Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND)
At Newhaven, we manage the usual range of additional needs: literacy (reading, vocabulary and comprehension), numeracy, working memory and processing difficulties, ADHD, ASD and mental health difficulties. Staff have regular training on managing these, both in and out of the classroom. Please look at our SEND Information Report for more detail on how we can best help your child.
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Information Report
The information below details the offer within the school and ways in which parents, carers and students may access the support required.
According to the SEN Code of Conduct (2014), special educational needs can fall under any of the following categories:
- Communication and social communication e.g. their ability to socialise, make friends, understand what you are saying or be able to say what they mean
- Cognition and learning e.g. reading, maths, slow to pick things up, needing a long time to think about things before they work it out, forgetting what they were doing
- Social, mental and emotional health e.g. be anxiety, depression, outbursts, behaviour
- Sensory/physical e.g. vision impaired, hearing impairment, sensory issues
I am worried about my child’s learning needs, mental health or behaviour. Who are the best people to talk to?
The best person to talk to, in the first instance, is their Pastoral Manager. The Pastoral Manager will be able to make sure that the right person gets the information. You can contact them by leaving a phone message at reception.
The pastoral managers deal with daily concerns, behaviour, attendance issues, safeguarding issues and liaise with social care and CAMHS.
- For GARDENS, this is Deb Millward (0208 859 3114)
- For NEST, this is Gill Graham (020 850 2420)
- For King’s Park, this is Dom Fisher / Emma Edwards (0208 465 6290)
For concerns around learning needs, an EHCP or a Statement, or other concerns around learning, please speak to the relevant SENCO . The SENCO deals with learning needs such as Access Arrangements for exams, reading difficulties, ADHD, ASD and other difficulties that are serious enough to apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The SENCO also deals with the Annual Reviews and interventions across the sites.
- SENCO at Gardens and NEST site – Stephanie Johnson sjohnson@newhaven.greenwich.sch.uk 0208 859 3114
- SENCO at Kings Park – Rachel Holmes rholmes@newhaven.greenwich.sch.uk 0208 465 6290
You could also speak to the Headteacher, Jon Kelly, for issues relating to the Gardens and NEST, or the Head of Campus, Alan Fairnie, at King’s Park. They are responsible for the day-to-day management of all aspects of the school. They delegate responsibility to the SENCO and Pastoral Managers, but they are still responsible for making sure your child’s needs are met (including behaviour and attendance).
- jkelly@newhaven.greenwich.sch.uk / 0208 859 3114
- afairnie@newhaven.greenwich.sch.uk / 0208 465 6290
Finally, you could also contact the SEND Governor, Jane Lawley. She is responsible for making sure that the funding is appropriately spent, and that the correct support is in place. You can contact her by writing to her at the school.
Newhaven School
Newhaven Gardens
SE9 6HR
How can my child or young person get support at Newhaven?
All students automatically receive support through teaching in small class sizes. This will be enough for most students, most of the time.
- We conduct a thorough assessment of their needs when they arrive at Newhaven. This information about their learning needs is passed on to all staff who work with them, but treated highly confidentially.
- Every student is in a small class, with staff who know their needs very well. This includes using strategies in the classroom to support difficulties such as ADHD, ASD, Anxiety, reading difficulties, writing difficulties.
- Some classes also have support staff who might be working in the classroom assisting the learning. This could help support students who maybe struggle to focus, or who need extra support with understanding the work.
- Every student has a mentor / Pastoral Manager who keeps a close eye on how they are progressing in terms of learning, behaviour and any other issues that arise including health and attendance. Students regularly meet with key staff to reflect on how the student is getting on.
- A variety of strategies are used with all Year 10/11 students to ensure they are prepared emotionally for exams and that their support needs are in place. For some students this will include specific Access Arrangements. There are strict guidelines that must be followed but every student will be assessed individually to see what support they might need.
- Some individual students have times when they may benefit from even more support. This will be highly unique to each student, and will depend on the advice given by professionals such as the Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, CAMHS or the Clinical Psychologist, as well as professionals at Newhaven.
- We employ the use of a Clinical Psychologist, Educational Psychologist and a Speech and Language Therapist, as well as the School Nurse. King’s Park also utilises Music Therapy.
Education Health and Care Plans/Further support: Royal Borough of Greenwich
Anyone can apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This is a statutory document that outlines the extra support that a young person will need, whilst in school. It will be reviewed yearly, in conjunction with school, parent, young person and any professionals that remain involved.
Schools applying for an EHCP will involve a process of assessment, planning intervention, doing the intervention and then reviewing how successful this has been.
School, a parent or a young person can request the Royal Borough of Greenwich for a Needs Assessment. For information about the support that the Royal Borough of Greenwich offers, please see below link (called the “Local Offer”).
How will the school measure the progress of my child?
We send home grades twice a year and have two parents evening. We also send home more detailed reports once a year.
We celebrate achievements every two weeks in assembly.
We may also set goals and measure progress towards skills that support academic progress, such as behaviour, social skills or resilience.
You are welcome to come in and discuss your child’s progress at any point.
How will the school communicate with me?
- In the first instance, the tutor or Pastoral Manager will phone you. Usually this happens on the day of a concern.
- Sometimes, another staff member, either Pastoral or Senior Management will phone to discuss something if it has become more serious.
- We have an “Academic Review Day” with students at the start of every school year to think about what has gone well and what targets we should set for the coming year.
- There will also be a Parent/Teacher evening twice a year, where you can talk to every teacher individually.
- Parents will be kept informed on a regular basis on their child’s behaviour and attitudes in class.
How can the school support me?
We hold sessions for parents to support them with learning and behaviour with their child. This is usually in the form of a coffee morning.
We can refer you to Early Help or other agencies if they can be of help to you and your family.
We may initiate multi-agency meetings with you to help think through specific difficulties that you are facing with your child. These meetings are called Team Around a Child (TAC) where we work together with you to support your child.
We may apply for a Needs Assessment (EHCP) with permission from you, or support you with Parental Request for Needs Assessment (for an EHCP).
We have a Clinical Psychologist who works with pupils, parents and carers, and staff to support the child.
How do the staff know how to support students with SEND?
We always start with your knowledge and expertise about your child from a parental perspective. This could be through the initial interview or joint planning meeting.
We have a daily debrief to discuss issues that have arisen that day and how to address them.
We have regular training sessions to support teachers with classroom strategies.
We have training to support all staff with mental health needs such as anxiety and attachment disorder.
We are a Trauma Informed School and use this approach daily with all pupils.
We ask advice from our Educational Psychologist, our Clinical Psychologist, our Speech and Language Therapist, CAMHS and our School Nurse.
How do you help my child when they leave Newhaven?
We have a comprehensive transition programme in place for all of our students. This is led by Paige Crosby, our CEIAG Coordinator (Careers Education Information Advice Guidance). For those who leave at the end of Year 11, we start the process of deciding next steps towards the end of year 10/start of year 11. This could involve visiting local sixth form colleges to get an idea of what they offer and what it would be like to attend there.
At Kings Park students who leave after P16 are supported in a similar way.
We have a specialist from the local authority who works with each student with an EHCP to identify what they would like to do, and what would be required to do so. Once applications have been accepted, Newhaven work with the next institution to ensure a consistency of support for the students. This includes visits and taster days, as well as meetings with staff.
Newhaven staff then visit students in September to check how they are settling in. We also arrange close communication so that we can be notified if anything isn’t working to plan.
