SEND
Orchard Park High School provides support for students with a wide range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
We recognise the importance of developing a 'learning triangle' between the school, students and their parents/carers. Each child on the SEND register will have an IEP (Individual Education Plan) created for them with the parent and child to celebrate their strengths, address their needs and share clear support and interventions for all staff to support your child.
All students have an entitlement to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum. We believe that all students with additional needs should be taught wherever possible, with their peers in mainstream classes by subject specialists who use a range of teaching methods and strategies to develop students' knowledge, skills and understanding.
Our latest SEN Information report can be found on our policies and documents page here.
SEND identification process
- Every teacher is a teacher of SEND and has access to students' individual needs and strategies to support them in the classroom. Teachers are easily able to raise their concerns with the SENCO who will then gather evidence and support the child moving forward.
- Year leaders, the SENCO and safeguarding team meet fortnightly to ensure all students are being supported in the year group – here identification of SEND can also occur.
- Our teachers and support staff are provided with high quality information about our SEND students.
- Every child on the SEND register has an IEP (Individual Education Plan) where specific strategies are shared with staff to support the child.
- There are resources on different needs and supporting students in the classroom shared with staff in the staffroom in 'SEND Corner'.
- Tuesday briefings provide staff with consistent best practice ideas. Our weekly SEND snapshots develop understanding of specific students as well as needs.
A day in the life of a SEND student
All students are provided with a free breakfast. We check all uniform and equipment before lessons to ensure every child has what they need for the day. Every day begins with our high quality tutor time reading programme in KS3, to develop literacy and reading for pleasure, and KS4 students are supported in p0, where they are taught English, maths or science.
Some students are also offered support in the library every morning. They can check in with a teaching assistant to collect their equipment and get extra support with outstanding homework and also participate in tutor reading.
All students, including our SEND students, have access to the Orchard Park High School breakfast provision in the restaurant. A small group of students with social, emotional and mental health needs have access to our ‘STAR’ provision, which provides a structured and nurturing start to each day for those students who struggle in the roll call.
Throughout the day, our students receive in-class subject support and interventions from our specialist team, as well as outside agencies. From SEMH counsellors, to speech and language therapists, the varied support offered to our students has a compassionate, respectful and personalised child-centred approach.
Every child is known at Orchard Park. Our students with SEND are particularly well supported because we invest time in getting to know them and their family.
Literacy provision
The literacy curriculum at OPHS focuses on improving reading skills for all students. All students are involved in daily tutor reading and in KS3 they also have daily vocab where they learn six new words a week. Some students need additional support and participate in our phonics intervention programme. Altogether, these carefully planned provisions support students to develop their literacy skills and become budding readers.