Special Educational Needs

SEND

Principal: Lisa Patterson-Igwe

Lead SENDCO: Rekha Patil 

Assistant SENDCO: Zoe Turner 

Contact administration: Lisa Maddigan - lisa.maddigan@stephensonacademy.org.uk

All students at Stephenson Academy have an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) with a primary need of Social, Emotional and Mental Health. A significant amount of our student cohort have additional special educational needs, including Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Our aim here at Stephenson Academy is to provide our young people with an enjoyable educational journey improving prior experiences. We achieve this through our broad, balanced, and relevant curriculum designed to encourage every student to acquire knowledge, skill and understanding relevant to adult life, the world of work and life beyond Stephenson Academy.

Pathways

We have four main pathways to meet student need:

A – Students access the core curriculum adapted to their needs and typically have ASC in addition to

      SEMH needs.

B – Students access the core curriculum and typically have challenging behaviour as part of SEMH

      needs.

C – Students access the core curriculum and typically have additional learning needs in addition to

      SEMH needs.

C+ - Students access an adapted curriculum more personalised to meet their complex needs.

Academic Intervention

We have access to arrange of specialist staff that help our pupils to develop both academically and socially throughout their journey. We offer students tailored literacy and numeracy interventions carried out by Learning Mentors. Interventions are offered predominately on a one-to-one basis to create a positive teacher-student relationship and promote quality teaching, student learning, good communication and a safe learning environment. Our literacy interventions are aimed to identify the gaps in knowledge and boost their reading, spelling, and overall writing attainment, whilst increasing their interest and confidence in the subject. Our numeracy interventions are designed for students to revisit basic math concepts and address misunderstandings that students may have and increase self-confidence in mathematics including telling the time and mathematical life skills.

The Development of Social Skills

We also have Intervention Mentors that are qualified Restorative Practice Practitioners that support students with difficulties that can arise as a result of a lack of social awareness and understanding.  The aim of restorative meetings is to resolve conflict by allowing everyone’s voice to be heard in a structured forum. This facilitates an opportunity for both individuals to acknowledge the impact of what has happened while enabling and empowering the students to seek a resolution. Restorative interventions can be instrumental in strengthening relationships.

Stephenson Academy uses Lego Trios to develop social skills and speech, language, and communication difficulties. Lego Trios is a Lego based therapy that involves students working collaboratively to build a Lego figure using instructions. Lego Trios requires students to carry out their role carefully encouraging active listening, communicative skills, personal development, and collaborative work. The Lego Trios intervention has been great for developing confidence and self-esteem at an individual and group level.

As a school we are constantly evolving and developing the interventions we offer with the best interests and the needs of our pupils at the forefront of what we do.

Staff Development

Staff development is important to us. All staff undergo regular training and professional development to enhance and update their knowledge. Care is taken to regularly update knowledge in behaviour management, first aid, child protection and safeguarding. There is frequent CPD on supporting SEND in the classroom and on Teaching and Learning practice to support our learners.

 If you require further information regarding SEND and our pathways then please contact the SEN team at the academy who will be happy to discuss this in more detail.