Next Review October 2020 Or Earlier If Required

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2

November 2017

Next review October 2020 or earlier if required

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2

November 2017

Next review October 2020 or earlier if required

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1  Statutory Requirements

1.1  This policy complies with the statutory requirement laid out in the SEND Code of Practice 2015 and has been written with reference to the following guidance and documents:

•  Equality Act 2010: advice for schools DfE February 2013

•  SEND Code of Practice 2015

•  Statutory Guidance on Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions April 2014

•  Safeguarding Policy

•  Children and Families Act 2014

•  Article 7 and 24 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2  3 Dimensions Ethos

2.1  3 Dimensions Homes and School, were created in response to the growing need for specialized programs of Education and Care providing appropriate accommodation for vulnerable young people with Challenging Behaviour, Autism, Learning Difficulties and other special educational needs.

2.2  3 Dimensions was also created to fulfil the need for a provision with more intense support, to enable each young person to fulfil their own potential and function in society to the best of their ability.

2.3  3 Dimensions is a small company, however we are intent on developing and providing quality care and believe this is of paramount importance in helping young people make the most of their lives. We have ensured that any growth is not at the expense of the quality of care and outcomes for young people, which must always remain the priority.

2.4  Managers of Care and Education work together to share knowledge and strategies, to provide consistency of approach for the young people who reside with us.

3  Overall Aims of School

3.1  We are an independent special school for pupils aged 7 – 25, and cater entirely for children with special educational needs.

3.2  Our whole curriculum is written to meet the aims of our pupils with SEN and we aim for each and every one of our pupils to achieve their potential. Our students generally arrive with a history of poor attendance, placement gaps and exclusions from school and have therefore missed (often hugely significant) periods of education. Our job as teachers is therefore a significant challenge but one that can be overcome and is successfully faced with enthusiasm and energy.

3.3  There are four broad categories of SEN:

·  Communication and interaction

·  Cognition and learning

·  Social, emotional and mental health

·  Physical and sensory

We are an independent special needs school and therefore we have children in all these categories of SEN.

3.4  At 3 Dimensions School every child matters. We provide challenging, motivating and stimulating learning opportunities which enhance success and personalise the students learning. We focus on positive emotional health and well-being to ensure success for each pupil.

3.5  Supporting Pupils and Families

·  We actively encourage a strong partnership between home and school and involve parents and carers as much as we possibly can. New pupil’s families are invited to visit the school and families are visited in the home. The Education Manager negotiates the level of desired contact with families and carers, which is often as frequent as every day.

·  Appointments can be made to see the Education Manager or class teacher at any time throughout the school year. Daily handover reports are provided. Parents and carers are invited to ILP meetings; Annual reviews of either statements or EHC; PEPs and LAC reviews (where applicable).

4  Curriculum Aims

4.1  The curriculum is all the planned activities that we organise in order to meet needs of the students. The National Curriculum is followed in breadth rather than in depth and schemes of work are modified to meet pupils’ needs. Students are taught according to ability not age or key stage.

4.2  The curriculum – academic, social, moral and spiritual – aims to develop the full potential of all facets of the pupil and recognises and celebrates the individual’s worth and contribution to the school community.

It includes a range of extra-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of the students. We aim to teach our pupils how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others while developing knowledge and skills, so that they are enabled to become valued and valuable member of their communities. We design individualised learning plans that enables our students to develop:

·  Emotional Wellbeing

·  Effective means of communication

·  Willingness and readiness to learn

·  Social and life skills

·  Behaviour for learning

·  Self-esteem

·  Academic progress

·  Ability to manage transitions, (day-to-day and life milestones)

4.3  This is achieved through a whole team commitment to strive towards the following outcomes:

·  To motivate our students to engage with the learning process

·  To promote a positive attitude towards learning, so that our pupils enjoy coming to school and acquire a solid basis for lifelong learning

·  To enable pupils to be creative and develop their own thinking

·  To help our students understand Britain’s cultural history and values

·  To help our students understand the importance of truth and fairness, so they develop an understanding and commitment for equal opportunities for all

·  To enable our pupils to develop the skills and knowledge required to be positive world citizens in our society

·  To enable our students to develop respect for themselves and high self-esteem, and to be able to live and work co-operatively with others

·  To ensure learning occurs throughout the day, life skills and community participation skills are fundamental parts of our curriculum

·  To encourage pupils to accept responsibility for their behaviour

·  We aim to help every young person to acquire the life and social skills to move to a more independent and positive future

·  To continuously monitor the progress of pupils to shape and inform teaching and setting of the curriculum

·  To continuously monitor and evaluate the strategies in place to support and help the pupils to overcome the barriers to their learning

·  To work in close partnership, where appropriate, with outside agencies to support the needs and provision for young people with SEN

·  To make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils

4.4  Therapy is an essential driver of our pupil’s progress and is organised on individual need basis. The therapies offered include:

·  Speech and language therapy

·  Occupational therapy

·  Counselling

·  Nutritional therapy

·  Anger management

·  Child and Adolescent Mental Health therapy (CAMHS)

·  Working with animals

4.5  The curriculum is enhanced through:

·  Forest School

·  Outdoor education

·  Expressive arts

·  Arts and Crafts

·  Community participation skills

·  Home skills

·  Basic living skills

·  Vocational Skills

·  Independent living skills

·  A social thinking curriculum

5  Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions and Physical Disabilities

5.1  The school recognises that pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. Some pupils with medical conditions may be disabled and where this is the case we will comply with our duties under the Equality Act 2010. These needs will be referenced in their persona Risk Assessment for all relevant staff ton access. We also have an accessibility Plan outlining our commitment to continually improving our facilities to support those with disabilities.

Please also refer to the: Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions Policy, and our Equality Policy

6  Aims to support those on the Autistic Spectrum

6.1  Some of our pupils have a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The three main areas of difficulty which all people with an ASD share are known as the ‘triad of impairments’. They are:

·  Difficulty with Social Communication

§  People with autism have difficulties with both verbal and non-verbal language. Many have a very literal understanding of language, and think people always mean exactly what they say.

§  They can find it difficult to use or understand: facial expressions or tone of voice; jokes and sarcasm; common phrases and sayings.

§  Some people with Autism may not speak, or have limited speech. They may use an alternative means of communication, such as sign language or visual symbols to support language and communication.

·  Difficulty with Social Interaction

People with autism often have difficulty recognising or understanding other people’s emotions and feelings, and expressing their own, which can make it more difficult for them to fit in socially.

§  They may not understand the unwritten social rules that neurotypical people use without thinking.

§  They may appear to be insensitive because they have not recognised how someone else is feeling

§  They may prefer to spend time alone rather than seeking out the company of other people

§  They may not seek comfort from other people

§  Difficulties with social interaction can mean people with autism find it hard to form and maintain friendships

·  Difficulty with Social Imagination

Social imagination allows us to understand and predict other people’s behaviour, make sense of abstract ideas and to imagine situations outside our immediate daily routine. Difficulties with social imagination mean that people with Autism find it hard to:

§  Understand and interpret other people’s thoughts, feelings and actions

§  Predict what will happen next, or what could happen next

§  Understand the concept of danger

§  Engage in imaginative play and activities

§  Prepare for change and plan for the future

§  Cope in new and unfamiliar situations

6.2  As well as the three main areas of difficulty, people with autism may have:

·  A love of routines

·  Sensory sensitivity

·  Special interests

·  Learning disabilities

6.3  Our curriculum and therapeutic support outlined above, takes inti consideration these needs and allows us to incorporate and plan these skills into the curriculum in order to help our pupils aim towards achieving a fulfilling life within their community and enabling them to explore their interests in order to maintain a positive identity and emotional wellbeing.

6.4  Staff receive professional development training, access to professional support forums and therapists guidance to help empathise with and support the pupils social, emotional and sensory needs. Our therapists also carry out walk round or class observations of the environment and teaching approaches to continually improve our awareness and approach of our pupils needs including those that are sometimes overshadowed by their behaviours.

7  Organisation and planning

7.1  Schemes of work give clear guidance on the objectives and teaching strategies that we use when teaching each topic. Differentiation and individualisation of the curriculum begins at this stage of the planning process. Schemes of work are reviewed on a termly basis unless the dictates of an individual pupil requires more frequent attention, in which case it is as per need.

7.2  Our short term plans are those our teachers write on a weekly of daily basis. We use these to set out the learning objectives for each session, and to identify what resources and activities we are going to use in the lesson.

7.3  The curriculum in our school is designed to be flexible and fluid ensuring accessibility and learning opportunities for all pupils. We adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of individual pupils in response to evaluation of their learning and engagement with the subject; Individual Education Plan targets and accommodate therapeutic input.

8  Key skills and Transitions

8.1  The following skills have been deemed ‘key skills’ in the revised National Curriculum:

·  Communication

·  Application of number

·  Information and communication technology

·  Working with others

·  Improving own learning and performance

·  Problem solving

8.2  Our pupils often have difficulty with transitions. It is important for the team to recognise the transitions the pupil may need support with. These include:

-  Day-to-day transitions. There are many transitions through the day, including the transition between home and school as well as those between lessons and environments. We must constantly observe their coping strategies they have to manage these and help address negative coping strategies or negative reactions by finding positive strategies or ways they can prepare for these changes.

-  Milestones. It is an important part of all pupils Learning plans to include provision to improve their independence which will help their gradual transition into adulthood become easier and more successful. For each pupil, we must also identify any known transitions coming up in their next year of life, ie, change in family, education or personal circumstances. We must strive to work with professionals and families to identify how we can help pupils prepare for these milestones and reduce anxieties upon their approach.

8.3  In our curriculum planning we take account of these skills, so that pupil’s progress in all of these areas can be identified and monitored. All subject areas contribute to a pupil’s progress in these skills and we believe that all pupils need to make good progress in these key areas in order to develop to their true potential.