Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy

2026-2027

Policy details

• Date created - 17/08/2026
• Date approved - August 2026
• Next review date - August 2027
• Policy owner - Co-op Academy Brownhill

Co-op Academy Brownhill is committed to providing an inclusive education in which every pupil is valued, supported and enabled to participate fully in academy life. We recognise that pupils may experience barriers to learning at different points and that early identification, high-quality teaching, effective adaptation and strong partnership with families are central to improving outcomes.

At Co-op Academy Brownhill, we follow the guidelines set out in the 2015 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice: for 0 to 25 years. The key elements of the statutory framework in Part 3 of the Children and Families Act reflect the principles below:  

• Involving children, parents and young people in decision making.

• Identifying children and young people’s needs.  

• Greater choice and control for parents and young people over their support.

• Collaboration between education, health and social care services to provide support.

•High quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.  

• Supporting successful preparation for adulthood.

Definition of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

In accordance with the Code of Practice, we believe that children have a Special Educational Need or Disability if they:

“Have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.” 

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age,

• has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

Children with SEND are classified into 4 broad areas of need. They are:

• Communication and interaction (CI)
• Cognition and learning (CL)
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH)
•  Sensory and/or physical (SP)

We ensure that children in our care are not regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because their home language is different from the language in which they will be taught. In keeping with the Equal Opportunities guidance we ensure that children are not disadvantaged for any reason, because of their race, gender, nature of need or socio-economic background.

Inclusion statement

The staff at Co-op Academy Brownhill are committed to the inclusion of all pupils. We aim to:

• Provide an environment which enables pupils to be safe and healthy
• Value every individual and enable them to enjoy their learning, achieve their full potential and economic well-being
• Enable every pupil to make a positive contribution to their school and community
• Identify and respond to pupil’s diverse and individual needs
• Identify and overcome barriers to learning
• Set suitable learning challenges for every pupil

Our objectives are to:

• Provide an environment which fosters a close partnership with parents and carers
• Promote the self-worth and self-esteem of all who learn and work at Co-op Academy Brownhill.
• Provide a broad and balanced curriculum which meets the requirements of National Curriculum and the Foundation Stage curriculum
• Promote early identification, assessment and provision for pupils with SEND
• Promote early identification, assessment and provision for pupils who have additional needs. These include English as an additional Language (EAL) pupils, pupils from families who are asylum seekers or refugees, looked after pupils, travellers, pupils who are at risk of exclusion and gifted and talented pupils.
• Provide quality first teaching with scaffolded teaching resources matched to the needs of the pupils ensuring access to the curriculum for all pupils.
• Follow the graduated approach cycle - Assess-Plan-Do-Review
• Provide effective relationships with external agencies

SEND Provision

The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo) and Inclusion Lead for Co-op Academy Brownhill is Joanna Graham, Assistant Headteacher.

The SENDCo works closely with the Headteacher and the wider senior leadership team to implement this policy and coordinate provision for pupils with SEND across the academy. The academy's SEND register includes pupils receiving SEN Support and those with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The academy also monitors pupils whose emerging or additional needs require review without assuming that every barrier to learning is SEND.

Identification

At Co-op Academy Brownhill, we aim to identify pupils with SEND at the earliest opportunity. Pupils entering Years 1–6 are assessed appropriately in reading, writing and mathematics; children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are assessed across the prime and specific areas of learning. Concerns raised by staff, parents, carers or pupils should be discussed promptly with the SENDCo. The class teacher will demonstrate the high-quality teaching, reasonable adjustments and review already provided and will complete the academy's SEND referral process, including parent and pupil voice. Concerns will be considered across the four broad areas of need, while recognising that pupils may have needs across more than one area. Urgent or significant concerns will be escalated without waiting for a fixed review period.

Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) will be given equal access to identification.

The Graduated Approach

Assess

To support further identification, the academy uses a range of appropriate assessment tools, including WRAT5 where relevant, alongside teacher assessment, observation and pupil and parent voice. Communication and interaction needs may be explored through screening tools and referral to speech and language services, with parental consent. Where pupils are working significantly below age-related expectations, suitable small-steps assessment systems are used. The Engagement Model is used for pupils who are working below the standard of the national curriculum assessments and are not engaged in subject-specific study, where applicable.

Once we have identified that a pupil will require SEND support, the SENDCo will gain parental consent to add them to the SEND register. All parents will receive a letter informing parents that their child has been added to the SEND register. All pupils on the SEND register, will have a pupil passport which will include their area of need, areas of strength, how to help me, provision map termly targets, assessment data, reading level, professionals involved and parent/carer views. These will be reviewed on a termly basis using the graduated approach.

Plan

Once a pupil has been added to the SEND register, the SENDCo, teacher, parent and pupil will be involved in discussing the planning of interventions and support put in place to support the pupil. Appropriate adjustments, interventions and support will be explored to provide pupils with the best opportunity to achieve their potential. The level of support will come in three different waves - Universal provision, Targeted intervention and Specialist support. Wave 1 support is accessed by all pupils which is high quality teaching and in class provision. Wave 2 are targeted interventions and Wave 3 are specialist and/or individualised interventions.

Do

The class teacher will be responsible for working with pupils on a daily basis and will oversee the implementation of support and interventions taking place. They will work closely with support staff to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching. The SENDCo will further support the class teacher and support staff by organising training and advising on strategies to ensure effective implementation of support. Staff are kept informed and updated about SEND issues and pupils on the SEND register by the SENDCo or other key staff as appropriate.

Review

Pupil passports will be reviewed on a termly basis and will review the impact of support and interventions on pupil progress. This information will be shared with parents/carers and parent/carer voice will be gained and added to the pupil passport. Pupil passports will be shared with parents/carers on a termly basis. The class teacher will review the support and outcomes in consultation with parents and pupils. Pupils with an Education, Health Care Plan (EHCP) will have a review meeting every twelve months.

Through regular reviews, pupils may be removed from the SEND register if additional provision is no longer needed.

Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) and pupils with disabilities and or special educational needs (SEND) will be given equal access to identification. The definitions are seen as complementary rather than exclusive.  

Roles and Responsibilities

The child and the family are at the heart of the process.

The teacher sits around the child and the family and is the professional who is accountable and responsible for the child’s progress. Every teacher is a teacher of SEND.

The SENDCo provides professional guidance to colleagues and works closely with parents/carers and with other agencies.

We will support parents/carers by:

• Welcoming and encouraging parents/carers to participate in their child’s educational progress from the outset, seeing them as equal partners.
• Fostering effective partnerships, valuing parent/carer views and contributions and drawing attention to the availability of relevant and accessible information, support and advice (e.g Parent Partnership Service).  
• Using translation/interpreter services when needed.
• Discussing their child’s Pupil Passport and providing copies on a termly basis or when they request one.  
• Sharing professional reports, such as Speech and Language Therapy or Educational Psychology reports, promptly and in line with information-sharing requirements.
• Inviting them to SEND meetings with the class teacher and SENDCo as well as parents evening and professional meetings when appropriate.

The Class teacher will:

• Be responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.
• Ensure all pupils have access to high quality teaching and will be scaffolded for individual pupils when appropriate, as a first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEND.

The SENDCo will:

• Work in partnership with colleagues, parents/carers, pupils and outside agencies to set, monitor and review short-term objectives (pupil passports) and any relevant behaviour records or Arbor alerts.
• Ensure Teachers are providing Quality First Teaching for SEND children in all classrooms
• Promote The Graduated Approach (Assess, Plan, Do, Review) for all children with Wave 2 (Interventions in class) and 3 (Internal/External Interventions)  support
• Monitor the achievement of pupils on the SEND register and those who have additional needs
• Provide professional guidance and continuing professional development for all staff to secure quality first teaching and effective use of resources for these pupils
• Maintain records for pupils with SEND including the whole school register and year group registers
• Regularly liaise with the academy safeguarding, pastoral, behaviour and attendance teams.
• Contribute to the academy's weekly pastoral and inclusion meetings so that information, provision and actions are coordinated effectively.
• Liaise as appropriate with parents and carers of pupils with SEND to provide thorough and meaningful support, which provides SEND children with the best opportunities possible to make good progress
• Liaise with and coordinate support from relevant external agencies, including speech and language therapy, the Visual Impairment Team, the Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team, SENIT, Educational Psychology and health services.
• Keep staff up-to-date with training needs.
• Line manage TAs working with SEND children (manage performance and professional development review meetings)
• Liaise with all stakeholders including parents and governors
• Monitor, support and review planned interventions
• Apply for EHCPs in line with the Local Authority arrangements
• Write a detailed SEND Report annually which will be provided to the Trust and be made available to parents on the school website

The provision for Inclusion will be monitored by:

• Whole school SEND review meetings for class teachers to be allocated where the  SENDCo and SEND Teacher are available for support or guidance. Held termly including support staff where appropriate
• Reviews with parents, class teacher and with SENDCo when necessary. Parent Voice to be collated termly.
• EHCP annual review meetings to be held by SENDCo and Class Teacher and any other stakeholder.
• Evaluate the impact of provision including intervention programmes
• Analysis of data
• Regular meetings between SENDCo and SEND/Inclusion Governor
• Regular meetings with the SENDCo and Trust SEND Director to evaluate the academy's provision and its impact.

Section 2: The Academy's Admission and Inclusion Arrangements

Admissions Policy

When children join Co-op Academy Brownhill, we liaise with parents, carers and previous settings to develop a clear picture of their strengths, needs and existing provision.

The admission arrangements for those pupils with Special Educational Needs with or without an EHCP are the same as for all pupils. We welcome all children to our school and endeavour to ensure that appropriate provision is made to cater for their needs. This will usually mean that the child is fully integrated into the class unless this would be incompatible with the efficient education of other children. In these circumstances extraordinary arrangements might need to be considered. All children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities play a full part in the daily life of the school and are encouraged to join in all activities.

Responsibility of Academy Community Council (ACC)

It is the responsibility of the ACC to ensure that:

• Community Council Members (CCM’s) are involved in developing and monitoring the academy's SEND Inclusion Policy.
• CCM’s are knowledgeable about the academy's provision for pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.
• SEND and inclusion priorities are reflected in academy improvement planning, with staff training and development needs identified and addressed.

Access to the Curriculum

It is the responsibility of all teachers to include SEND pupils within the classroom and provide Quality First Teaching by planning effectively to enable them to access the curriculum and make progress.

We always strive to

• Set suitable challenges
• Respond to pupils’ diverse needs
• Overcome potential barriers to learning

The curriculum for pupils with additional needs including SEND can be flexible and scaffolded according to need.

Allocation of Resources for Pupils with Special or Additional Needs

Support for SEND pupils will be allocated through the use of available funding (The Pupil Premium, Funding for Inclusion (FFI) and whole school SEND budget).

Prior to secondary school transfer, pupils who have special or additional needs may have an individual integration program.

In Service Training

We regularly review the training needs in relation to SEND provision and provide in house and outside agency training to meet the identified needs.

Speech and Language Therapy

The academy works with speech and language professionals and other relevant services to identify needs, seek specialist advice and implement programmes of support. Class teachers and teaching assistants deliver agreed programmes and strategies, with appropriate guidance, review and training.

EAL

EAL is not a SEND need. However, to support identification of potential needs beyond language acquisition for our many EAL pupils, we will use a range of formative and summative assessments to ensure that appropriate support and resources are put in place. If necessary small group work or individual work is organised.  If additional need is identified thereafter this will be reviewed in line with everyone else and as outlined in this document.

Pupils who are at risk of exclusion

The behaviour of pupils who are at risk of exclusion are closely monitored through the use of the SEMH Graduated Response. The SENDCo, SLT and class teacher will follow the SEMH Graduated Response to ensure that any pupil at risk of exclusion will be given a strong opportunity to succeed in school through a range of strategies before exclusion becomes an option. Short term targets are set which are monitored and reviewed by a member of the Leadership Team, Class Teacher and the pupil. These may take the form of a target card. ABC forms are filled in to assess possible triggers. If they are on the SEND register, a Pupil Passport will include individual targets which are reviewed by the SENDCo and Class Teacher and the team working around the pupil. Where necessary, a key adult will work specifically with the young person to support them with regulation and attachment needs. A PACE (Playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy) approach will be used as a way of thinking, feeling, communicating and behaving and making the child feel safe. We recognise these principles help to promote the experience of safety in  interactions with young people. They need to feel that they are connected with the emotional part of their brain before they can engage the thoughtful, articulate, problem solving areas.

Advice and support from outside agencies is sought if necessary such as SEMH Inclusion team, SENIT, EP or EAIP referrals .

If required, an Individual Pupil Risk Assessment and a Positive Behaviour Support Plan will be created and shared with all relevant adults. These will be developed collaboratively by the SENDCo, class teacher, pastoral or safeguarding staff and other members of the senior leadership team, as appropriate.

Safeguarding

The SENDCo works closely with the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads, attendance staff and the wider pastoral team. This ensures that the needs of pupils with SEND are considered alongside safeguarding, attendance, behaviour, medical and family circumstances. Where appropriate, the academy contributes to Early Help assessments and plans, multi-agency meetings and coordinated family support. Information is shared lawfully and proportionately in accordance with current safeguarding guidance.

The academy will act in accordance with the current version of Keeping Children Safe in Education and the academy's Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

Children who are Looked After

As an academy, we work in partnership with parents and carers, Leeds City Council, health and social care services and the Virtual School. The needs of children looked after and previously looked after are assessed and reviewed regularly. Where appropriate, pupils have a pupil passport outlining strengths, needs, targets and provision. Children looked after have a Personal Education Plan (PEP), developed and reviewed with the child, carers, social worker, Virtual School and academy. The Designated Teacher for Children Looked After works closely with class teachers, the SENDCo and the safeguarding and pastoral teams.

Where safeguarding leaders identify a child who may be on the edge of social care support, require pastoral support or have SEND, they ensure that a clear communication and support plan is in place and liaise with the SENDCo and wider pastoral team. As an attachment-aware academy, we recognise the importance of keeping relevant staff appropriately informed and ensuring that pupils can access trusted adults and timely intervention.

Details of all meetings held are recorded on CPOMS, as a record of contact that has been made.

Pastoral

The SENDCo is a core member of the inclusion and pastoral team and contributes to weekly pastoral meetings. These meetings coordinate safeguarding, SEND, behaviour and attendance support, review pupils causing concern and agree clear actions, responsibilities and timescales.

Facilities for pupils with physical disabilities

The academy has facilities suitable for wheelchair access and a care suite. Additional resources are allocated in accordance with assessed need.

Pupils with Medical needs

The academy works with parents, carers and health professionals to ensure that pupils' medical needs can be met and that staff receive the support and training required.

Intimate care plans are produced where any care which involves washing, touching or carrying out an invasive procedure that most children carry out for themselves but which some young people are unable to do due to physical disability, special educational needs associated with learning difficulties, medical needs or needs arising from the child’s stage of development.

Please refer to the academy’s Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions Policy and Intimate Care guidance. Intimate care plans are developed and reviewed by the SENDCo and relevant trained staff, with parents or carers and health professionals involved where appropriate.

Links to support services

The academy makes effective use of external agencies, seeking support and advice to maintain high-quality provision.

Links and partnerships are developed with Leeds City Council and other external agencies to provide support and advice that enable the academy to meet pupils' needs effectively.

Dealing with complaints

• If a parent wishes to complain about the provision or the policy, they should, in the first instance, raise it with the SENDCo, who will try to resolve the situation.

Please refer to the academy's Complaints Policy.