Information for Parents and Guardians

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome parents and guardians to the work of the Additional Educational Needs Faculty at Cator Park School.

As a faculty we are united in the belief that every child, regardless of academic or physical difficulties, has the right to take part in and enjoy every aspect of school life. We believe that our day to day work supports this belief. We will work in partnership with parents, guardians, staff and students to make this belief a reality.

1. The Faculty

Mrs D Holmes: Head of Additional Educational Needs Faculty

Mrs S Mellish: Assistant SENCo

We are a united faculty who believe strongly in a team work approach, not only with each other, but also with yourselves. If you have any concerns about any aspect of additional educational needs work, please do not hesitate to contact us. We assure you of a warm, understanding response.

2. Identifying Needs

Before we can work successfully with students we have to be very clear that we have identified their individual needs. This is a very detailed process, which we break down into stages.

• i)   The Head of Year Seven visits each primary feeder school to gather valuable information about Special Needs students.
• ii)   We study both student records and SATs results from the primary schools.

As well as the above we have also developed our own detailed screening programme. Every student who comes to Cator Park School will undergo a series of tests, regardless of Junior School records to ensure an equal assessment of needs.

• iii)   NFER Reading Test: This is a reading comprehension test which will tell us whether students can read words successfully and also whether they understand what they are reading. We report the results as a reading age. Students in Year 7 are re-tested on a regular basis to monitor progress and improvement.
• iv)   Graded Word spelling test
• v)   C.A.T's (Cognitive Ability Tests): These are basically I.Q. tests. They are very detailed and give us very clear information on three vital areas.
• Literacy (reading, writing, spelling)
• Numeracy (number work)
• Spatial Awareness (technology/design skills)

These tests are equally important in highlighting both strengths and weaknesses. Students are tested at the start of Year 7 and regularly throughout their time with us. The results of these tests are used extensively by staff using a standardised grid supplied with the tests. These standardised scores show clearly where students are in relation to our cohort and also nationally. These results are not given to students because the results are difficult to interpret in isolation.

We are proud of our screening programme and feel that it gives us the depth of information necessary to deal with student's needs. This screening programme is in line with the London Borough of Bromley Audit which ensures consistency and uniformity throughout all Bromley Schools.

3. Planning and Review

Each SEN student that we work with is included on the School's Special Educational Needs Focus list. The list is created by the SENCO, in line with the National Code of Practice, for and each student on the list is tracked on our database. This database records all the interventions we put in place to support students with their individual needs. All teaching staff have access to this database to enable them to support the students within the classroom.

4. Courses and Support

Literacy Programme
Selected students in Year 8 and 9 have access to the literacy programme. This involves lessons following the National Literacy strategy. Students are encouraged to continue such reading skills at home. Their progress is tracked and monitored by the class teacher.

Successmaker Computer Program
This program offers individual tuition to raise standards of literacy and numeracy skills. Successmaker is an individually differentiated computer programme that allows students to track their own progress. It provides staff with valuable information as to specific areas of difficulty for each student and creates a wide variety of individual worksheets. Where possible, Successmaker lessons are timetabled. All students can have access to the program before school, at lunchtime and after school.

Tuition Support Services
Personal tutors and Classroom Assistants are provided by the school to work with students who have a statutory Statement of Special Educational Needs. This allocated time is dependent on hours suggested in the statement. Tutors work with students through withdrawal and in-class support.

Spld literacy withdrawal support
This work involves a specific programme of study based on a withdrawal programme designed to meet the needs of individual students at school action plus. The programme is delivered by qualified Spld teachers in a small group situation.

School Counselling
We are committed to providing the best support possible to all our students in order for them to achieve their full potential and to be happy and successful in school. So we have engaged the services of 2 professional counsellors, who are experienced in working with young people and who will be working regularly in school.

Student and Family Support Worker
Anna Cullen, our Student and Family Support Worker, works with students and families to support them in and outside of the school. This support includes parenting workshops, summer holiday activities in-school behaviour support workshops.