Contact

For any other queries please contact our SEN co-ordinator (SENCO) Mrs White at school on 01429 273790 or email: awhite@ems.bhcet.org.uk

Curriculum

We offer all our students a broad, balanced and sometimes individualised curriculum that is totally inclusive and we are committed to delivering opportunities for every child, both academic and vocational, to showcase the student’s talents. As part of this inclusive ethos the SEND department work closely with many outside agencies including our Partner Primary Schools, Catcote School (our neighbouring Special School), our Educational Psychologist and the LA SENS department.

There are alternative curriculum options available for our students with Special Educational Needs which could consist of one or more of the following options:

  • Tailored intervention time working one-to-one with Learning Support Assistants to develop Literacy, Numeracy and/or Social Skills
  • A reduced timetable in order to provide extra time for students who need additional support with coursework, revision or further teaching.

In addition to curriculum time we also provide:

  • Morning intervention for students who require extra support with Literacy, numeracy, social skills, organisation and mentoring during registration (8.40 – 9 am)
  • • Homework Club for students who need extra support with organisation and explanation of homework tasks. Our team of learning support officers are on hand to communicate with Teachers about homework if anything has been missed.

Overview of SEND

School Monitoring
This means that there is evidence that a child is not making progress at school and there is a need for action to be taken to meet learning difficulties. This can include the involvement of extra LSA’s / mentors and may also require the use of different learning materials, special equipment or a different teaching strategy. As a school we do not believe in one to one support by a learning support assistant within a larger class but may attach a Learning support assistant to a class to help any student at the direction of the teacher.

K- SEN Support
This means that the school is working in partnership with the LA’s support services, the local Health Authority or with Social Services. For example, this may be advice from a Speech and Language Therapist, an Occupational Therapist or Specialist Advisory Services dealing with Autism, Behavioural Needs etc. It may also include one-to-one support and the involvement of an Educational Psychologist.

EHC (Education Health Care) Plan
An EHC plan of special needs is a formal document detailing a child’s learning difficulties and any health issues. It outlines the support needed to allow the students’ needs to be met. It is reviewed annually to ensure that any extra support given continues to meet the student’s needs.

The SEND register is a way of identifying a student with a special educational need to all teachers in order to facilitate the progress of that individual student. This may be a short term or long term need. Students may be removed or added to the register at any time after testing and consultation with parents.

Applying for a place at EMS

For further information please contact the school admin team:

Information about school places and appeals
Tel: (01429) 523768 / 523765
E-mail: admissionsteam@hartlepool.gov.uk

For independent advice about school admissions you can contact the Choice Adviser
Tel: (01429) 523752
E-mail: choiceadviser@hartlepool.gov.uk

Primary Transition

Transition into Secondary School can be a very stressful time for children, particularly those with a Special Educational Need. At English Martyrs we endeavour to make this transition as comfortable as possible. The support we offer is as follows:

  • Attendance at Y5/Y6 Annual Reviews/Review meetings
  • Additional visits to the school to meet selected staff, tour of the school, lunch with a Learning Support Assistant
  • Visits from a Secondary Learning Support Assistant to the Primary School
  • Collaboration with Primary teacher to produce successful strategies for IEP

Parents

Regular communication with parents is of the upmost importance to ensure the paramount provision for any child; this is essential particularly for a child with a Special Educational Need. Parents form the part of any process that is put in place to support our students. Parents are involved in the development of IEPs and attend regular meetings to review student progress and welfare. In addition to this, every parent who has a child at English Martyrs receives their child’s progress review 6 times a year.

Provision

As a school we differentiate and support our students in a myriad of different way to reflect the variety inherent in all our students.

  • Quality first teaching which differentiates and allows access to every student in the class and facilities progress on all levels.
  • IEPs which give all teachers and staff extra information about a student to ensure their needs can be met.
  • Reading/Writing intervention. This is provided on a daily basis for key students to facilitate progress and can be tailored to address any concerns of students or parents.

External Agencies Contacts

Local Authority SEN Department – 01429 284242
Child, Adolescent Mental Health Services (Hartlepool) – 01429 285049
Speech, Language and Communication Department (Hartlepool) – 01429 522717
Parents in Partnership – 01429 287352
Home Hospital – 01642 624544
West View Project
Social Worker Educational Psychologist

Local Offer

Information on local services and support available for children & young people with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) can be found here https://www.hartlepoolnow.co.uk/local_offer

Organisation

Learning Support Assistant’s
Our team of Learning Support Assistants (LSA’s) are distributed to support students on a need basis. By closely monitoring students in subjects alongside their entitled hours of provision, a timetable is put into place detailing the lessons required for support. For some students this provision is full one to one support. In summary, the role of a LSA is as follows:

  • Being aware of the school’s procedures for the identification and assessment of, and subsequent provision for, SEND students
  • Collaborating with the SENCO to decide the action required to assist the student to progress
  • Working with the SENCO to collect all available information on the student
  • Working with SEND students on a daily basis to deliver the individual programme set out in the IEP

IEPs
Every student who arrives in Year 7 with a Special Educational Need will have an IEP (an Individual Education Plan) which outlines the Strengths, Needs, Targets, Suggested Support Strategies and any other relevant information regarding the student. The Student, Parent, SENDCO, Head of Year and Form Tutor will all have the opportunity to feed into this document and then it will be attached to the Student profile for class teachers to read.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Exams Testing

If a child has a Special Educational Need, it could be that they are entitled to one or more exam concessions when they sit their GCSE examinations. These students will be tested towards the end of Year 9 in order for these concessions to last them the 2 years they will have left at school. A child has the opportunity to receive one or more of the following:

  • A reader
  • A scribe
  • The use of a computer
  • Extra time
  • Use of a smaller room

Testing
If a parent or teacher is concerned that a student may have a special educational need then there are a number of testing options available within school.

  • Dyslexia/dyscalculia screener (a computer programme which can identify the common learning preferences of a student with a specific learning difficulty).
  • CAMHs – The child and Adult Mental Health service. Although the name may be daunting, our local CAMHs service provide the school with a variety of help; working with students who are anxious, stressed, struggle with ADHD or even grief counselling.
  • Educational Psychologist – The school works very closely with our education psychologist on a number of levels. These range from asking for general advice and strategies to help SEND students’ progress, to working with individual student and their family to ensure that a student is getting the most out of their school life.

Tracking

As well as the normal tracking procedure in place within the school, the SEND department endeavour to track the progress of every SEND student on our register. We do this as a means to measure progress and plan intervention accordingly.

Life Skills

As well as traditional forms of intervention the Learning Support Assistants also work with identified SEND students on ‘Life Skills’. This includes units of work on self-awareness, working with others and socialisation as well as planning for key life transitions.

Learning Support Assistants

Our LSAs are divided into areas of specialism.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder Team (ASD)
Speech Language & Communication Need Team (SPLS S&L)
Social, Emotional & Mental Health Team (SEMH)
English as an Additional Language Team (EAL)
Physical Disability Team