SEND Information Report
The SEN Team and contacting the SEN department
The SEN department is an outstanding team who offers training, advice and support to all staff and ensures all students with SEN are well looked after. The SEN Team consists of a Deputy Headteacher for Inclusion and a Trust SENCO. The SEN Team at Oaks Park is led by the Deputy Headteacher Ms S Noble, who also oversees the Horizon base within Oaks Park. More information regarding the SEN Team at Oaks Park can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3146/meet-the-sen-team
The SEN team can be contacted via a dedicated SEN email address:
The Horizon base is a separate educational provision within Oaks Park High School, for students with an Education Health and Care plan, for whom Autism is their primary area of need. Information regarding the Horizon base and its provision can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3205/send-horizon-asc-base
The Horizon team can also be contacted via a dedicated SEN email address:
What parents/carers say
Parents and carers have been impressed by the transformation of the SEN provision on offer and the intervention and the support, which has been developed at Oaks Park by the SEN Team. Parents and carers have commented on the efforts and dedication of the SEN Team to improve individual outcomes of students so that they are able to reintegrate back into school and access a differentiated mainstream curriculum.
Quotes include:
“I am very happy with the support provided to my son at Oaks Park High School. The school created him a bespoke timetable to support his school avoidance and he is now attending school full time and attending lessons, due to the interventions in place”. Year 10 parent/carer
“The SEN Team are very supportive. They have provided my daughter with assistive technology to remove the barrier to learning, which has enabled her to access her literacy lessons independently”. Year 8 parents/carer
“I am really impressed with the support my son received (during his) transition to Oaks Park High School. He was really anxious and has sensory needs. The school put additional days in place, so he could familiarise himself with the school environment ahead of September”. Year 7 parents/carer
Curriculum and identifying children and young people with SEN
Oaks Park High School provides all students, including those with SEND, with access to a broad and balanced curriculum. It is ambitious and responds to the needs of the students. At the start of Year 7, baseline and cognitive assessments are carried out to ensure the early identification of possible SEN needs or learning difficulties. Student progress is monitored throughout the academic year and where underperformance has been identified, the school follows the graduated approach, to attempt to remove any barriers to learning. More information regarding how Oaks Park High School implements this can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3142/send-graduated-approach
Interventions to support students:
Following the graduated approach there are a number of interventions the school uses to support SEN students, disadvantaged students and those who have been identified as requiring support in a specific area.
A small group teaching class has been set up in KS3 to support students who have struggled with the KS2 – KS3 transition. Morning interventions, focusing on reading and vocabulary and been implemented to support the development of student’s literacy schools. Speech and Language and Occupational Therapy follow up interventions are established and therapists from the borough visit identified students to support the development of specific areas of needs. The school employ a literacy teacher, who runs an afterschool literacy intervention for those with an identified diagnosis of Dyslexia or with Dyslexic type tendencies.
Additional interventions in place include homework club, a social skills intervention, subject specific support in numeracy, handwriting and as well as a nurture group. We offer functional skills and the Princes Trust at KS4 in addition to core GCSE and options subjects.
More information regarding assessments and interventions the school uses can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3161/graduated-approach-support-strategies
The SEN Register and key figures
The SEN Register is an internal school record, which identifies students with Special Educational Needs. At Oaks Park High, the SEN Register can be found on an internal software programme known as Integris (the school’s Management Information System). More information regarding the SEN Register can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3145/the-sen-register
As of September 2023
25.7 % of the school’s total student population is recorded as having SEN
· 7.6 % of the school’s total student population has an EHCP
· 18.1% of the school’s total student population is recorded as SEN Support (Please note that this figure will change throughout the academic year as and when students move on and off the SEN Register)
If a student has an EHCP, they will be automatically placed on the SEN Register and will be issued with a SEN Support plan directly relating to the long-term outcomes set out within their EHCP. Their long-term outcomes will be broken down into termly targets and these will be reviewed termly at the school’s SEND Support Plan Evenings. Their EHCP will be reviewed, in line with statutory guidance, on an annual basis at their Annual Review.
If a student is recorded as a K on the SEN register they will fall into one of the following categories:
- Be in receipt of a number of sustained targeted school interventions and/or accessing a specialist intervention. Their progress is being monitored through a SEND support plan and will be reviewed termly at the school’s SEND Support Plan Evenings.
- Be in receipt of a Pupil Passport, an individualised plan, which advises teachers on the adaptions to the curriculum students require to access their learning. The Pupil Passport will be updated on Year basis and parents/carers will have opportunities throughout the year to discuss their child’s progress with the SEN, Pastoral and/or Year Teams.
- Have a range of access arrangements in addition to Extra Time.
- Be educated at an alternative provider such as STARs (Sutton Tuition and Reintegration Service).
Reviewing SEN provision and involving the student and their families
More information regarding Oaks Park High’s communication with parents can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3164/communication-with-parentscarers
Admissions and Transitions
Oaks Park High School are proud of their transition process and the support in place for prospective students, current students and their families. Information regarding our admissions and transition process can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3139/admissions-and-transitions
Evaluating the effectiveness of provision on offer
The school uses a range of measures to evaluate the quality of our SEND and Early help provision. Much of this relates to the self-evaluations process of the school. Information regarding the evaluation of SEND provision can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/3169/evaluation-of-sen-provision
SEN Policy
The school’s SEN policy, including all school policies can be found here:
https://www.oaksparkhigh.org.uk/1336/policies
Local offer
More information regarding Sutton’s Local Offer can be found here:
https://www.sutton.gov.uk/-/about-sutton-s-local-offer-website
More information regarding Sutton’s SEN services can be found here:
https://www.sutton.gov.uk/sen-support
Sharing good SEND Practice
The school is committed to working with other partners and professionals in order to develop and share best practice. This then supports our students to make good and outstanding progress, academically and/or in their personal development.
To support this process, we:
- Have a Trust SENCO that works across the Trust schools to ensure that we use the best practice from each school
- Take an active part in the local SENCo Clusters, sharing strategies and problem solving across schools
- Use Assistant Psychologists within the school to support targeted and specialist interventions
- Share the way we use our SEND funding to support review of provision
- Undertake regular reviews of our provision, including signing up for the peer cluster review programme
- Provide training for our teaching and support staff. This includes in house best practice, using more experienced staff and those with particular expertise as well as using external professionals such as Speech and Language therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists
- Have Leading LSAs to support best practice across the LSA team
- Take advantage of training across the local area. This includes Team Teach Training and ELSA training
- Use online training to support those new to roles within the SEND team, and have a strong line management process to ensure that staff are supported in their work
- The school is also committed to Quality First Teaching as the first universal approach to help all students learn and make progress. We promote and support the development of our teachers through subject specific and cross department training taking account of feedback from lesson visits, performance management reviews and student voice feedback.
- Finally, we host visits to our SEN departments and bases to share what we do.
Further information on SEN, including Oaks Park High School's SEN Offer can be found here.