Special Educational Needs & Disability

Please see the links on the right for the first issue of the SEND Newsletter for Parents and Carers which has been co-produced by Herefordshire Council, Parent Carer Voice Herefordshire and Herefordshire CCG and the Talk Community Directory Local Offer. Both have lots of information and advice for families with children with SEND.

Our SENDCo is Mrs C Sankey and Miss T Watkins is our SENDCo Admin Assistant.

The SENDCo (Special Educational Needs & Disability Co-Ordinator) has responsibility for:

• Applying the school’s SEND Policy (see below)
• Coordinating provision for children with Additional Educational Need and developing the school’s SEND policy.

Ensuring that parents are:

• Involved in supporting their child’s learning and access
• Kept informed about the range and level of support offered to their child
• Included in reviewing how their child is doing
• Consulted about planning successful movement (transition) to a further education setting
• Liaising with a range of agencies outside of school who can offer advice and support to help students overcome any difficulties
• Providing specialist advice and facilitating training to ensure that all staff are skilled and confident about meeting a range of needs.

All staff are involved in the identification of students with additional needs in their mainstream classroom. Information already available is circulated to all staff by the SENDCo at the beginning of each academic year. Details of differing needs, the Stage of Assessment under the Code of Practice and any additional provision from other agencies is provided. Teaching staff familiarise themselves with the needs of any students in their teaching group and respond appropriately with the support of the Intervention Team.

Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) provide specific group and 1-1 support.  Staff liaise closely with them to ensure maximum effectiveness.  They have a huge range of skills to offer in supporting students directly and indirectly, assisting staff and helping parents/carers.

Students with EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans)  will have targets and strategies set by the SENDCo which all teaching staff have the opportunity to feed into.  Annual reviews involving the student, parents/carers, subject staff and other professionals evaluate those targets and strategies.  Parents and carers are encouraged to contact the school should they have any concerns or require any additional information. 

The SEND  policy is updated annually to reflect the policies and practices required by the Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs and other legislation. 

Kingstone Academy Trust’s offer in support of pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND) is included within our policies below. Please also see our Examinations Policy in the Exam & BTEC Guidance section ( under Information ) for more details of the reasonable adjustments made for students with SEND taking examinations.