SEND/CAIRB

SEND

Tiverton High School is committed to providing an inclusive curriculum and environment to ensure the best possible progress for all pupils. We endeavour to support students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in order for them to reach their full potential and prepare them for life after THS. We work alongside parents to support our students in a way that is as inclusive as possible

SEND provision is organised under the four areas of need identified in the 2015 SEND Code of Practice.

  1. Communication and Interaction
  2. Cognition and learning
  3. Social emotional and mental health
  4. Physical/Sensory

The SEND department is lead by Mrs Fay Crellen who is the Senior SENDCo for The Federation of Tiverton Schools.

If you have any questions please do contact us on SENDleadership@tiverton.devon.sch.uk

Tiverton High School Local Offer

At Tiverton High School, we have both a nurturing and inclusive approach to all of our students including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We believe that by overcoming barriers to learning, we support individuals’ needs to enable them to flourish. Our curriculum is inclusive, and we provide opportunity for participation in all aspects of school life.

It is our duty to provide equal opportunities for every student in our care; ensuring that they have access to a broad and balanced curriculum as well as opportunities to engage in enrichment activities. All staff work to ensure inclusion; and implement quality first teaching approaches. We are committed to ensuring that students with SEND achieve their full potential and achieve educational outcomes they both deserve and are proud of; we work closely with students, parents and carers and professionals to make sure this happens.

If a student is found to be in need of help in the school, then a careful evaluation of needs is carried out and an appropriate level of resource is sought.

The sanctuary club at break and lunchtime is especially popular and effective in supporting our most vulnerable students. It takes place within the support centre and is run by Teaching Assistants.

At Tiverton High School we also have a Communication and Interaction Resource Base (CAIRB) with a specialism in autism, this is based within the support centre. County hold an external admissions panel for access to the CAIRB. This is independent of the main school admission process and all decisions about entry to the CAIRB are made externally. Applications are not handled by Tiverton High School, applications are made through 0-25 Education team at Devon County Council.

This Local Offer is information for parents and carers of children with SEND. Devon’s SEND Offer can be found at the following link:

Devon’s SEND Local Offer – help and support for children with SEND

Muster points for the Support Centre in the event of an emergency such as a fire alarm. This short video shows where to go to find your muster point.

DiAS Logo

Is your child’s EHC plan review Advice and Support around the corner?

Do you want to know more about what happens and what you need to do? DiAS have information about the whole EHC review process on their website. Based on the questions that parents ask them, the EHC reviews webpage includes lots of tips and helpful strategies to help the process run smoothly and effectively. That includes information about: – what should be reviewed and how long things should take – the review meeting and how to prepare for it – what your roles is, and how your child or young person can take part – the decisions that can be made during the review and what they mean. – what to do if you disagree with decisions To find out more visit the DIAS website by clicking : Here 

Local Offer

This Local Offer is information for parents and carers of children with SEND. Devon’s SEND Offer can be found at the following link:

Devon’s SEND Local Offer – help and support for children with SEND

SEND Support

This is a list of information websites, tips and resources to help you support your children with their additional needs, learning and self-esteem. Children have varying needs and there is no one size approach fits all. It is quite common for children to have additional needs that span all these areas, so select the resources that meet the needs of your child, without worrying too much about the label or category they fall under. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and these SEND strategies will be beneficial to many children, whether or not they have a diagnosis.

General Support

ASD

  • Children with Autism need structure and routine. You can help them by using visual timetables to help them see what is happening at each step of the day, so they know in advance what they will be doing next. This will relieve some of their anxiety.
  • You might want to set a specific place for them to do any work or tasks. At school they may have this in the form of a workstation to support their learning (see example in resources section). Each child’s workstation may differ slightly, so you could ask your child to help you set one up that will suit them or that they are already used to.
  • Prepare them for changes in routine.
  • Help your children to recognise and name different emotions and feelings. You can do this by discussing their own emotions, how characters in books and on TV programmes might be feeling and how you yourselves might be feeling. Alongside naming the emotion, describe it and explain why you, they or fictional characters might be feeling like that. You can also play role play guessing games and ask them to name the emotion and say why.
  • Use a 5 point scale to support children in managing their emotions.
  • Use social stories and comic strip cartoons to help children understand different situations and perspectives and address inappropriate behaviour.
  • Be aware of your child’s sensory needs and support them in managing that need to help them learn e.g. sound reducing earphones if noise is a problem, comfortable clothes, keep the area surrounding the work space clear to avoid over-stimulation etc.
  • Play lots of games with your child to encourage social skills, such as taking turns and winning and losing.

ADHD

  • Offer routines and structure
  • Create a quiet space for them to learn with no distractions.
  • Give them something to fiddle with whilst you are talking to them or you want them to focus. It can also be helpful to let them move around whilst they listen.
  • Ask them to do one task at a time
  • Provide checklists or visual timetables to support organisation.
  • Use timers to help with time management and build in frequent movement breaks.
  • Suggest rather than criticise (children with ADHD often have low self-esteem)
  • Provide lots of opportunities for exercise and movement.
  • Set up a reward scheme to encourage them and support them with their behaviour.
  • Build on success and help children to pursue more of what they enjoy.
  • Put clear boundaries in place.

Dyslexia

  • It is important to encourage children to recognise and pursue the areas in which they excel (do more of what they enjoy) and support them with the areas they find difficult.
  • Allow children to use a word processer to complete some written tasks. This highlights spelling errors and offers alternatives. If they can’t type, encourage them to learn, so that they are able to use a Word Processer with more speed and fluency.
  • Play games to support memory and retention e.g. pairs, Go Fish etc. (see resource links for more ideas)
  • Enable children to access age related audiobooks to develop a love of reading. Encourage (don’t force or push) them to share what’s happening in the story and share their excitement, wondering aloud what will happen next. This will also develop their vocabulary and comprehension, without them even realising that they are learning.
  • Don’t make reading a fight. Encourage them to read one page and you read the next page. Read some books to them for pleasure and invite them to read a section if they want to (don’t push if they don’t want to). By developing a love of books and stories children will naturally want to learn how to read, so make the experience as pleasurable as you can.

8 Working Memory Boosters

  • Allow children to use a word processer to complete some written tasks. If they can’t type, encourage them to learn, so that they are able to use a Word Processer with more speed and fluency.
  • Offer routines and structure
  • Create a quiet space for them to learn with no distractions.
  • Give them something to fiddle with whilst you are talking to them or you want them to focus. It can also be helpful to let them move around whilst they listen.
  • Ask them to do one task at a time
  • Provide checklists or visual timetables to support organisation.
  • Use timers to help with time management and build in frequent movement breaks.
  • Play lots of games with your child to encourage social skills, such as taking turns and winning and losing.
  • Help your children develop their fine and gross motor skills and core stability (see resource below)
  • https://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/classroomguidelines.pdf

Dyscalculia

Speech and Language

Speech sounds

  • Model speech to the children by repeating words back to them correctly.

Understanding:

  • Give children time to process what you have asked and respond.
  • Use simple language and break instructions down into smaller steps.
  • Encourage children to answer questions, such as who, what, where, when and why? When reading their books. Encourage them to tell you the story in their own words.

Expression

  • Talk about all your experiences in detail, teaching new vocabulary all the time.
  • Discuss vocabulary in books, making sure the children understand the meaning of tricky words.

Social Communication

  • Play lots of games with your child to encourage social skills, such as taking turns and winning and losing.
  • Use a visual timetable and visual aids to provide structure and routines.

Mental health

CAIRB: What’s it all about?

The CAIRB is a provision within the mainstream setting of Tiverton High School. The CAIRB is for students who have complex communication and interactions needs who can access and make progress in a mainstream school, following a mainstream curriculum.

Main aim

We pride ourselves on being an autism-friendly school and this is recognised throughout from the CAIRB to whole of the mainstream. All pupils within the CAIRB have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).

We are passionate about working cohesively within the support centre and across the mainstream setting ensuring that the educational experiences of students with Autism and communication & interaction needs are as positive as possible. We want to enable students to reach their academic potential and prepare them for life beyond our school.

We identify that students have the right to feel encompassed in their school community and want to empower them to have the confidence to face their challenges, maintain high aspirations and develop into independent adults.

If you feel that the CAIRB provision at Tiverton high School is a provision that you would like to explore for your child please talk to your current SENDCo and School, so that they are able to support you in liaising with Devon County Council around the necessary steps needed. We are able to offer 8 places to students from across the year groups.

We have an annual monitoring visit from Babcock LDP every year. During this visit, we explore the provision offered by the CAIRB, its relationship with the mainstream, our strengths and how to develop our practice.

Here are some extracts from our last visit:

“The overall provision in the CAIRB is good and meets the needs of the learners.”

“Student experience and feedback on their education is strong”

“The SENDCo and CAIRB Lead have a strong strategic working partnership”

“The SENDCo and CAIRB Lead continue to model effective ways of working. The CAIRB is well integrated into school and the opportunities for developing staff understanding of whole school SEND are well set to move forward”.

We are entwined with the SEND Department at Tiverton High School (THS) and work closely with the SENDCo Mrs Mayes to ensure a comprehensive and fit for purpose service supporting all students within both the CAIRB and the mainstream setting.

The CAIRB consists of a teacher, an area lead teaching assistant and further teaching assistants. We have a high ratio of staffing within the CAIRB enabling all students to access all aspects of school life, this is mainstream classroom learning or extra-curricular activities during the school day.

The role of the CAIRB is to deliver interventions, to support students and teachers within the mainstream. The teacher also supports in local schools offering advice and outreach to students with Communication and Interaction Difficulties.

The CAIRB is located in the Support Centre at THS, and is predominately a classroom with a sensory room which is where the ‘magic’ happens. Students are encouraged to use the sensory room when needed and they are also supported to access as much of the mainstream learning environment as possible. Provision and support is very much dependent on the provision set out under Section F of their EHCPs and each student is respected as an individual and supported as much.

The CAIRB offers a range of interventions which are aimed at exploring and developing the following:

  • Social Skills
  • Social Stories
  • Managing Emotions
  • Understanding our emotions
  • Independent skills
  • Sensory
  • Developing a tool box of coping strategies
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