Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Aims and philosophy

We passionately believe in an inclusive education for all and are dedicated to providing a ‘whole school’ approach to raising achievement in line with the students’ starting point. This is very much who we are as an academy and as a community.

We are incredibly proud of the personal, social and academic achievements of our young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities and are confident that through an inclusive learning environment and high quality learning experiences we help students go from Sancroft equipped to make the most of the next stage of their learning and to live ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10).

We have high aspirations for our entire community and aim to create a learning environment which is flexible enough to meet the needs of all students in our community and supports them to make the best possible progress and achieve their full potential regardless of their individual needs. Our inclusive ethos aims to encourage all pupils to be actively involved in their own learning. This involves valuing all pupils and staff equally and supporting them in reducing barriers to learning and participation. 

At Sancroft, we use the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycle.   We ensure that any additional needs that a student may have are identified early and we offer a package of support to meet those requirements.

What is SEND?

As set out in the SEND Code of Practice 2015, a child or young person has a special educational need if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them which is different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age.

All mainstream schools (which includes maintained schools and academies) have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with SEND and are supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school.  All schools are supported to be inclusive, with the needs of pupils with SEND being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible, where families want this to happen.

Additionally, schools have to provide details of the school-specific offer which should reflect the Norfolk SEND Local Offer.

The Local Offer has two key purposes:

• To provide clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the provision available to support disabled children and children with SEN and their families.  This easy-to-understand information will set out what is normally available in schools to help children with lower-level SEN as well as the options available to support families who need additional help to care for their child.
• To make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving children and young people with SEND, parents/carers and service providers in its development and review.

As part of the Local Offer, all schools and county councils must publish on their website information about what support there is for children with SEND in the school and cluster.

We aim to:

• Ensure that the academy’s statutory duties are met for students that have an Education Health and Care Plan. 
• Ensure that students are enabled to become independent, resourceful and resilient learners. 
• Ensure every child achieves their potential regardless of their barriers to learning or starting point. 
• Ensure there are strong links with parents and families in regard to supporting their child
• Ensure that the views of individual students are considered when determining the nature of provision required to support them. 
• Ensure all advice from professionals is integrated into planning and provision. 
• Ensure we use the data and progress of students to inform planning and provision.
• Please click on the links below for further information about The Harleston Sancroft Academy SEND provision