SEND Information
Our ethos
Castledon School is a school with specialist status for SEN: Cognition & Learning. All pupils must have special educational needs and an EHC plan / statement for MLD/complex needs.
Our ethos is based on caring and respect for all. We accept, recognise, and celebrate each child as an individual. We provide a safe, secure and happy learning environment based on our school motto ‘Unlocking Potential’.
We ensure equal opportunities, where we aim for every individual learner to receive the very best individual provision possible to meet their needs. The aim for all our young people is to support them in becoming as independent as possible whether that is future employments, independent or assisted living.
Our work with you and young people
We work closely with parents and carers as we recognise this leads to the best outcomes for learners. We will make sure that before your child starts at the school, we find out all the information we will need to know from you and work with you on an individual transition programme. We have a home/school liaison team to support this process. We welcome your views and comments as part of our partnership with you and ensure we have both informal and more formal ways of involving you.
Informally through
- Regular use of online learning journal
- School website updates
- Class assemblies, social events
- Facebook updates
More formally through
- Your child’s Education, Health and Care plan review
- Pupil progress review meetings
- Annual reports
- Parent workshops
- Surveys of parents views
We always listen to young people as their welfare and happiness is absolutely central to us. We will respond individually to our learners’ choices, preferences and needs and get to know each individual very well.
This is backed up with more structured procedures for gathering learners’ views:
- The student council
- The annual review
- Target setting
- Questionnaires
- Individual observations
Our staff expertise
We have a committed staff team, selected for their experience, knowledge and aptitude for working with pupils with SEN and dedicated to the wellbeing and progress of each individual. Small classes and higher staff ratio (12.2) ensure staff know learners exceptionally well. We put in place a range of plans to meet learners’ holistic needs including:
- Individual learning programmes
- Medical plans
The school is divided into distinctive phases each led by a Senior Leader who takes overall responsibility for learner progress and wellbeing as well as ensuring work between the phases is co-ordinated.
The school’s named SENCO is the Headteacher however all teaching staff fulfil the role and take responsibility for the progress of all their pupils.
All staff are trained annually on safeguarding and the school has specific Child Protection designated persons.
Our partnerships
The school works closely with other professional partners based at the school or regularly visiting us.
We work with professionals from other areas including, Social Care, Educational Psychology, and Therapeutic Services to meet learners’ needs should the need arise.
Our governing body plays an active role in strategic planning and has responsibility for overseeing the practice in the school and ensuring it meets the needs of learners and families.
Our policies and provision
The school delivers the requirements of the National Curriculum adapted to meet individual needs. We focus on teaching learners the skills they need for lifelong learning and independence. An important aspect of our curriculum is Life Skills.
All learners are targeted to achieve good or outstanding progress based on national expectations for learners with SEN.
Older learners extend their learning into life, community and workplace skills supported by our community partners and work towards accredited qualifications. Qualification range from entry level, to functional skills levels 1 and 2 to GCSE’s in some subjects.
We support learners as they move to different phase of education and life and ultimately as they prepare to leave school through close working with transition pathways.
We assess learners continuously in order to track progress and make any necessary interventions.
Spaces and resources are timetabled according to the needs of different groups. We will be happy to show you different areas when you visit.
A range of our school policies are available on this website, or we can provide copies on request.
This includes our Promoting Behaviour for Learning, Safeguarding pupils and Complaints procedure.
