‘To ensure that all young people at Castle View Academy have fair access to an equally ambitious curriculum, that enables personal success for the future.’
At Castle View Academy we support students with a wide range of additional needs.
Our school currently provides additional support and adaptive teaching to support students to make good or better progress.
- Communication and interaction, for example, autistic spectrum disorder and speech and language difficulties.
- Cognition and learning, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia.
- Social, emotional and mental health difficulties, for example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Sensory and/or physical needs, for example, visual impairments, hearing impairments, processing difficulties, epilepsy
The Ordinarily Available Provision document can be found here. The is the provision that the local authority expects to be made available for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
The SEND and Inclusion Team at Castle View Academy consist of the following people:
Assistant Principal for Inclusion and SENCo, Clare Sitch
Responsible for:
- Inclusion strategy and intervention
- Strategic direction of Pathways
- Strategic direction of SEMH provision
- Exam access arrangements
- Line managing the Deputy SENCO, Pathways, Community and Outreach and SEMH provision.
- Developing and reviewing the school’s SEND policy.
- Liaising with other professionals who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning, e.g. Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist.
- Updating the school’s SEND Profile.
- Providing specialist advice for teachers and support staff in the school, so that they are equipped to support students with SEND.
The SEND and Pathways teams are committed to improving communication with our parents/carers by:
- Asking you to be involved in supporting your child’s learning.
- Keeping you informed about the support your child is receiving.
- Keeping you informed about your child’s progress.
Deputy SENCo, Kirsty Benger
- Mapping provision for students with Special Educational Needs.
- Deploying LSAs to ensure students with SEND are supported in their lessons.
- Managing the preparation of annual reviews.
- Liaising with parents, carers and teaching staff.
- Line managing Learning Coaches and Learning Support Assistants.
Learning Coaches and Learning Support Assistants
Responsible for:
- Providing learning support for students in class and through targeted interventions.
- Aiding access to the full range of learning experiences inside the classroom.
- Tracking progress and attendance of students with SEND.
- Writing and updating pupil passports.
- Carrying out observations of students.
- Liaising with parents and carers about the progress of students.
- Attending and contributing to meetings with parents and professionals to support the student's experience.
Pathways Team
To support with inclusion, we also have the Pathways Team who strive to engage some of our hardest to reach students through tailor made interventions.
The Principal, Adam Potter
Responsible for:
- The day-to-day management of all aspects of the school; this includes the support for children with SEND
- Ensuring the Local Governing Board is kept up to date about issues relating to SEND.
The SEND Governor,
Responsible for:
- Seeking to ensure that the necessary support is given to any child with SEND who attends Castle View Academy
Waves of Support at Castle View Academy
Students can receive a range of support during their time at the Academy. SEND and Inclusion support is broken down into three waves.
Wave 1: Quality First Teaching, The Ordinarily Available Provision and internal interventions.
Wave 2: All interventions listed in Wave 1 plus listing on the SEND register, Educational Support Plans, Pathways provision and External Agency Support (Local Offer).
Wave 3: All interventions listed in Wave 1 and 2 plus Educational Health and Care needs assessments or plans, Pathways and Alternative Provisions.
Quality First Teaching
Castle View Academy strive to ensure that all lessons are adaptive and allow all students, regardless of their need, have the opportunity to experience success.
Staff at the Academy are expected to;
- adapt lessons while maintaining high expectations for all, supporting and stretching children to maximise their progress.
- ensuring there is a balance of teaching new content and an opportunity for students to master new skills and learning, through independent practice.
- Making effective use of teaching assistants.
Teachers and other adults in the classroom work closely together to give targeted support according to your child’s needs.
Internal Support (Wave 1/2)
According to his or her individual needs, your child may be placed on an SEN Plan and be provided with one or more of the following types of support.
- Targeted group/adult support in class according to the area of need e.g. writing or numeracy.
- Targeted individual support from an adult in class/withdrawl according to the area of need e.g. 1:1 support
- Individual intervention programs such as Catch-Up Reading and Maths.
- The use of visual timetables and resources created specifically for your child.
- Differentiation of resources e.g. word banks.
- Learning mentor sessions.
- Speech and Language groups.
- Social skills groups.
- Motor skills group (fine and gross motor).
- Additional targeted clubs during lunch time or after school e.g. art club, games club.
- Breakfast clubs.
- Play therapy for individuals or small groups.
- Therapeutic Support.
- Peer Tutors.
- Learning Space Support.
- MHST
- Neurobears
- Anger Management
External Professional Support (Wave 2/3)
Sometimes, an outside specialist may be involved with your child. This may be someone from the Local Authority central services, such as an Educational Psychologist, a Speech Therapist, an Occupational Therapist, or an Advisory Teacher. Outside specialist support may also include CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and MHST.
You will always be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional. This will help the school and you to understand your child’s specific needs better and advise on effective support and interventions.
On the occasions where a child has a significant, severe and sustained need, it may be necessary to enter a multi-agency process and request an Education, Health and Care Needs assessment.
Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) (Wave 3)
This type of support is for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong. An EHC Plan will outline the outcomes expected and the types of support your child will receive from the Local Authority and how this should be used. It will also outline what strategies are to be put in place for your child along with long and short-term goals. An additional adult may be used to support your child with working in class, one to one sessions or small group work involving your child.
What is the Local Offer?
- Local Authorities and schools are required to publish and review information about educational provision available for children and young people with SEND. This is known as the ‘Local Offer’.
- The Local Offer should help parents and families know what they can reasonably expect from Castle View Academy.
- Portsmouth Local Offer can be found on Portsmouth Local Offer