SEN Information Report

 Introduction

Clovelly House School is an SEMH Independent special school situated in a rural area in the Leicestershire countryside. The main school site, for up to 10 pupils, is at Merrylees near Thornton, but the school also has an annex at Enderby which caters for an additional 10 pupils. Our school caters for mixed gender pupils from 10-19 in small class groups of up to 4 in a class. However, most of the classes are delivered on a 1:1 or 1:2 basis. The site at Enderby is more of a ‘moving on’ site. The pupils are on external examinations routes or are on Independence Plans and are expected to do some lessons in groups as in a college setting. 

The children at our school have, primarily, SEMH challenges, but may also have learning difficulties, specific learning difficulties, some mental health challenges and some physical difficulties. Most of our pupils have anxiety and stress, school avoidance, and are on the Autism spectrum. All our pupils who attend the school will have an up-to-date ‘Education Health Care’ Plan (EHCP).

Our SEN Staffing and Training

The Principal, Jennifer Collighan, is an experienced SENCO and is qualified in Special needs. Neil Robinson was appointed to the role of SENCO for the school from September 2023 and the School Heads are experienced in Special Needs education. These four leaders form the SEN team for the school. 

In addition, our school has a staff team who bring high levels of experience and expertise in working with SEN pupils. The SEN team meets every half term to discuss matters and the Senior Leadership Team, (SLT) has a weekly meeting including an agenda item to discuss SEN matters weekly. 

Clovelly House School appoints staff members who have experience in working with SEMH pupils and who have a range of specific subject specialisms. The staff team consists of Teachers, Tutors, offering vocational, PE, Outdoor Pursuits and skills courses, as well as teaching Assistants who support all learning in the classroom and out. 

Staff members are encouraged to engage in ongoing CPD and ‘reflective practice sessions’ with the staff team to share good practice and learning from each other. In addition, when a new child is admitted to the school, the Principal and SENCO prepare a pupil profile as well as an EHCP tracker which is shared with all staff. This is used to inform provision moving forward. 

All staff members are trained in therapeutic and nurture approaches using DDP and PACE overseen by the school counsellor well as using models including ‘Zones of Regulation’. The school also has a CBT trained counsellor who works with all pupils each week. 

The SALT offers regular training in ‘Communication & Interaction’ using strategies such as ‘Zones of Regulation, ‘Talking Mats’, etc. The exams team have been trained to apply for access arrangements for pupils who needs support to access formal qualifications. The curriculum officer delivers or arranges training to cater for SEND needs within delivery of the curriculum.

The OT offers weekly individual support for pupils who have sensory and/or motor skills needs and who have been identified as needing specialist support in their EHCP. 

Consultation with parents/carers

The school welcomes enquiries from parents and carers of children with Special Needs to discuss the needs of their children. Prospective parents/carers can phone or email the school and arrange a visit to the school. Visitors are requested to try and make appointments so as not to disrupt the smooth running of the school although if this is not possible, the SLT team will try to meet any reasonable request by parents/carers visiting the school. At all times the contributions made by parent/carers will be listened to and valued as important information about the child. 

After placement, parents/carers are encouraged to support the child in their education placement. Parents/carers should arrange a handover about each child in the morning and after school each day to provide a wrap-around service. This may be as easy as a quick text or email each way. 

Each child has a ‘Mentoring Meeting’ at least once a half term. Parents/carers are encouraged to attend these to review the child’s progress and to plan new targets for the following half term. Parents/carers are also encouraged to report to and/or attend meetings and contribute to the child’s Personal Education Plan, (PEP), and Education Health Care Plans, (EHCP), reviews. (These may take place by phone call or online video, but parents are encouraged to have face-to-face sessions where possible.) 

Parents/ carers are invited to the Termly Open days held by the school to celebrate the achievements of the children. In addition, the school has a number of social events during the school year such as ‘sports day,’ ‘picnics,’ ‘open days’ etc., which are opportunities to share and celebrate our children’s success with each other. Parents/carers are invited to join in these social events.

Support for parents/carers 

If a parent/carer has a concern about a young person, or are worried about their learning, they are encouraged to contact the child’s teacher in the first instance and to express their concern and try to find a solution to the problem. If the parent/carer is not satisfied with the response from the teacher, then s/he should escalate the concern or worry to the School Head. 

For more serious concerns, the school also has a ‘Complaints Policy and Procedures’. This is available on the school website, or copies may be obtained by phoning the school on 01455-821253.

If the parent/carer has a safeguarding concern, this must be reported to the DSL or the Principal, who function as the Safeguarding Officers for the school. If, however, the concern is about the DSL or Principal, the parent/carer should refer the matter to the Local Authority Designated Officers, (LADO), Kim Taylor on 0116-3055141 or Lovono Brown on 0116-3058161. Parents/carers can contact the Local Authority safeguarding officers at any time if they feel that they can’t speak to anyone in the school. 

Arrangements for Consulting with Pupils 

The school has a very personalised approach to teaching children and young people. Pupil voice is important for building relationships, maximising learning and for the smooth running of the school. Given the small classes, to a maximum of four, but more usually one to two, pupils have constant opportunities to discuss with the tutor, contribute to the school and to verbalise their views. Children are consulted at the referral stage, where possible, and, during induction, the children are encouraged to do some assessments, including verbal and oral sessions where they can plan their learning with education staff. The results are shared with children, where appropriate, and forward planning is done with the child. 

Clovelly House School has a school meeting weekly with pupils which is an opportunity for collective discussion about school matters. The school also has a trainee school counsellor who works with all children weekly during individual ‘talk time’. 

Local Authorities may request additional individual therapy sessions for children and these also give the young person an opportunity for working through and verbalising their challenges with their own therapist.

Assessment and Review of Progress

When the young person is first placed in the school, the school will endeavour to obtain previous data about the pupils’ education history. Following this, the school will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the pupil’s needs. This includes, basic literacy, basic numeracy, Cognitive Ability Tests, learning styles, Assessment of Specific learning difficulties, Boxall and other tests. The assessment period may take up to twelve weeks. 

Teachers and tutors will use ‘Continuous Assessment’ in the classroom based on the ‘Mastery to Learning’ steps. The Local Authority may also request an Educational Psychology Assessment which can be contracted out to the school Educational Psychologist for a more formal assessment of learning.

Once the school has the above information these results are used to set goals and to plan learning opportunities for the child according to his/her abilities and interests. These are reviewed half termly with parents/carers where possible at the child’s PEP review and Mentoring meeting.

All tutors/teachers are required to write a full school report for each child at the end of the school year, or to coincide with the child’s PEP, LAC review or his/her entrance to the school. This will be shared with parents/carers and relevant professionals.

Transition

Where possible pupils who enter the school will have a transition period when moving from their previous home/placement to the new school. This will allow pupils to visit the school and enter dialogue about their future in the school. 

Given the small size and location of the school and the small staff team, pupils who attend Clovelly House School will have a seamless transition between phases, KS2 to KS3 and KS3 to KS4. 

The school attends to transition between the school and college placements or moving on placements. In year 10 and year 11, pupils may be encouraged to attend part-time college courses to do taster courses in vocational studies in Leicester. These may take place with Clovelly House staff support and helps to build the pupil’s tolerance and independence. In cases where the pupil is moving on to full time college, this will be prepared with dialogue, visits, meetings with the new support officer/tutor and other relevant persons. At all times the pupil will be consulted and asked for their opinion. All plans for transition will be recorded in a ‘Transition plan’. 

Teaching pupils with SEN

At all times the school has high expectations for pupil achievement. The school has a robust ‘Curriculum Policy’ and a ‘Teaching and Learning Policy’ which are available on the school website. Plans for teaching pupils with SEN depend on their specific needs. Children who have learning difficulties will have a moderated curriculum to allow them to make progress according to their abilities. Assessment opportunities will be made by using ‘Unit awards’ and ‘ASDAN award scheme’ levels. 

Children who have specific learning difficulties will have a personalised curriculum and tutors will use learning styles according to their interests and abilities. Pupils may have a package of GCSE level examinations combined with Functional Skills and BTech exams.

Pupils who have SEMH needs will have a personalised curriculum to develop their academic stamina and tolerance for formal learning and structure. This may be done through giving small, achievable targets and offering positive incentives, working towards formal examinations. The school uses their own unique model, ‘The Clovelly House Hidden Curriculum’ which is a model based on accelerating and encouraging pupils to build up their ability, tolerance and stamina for formal learning using a nurture approach. 

All pupils will be supported to work towards obtaining qualification and formal learning will be encouraged and valued, leading to GCSE results where possible. Where pupils would find it difficult to access GCSE’s within the timeframe allowed, pupils will be entered for Functional Skills qualifications, B Techs, ASDAN Awards and AQA Unit awards. 

Adapting the Curriculum and Learning Environment

Given the small class groups in the school it is possible to personalise the curriculum and learning for each child. The school will use graded assessment steps to help pupils to experience success at the lowest level, the ASDAN awards and Functional Skills through to GCSEs, Foundation and Higher.

The learning environment may also be adapted by offering a wide range of vocational and practical qualifications which may offer opportunities for pupils to experience success and achievement. These are aimed at building self- esteem, identity and career opportunities. 

Emotional and Social development

The school has contracted a counsellor, SALT and OT to work with children if referred by the local authority. In the school PSHE is considered a ‘core’ subject for all pupils who work through the appropriate PSHE curriculum. In addition, the teachers in the school have extensive experience in working with SEMH pupils and the ethos of the school is to adopt a therapeutic approach. To this end all staff members engage in reflective practice, and share information and good practice to support the emotional and social development of the young people. The school has a pastoral support worker who supports individual pupils who are struggling, and all staff members tackle and discourage bullying in the school.  

Outcomes for pupils

The pupils at Clovelly generally have excellent outcomes. They all make measurable progress in their academic achievements and learning. This is evidenced on the school website under ‘Exam results’. All pupils make excellent progress with their SEMH needs. Incident are reducing in frequency and intensity, and pupil participation and engagement is learning is recorded daily, thus allowing for weekly monitoring of engagement. Graphs of data are monitored half termly by the SLT. 

Support Services for Parents/carers

According to the SEND Code of Practice, 2015, and the Families Act, 2014, the local authority is responsible for supporting parents/carers to access the ‘Local Offer’. This is an offer which provides funding for pupils with Special Educational Needs to attend an appropriate school and details access to support services. This ‘local offer’ takes into consideration parental/carer choice. 

Parent/carers who are interested in planning their children at Clovelly House School are advised to access this route at www.leicestershire.gov.uk/local-offer 

For support with this contact:

Alison Barnes

Local Offer Co-ordinator

Leicestershire County Council

Room 500

County Hall

Glenfield

Leicestershire LE3 8RA 0116-3058727