In line with the Code of Practice, every teacher at Court Fields School is a teacher of SEN. We believe that all our children will Achieve, Belong and Participate, and that all our children can be challenged as well as supported to achieve their very best outcomes. At Court Fields, we have a strong emphasis on inclusion and we successfully support a range of student needs. We have strong relationships with our primary schools and we have an Enhanced Transition Programme for students with SEND to support the journey from Year 6 into Year 7, which has been described as the most effective model that our external link professionals have seen.
Our SENCO, Mrs Vicki McCarthy, leads the day-to-day running of the SEND department, as well as the strategic direction and school provision for students identified as being SEND in line with the Code of Practice and as identified in the Somerset’s Graduated Response. We work closely with our Castle Partnership Trust SENCO Mrs Clair Owen, as well as being part of the NASEN project (we are one of only 70 schools nationally involved in this leading initiative and project along with the EEF Education Endowment Foundation).
The Code of Practice defines SEND as “A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them, namely provision different from or additional to that normally is available to pupils of the same age”. At Court Fields, we use our best endeavors to offer high quality teaching, which is differentiated and personalized for all students. This is stated in the Code of Practice (2015) as the first step in responding to students who have, or may have SEN. We work with parents, carers and young people to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place through the four-part cycle called Assess Plan Do Review (APDR). This is known as the graduated response. Where SEN has been identified, we implement high quality special educational provision. This could include specific activities, interventions or adaptive teaching within lessons.
At Court Fields School we pride ourselves on our teamwork, ensuring we work collaboratively with our families to best support our community. Our focus is on the outcomes for our children. We pride ourselves on our Annual SEND Reviews, which are person-centred, where parents and children are actively involved with their child’s education, developing the long-term goals of the child and planning for the adult they will become. We like to work as a team around the child, creating relationships to benefit the children. We actively encourage our parents and carers to come into school through Parents’ Evenings, new parents’ meetings, SEN Annual Reviews and other opportunities, as well as reading through our School SEND Information report. If you wish to speak to someone in our Learning Support Team, please email us on sen@courtfields.bep.ac.
Somerset’s Graduated Response tool now replaces the Somerset Core Standards. The tool can be accessed here. https://choices.somerset.gov.uk/025/education/what-to-expect-from-education. It was co-produced with stakeholders from education, health, social care, parent carers, and support service teams. Somerset’s Graduated Response Tool was launched in March 2022 and you can access a Launch Webinar PowerPoint here [insert link here] as well as a flowchart to guide schools, parents and children and young people.
We also work very closely in partnership with the Somerset Local Offer, which can be accessed here: https://choices.somerset.gov.uk/025/local-offer. This sets out in one place information about provision across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have SEN or are disabled, for whom they are responsible for.
