Welcome
Contact DetailsInclusion Faculty
Our success
The staff and the Governors of Baysgarth are committed to promoting the success and achievements of pupils who require support to help them develop to their maximum potential.
We are constantly praising our pupils for what they are achieving - sometimes it is a Year 11 girl who has a breakthrough with her numeracy; it could be a Year 8 boy who, through applied hard work, learns the first 100 high frequency words. Last week a Year 9 pupil struggled so hard against ME as to attend school every day. We are as proud of and delighted with our pupils as they and their parents are.
Annual assessments of reading and comprehension demonstrate in measurable terms how our pupils with SEN have progressed. This last year, they again had some amazing successes - 88 of our pupils with SEN gained on or in excess of the expected national average of 6 months and 65 of these pupils in fact achieved at least double that. There were some remarkable achievements - a Year 9 girl's reading age increased by 32 months; another Year 9 girl made such improvements generally in literacy that she was de-Statemented. A Year 11 girl and boy went up by 38 and 35 months respectively and a Year 10 girl's reading age improved by 29 months over the year. There are many, many successes - one pupil's understanding of text rose by 2 months but this represented a great deal of work, concentration and positive attitude on the pupil's part. We are gratified whenever any of our pupils achieve in any way, but I must mention a truly outstanding increase in reading age of 42 months and 43 months in comprehension age by a Year 8 pupil. Well done to him and to all our pupils who try so hard.
We can also see an increase in self-confidence in many of our pupils - this may not be as measurable as a spelling age or a reading age but it is just as evident and just as important. Their SEN teachers, their TAs and their parents should be congratulated for the encouragement they give these pupils - it makes an inestimable difference.
The SEN Faculty
The 6 SEN teachers and the 16 teaching assistants enjoy a positive rapport with their pupils and our faculty has a deserved reputation of being flexible, approachable and responsive to needs. We are pleased to welcome Mrs K Hoone and Mrs W Shephardson to our team and are already grateful for their valuable contribution to promoting standards in our pupils with SEN. They are working with pupils in all year groups in a range of faculty areasThe SEN teachers
Ms DringMrs Rix
Mr Morton
Ms Gresswell
Ms Carre
Miss Carroll
The Teaching Assistants
Mrs Thorley) TAs with extraMrs Usher) responsibility
Mrs Beswick (Science)
Mrs Blanchard (Yrs 11 & DT)
Mrs Clark (Yr 7)
Mrs Codd
Mrs Coupland (Yr 10) Mrs Emerson (Maths)
Mrs Gravel
Mrs Hoone (Yr 8)
Mrs Marlowe (English)
Miss Picksley
Mrs Preston (Yr 9)
Mrs Shephardson (HLTA)
Mrs Walker (Yr 9)
Mrs Habergham (SID)
Miss Walker
At the time of writing there are 279 pupils at Baysgarth from Years 7 to 12 who have SEN. 159 have a Learning Difficulty and 156 have an Emotional or Behavioural Difficulty. Of the pupils with a Learning Difficulty 14 pupils are at the first (Initial Concern - IC) level, 50 pupils at the level of School Action (SA), 66 pupils at the level of School Action Plus (SAP) and 24 pupils have a Statement of SEN (STM) for the learning difficulties. 42 pupils are at the level of IC for Behaviour, 17 pupils are at the level of SA for behaviour, 86 pupils are at the level of SAP for EBD and 10 pupils hold a Statement for their EBD needs. Some pupils are in both categories.
Well established and frequent links with our primary schools enable us to make effective provision for pupils with SEN before their even arrive at Baysgarth. Once here, our wide range of resources and staff expertise ensure that pupils are supported to achieve as well as they are able to.
Our secret weapon
Parents are vitally important to pupil progress - it has been empirically proven that pupils do well when parents take an interest in their child's/children's education by attending invitations to Parents' Evenings, SEN Reviews etc. and by taking an interest in their child's schoolwork and homework. We are in frequent touch with parents - informally as needed, formally at the Annual Review of Statemented pupils, as well as the three termly SEN reviews when we can tell parents of their child's improvement. We are delighted that more parents than ever are accepting these invitations to come into school to have a friendly chat. We are proud of our home/school communications and encourage parents to contact us whenever they have a concern.Inclusion
We have a well-earned respect in the county for our policy and practices of offering opportunities for all our pupils to succeed, irrespective of ability or level of difficulty.We employ a huge amount of diverse strategies to ensure that we engage and support pupils with a variety of different needs.
We are proud of our inclusive nature and work hard to maintain and further improve our standards of inclusion. Support is offered to help overcome barriers to learning whether it be physical, learning, emotional, behaviour or lack of self-esteem, so that our pupils are enabled to become independent learners.
Room 50 (on the first floor of the main building) at Baysgarth is the base for pupils who have learning difficulties. The Teaching Assistants deliver their one-to-one "follow up" programmes there and several SEN teachers and the SENCO, Ms Dring, give their learning support programmes there. Governors, staff, parents and friends of Baysgarth are always most welcome to come and visit us in Room 50 to see our pupils in action, at any time upon pre-arranged appointment. Please do take the invitation to heart and come in to see us.
Room 5 (on the ground floor) is where our Behaviour Support Co-ordinator, Mrs Rix, conducts behaviour reviews and individual behaviour support sessions as well as undertaking some learning-based programmes.
At Baysgarth every effort is made to ensure that all pupils are enabled to participate fully in the curriculum. Special arrangements are made for those with temporary or permanent difficulties.
We have a School Access Plan and also a Disability Discrimination Policy, which comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as amended by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001). These will try to make sure that the school does not treat anyone with a disability "less favourably", because of their disability. Also that "reasonable adjustments" are made, so that disabled pupils and prospective pupils are not being placed at a "substantial disadvantage" when compared to non-disabled pupils.
The main school now has an extensive ramp system for wheelchair access to all ground floor areas, as well as a wheelchair lift to the main hall and to the sport/drama area of the school.
In addition, we offer wheelchair access between main school and the English annexe.
Although we are pleased with the improvements to our school to enable everyone, especially the visually, hearing, and physically impaired to enjoy access, much remains to be done. However, this year has seen improved lighting, awareness of future colour schemes and proposed lighting and the addition of handrails near steps and plan to further improve the safe access to various areas of the school.
What we do
The SENCO is in constant touch with a very wide range of outside agencies. These include the Bi-lingual Support Service; the Hearing Impaired Service; the Visually Impaired Service; Educational Psychology Service and Social Services -anyone who can help us to help our pupils to overcome their barrier to learning, whether it be the suggested use of coloured overlays to stop text jumping about, or the provision of special stools for use the DT and Science lessons.Of course, inclusion does not merely mean physical access to the school, but also access to the curriculum in its widest sense. To this end, we provide a range of support too great to detail here. Each pupil on the SEN Record at level SA and above has an IEP (reviewed and updated at least termly). This details their particular difficulty, the SEN teacher responsible for them, what we are doing to help them and what progress they are making to overcome their difficulty, together with targets for the next term/year.
We are aware how important it is to keep up to date with developments in special education if we are to continue to give effective provision. To this end, we receive various periodicals, journals and publications; we attend relevant courses (for example, on dyslexia, positive behaviour management etc) and SEN meetings at local level. Mrs Dring and Mrs Thorley are currently working with the LEA Advisory Officer for SEN, Mrs J Walsh, to devise a programme of training for TAs at Baysgarth. It is envisaged that this programme will then be delivered county-wide.