary. 

All our class teachers receive regular training on identifying and supporting students with SEN and are vigilant of any students who aren’t making the expected level of progress in their schoolwork, emotionally or socially. This might include not making expected progress at assessment cycles, difficulties in reading and comprehension identified through assessments such as NGRT or in-class performance, writing and spelling, speed of processing, retaining information and number work.

If the teacher identifies that a student is facing difficulties and barriers, they will begin to explore if the student has any gaps in their learning. Where gaps are identified, the teacher will put in place wave 1 classroom strategies and support to address the concerns.

If the student is still struggling to make the expected progress, the teacher will talk to the SENDCO, and will contact you to discuss the possibility that your child has SEN.

The Pastoral Learning Lead and SENDCO will observe the student in the classroom and during unstructured times to see what their strengths and difficulties are. They will have discussions with your child’s teachers, to see if there have been any issues with, or changes in, their progress, attainment or behaviour. They will also compare your child's progress and development with their peers and available national data.

The Pastoral Learning Lead and SENDCO will ask for your opinion and speak to your child to get their input as well. They may also, where appropriate, ask for the opinion of external Shirebrook Academy experts such as a speech and language therapist, an educational psychologist, Specialist Inclusion Team or a paediatrician depending on the level of need and concern.

Based on all of this information, the SENDCO will decide whether your child needs SEN support. You will be told the outcome of the decision in writing.

If your child does need SEN support, their name will be added to the school’s SEND register, and the SENDCO will work with you to create a SEN support plan for them called a Grid for Learning which is shared with classroom teachers and Pastoral support staff.

Twice a year, Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 sit an NGRT (New Group Reading Test) assessment which measures reading skills against the national average. Through a variety of exercises, NGRT can assess students’ knowledge of phonics, comprehension, decoding ability, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, deduction and inference skills, authorial intent, and ability to deal with figurative and idiomatic language.

The SENCO, alongside Heads of Faculty, will review the academic progress of young people with SEN at every learning cycle and will identify appropriate support where required.

Children who are on the SEND register have a SEN support plan called a Grid for Learning, and these are reviewed in cycles throughout the year by the inclusion team keyworkers. Parents/carers are involved in this process. However, they can be reviewed responsively any time there are changes in support/needs.

If concerns arise at any of the assessment cycles and it is discussed and decided that your child may need additional provision, we will follow the ‘graduated approach’ to meeting your child’s SEND needs.

The graduated approach is a 4-part cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review.

As a part of the planning stage of the graduated approach, we will set outcomes that we want to see your child achieve.

Whenever we run an intervention with your child, we will assess them before the intervention begins. This is known as a ‘baseline assessment’. We do this so we can see how much impact the intervention has on your child’s progress.

We will track your child’s progress towards the outcomes we set over time and improve our offer as we learn what your child responds to best.

This process will be continual. If the review shows a pupil has made progress, they may no longer need the additional provision made through SEN support. For others, the cycle will continue and the school's targets, strategies and provisions will be revisited and refined.

We will provide reports every year on your child's progress across all subject areas. Your child’s class/form teacher will meet you at least once a year to:

• Set clear outcomes for your child’s progress.
• Review progress towards those outcomes.
• Discuss the support we will put in place to help your child make that progress
• Identify what we will do, what we will ask you to do, and what we will ask your child to do

Additionally, if your son/daughter has a SEND need the Inclusion team will contact you at least three times a year, to discuss progress against Grid for Learning targets.

The Assistant Vice Principal will also be available at all Consultation Evenings for you to discuss your child.

If your child is on the SEND register, the review schedule for 2024-25 is as follows:

We know that you’re the expert when it comes to your child’s needs and aspirations and therefore we request that you communicate regularly with the academy so that we can ensure effective support, equipping your child with the skills to flourish and to be successful members of their community.

If your child’s needs or aspirations change at any time, please let us know right away so we can keep our provision as relevant as possible.

After any discussion we will make a record of any outcomes, actions and support that have been agreed. This record will be shared with all relevant staff, and you will be given a copy.

If you have concerns that arise between these meetings, please contact your child’s class teacher if it is subject specific or their Pastoral team. You may contact the Academy on 01623 742722 for a message to get to the appropriate team. Or you can contact the SENDCo and Inclusion Team via inclusionteam@shirebrookacademy.org

The level of involvement will depend on your child’s age and level of competence. We recognise that no two children are the same, so we will decide on a case-by-case basis, with your input.

We may seek your child’s views by asking them to:

• Complete a student voice questionnaire (with support if needed)
• Engage in sessions with their keyworker to discuss what is important to them, their goals and aspirations and what they find difficult.
• Attend meetings to discuss their progress and outcomes.
• Prepare a presentation, written statement, video, drawing, etc.
• Discuss their views with a member of staff who can act as a representative during the meeting.
• Engage in school elections and be invited to share their views via votes and suggestions box, or through their Inclusion Student Council representative or Ambassador, who sit on the School Council.

Please see our Accessibility Plan (available at Shirebrook Academy - SEND) which provides information about how the school supports students with disabilities and SEN to access the school, curriculum content and extra-curricular content and activities, and to what extent these adaptations are accessible.

Your child’s teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the students in their class

’Wave 1’ support: High-quality teaching is our first step in responding to your child’s needs. We will make sure that your child has access to a broad and balanced curriculum in every year they are at our school.

We will adapt how we teach to suit the way the student works best, guided by Grids for Learning which will take on views of teachers, parents/carers, students, and professional advice. There is no 'one size fits all’ approach to adapting the curriculum, we work on a case-by-case basis to make sure the adaptations we make are meaningful to your child. However, it is recognised that adaptive practice strategies benefit all students to access the curriculum. The school focuses on ensuring every lesson is taught using these strategies as a ‘non-negotiables’, namely this includes retrieval practice, modelling, live marking, the teaching of reading and personalised feedback.

These adaptations include:

• Personalising our curriculum to make sure all students are able to access it, for example, by grouping, targeted short-term intervention work to fill gaps, adapting the teaching style or content of the lesson, etc.
• Adapting our teaching, for example, giving longer processing times, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, reading instructions aloud, etc.
• Adapting our resources and staffing
• Using recommended aids, such as laptops, coloured overlays, visual timetables, larger font, etc.
• Teaching assistants will support students on a 1-to-1 when identified for targeted intervention, for supporting the movement around the school when required (i.e. wheelchairs) or acting as a reader or scribe during assessments where access arrangements have been applied for and approved by an external body called the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).
• Teaching assistants will support students in small groups when identified for targeted intervention. These students will not be withdrawn from their curriculum offer; they will either engage with their intervention on a rotational basis to not continually miss the same lessons, or the intervention will be for a short-term. Timetabling of these sessions are planned thoughtfully to avoid clashing with core subjects where possible.
• Teaching assistants will support groups of students within the lesson where one or more students with additional learning needs require a higher-ratio of adult support. Resources are allocated by assessing priority of need, professional advice and priority of core subjects.
• Providing support to navigate the site through such as ‘leave early’ passes, ‘toilet’ passes and ‘skip the lunch queue’ passes.

Support is tailored to the individual. Students do not need to have a diagnosis or EHCP to get the support that they need. Examples of support include (but are not limited to):

We may also provide the following interventions as ‘Wave 2’ support:  
 
Interventions are planned short-term schemes of work that are highly personalised to the child or small groups of children working on the same outcomes. When a student is identified as needing an intervention, there will be a ‘baseline’ assessment which will identify areas to develop, then targets and outcomes set. A scheme of work is then planned. 
 
At the end of an intervention cycle, which is usually six weeks or half-termly, an evaluation is completed by the member of staff delivering the intervention (this could be a TA, HLTA, Inclusion Manager, Assistant Inclusion Manager, Behaviour or Pastoral Team member)> Progress is then reviewed and the intervention is either closed or extended with new targets/outcomes and additional schemes of work.  
 
The school delivers interventions in order to meet need, which can mean that some interventions are highly bespoke in order to meet need. The following intervention list is therefore fluid and can explain to respond to need. 
 
The school regularly uses these interventions to support the following areas of need (but it is not an exhaustive list, please see Shirebrook Academy - SEND for our in-depth ‘Provision Map- Waves of Intervention Curriculum Offer): 

These interventions are part of our contribution to Derbyshire County Council’s local offer.

Available here: http://www.derbyshiresendlocaloffer.org/

We will evaluate the effectiveness of provision for your child by:

• Reviewing their progress towards their goals each term.  
• Reviewing the impact of interventions after six weeks or every half-term   Using student questionnaires and student voice.  
• Monitoring by the Pastoral Learning Lead and SENDCO including of data and observation.  
• Tracking baseline assessment, intervention sessions, and milestone and summative assessment.  
• Holding an annual review (if they have an education, health and care (EHC) plan).  
• Reviewing the Grid for Learning at review cycles and at any point where there are changes.
• Seeking external professional advice where necessary. 

It may be that your child’s needs mean we need to secure:  
•    Extra equipment or facilities  
•    More teaching assistant hours  
•    Further training for our staff   
•    External specialist expertise  

If that’s the case, we will consult with external agencies to get recommendations on what will best help your child access their learning.    

The school does not provide 1:1 additional classroom support 100% of the time for any child, nor does it provide teaching assistants for every classroom; instead, the classroom teacher adapts provision in conjunction with SENDCo and other professional guidance in order to promote independence, and teaching assistants are deployed strategically according to most need.   
 
Teaching Assistants are also used for targeted timetabled specific interventions. The rest of their timetabled allocation is shared evenly across the identified additional needs.   

The school endeavours to remove any barriers students with SEND may face so that they may enjoy the same activities as other students, including physical activities. Please see our Accessibility Plan for further information Shirebrook Academy - SEND  
 
The school actively tracks the uptake of extra-curricular activities that students with SEND engage in, to monitor accessibility for these students.  
 
All of our extra-curricular activities and school visits are available to all our students, including our before and after-school clubs and all students are encouraged to take part in them. Rewards activities/events are for all students recognising and rewarding relative progress and achievement.   
 
Inclusion also offers discrete rewards, after-school provision and social events which are accessible for all students who access Inclusion; not all of these students are on the SEND register, but benefit from Inclusion support or may be part of a ‘Circle of Friends’ group of a student who is on the SEND register.  
 
All students are encouraged to go on our school trips, including our residential trips. Teaching Assistants often attend on school trips to support as keypersons for children on the SEND register.  
 
No student is ever excluded from taking part in these activities because of their SEN or disability and we will make whatever reasonable adjustments are needed to make sure they can be included. Parents/carers are involved where significant adjustments need to be made.  

Our admissions policy is here in addition to a parent guide: Shirebrook Academy - Shirebrook Academy Policies  
Our arrangements for the admission of prospective students with a disability and prospective students with SEN:  
 
Students with an EHCP: The local authority undergoes a consultation period with prospective schools.  
 
Feeder schools for Year 6 to Year 7 EHCP transfers undergo consultation procedures as early as from Year 5 but can happen up until the summer term before the next new school year. Statutory timeframes for this consultation period mean that the school must respond within 14 days. The academy requests that the SENDCO attends any Primary School annual reviews for Year 6 students where consultations to Shirebrook Academy are considered. 
 
Parents/carers of children with an EHCP may wish to visit the school and speak to the Inclusion Team to find out if the provision is right to meet the needs of their child prior to requesting a consultation from the local authority; visits are welcomed. Where a school is named by the Local Authority for a child with an EHCP, these children must be admitted to the school.  
 
Within the first few weeks of the autumn term, Shirebrook Academy host an open evening for Year 5 and 6s who are interested in transferring to the school for their secondary education. The invite is for parents/carers/families and children to come and visit the school and have an opportunity to speak to the Inclusion Team about how their child’s needs might be met in school. Opportunities to revisit or have further discussions with the Inclusion Team are welcomed, particularly for children who may require a more enhanced transition.   
 
For all other applications (including those for children with special educational needs but no EHCP) places will be allocated in the following order of priority:   

1. Looked after children and children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order) including those children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.   
2. Children living in the normal area served by the school at the time of application and admission who have siblings attending the school at the time of application and admission.   
3. Children living in the normal area served by the school at the time of application and admission.   
4. Children not living in the normal area served by the school but who have siblings attending the school at the time of application and admission.  
5. Other children whose parents have requested a place. 

Please see the school’s Equality and SEND policies which can be found here: 

• Increase the extent to which disabled students can participate in the curriculum
• Improve the physical environment to enable disabled students to take better advantage of the education, benefits, facilities and services you provide
• Improve the availability of accessible information to disabled students      

We provide support for students to progress in their emotional and social development in the following ways:

• Students are supported within Assemblies, PHSE and PD dropdowns days as well as across the curriculum about the importance of positive mental health and how to work with other students.  Additional support is provided by their Form Tutors, Pastoral Team and Safeguarding teams as needed.  We have a Whole School Mental Health pathway which helps students, parents and staff to support young people. We also have two MIND Counsellors who are based with us every week to provide additional support. We also provide ELSA, Early Help and work with external agencies as needed to get the right help for young people.  
• Students with SEND are encouraged to be part of the school council; if they are not councillors directly, the inclusion team support children to make contributions for their voice to be heard through questionnaires and suggestions box. 
• Student voice is collected annually as part of a supported questionnaire, which covers students’ SEMH, feelings of safety within the academy, support systems in place and accessibility to curricular and extracurricular events. This is followed up by keypersons in the inclusion and pastoral teams.  
• Students with SEND are also encouraged to be part of any sporting activity or club to promote teamwork/building friendships.  
• We provide extra pastoral support for listening to the views of students with SEND by having experienced Pastoral Managers and Pastoral learning Leads who work closely with the Inclusion Team. 
• We run a nurture club for students who need extra support with social or emotional development. 
• We run a Homework Club for students who access inclusion two nights after school a week. This club also supports students who need ‘Circle of Friends’. Inclusion also offers this social support during unstructured times within the school day.  
• We have a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to bullying. We prevent bullying in the school by all students and staff knowing our Ethos and Values, work within the PSHE curriculum, Assemblies, bullying reporting forms for staff and having safe spaces for students to go to before, during and after school.

Between years  
To help students with SEN be prepared for a new school year we:  

• Have a series of assemblies/tutor time sessions where school expectations, pastoral systems and extracurricular offers are outlined.  
• Offer Inclusion Support during unstructured times to check-in and ask questions with a keyperson, such as checking timetables and asking for homework support.

Between schools

When your child is moving on from our school, we will ask you and your child what information you want us to share with the new setting.    

For students joining our school, we invite parents/carers/families and the child to meet with the leadership/pastoral/inclusion teams as relevant. Visits are welcomed.

Between phases 

The SENDCO/member of the Inclusion Leadership Team and the Y7 pastoral team of the secondary school will come into the primary feeder school for a meeting with their SENDCO and classroom teacher. They will discuss the needs of all the children who are receiving SEN support. This collaborative approach starts in the summer term.
 
An open evening in autumn term 1 is held for parents/carers/families of y5s and y6s to visit with their children to look around the building, meet the staff, experience some curriculum activities whilst gathering information about the school. Children and families have the opportunity to meet the staff within the inclusion team to discuss individual needs and how the school can support. Further parent/carer meetings can be arranged where enhanced transitions may be needed.   
 
Transition visits are planned to prepare students for secondary school.  
Students will be prepared for the transition by:  

• Practising with a secondary school timetable  
• Learning how to get organised independently   

Meet and greet of pastoral and inclusion team keypersons. Children on the SEND register have a named keyperson from the Inclusion Team in addition to pastoral learning leaders and support managers (year team support).  

• Site tours  
• Pre-September taster days and transition visits  
• Being introduced to school policies and systems which are relevant to the student such as behaviour, uniform, rewards.  

Moving to adulthood 

We provide all our students with appropriate advice and materials on paths into work or further education. There is a collaborative approach with the careers, pastoral and inclusion teams on this. Some students need more enhanced and bespoke support to move to the next stage after their secondary school, or gain meaningful and supportive work experience placements. We work with the students to help them achieve their ambitions, which can include goals in higher education, employment, independent living and participation in society.    
 
Each Year 11 student has a leadership tutorial to support their Year 11 outcomes holistically.  
 
There is a Year 11 parent/carer information event at least every half term.  
 
From Year 9 upwards our PSHE curriculum content supports skills for Preparing for Adulthood. Some students may need enhanced support in this area and can have intervention packages to fill these gaps which are delivered in small groups of no more than four students.   
 
We also have short weekly intervention programmes delivered with external professionals in conjunction with the careers team which supports a group of around 10 students per session, lessons cover life skills needed for employment such as interview skills, transport, budgeting, CV and cover letter writing.   

Our Vice Principal for Inclusion is Lindsay Ward. She is also our Designated Safeguarding Lead.  
 
As designated teacher, she will work with our SENDCO and Inclusion Team, to make sure that all teachers understand how a looked-after or previously looked-after student’s circumstances and their SEN might interact, and what the implications are for teaching and learning.  
 
Children who are looked-after or previously looked-after will be supported much in the same way as any other child who has SEN. However, looked-after students will also have a personal education plan (PEP). We will make sure that the PEP and any SEN support plans or EHC plans are consistent and complement one another.

Here is the link to the school’s complaints policy:

If you have questions about SEN, or are struggling to cope, please get in touch to let us know. We want to support you, your child and your family.  
To see what support is available to you locally, have a look at your local authority’s local offer. Derbyshire County Council and Nottinghamshire County Council both publish information about the local offer on their websites, links are below.   
  
The SEND Local Offer brings together information that will be helpful to children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their families. The SEND Local Offer is intended to help you to find information about services and provision that are available or signpost you to somebody who can provide you with the information you need, through one easily searchable website which can be accessed at: 
http://www.derbyshiresendlocaloffer.org/    
  
Some students live within Nottinghamshire and have a Nottinghamshire postcode. The directory of services available to these students can be found on the Nottinghamshire SEND Local Offer, here: Nottshelpyourself | SEND Local Offer.    
  
Please be aware that if your local authority is Nottinghamshire, referral pathways must be through Nottinghamshire services only despite being registered with a Derbyshire school.   
  
Our local special educational needs and disabilities information, advice and support (SENDIAS) services are a  team which offer impartial advice to parents and young people with special educational needs:   
Phone - 01332 641414:   
Email - SENDIASS@derby.gov.uk :  Text - 07800005190  https://www.derby.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools-and-colleges/sendinformation-advice-support/  
  
National charities that offer information and support to families of children with SEN are:  
IPSEA  
SEND family support  
NSPCC  
Family Action  
Special Needs Jungle