Special Educational Needs

If your son or daughter does have identified SEND needs, the SENCO will oversee the education programme for your child. The programme will be run by the Learning Support Manager who will allocate a key worker best suited to their needs. 

Communication and Interaction

• Autism
• Speech and Language Issues

Cognition and Learning

• Moderate Learning Difficulties
• Speech Learning Difficulties e.g. Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia

Social and Emotional and Mental Health

• ADHD
• ADD
• Attachment
• Mental Health Needs

Sensory and Physical

• All moderate physical impairments
• Wheelchair users

We identify students with special educational needs in a number of ways:

• A member of the SEND Team meets with key staff from all of our feeder primary schools to discuss how best to meet the needs of all students with additional needs starting with us in Year 7.
• We carry out reading tests and other assessments with all students when they start at Oasis Academy Brightstowe. This information is used to identify whether your son or daughter may need additional interventions and the level of support they will require in class.
• We closely monitor the progress of all of our students. Anyone not making the expected progress is reviewed and the possibility of SEN is explored.
• We closely monitor behaviour of all students and anyone who appears to be experiencing social, emotional or communication difficulties is discussed with the SEND Team and the possibility of SEND explored.
• If teachers are concerned about a student’s progress, they can contact the SENDCo for advice and support for that student.
• The SEND Team, the Wellbeing Team and the Heads of Year liaise regularly to discuss students who are underachieving or are experiencing difficulties with learning.

If you think your son or daughter may have special educational needs you should contact Martine Burns, Learning Support Manager to discuss your concerns.

Oasis Brightstowe is committed to including the views of parents and involving them in the decisions surrounding their child with additional needs. You will be invited to all important meetings about your child with additional needs. We will inform you of all the additional provision or interventions being made within school to support your son or daughter and we are happy to offer advice on how you can support progress at home.

The SEND Team will regularly contact parents via letter, e-mail or phone calls to let you know how your child is doing. We welcome parents keeping in regular contact through phone calls or by e-mailing the SEND Team in school.

Oasis Brightstowe is committed to including the views of the young people in their education. As a school, student voice is regularly used to inform decisions made across the Academy. Students with identified additional needs are invited to be part of the decision making process about what is provided for them in school.

Your son or daughter’s views are taken into account and staff are encouraged to use student voice to inform planning as part of quality first teaching. Students with EHCPs are invited to participate in their review meetings and share what is working for them and what else they feel would benefit them.

All students’ progress is ‘RAG rated’ which means that anyone who is not making the expected progress is flagged up as either red or amber, whereas those on track are marked as green. Your son or daughter’s Head of Year will be able to give you this information if requested.

The effectiveness of additional interventions is monitored by the SENDCo and the Learning Provision Manager. The impact of all interventions are analysed each term through data which compares students’ performance on entry and exit. If your son or daughter receives additional interventions or has a keyworker, they will be set individual targets which are reviewed termly.

If your son or daughter has an allocated keyworker, you will be contacted each term by the key worker to review their progress. Students who have an Education, Health Care plan have an Annual Review which is attended by parents/carers, the SENDCo, the Learning Support Manager and other relevant staff from outside agencies. The student’s progress is discussed, reviewed and new targets are set in order to ensure that the student continues to make progress.

The Learning Support Manager or SENDCo, will visit the SENDCo at the primary school and together they will identify students who are vulnerable or have SEND. Information is gathered about the students’ needs and this is shared with relevant staff at Oasis Brightstowe to ensure that they are prepared for the students.

If your son or daughter is identified as requiring additional support with transition to secondary school, a special enhanced transition programme is offered to them. Typically, the enhanced transition programme involves 3 extra visits to Oasis Brightstowe to familiarise themselves with the building and to meet key people.

As students prepare to leave us in Year 11, any information relating to academic progress, learning styles, tried and tested strategies etc. is passed on to the relevant person at college/post 16 centre. If required, we support the student by introducing them to the college/post-16 centre and can arrange additional visits if needed. These visits can be individual or in small groups.

If needed we talk to our students about the practicalities of getting to their new placement, for example, how they will travel to the college/post 16 centre. Students receive additional advice and support from April Booker, as part of her role as Head of opportunity. We celebrate the students’ success at Brightstowe and help them move on to the next stage of their education.

If your son or daughter does have identified SEND, the SENDCo and Learning Provision Manager will oversee the education provision for him/her. All teachers are informed of the needs of all of our students and plan to meet their needs through quality first teaching. Specific strategies to support your son or daughter are shared with staff. Staff regularly share supportive strategies in Team around the Child meetings in order to ensure that students with SEND make progress in all subjects. Many students across the Academy also access additional interventions and support from the SEND or pastoral teams to support their additional needs within school.

You will be informed of any additional support that your child receives. Most of our students attend mainstream classes for the majority of their time but some students are occasionally withdrawn for some specific short-term interventions. We employ Key Workers who deliver a range of interventions to our students, including literacy and social skills. Students are given support in choosing their GCSE options in in order to ensure that they follow the most appropriate KS4 pathway.

The academy site is fully wheelchair accessible and met the requirements for auditory and visual environment at the time of construction. There are accessible changing and toilet facilities and there is also a hygiene room available.

We do our best to send translated letters home (when requested) to parents/carers whose first language is not English.

If your son or daughter has an EHCP, their programme will be run by the Learning Support Manager, Martine Burns, who will allocate a key worker best suited to their needs. The key worker will be the person who provides support for your son or daughter. The support your son or daughter is allocated will depend on the way in which they have responded to previous interventions and their level of need. Intervention may be in the form of one-to-one sessions, in-class support or small group intervention. In some cases, the key worker may not need to work with your son or daughter directly but instead, refer them to an intervention group or perhaps provide resources to the class teacher to ensure your son or daughter is appropriately included. The key worker will be the person who monitors your son or daughter’s progress and reviews their individual targets. The key worker will contact you each term to update you of their progress. They will also be your main point of contact for queries around your child’s progress in school.

Your child will have access to the same trips and activities as their peers. If necessary staff will be asked to complete risk assessments and make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of your child. 

The SEND team, The Brightzone and the pastoral team offer a number of interventions to support the social and emotional development of students. The SENDCo and Head of Wellbeing meet regularly to review and respond to referrals. Pastoral support is provided to our students by their Head of Year. The Head of Year reviews the behaviour and attendance of all students and works closely with the SEND Team when reviewing students with SEND. During unstructured times, identified students with SEND can access The Haven which is a lunch and breaktime club run by the SEND team.

The Brightzone also run a wellbeing break and lunchtime provision for identified students. We have access to a school counsellor who offers support to students in many different ways including 1:1 counselling, small group work and work with staff, parents and students.

Certain staff members are trained to support and manage the administration of medicines and parents with any concerns should contact the Head of Year in the first instance.

At Oasis Brightstowe we have access to a range of specialists who work with us and we choose specialist support on the basis of the needs of the student. We also have counsellors who are accredited members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Our SENDCo has gained the National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordination.

Our Academy regularly seeks professional advice and guidance from external agencies such as:

• Multi-agency meetings consisting of CAMHS, a Behaviour consultant and an Educational Psychologist BAT (Bristol Autism Team)
• CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
• Community Paediatricians
• Early Help
• Educational Psychology Service
• First Response
• School Nursing Service
• Social Care
• Speech and Language Therapy Services
• Behavioural Support Experts
• The Sensory Support Service

The SENDCo and the Learning Provision Manager are the main point of contact for all other outside agencies.

Staff supporting pupils with SEND have received training from an educational psychologist on: 

• Dyslexia
• Attachment difficulties
• ADHD
• Autism

The SEND team have had specific training on their specialist areas such as speech and language, Autism, mental health and ACES and hearing impairment. Many teaching staff also have specialist training within the areas of SEND and receive regular CPD as part of the Academy’s CPD programme. Our SENDCo also offers training and support for staff in planning for and meeting the needs of various additional needs within the classroom. 

Your son or daughter will have access to the same trips and activities as their peers. If necessary, staff will be asked to complete risk assessments and make reasonable adjustments in order to meet the needs of your son or daughter.

Please feel free to contact our SENDCo with your questions relating to SEND within our Academy. If you feel that your son or daughter has an SEN and would like to know what to do next or they already have an EHCP, please contact Martine Burns, Learning Support Manager. If your son or daughter already has an allocated keyworker, you may prefer to contact them

If you would like to find out more about what support you can access for your son or daughter across Bristol, please go to Bristol’s Local Offer using this website: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/web/bristol-local-offer 

Oasis Academy Brightstowe aims to treat all its students fairly and with respect. This involves providing access and opportunities for all students without discrimination of any kind. Our aim is to ensure that Oasis Academy Brightstowe is fully accessible for students, staff, parents, carers and visitors with disabilities. Click HERE to read our accessibility plan.

If a parent/carer has any issues they wish to discuss regarding SEND provision, they should in the first instance raise their issues or concerns with the SENDCo or the Learning Support Manager. If the parent/carer wishes to raise a formal complaint, they should follow our complaints policy, a copy of which can be provided at request from the academy.