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SEN

Keyham Lodge School SEND Offer

Keyham Lodge School is a specialist setting for up to 115 learners with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs. We are an inclusive school and strive to support all our young people to make the best possible progress and to achieve.  We provide effective support for children with special educational needs, beginning with our first contact with parents and carers when the child enters our school.  We ensure that additional needs are identified early and we offer a range of provisions according to identified needs.  We work alongside a range of other professionals, (e.g. Health or Social Care, local college provision, third sector provision) to make sure that all children receive the support they need to do well at school and when moving on into adult life.

Keyham Lodge has a variety of in-school and off-site provisions to meet the diverse needs of young people with social, emotional and mental health needs.  All students allocated a placement here receive a tailored provision based upon a regularly reviewed and detailed Education, Health and Care Plan.  We have a range of specialist staff within every classroom and a pastoral support team, and we work closely with outside agencies across the city to ensure we address the needs of each child and their family.

Identifying Children’s Additional Needs

Due to the level of expertise at Keyham Lodge, we do on occasion, identify that a young person needs additional help. These concerns may also be raised during discussion with a parent/carer. This may occur during a discussion, if the young person is not making the progress we expect, through a change in behaviour or during a formal review process. Parents can approach staff at any time if they are worried about their child. They may then be invited to meet with the class teacher, a key worker, a member of the Leadership team or the SENCO to discuss planned support for their child. These staff will also be able to provide advice or suggest referrals for support on particular family issues such as managing behaviour at home.  Sometimes further assessments may be undertaken to help us to develop a package of support and may involve professionals such as an Educational Psychologist, Health professional or Speech and Language Therapist.

Involving Parents and Young People in Planning Support

Staff working with a young person will regularly contact parents to keep them informed of progress as well as any concerns.  These staff will include the year group Pastoral Teaching Assistant, the Tutor, Behaviour Mentors, the SENCO as well as members of the Leadership team.  This contact will also include regular review meetings to ensure the young person is making both academic progress and when measured against the objectives set out in the Education, Health and Care plan.  At all stages, students at Keyham Lodge will be given the opportunity to express their viewpoints and discuss what they feel would help them. This allows the young person to develop a self-awareness of their own needs, a valuable skill for later life.

The Range of Support Available to My Child

Due to the expertise and specialist setting at Keyham Lodge, we are able to offer many different kinds of support for individual students. Staff are encouraged to participate in relevant training related to the developing needs of the young people attending the school. CPD and INSET opportunities are regularly reviewed as part of the professional development process.

The amount of support a student accesses will vary depending on their individual requirements outlined in their Education, Health and Care Plan and in discussion with those who know the young person well.  These may include:

  • Pastoral Support Plans based on small targets and incentives
  • Individual support from staff
  • Support for health needs
  • Specialist teaching support
  • Targeted social and emotional support
  • Support for communication needs both in the classroom and from other professionals
  • Adaptions and differentiation during lessons
  • Bespoke timetables and the provision of off-site learning experiences
  • Daily and Weekly incentive offers
  • Regular opportunities for learning outside the classroom
  • Specialised literacy and numeracy support programmes

 

Our Staff

Staff at Keyham Lodge come from a variety of backgrounds and have a range of skills which we use to ensure they are used in a way which best matches our students’ needs.  When recruiting staff we pay particular attention to their teaching interests, past experience and personal interests in order to ensure we have a team who are diverse, flexible and consistent with our own educational ethos.  All teachers and support staff are involved in regular training sessions, coaching programmes and sharing of good practice in our setting and in others around the city. Furthermore, we encourage all staff to develop themselves through training provided outside of the school.  This allows us to ensure we not only build upon people’s skills but also enable them to progress. It is important that all of our students see that everyone is a learner and it is something we all benefit from.

Measuring Student’s Progress

Class teachers monitor each child’s progress and discuss this with the Senior Leadership Team and the SENCO.  Regular team meetings are held with staff to discuss the progress and raise any concerns relating to each student. Each teacher considers each student’s targets and records these in their own planning. We measure progress in part using assessment of curriculum targets and partly by considering the social and emotional development shown through their behaviour for learning. This is tracked using a behaviour diary and levelling of behaviours or ‘Licence’ to Learn where staff discuss a student’s skills in being ready to learn and set targets to help the student achieve the next ‘gear’.  Progress in terms of gears is recognised via regular rewards including trips and visits for those who attain Gear 3 Status.

During the statutory review process for the Education, Health and Care plan, all students also receive individual targets.  These are not always based on ‘learning’ in the form of levels or grades but can be focused on overcoming the individual barriers faced by students and may look at attendance, small aspects of behaviour or plans for the future broken into smaller steps.  This process will also outline the support that is available to help them to achieve these steps and who will be monitoring them.

Whilst we appreciate the need for educational improvement at Keyham Lodge, we understand that ‘progress’ and ‘success’ for our students can look very different to a grade on a certificate. Over the year we monitor the small steps and changes we have seen in behaviour, concentration, social skills and response to challenges and track these through examples from staff or feedback from other adults. We value a parent’s input to these and any feedback or comments you can provide to ensure those attending Keyham Lodge improve as young adults as well as learners is always welcome. Academic progress is reviewed by class teachers every term and discussed with those who work with the child.  Parents will be informed of any concerns alongside regular contact for positive achievements in the classroom.  The statutory review of the Education, Health and Care Plan will happen every year. There will also be twice yearly review meetings including a Parent’s Evening to discuss individual progress.  Such meetings are not restricted to these dates and at Keyham Lodge we are happy to arrange reviews at any stage should there be any issues a parent wishes to discuss.

Inclusion and Accessibility of the School

Young people at Keyham Lodge are all offered access to a broad curriculum including equal access to additional opportunities such as Outdoor Education, Enrichment activities and all school events.  We have a school council which represents the voice of students and has a say in all school developments and school clubs or activities. We make it a requirement that any outside provider who offers school activities ensures it is accessible to all students.  The school environment is also regularly reviewed to take account of the needs of all those in attendance including those with sensory difficulties or physical needs. Specialist transport is arranged where appropriate and necessary.

Starting or Changing Schools (Transition)

Careful consideration to the individual needs of each young person is put into any package for transition to or from Keyham Lodge. Initial contact is made with the setting previously attending and with parents/carers, as soon as we are formally notified the young person will be attending our school.  A suitable integration and education programme is then formulated to ensure each young person experiences success at Keyham Lodge from the very start.  Initially, this may involve a staggered start of shorter school days to ensure the young person is not overwhelmed or stressed by the experience of changing schools.  At all times the young person will be supported by the Pastoral Support Team and Learning Behaviour Mentors at Keyham Lodge and parents/carers will remain informed of their success in settling in.

From year nine, all students are supported by Tutors, Support staff, PSHE teachers and Connexions to make realistic, appropriate and challenging options choices. This may involve exploring future career options and parents are seen as key in this process and will be invited to Options Evenings. In Years 10 and 11 future career paths are further explored with visits to local colleges, meeting local employers and a range of experiential and certificated courses offered via post 16 learning providers. The Connexions Service work closely with the school and families to support this transition to further education.  From Year 9 plans and targets will always take into consideration a student and parent’s hopes and aspirations for the future. Targets will be set to look at steps we can take to support a young person to enter employment, access housing, maintain good health and establish positive relationships both socially and in the community. During this stage of schooling, all progress reviews will include a plan for ensuring a successful transfer to the next stage of education and employment. This will look at what support is needed, who can provide that support, considerations and advice for future provision and a timescale for achieving small changes which will enable our students to become successful adults in the future.

Who should I contact?

In all cases, the first person to speak to is your child’s Form Tutor or Pastoral Teaching Assistant as they will know your child best. They will also be best placed to direct the query to the right person in the school using the systems we have in place to enable this. You will then be contacted as quickly as possible by the relevant member of staff. At times, you may have other queries which you would like to discuss in more depth and these can all be accessed through the main school number 0116 241 6852, selecting the correct option.

The following websites may also be useful to you for further information:

https://www.leicester.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/special-educational-needs-sen/ - Leicester City LA advice

http://www.sendiassleicester.org.uk/ - an independent service that offers free, confidential and impartial information, advice and support to parents and carers of young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)

www.sendgateway.org.uk – for information on SEN and new legislation changes

www.kids.org.uk – support for families of children with SEN, including financial advice

www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk – advice on supporting children and families with a variety of needs.

www.preparingforadulthood.org.uk – advice on moving into further education, employment and social support.

www.ipsea.org.uk – independent advice for parents and families of children with SEN, including advocates who can support you during multi agency meetings or legal processes.