Crompton House School offers a range of support networks for pupils with SEND. Our Pastoral system through Heads of Year and Assistant Heads of Year responds to any pastoral issues that may arise.

• The department employs Teaching Assistants who are trained to meet the individual needs of the students, under the guidance and procedures outlined in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 years, 2015.
• We employ a fully qualified nurse (Matron), to look after the health needs of pupils and staff, in addition, a number of members of staff are fully qualified First Aiders and many others are qualified to deal with most emergencies.
• There is a designated Inclusion HUB which is staffed by Teaching Assistants where students with SEND are supported by a range of academic and social interventions. We also offer a variety of lunchtime clubs where students can develop new skills or meet with their friends. All students are encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities.

Matron maintains Health Care Plans for medical purposes, which are regularly up-dated. It is the responsibility of the parent/carer to ensure that inhalers and any required medication is brought in to school and is in date. We also require that the relevant information on dosage, application or administration is clearly identified.  The SENCO maintains Health Care Plans for pupils with a disability when necessary.

SEN students are included in the review of EHCP’s and SEN Support Plans where they can present their views on education and the provision offered by the school. Pupil voice is also embedded in individual Pupil Profiles documents.

We have close liaison with the primary schools where relevant information is shared about each child’s individual needs. There are 2 official transition days when all pupils visit the school and a transition evening when pupils and their parents visit the school and the students meet their form tutors. Pupils with SEND are encouraged to visit the school as often as necessary prior to transition.

For students moving on to Key Stage 4 & 5, preparation is embedded into the process of the EHC and SEN support plan Reviews.  For pupils moving on to college or another training provider, a Career Guidance Interview (CGI) takes place with the Careers Advisor and all relevant information contained within the EHC Plan and CGI is forwarded to the next training provider.

We actively encourage visits from prospective parents and their children to speak to relevant staff. This can be as early as Year 5.   If your child has a special educational need and you are considering Crompton House School for his/her education, you should contact the SENCO and make an appointment to visit the school. If you are unsure of your child’s need please make contact with the school’s General Office and they will help you contact the relevant person to help you.

You can contact the SENCO by calling the school on 01706 847451 or alternatively you can email her directly at m.newell@cromptonhouse.org

All students are provided with individualised programmes where it is seen to be necessary.  By adapting timetables and providing targeted interventions, we aim to enable all our students to access a broad and balanced curriculum so that they can achieve their full potential academically and socially.

Learning is planned by individual teachers with support from the Inclusion Department where necessary. Homework is provided regularly for all our students and advice on how parents can assist is readily available from the school. Where specific learning difficulties occur, parents will be consulted individually.

We regularly review the needs of, and the provision for, individual students. This will involve gathering information from the professionals involved with the child; teachers, support staff and outside agencies. Parents/carers are kept informed of developments and consulted about their views of our provision. Our first response to parental/carer concern will be high quality teaching targeted at areas of weakness. Also, it is critical that the students and their parents/carers are actively involved, so when the school has concerns about a child the parents are always informed in the first instance.  We value the knowledge, parents/carers have about their children and their perception of their needs.

Option guidance interviews are offered to all students and their parents to ensure that option choices are matched to the child’s needs.

We regularly assess all our students to ensure that they make expected progress throughout the year. This is in the form of regular teacher assessment, which is collated and analysed by the SENCO and other relevant key staff. We also hold regular Special Needs Link meetings with a designated member of staff from each department, in order to discuss the progress of individual student’s well-being and progress.

We hold regular Parents’ Evenings where you can discuss your child with individual teachers. In addition, the Inclusion Department hold individual reviews for certain students where the need is deemed to be greater. We also hold reviews of our students who have a statement of SEND/EHC Plan. The regular collection of data is analysed in line with National Standards. Should a learning need be identified, parents/carers will be informed and strategies to support the student will be introduced. In the first instance, this may involve supporting through high quality teaching within individual lessons, ensuring that the learning style of the child is recognised. Further strategies employed can be:

• • Mentoring
  • Small group support
  • In class support
  • Involvement of outside agencies

The SENCO and Assistant SENCO have completed the National Award in Special Educational Provision. All members of the SEN team take part in regular training and development activities to ensure that their knowledge is current and that good practice is shared. We also have staff who are trained in the primary phase and work with students who have SEND.
We access a range of support services dependent on the needs of our students.  These include:

•    The Educational Psychology Service
•    Speech & Language Service
•    CAMHS
•    Quality and Effectiveness Support Team (QEST)
•    Physical Impairment Team
•    Visual Impairment Team
•    Hearing Impairment Team
•    Physiotherapy Services
•    Occupational Health Services

Contact details of Specialist Support Services, including arrangements made in accordance with Clause 32 are available on the Oldham Local Authority website.

Parents/carers often want to know if their child will be able to access all of the activities at school.  This will depend on the nature of the disability.  Every effort is made to include all students but, where there may be health and safety concerns, alternative arrangements are made. A range of strategies will be employed to help children be included, these may include:

•    1:1 adult support
•    Alternative transport arrangements
•    Use of specialist equipment e.g. wheelchairs

Parents/carers are always kept fully informed of school trips.  Specific areas of risk are always brought to the attention of parents/carers in letters home with accompanying consent forms for signature.  Medical and emergency contact details are always requested.  In cases of severe need, parents/carers will always be consulted in person.

Decisions are reached in consultation with a range of people and services, which include the parents/carers.  The decision is a consensus of all interested parties and is made with the best interests of the student who is at the centre of the process.  Parents/carers are asked to provide their views throughout the process.  A rigorous assessment process and analysis of data as well as the views of the young person involved will be used to judge whether the support has had an impact.

Wheelchair Access is available for most of the school and where possible we make reasonable adjustments, such as changes to teaching rooms for students who are unable to access certain areas. The school has a toilet for the disabled in each building and has designated disabled parking spaces.

Provision is made for students with visual impairment in the form of iPads, relevant applications, enlarged text and changes to font and background to enable access to learning.
For students who have hearing impairments, we employ an Educational Communicator (signer). Students whose first language is not English have access to a bilingual dictionary and relevant applications on the computer.

Crompton House School allocates funding, in line with Government guidelines, to individual SEND students to provide for their individual needs, liaising with staff, pupils, and parents/carers to make sure that our resources are matched to each individual child. At Crompton House School there is careful identification of need and all levels of provision are carefully monitored. High quality teaching is a priority in our school and is available to all students, whilst others may be supported in smaller groups or individually.

Training for SEND at Crompton House School is on-going to ensure that all staff are proficient and fully up to date with recent legislative practices. Training is undertaken in accordance with need within the school setting. All teachers have recently undertaken the Outstanding Teacher Programme and all Teaching Assistants are currently undertaking the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Programme.

We encourage parents/carers to make contact with the school should they have any concerns about their child’s progress or learning in school.  Who to contact will depend entirely on the nature of your concern.  Our staff will listen to your concerns and take appropriate action.  You may consider contacting the following staff:

• • If it is a learning need, you may wish to contact the SENCO
  • If the concern is more of a pastoral matter
    –     Form Tutor
    ⁃    Head of Year
    ⁃    Assistant Head of Year
  • If it is a medical concern you would contact Matron.

There are opportunities to contact us about things that have happened both at home and at school. Should parents/carers wish to contact school by telephone, then the child’s Head of Year or the SENCO should be the initial contact.