SEND at Trafford Alternative Education Provision

Trafford Alternative Education Provision offers two Pupil Referral Units and a Home Tuition service which are fully inclusive places of learning and ensure that all pupils achieve their potential personally, socially, emotionally, physically and educationally.  As a Pupil Referral Unit, both Trafford Medical Education Service and Trafford High School welcome pupils in KS3 and KS4 from across Trafford Local Authority when they are unable to continue to attend their present school.  This may be because they are permanently excluded or at risk of this, struggling to maintain attendance because of a medical condition, anxiety or crisis and have special educational needs.

Please click here for the addendum to the SEND local offer at TAEP

Trafford Alternative Education Provision provides placements according to individual needs.  These may be time-limited where pupils are supported to return to their own or another school or longer term, where pupils require a multi-agency assessment of their needs or are unable to return to school as a result of continued anxiety.

Parents cannot apply directly to Trafford Medical Education Service because we are a Pupil Referral Unit. Professionals complete a referral form – this is generally the school SENCO – and these are submitted to a panel who meet monthly to consider placements.  Pupils are not placed at Trafford Medical Education Service without the agreement of parents/carers.

Please click here for a copy of the Parent Guide to Special Educational Needs Leaflet

Please click here for a copy of our SEND Policy

Both Trafford High School and Trafford Medical Education Service have close links with High Schools and Special Schools inside of Trafford, out of borough and as well as other outside agencies. Some close links forged with High Schools are able to offer Bridge placements, which reflects our desire to ensure that those pupils who are able return to school settings appropriate to their needs, do so.  For those who are with us longer, we link with outside agencies to provide multi-agency responses to need as well as connections with further education training agencies and local colleges.

Our Local Offer shows you how we support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

We consult with pupils and their families on our Local Offer through:

• Regular review meetings and target setting across Trafford Alternative Education Provision where parents/carers are invited to meet  key teachers and other staff
• SEN Reviews as needed
• The Induction process for parents/carers, the pupil and any other supporting adults to talk with the pastoral manager and senior staff. At this time, information is shared and plans made.
• Initial assessments are carried out where any learning needs are identified and interventions planned and a bespoke timetable created.

Across Trafford Alternative Education Provision we welcome and value contact with parents/carers.  Our teachers are available for formal review meetings half-termly to discuss progress and targets, but also meetings with SENCO or pastoral leads are available on request.

Supporting Pupils with Special Educational Needs/Disabilities and their Families

We will let families know about any concerns about the pupil’s learning through email/phone calls as needed and invitations to come to talk about issues as they arise.  Meetings are arranged promptly and someone is usually available at short notice to see parents/carers if they wish to come in to Trafford High or Trafford Medical Education Service to discuss issues.  We also liaise closely with pupils’ own schools where they are dual-registered.

There are a number of other people who come to Trafford Alternative Education Provision to work with pupils.  They include:

• Educational Psychologists- our Service Level Agreement is usually with Steph Littleton at Trafford Council and we have visits from other members of the Educational Psychology team.  Pupils are generally referred to this service by the SENCO from Trafford High School or the pupils’ own school where they are dual-registered.
• Child and Family Mental Health Services (Healthy Young Minds).  Those pupils dual-registered at Trafford Medical Education Service will be under a consultant at HYM who will be providing medical advice to substantiate continued education at TMES.
• School Health Nurse
• Occupational Therapist – when necessary.
• Staff from pupils’ dual registered school will come to Trafford Medical Education Service and Trafford High School to visit pupils and work with them in our setting.
• Mentoring Service – we can refer pupils for 42^nd Street counselling who will meet them weekly.
• Childrens’ Services – a number of pupils and their families need support from professional social workers or family partners.  These people visit across Trafford Alternative to meet with the pupils they are involved with.

We work in partnership with other education providers to make sure pupils make a successful transition to the next stages of their learning, through careful and co-ordinated planning.  For the pupils across Trafford Alternative Education Provision, this may not be at the end of a school year or Key Stage as pupils move to other provisions or back to school depending on individual needs.  Parents/carers are fully involved in decisions about transition.  At Trafford Alternative Education Provision, we provide regular reports for the pupil’s school to show progress and specific areas to work on.  We also support the re-integration of pupils back to school.  This is carefully planned and our pastoral lead, Deborah Smethurst, will support a return to school by attending meetings and our school SENCO, Hayley Blane, can provide transition support in the form of in class support or in social time depending on the need.

Across Trafford Alternative Education Provision, we have a number of support staff who work alongside teachers in the classrooms to ensure pupil progress and independence.  There are two members of staff in each classroom at most times and because a number of our pupils have behaviour difficulties, all pupils are supervised by adults for the whole time they are in the building in order to keep everyone safe.

Staff Training

All staff have completed and continue to receive ongoing training in special needs and disabilities.

Our fully qualified Special Needs Co-ordinator provides advice and guidance to staff and pupils.  She is:  Miss Hayley Blane.

Supporting Families

Trafford Alternative Education Provision work in partnership with families to help them support their children’s learning outside school.  Families are also signposted to services/organisations through the local offer. For details of Trafford’s Local Offer please visit: https://www.trafforddirectory.co.uk/kb5/trafford/fsd/localoffer.page.

Alongside the Senior Leadership team we have dedicated pastoral staff with specific responsibility for groups of pupils and they are in close contact with families to assist them in finding appropriate support.

 

Behaviour

At Trafford High School, some of our pupils may demonstrate challenging behaviours on occasions and staff are prepared for this.

We work very hard to keep everyone safe and Trafford High is a calm and purposeful environment in which to work.

Our Behaviour Manager is Mr Ashley Curtis.

He liaises with all staff and provides a safe space in the Intervention Room for pupils who are out of class for a limited amount of time.  There will be time for reflection and reparation as part of this intervention and parents/carers are invited to be fully involved. All pupils at Trafford High School have behaviour plans which are reviewed regularly.

Behaviour and anti-bullying policies are regularly reviewed.  Daily records are completed by teachers and support staff working together following regular de-briefs so patterns of behaviour and difficulties can be identified and responded to.

Pupils across Trafford Alternative Education Provision have risk assessments in place to help staff and pupils respond appropriately to specific behaviours which may be exhibited. In order to keep everyone safe, staff are Team Teach trained which means they are able to assist pupils to calm down using agreed techniques.

If you would like further information about what we offer here at Trafford Alternative Education Provision, then please contact Hayley Blane on 0161 912 1479/4677.

School entitlement to pupils with Special educational needs or disabilities

Needs or Disability	Support Available Within School
Communication and Interaction Needs Eg: Autistic Spectrum Conditions Speech, Language and Communication Needs Social Communication difficulties	Visual Timetables Areas of low distraction Constant support/supervision Social skills programmes Specialist support including strategies for anger management and improvement of self esteem Small group work to improve skills Facilitated Friendships programme for small groups ICT to support learning where appropriate Strategies/programmes to support speech and language development Strategies to reduce anxiety and promote emotional well-being Where appropriate we will use support and advice from other partners to meet the needs of pupils Planning, assessment and review Work with pupils, parents, carers and staff to develop and review plans based on the need(s) of the pupil Teaching resources are routinely evaluated to ensure they are accessible to all pupils Differentiated curriculum and resources
Cognition and Learning Needs Eg: Moderate Learning Difficulties Specific Learning Difficulties	Strategies to promote/develop literacy and numeracy, for example additional literacy form time. Provision to support access to the curriculum and develop independent learning Small group targeted intervention programmes are delivered to pupils to improve skills in a variety of areas: reading/numeracy skills, comprehension skills and exam technique. ICT is used to reduce barriers in learning. Support and advice is sought from outside agencies to ensure any barriers to success are fully identified and responded to Planning, assessment and review Access to teaching and learning for pupils with special educational needs is monitored through the school’s self-evaluation process. Teaching resources are routinely evaluated to ensure they are accessible to all pupils. Work with pupils, parents and carers and staff to develop and review plans based on the need of the pupil. Differentiated curriculum and resources.
Social, Mental and Emotional Health Eg: Behavioural issues Social needs Mental health needs Emotional Health and Wellbeing	The school ethos values all pupils Behavioural management systems encourage pupils to make positive decisions about behavioural choices. The schools’ behaviour policy identifies where reasonable changes can be made to minimise the need for exclusions. Risk assessments are used and action is taken to increase the safety and inclusion of all pupils. The school provides effective pastoral care for all pupils Support and advice is sought from outside agencies to support pupils where appropriate. Pupils are placed in small groups at Trafford Alternative with, where possible, two key members of staff. Small group programmes are used to improve social skills and help pupils deal more effectively with stressful situations. Outdoor learning is used to offer different approaches to the curriculum. A robust reward system is in place with Friday Rewards for those who have earned them. We have a dedicated behavioural manager to assist all pupils Effective home-school communication. Information and support is available within school for behavioural, emotional and social needs.
Sensory and Physical Needs Eg: Hearing/Visual impairment Multi-sensory impairment Physical and Medical Needs	Support and advice is sought from outside agencies to support pupils where appropriate ICT is used to increase access to the curriculum Support to access the curriculum and develop independent learning Advice and guidance is sought and acted upon to meet the needs of pupils who have significant medical needs Access to Medical interventions Referral to Occupational Therapy as needed Access to programmes to support Occupational Therapy/Physiotherapy Support with personal care if and when needed. Staff receive training to ensure they understand the impact of sensory need upon teaching and learning. Specific staff administer medicines in school All staff understand the medicine administration policy The SENCO completes any necessary training in order to offer advice and guidance to staff about the needs of pupils Entrances to school allow wheelchair access The school has disabled toilets

 

Note

 

Parents/carers can contact Trafford Parent Partnership for impartial information, advice and support in relation to their child’s special educational need and/or disability.