SEND Support

Our Inclusion Lead & SENCO is Mrs Stoddart

At The Matthew Arnold School we are committed to offering an inclusive curriculum to ensure the best possible progress for all our students, whatever their needs or abilities.

Mrs Stoddart SENCo	Mrs Blackburn SENCo Designed	Ms Willoughby Assistant to SENCo
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Link to our SEND information report, policies and documents

The SEN Code of Practice 2014 Every Child Matters Agenda - ‘We want every child to fulfil their potential, regardless of their background or circumstances’ and to achieve this we will:

• Help students achieve the highest educational standard they possibly can;
• Deal with bullying and discrimination and keep students safe
• Ensure attendance, encourage students to behave responsibly and give them a strong voice in the life of the school
• Engage and help parents in actively supporting their child’s learning and development.

At The Matthew Arnold School we share the belief that all children have an equal right to a full and rounded education which will enable them to achieve their full potential. We use our best endeavours to secure special educational provision for students for whom this is required, that is ‘additional to and different from’ that provided within the differentiated curriculum to better respond to the 4 areas of need identified in the Code of Practice (September 2014):

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, mental and emotional health
• Sensory/physical.

We ensure that both children and parents are appropriately involved in all discussions and decisions about individual support and provision. The child’s needs are always at the heart of our provision and decision-making.

At The Matthew Arnold School we pay attention to the 4 principles of inclusion:

• We welcome all children regardless of race, gender, physical need or learning ability
• We set suitable learning challenges
• We respond to students' diverse learning needs
• We aim to overcome potential barriers to learning.

The children at The Matthew Arnold School are taught to help one another and respect each other's differences.

English as an Additional Language

The Matthew Arnold School provides an education for all which acknowledges and is enriched by the diversity of ethnicity, culture and faith of its students. Equality of access to the curriculum for all students, including those for whom English is an Additional Language, is ensured by a whole school approach. This comprises a learning environment that encompasses a varied range of teaching and learning strategies, multicultural and multilingual resources and displays, and whole school celebrations that embrace a wide range of world cultural events. 

The monitoring of EAL students’ progress and development is shared between all staff. Individual student profiles are kept updated with relevant information and regular assessment tasks both indicate students’ progress and inform curriculum planning. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning by setting their own targets for achievement and assessing their own progress.

We are delighted that our school represents a rich cultural diversity, with children that speak many different languages as well as English.

We use REMA Ethnic & Language Minority Support services where necessary which focus on supporting identified students. The type and extent of intervention is negotiated and agreed to reflect the specific requirements of our school and the learning needs of our students.

The team also provides language assessments and advises us on working with parents from minority ethnic/language communities, with asylum seekers and refugees, and with bilingual students who also have Special Educational Needs. Direct teaching support may be provided to enhance bilingual learners’ English language acquisition and access to the curriculum.

If you or your child need help with any aspect of English as it is not your home language, please come and speak to us. The class teacher will be pleased to offer advice and refer to our SENCO who oversees our EAL provision.

If you have any concerns about your child’s learning please contact Mrs Willoughby  who will arrange a meeting with our SENCO.