To view our SEND Information Report and SEND Policy please go to our Policies page by clicking here.

Being an inclusive school is at the heart of life at Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Academy. All professionals strive to cater for the many and varied needs of all the students in our care. Each student is treated as an individual and receives specialist support to match their needs.
Pupils access most of their support in the classroom through quality first teaching and adapted teaching, sometimes it may be that they require some additional help from the team in St Joseph Centre. St Joseph Centre is our base which sits alongside the THRIVE room to offer pupils with any additional needs the support they require in the different areas of need.
 The SEN Department circulates all relevant information to staff at the beginning of the academic year in relation to a student’s needs, stage of assessment and strategies for support based on the Code of Practice. Information is updated on a regular basis and all pertinent changes are shared with staff as and when we receive them from professionals.
 All staff are involved in the identification of students with additional needs in their mainstream classroom and appropriate assessments are then carried out by the SEN Department to determine the level of support. This may then require a referral to the Local Authority for a statutory assessment to be carried out.
Each Curriculum Area has responsibility for:
  • determining procedures for SEN identification
  • provision for the needs of SEN students by planning appropriately adapted lessons
  • evaluation of the progress of SEN students in their teaching groups through the graduated response.
The SEN Department policy reflects the current practices required by the SEN Code of Practice and other legislation, such as the 2013 Equality Act. The support provided for students at any SEN stage, including students with an EHCP, is often supplemented by in-house support and additional external agencies. Some of these include:
    • Local Authority support
    • GP Service
    • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
    • Physical and Sensory Team
    • Speech and Language Therapy Service
    • Tettenhall Wood Outreach Service
    • Connexions
    • School Nurse
    • Access to counselling and therapy services
    • Mentors including boxing and football
    • THRIVE assessment and sessions
Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) within the department are deployed to support in lessons according to the requirements as outlined in a student’s Statement of Educational Needs. They are allocated to work within the St Joseph Centre as well as in class for pupils who require some targeted support in lessons. In addition, they also lead on small group interventions for students with a focus on literacy, numeracy and social skills.
Meet the team:
  • Mrs. J. Bartlett – DSEN Administration Officer
  • Mrs. J. Matthews – HLTA and assessment lead
  • Mrs. K. McLachlan – LSA
  • Mrs. L. Nicholls – LSA
  • Miss G Watters – LSA
  • Miss D Torney – LSA
  • Miss J Robb – LSA
  • Miss S Rani – LSA

SENCO – Mrs Rachel Coombs [email protected]

 

SEND Resource Posters

Please find attached a suite of posters designed to support both parents/carers and professionals in implementing a graduated response to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND in early years and school settings. These resources have been co-produced by Wolverhampton Local Authority to promote inclusive practice and early identification.