SEND curriculum

SENDCo: Miss A Ramsden

The SEND department at St Mary’s College strives to achieve the following:

• Ensure all our SEND learners are integral to our school community and feel especially valued and important
• Create a secure learning environment where all students’ needs are met and where success and achievement are recognised and praised in ALL areas of the school.
• Provide staff with appropriate training and development opportunities to ensure quality first practice when working with students with SEND.
• Develop a curriculum which is consistent with all learners, whilst allowing students with SEND the needs, knowledge and cultural capital to become independent and resilient learners and to ultimately succeed in life.

SEND curriculum implementation

• Within the SEND department we deliver a bespoke Core curriculum to our students with the most complex needs which accounts for approximately 50% of their timetable in Year 7 and Year 8.
• The SMC Learning Cycle is embedded in the delivery of our Core curriculum.
• A knowledge rich curriculum is devised to include the development of disciplinary skills (which are fundamental for students with SEND and cannot be left to chance) and the development of core knowledge.
• The Year 7/8 Core Group curriculum Learning Journeys align with the mainstream Humanities curriculum in terms of topic sequencing with a heavy emphasis on literacy skills. The recent implementation of ‘Rodocodo’,(a programming/coding tool) is developing students’ independent learning and problem -solving skills.
• Content in Core Group lessons is reduced to ensure sequencing and alignment with mainstream lessons is achieved.
• In Year 9/10/11 bespoke pathways are offered to students with SEND to ensure they still access and engage with our curriculum with the support of ALP (intervention to assist with skill acquisition for English language GCSE), a Life skills qualification and the opportunity to work towards the DofE award.
• Assessments are adapted appropriately and completed in a timely and supportive manner to allow students with SEND the opportunity to demonstrate the recall of prior knowledge, current knowledge and the application of knowledge and skills.
• Enrichment opportunities are plentiful and promote teamwork, communication and determination.

Whole school SEND support:

• Regular whole staff INSET takes place with a clear SEND focus to ensure staff are confident and consistent regarding their provision for students with SEND.
• Clear guidance is shared on a half-termly basis with all staff regarding where to access information on SEND students to ensure appropriate teacher-led support is given consistently via quality first teaching.
• Weekly updates on individual students are shared with their specific teachers via email to ensure a continued collaborative and flexible approach to ensuring support is consistent and relevant.
• Outcomes and key action points from Annual Review meetings are shared on a weekly basis via email with specific teachers of individual students to ensure needs are met in an up to date and appropriate manner.
• SEND is a standing agenda item for weekly departmental meetings and briefings – guidance is emailed each week to Heads of Department to ensure consistency in SEND agenda item discussed.
• TA support in lessons with students who have an EHCP ensures collaborative interaction between the SEND department and the wider curriculum which is further enhanced by lesson drop ins and observations, discussions with students with SEND and positive communication with Heads of Department and Key Stage Coordinators to ensure departmental planning is appropriately differentiated to ensure all can access and engage with our broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum.
• Close working relationship between SEND and Safeguarding teams to develop appropriate support packages for our students with SEMH needs.