SEN Information Report

Field Road Academy

Respect

Reflection

Resilience

Responsibility

Part of The Lighthouse Multi Academy Trust

Special Educational Needs

(SEN Information Report)

Approved by:	D Newton (Head Teacher) S Baker (Chair of Local school committee) Local School Committee
Date:
Last reviewed on:	September 2025
Next review date:	September 2026

Contents. 2

What types of SEN does the school provide for?. 2
Which staff will support my child, and what training have they had?. 3
What should I do if I think my child has SEN?. 5
How will the school know if my child needs SEN support?. 5
How will the school measure my child’s progress?. 5
How will I be involved in decisions made about my child’s education?. 6
How will my child be involved in decisions made about their education?. 7
How will the school adapt its teaching for my child?. 7
How will the school evaluate whether the support in place is helping my child?. 8
How will the school resources be secured for my child?. 8
How will the school make sure my child is included in activities alongside pupils who don’t have SEND? 9
How does the school make sure the admissions process is fair for pupils with SEN or a disability?. 9
How does the school support pupils with disabilities?. 9
How will the school support my child’s mental health and emotional and social development?. 9
What support will be available for my child as they transition between classes or settings or in preparing for adulthood?. 10
What support is in place for looked-after and previously looked-after children with SEN?. 10
What should I do if I have a complaint about my child’s SEN support?. 10
What support is available for me and my family?. 11
Glossary. 11

Dear parents and carers,

The aim of this information report is to explain how we implement our SEND policy. In other words, we want to show you how SEND support works in our school.

If you want to know more about our arrangements for SEND, read our SEND policy.

You can find it on our website.

You can ask a member of staff to make a copy/send you the policy.

Note: If there are any terms we’ve used in this information report that you’re unsure of, you can look them up in the Glossary at the end of the report.

1. What types of SEN does the academy provide for?

Our academy provides for pupils with the following needs:

Area of need	Condition
Communication and interaction	Autism spectrum disorder
Communication and interaction	Speech and language difficulties
Cognition and learning	Specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia


	Moderate learning difficulties
	Severe learning difficulties
Social, emotional and mental health	ADHD, ADD
Social, emotional and mental health	Adverse childhood experiences and/or mental health issues
Sensory and/or physical	Hearing impairments
	Visual impairment
	Multi-sensory impairment
	Physical impairment

2. Which staff will support my child, and what training have they had?

Our special educational needs co-ordinator, or SENCO

Our SENCO is Miss C Jukes.

She is currently completing her NPQ in Special Educational Needs Co-ordination. They are a qualified teacher.

She is allocated at least 1 day a week to manage SEN provision, alongside her Senior Leadership duties.

Class teachers

All of our teachers receive in-house SEN training, and additional training provided by external agencies such as North Star Inclusion Advisory Team. They are supported by the SENCO to meet the needs of pupils who have SEN.

In the last academic year, teachers have been trained in:

Collecting SEND learner pupil voice and parent voice
Adaptive teaching
Using and applying QFT strategies and use of SEN toolkit
Writing SMART targets
Banding of SEND
Using QR codes to support children

We have teaching assistants who are trained to deliver interventions such as:

Teaching Assistants (TAs)

Words First
RWI
Precision Teaching
Build to Express
Lego Therapy
Friendship Terrace
Talk Boost

In the last academic year, they have all been trained in:

RWI
Use of resources
Use of AI

External agencies and experts

Sometimes we need extra help to offer our pupils the support that they need. Whenever necessary we will work with external support services to meet the needs of our pupils with SEN and to support their families. These include:

Speech and language therapists
North Star Inclusion Advisory Team
CADMUS
Bright Sky Speech and Language
Educational psychologists
Occupational therapists
GPs or paediatricians
School nurses
Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
Education welfare officers
Social services and other LA-provided support services
Walsall Street Teams

3. What should I do if I think my child has SEN?

If you think your child might have SEN, the first person you should tell is your child’s teacher.

They will pass the message on to our SENCO, Miss Jukes, who will be in touch to discuss your concerns.

You can also contact the SENCO directly through the academy office.

We will meet with you to discuss your concerns and try to get a better understanding of what your child’s strengths and difficulties are.

Together we will decide what outcomes to seek for your child and agree on next steps.

We will make a note of what’s been discussed and add this to your child’s record. You will also be given a copy of this.

If we decide that your child needs SEN support, we will notify you and your child will be added to the academy’s SEND register.

4. How will the academy know if my child needs SEN support?

All our class teachers are aware of SEN and are on the lookout for any pupils who aren’t making the expected level of progress in their schoolwork or socially.

If the teacher notices that a pupil is falling behind, they try to find out if the pupil has any gaps in their learning. If they can find a gap, they will give the pupil extra support to try to fill it. Pupils who don’t have SEN usually make progress quickly once the gap in their learning has been filled.

If the pupil is still struggling to make the expected progress, the teacher will talk to the SENCO, and will contact you to discuss the possibility that your child has SEN.

The SENCO will have discussions with your child’s teacher/s, to see if there have been any issues with, or changes in, their progress, attainment or behaviour. They will also compare your child's progress and development with their peers and available national data.

The SENCO will ask for your opinion and speak to your child to get their input as well. They may also, where appropriate, ask for the opinion of external experts such as a speech and language therapist, an educational psychologist, or a paediatrician.

Based on all of this information, the SENCO will decide whether your child needs SEN support. You will be informed of the decision.

If your child does need SEN support, their name will be added to the academy’s SEN register, and the SENCO or class teacher will work with you to create a SEN support plan for them.

5. How will the academy measure my child’s progress?

We will follow the ‘graduated approach’ to meeting your child’s SEN needs.

The graduated approach is a 4-part cycle of assess, plan, do, review.

Review

We will assess how well the support we put in place helped the pupil to meet the outcomes we set. We will use our improved understanding of
your child’s needs to improve the support we offer.

We will put our plan into practice.

The class teacher, with the support of the SENCO, will be responsible for working with your child on a daily basis, and making sure the support we put in place is having the impact we intended.

Plan

In discussion with you and your child, we will decide what outcomes we are hoping to achieve. We will make a plan of the support we will offer your child to help them meet those outcomes. We will make a record of this and share it with you and all relevant academy staff.

Assess

If your child is not making the expected level of progress, we will make an assessment to find out what strengths and difficulties your child has. We will ask for you and your child’s input, as well as getting help from external professionals where necessary.

As a part of the planning stage of the graduated approach, we will set outcomes that we want to see your child achieve.

We will track your child’s progress towards the outcomes we set over time and improve our offer as we learn what your child responds to best.

This process will be continual. If the review shows a pupil has made progress, they may no longer need the additional provision made through SEN support. For others, the cycle will continue and the academy's targets, strategies and provisions will be revisited and refined.

6. How will I be involved in decisions made about my child’s education?

We will review your child’s progress towards their outcomes each term.

Your child’s class/form teacher will discuss the Support Plan and your views three times a year.

Set clear outcomes for your child’s progress
Review progress towards those outcomes
Discuss the support we will put in place to help your child make that progress
Identify what we will do, what we will ask you to do, and what we will ask your child to do

The SENCO may also attend these meetings to provide extra support.

We know that you’re the expert when it comes to your child’s needs and aspirations. So we want to make sure you have a full understanding of how we’re trying to meet your child’s needs, so that you can provide insight into what you think would work best for your child.

We also want to hear from you as much as possible so that we can build a better picture of how the SEN support we are providing is impacting your child outside of the academy.

If your child’s needs or aspirations change at any time, please let us know right away so we can keep our provision as relevant as possible.

After any discussion we will make a record of any outcomes, actions and support that have been agreed. This record will be shared with all relevant staff, and you will be given a copy.

If you have concerns that arise between these meetings, please contact your child’s class teacher.

7. How will my child be involved in decisions made about their education?

The level of involvement will depend on your child’s age, and level of competence. We recognise that no 2 children are the same, so we will decide on a case-by-case basis, with your input.

We may seek your child’s views by asking them to:

Attend meetings to discuss their progress and outcomes
Prepare a presentation, written statement, video, drawing, etc.
Discuss their views with a member of staff

How will the academy adapt its teaching for my child?

Your child’s teacher is responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the pupils in their class.

High-quality teaching is our first step in responding to your child’s needs. We will make sure that your child has access to a broad and balanced curriculum in every year they are at our academy.

We will differentiate (or adapt) how we teach to suit the way the pupil works best. There is no '1 size fits all’ approach to adapting the curriculum, we work on a case-by case basis to make sure the adaptations we make are meaningful to your child.

These adaptations include:

Differentiating our curriculum to make sure all pupils are able to access it, for example, by grouping, 1-to-1 work, adapting the teaching style or content of the lesson, etc.
Differentiating our teaching, for example, giving longer processing times, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, reading instructions aloud, etc.
Adapting our resources and staffing
Using recommended aids, such as laptops, coloured overlays, visual timetables, larger font, etc.

We may also provide the following interventions:

Please note, this list is not extensive and does not include all interventions and support that will be in place.

Area of need	Condition	EXAMPLES OF How we support these pupils
Communication and interaction	Autism spectrum disorder	Visual timetables Social stories Task slicers
Communication and interaction	Speech and language difficulties	Speech and language therapy
Cognition and learning	Specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia	Writing slope Task slicers Coloured overlays Coloured paper Line free paper


	Moderate learning difficulties	RWI 1-1 tutoring
	Severe learning difficulties	1-1 support
Social, emotional and mental health	ADHD, ADD	Quiet workstation Regular breaks
Social, emotional and mental health	Adverse childhood experiences and/or mental health issues	Lego Therapy Build to Express 1-1 Place2Be counselling
Sensory and/or physical	Hearing impairment
	Visual impairment	Limiting classroom displays Enlarged texts
	Multi-sensory impairment
	Physical impairment

These interventions are part of our contribution to Walsall’s local offer.

9. How will the academy evaluate whether the support in place is helping my child?

We will evaluate the effectiveness of provision for your child by:

Reviewing their progress towards their goals each term
Reviewing the impact of interventions after a term
Using pupil voice
Monitoring by the SENCO
Using provision maps to measure progress
Holding an annual review (if they have an education, health and care (EHC) plan)

10. How will the academy resources be secured for my child?

It may be that your child’s needs mean we need to secure:

Extra equipment or facilities
More teaching assistant hours
Further training for our staff
External specialist expertise

If that’s the case, we will consult with external agencies to get recommendations on what will best help your child access their learning.

The academy will cover up to £6,000 of any necessary costs. If funding is needed beyond this, we will seek it from our local authority.

11. How will the academy make sure my child is included in activities alongside pupils who don’t have SEND?

All of our extra-curricular activities and academy visits are available to all our pupils, including our before and after-school clubs.

All pupils are encouraged to go on our academy trips, including our residential trip in Year 6.

All pupils are encouraged to take part in sports days and experience days.

No pupil is ever excluded from taking part in these activities because of their SEN or disability and we will make whatever reasonable adjustments are needed to make sure that they can be included.

12. How does the academy make sure the admissions process is fair for pupils with SEN or a disability?

Our academy adheres to the Local Authority admissions policy. Available on request from the academy.

13. How does the academy support pupils with disabilities?

The academy’s accessibility plan can be viewed on the website in ‘Key Information’ section or a copy can be provided on request.

14. How will the academy support my child’s mental health and emotional and social development?

We provide support for pupils to progress in their emotional and social development in the following ways:

Pupils with SEN are encouraged to be part of the school council
We provide nurturing and friendship groups with our Behaviour Manager. This is as a result fo children accessing the Listening Letterbox or any incident logs.
An evaluated Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum that aims to provide pupils with the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to enhance their emotional and social knowledge and wellbeing. This is personalised when necessary to meet children’s individual needs.
We have a robust approach to bullying. Refer to school’s Anti-Bullying and Behaviour policy for more information.
A range of after school clubs are accessible for all pupils.
Nurture support in small group or 1-1.
We also work with external agencies such as Street Teams, Youth Workers, Bereavement Services.

15. What support will be available for my child as they transition between classes or settings or in preparing for adulthood?

Between years

To help pupils with SEND be prepared for a new school year we:

Ask both the current teacher and the next year’s teacher to discuss the pupil’s SEN.
Schedule a transition morning with the incoming teacher in July.

Between schools

When your child is moving on from our school, we will ask you and your child what information you want us to share with the new setting.

When your child is moving to our school from KS1, two transition days will take place in the Summer Term prior to the children starting. Parents are also offered an opportunity to look around the academy, see the facilities on offer and discuss practical information such as uniform. Where appropriate, additional visits will take place.

Between phases (for primary schools)

The SENCO will contact all secondary schools to discuss the needs of all the children who are receiving SEN support.

Pupils will be prepared for the transition by:

Practising with a secondary school timetable
Learning how to get organised independently
Plugging any gaps in knowledge
Additional visits to new settings may also take place
Sessions with Reflexions based on transitions

16. What support is in place for looked-after and previously looked-after children with SEN?

Miss Jukes (SENCO) is also the Designated Teacher for Looked After and Previously Looked After Children and will make sure that all teachers understand how a looked-after or previously looked-after pupil’s circumstances and their SEN might interact, and what the implications are for teaching and learning.

Children who are looked-after or previously looked-after will be supported much in the same way as any other child who has SEND. However, looked-after pupils will also have a personal education plan (PEP). We will make sure that the PEP and any SEN support plans or EHC plans are consistent and complement one another.

17. What should I do if I have a complaint about my child’s SEN support?

Complaints about SEN provision in our academy should be made to the SENCO in the first instance. They will then be referred to the academy’s complaints policy.

If you are not satisfied with the academy’s response, you can escalate the complaint. In some circumstances, this right also applies to the pupil themselves.

To see a full explanation of suitable avenues for complaint, see pages 246 and 247 of the SEN Code of Practice.

If you feel that our academy discriminated against your child because of their SEND, you have the right to make a discrimination claim to the first-tier SEND tribunal. To find out how to make such a claim, you should visit: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school/disability-discrimination

You can make a claim about alleged discrimination regarding:

Admission
Exclusion
Provision of education and associated services
Making reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services

Before going to a SEND tribunal, you can go through processes called disagreement resolution or mediation, where you try to resolve your disagreement before it reaches the tribunal.

In addition to this, Walsall’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information and Advice Support (SENDIAS) service provides free and impartial support to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and their parents and carers. They can be contacted via their website: https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/children-families/walsall-sendiass/

18. What support is available for me and my family?

If you have questions about SEND, or are struggling to cope, please get in touch to let us know. We want to support you, your child and your family.

To see what support is available to you locally, have a look at Walsall’s local offer. Walsall publishes information about the local offer on their website:

Our local special educational needs and disabilities information advice and support services (SENDIASS) organisations are:

https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/children-families/walsall-sendiass/

National charities that offer information and support to families of children with SEND are:

19. Glossary

Access arrangements – special arrangements to allow pupils with SEND to access assessments or exams
Annual review – an annual meeting to review the provision in a pupil’s EHC plan
Area of need – the 4 areas of need describe different types of needs a pupil with SEND can have. The 4 areas are communication and interaction; cognition and learning; physical and/or sensory; and social, emotional and mental health needs.
CAMHS – child and adolescent mental health services
Differentiation – when teachers adapt how they teach in response to a pupil’s needs
EHC needs assessment – the needs assessment is the first step on the way to securing an EHC plan. The local authority will do an assessment to decide whether a child needs an EHC plan.
EHC plan – an education, health and care plan is a legally-binding document that sets out a child’s needs and the provision that will be put in place to meet their needs.
First-tier tribunal/SEND tribunal – a court where you can appeal against the local authority’s decisions about EHC needs assessments or plans and against discrimination by a school or local authority due to SEND
Graduated approach – an approach to providing SEN support in which the school provides support in successive cycles of assessing the pupil’s needs, planning the provision, implementing the plan, and reviewing the impact of the action on the pupil
Intervention – a short-term, targeted approach to teaching a pupil with a specific outcome in mind
Local offer – information provided by the local authority which explains what services and support are on offer for pupils with SEN in the local area
Outcome – target for improvement for pupils with SEND. These targets don't necessarily have to be related to academic attainment
Reasonable adjustments – changes that the school must make to remove or reduce any disadvantages caused by a child’s disability
SENCO – the special educational needs co-ordinator
SEN – special educational needs
SEND – special educational needs and disabilities
SEND Code of Practice – the statutory guidance that schools must follow to support children with SEND
SEN information report – a report that schools must publish on their website, that explains how the school supports pupils with SEN
SEN support – special educational provision which meets the needs of pupils with SEN
Transition – when a pupil moves between years, phases, schools or institutions or life stages