Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) 

Our SENDCo for the Secondary Phase is Mr Hemaang Vyas

Our Inclusion lead for the Primary Phase is Ms Sunita Vyas 

The SENDCo (Special Educational Needs & Disability Co-Ordinator) has responsibility for:

• Applying the school’s SEND Policy (see below)
• Coordinating provision for children with Additional Educational Need and developing the school’s SEND policy.

Ensuring that parents are:

• Involved in supporting their child’s learning and access
• Kept informed about the range and level of support offered to their child
• Included in reviewing how their child is doing
• Consulted about planning successful movement (transition) to a further education setting
• Liaising with a range of agencies outside of school who can offer advice and support to help students overcome any difficulties
• Providing specialist advice and facilitating training to ensure that all staff are skilled and confident about meeting a range of needs.

Please click on the link below to download a copy of our Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) policy and Information Report.

SEND Policy and SEND Information Report

Further information about the work of our SEND & Inclusion team contact info@stmatthewacademy.co.uk 

Inclusion 

Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at St Matthew Academy. Our aim is to ensure that every pupil is included both academically and socially; that we meet the needs of all pupils so that all make accelerated progress and reach their full potential.

Quality First Teaching by the class teacher is at the core of this aim. All planning is therefore fully differentiated so that pupils can fully access the curriculum and make progress at their level. All teachers at St Matthew Academy are committed to creative and inclusive learning environments that aim to meet the needs of all pupils. The learning environment incorporates different learning styles, cultural diversity, gender and a variety of interests.

Building on this Quality First Teaching, there is also an additional range of support and expert advice that can be put in place to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs or when we identify that a pupil may be underachieving. St Matthew Academy works closely with external agencies within the borough including Drumbeat autism support, Speech and Language Therapy, New Woodland behaviour support, Educational Psychologists and Occupational therapists.  If you are concerned about your child, please speak to your child’s class teacher/form tutor and/or the school’s SENCO. They will be able to advise you on the range of support available and what would best meet the needs of your child. If you feel that your concerns have not been addressed, please follow the Academy complaints procedure. All support given will be measured according to the aims of the intervention to ensure that they have the desired impact as well as to ensure all pupils are generalising and transferring the skills they learn back to the classroom.

The Inclusion department’s vision is to collaborate with mutual respect to deploy our combined expertise to benefit the inclusion of all pupils within all aspects of school life. We value positive communication with one another and the pupils and strive to promote this. We are committed to the development of our professional abilities and to sharing our knowledge and values with the wider staff group in the school and with the pupils, parents, carers and external agencies with which we work.

To finish, we offer a wide range of support for pupils both inside and outside the classroom. Through focused learning interventions and support groups, we all aim to close the gaps in prior learning and push all of our students to strive to achieve, and believe they can achieve, beyond their expected academic ability. Inclusion will always be a whole school effort. Our safeguarding and child protection team, attendance team, pastoral team and behaviour team are all dedicated to working with outside agencies and parents to ensure the best possible provision for all our vulnerable pupils at St Matthew Academy.