SEND Offer

Support for Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities

At Lancaster Independent School for Alternative Learning (formerly Lancaster Steiner School), our Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo) has a joined-up approach to the oversight of the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEND policy.

Where a pupil is identified as having SEND, we will take action to remove barriers to learning. This SEND support takes the form of a graduated approach, which consists of a four-part cycle:

Assess
Plan
Do
Review

In the first instance pupils are supported through in-class provision when teachers consider the individual needs of children using the cycle described above. We determine the need for additional or different support by considering the child’s progress relative to that of their peers and will consider the need to:

ensure access to the full curriculum
demonstrate an improvement in self-help, social or personal skills
demonstrate improvements in children’s behaviour or attitude to learning
close the attainment gap between the child and their peers
prevent the attainment gap growing wider

If the pupil makes less progress than expected, they may receive extra support. This may include literacy, numeracy, physical and social inclusion initiatives to raise their achievement. The SENDCo would be increasingly involved, consulting with the teachers and parents and suggesting external advice if necessary. If any child has needs that appear life-long and/or complex, we will include them on the SEND register. We work closely with external specialists that are involved with our pupils: for example, OTs, speech and language therapists and paediatricians, to provide recommended support.

An ‘Individual Pupil Plan’ is usually written which seeks to follow external advice as well as our own support strategies. This can take many forms, for example: individual learning support intervention, pre-teaching, extra gross motor support that is delivered as part of our movement curriculum, frequent movement breaks, alternative ways of recording. Teachers use ‘Individual Pupil Plans’ or ‘Individual Behaviour Plans’ to record and monitor progress against specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (SMART) targets. Teachers review targets regularly and liaise closely with parents about their child’s progress.

Following Steiner principles, we may consider carrying out a ‘Child Study’. This is a review of a child who needs special consideration because of learning/behavioural difficulties, special qualities, or to characterise a particular age or stage of development. This takes place in our College and Pedagogical meetings to build a shared picture of the child.

For further information please read:

Inclusion Policy
Local Authority Local offer

You can also contact our SENDCo, Elspeth Mukerji, by emailing: elspeth@lisal.school