SEN and Disabilities

All schools within the Leathersellers’ Federation have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and are supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. Every effort is made to ensure that pupils with SEND have full access to the National Curriculum and are integrated into all aspects of the school.

Prendergast School aims to be as inclusive as possible, with the aim of providing Quality First Teaching. The curriculum is carefully managed to meet the needs of pupils with SEND in order that they can learn within a mainstream setting wherever possible, where families want this to happen.

For those students who require additional support, we offer a range of interventions such as targeted literacy and numeracy support, learning mentors, peer mentoring and referral to external professionals where appropriate.

Form tutors and our SENCO are available to meet with parents to discuss any specific concerns they may have about their child’s additional needs and all practices within the school are developed through the principles of inclusive teaching:

• Individual teachers and support staff attend internal and external training courses that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class
• Teachers plan lessons according to the needs of all pupils in their classes
• Specific teaching strategies will be used to support your child individually and/or in groups
• Planning and teaching will be adapted on an ongoing basis to meet your child’s learning needs
• We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs
• We provide support with homework clubs and access to the library at lunchtime and after school
• All school clubs are developed in line with the principle of inclusion

Should you have any concerns regarding the SEN provision please make contact with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) and raised your concerns (email address below). If you feel your SEN concerns have not been addressed by the SENCO, then please do follow the school’s complaints procedure found under the policies section of the website.

If you have concerns about the awarding of an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP), this should be raised directly with the Local Authority. Please see their website for details.

Admissions

Students with SEN are allocated places in two separate & distinct ways:

• Those pupils with an Education Health Care Plan or statement have a separate admissions procedure overseen by Lewisham’s SEN team
• Those pupils who have SEN but do not have an EHCP or statement are admitted via the normal school admissions criteria

Detailed information and guidance on how to apply for a place at Prendergast School can be found on our Admissions pages.

For further information please contact our SENCO, Clare Borrill: c.borrill@prendergast-school.com