Co-op Academy Southfield SEND Information Report 2023/24

We have a legal requirement to complete a SEND Information report. Our report will be updated

annually to reflect our changes and plans. More information about the academy can be found on our

website where you can also find our key policies. These are also available from the campus Reception.

What are the kinds of special educational needs and disabilities for which provision is made at Co-op Academy Southfield?

Co-op Academy Southfield is a special secondary academy currently for up to 310 pupils. We are expanding our student numbers over this academic year and will be at our maximum capacity of 360 by September 2024.  We provide education and care for pupils aged 11-19 who have a wide range of special educational needs in the areas of Cognition and Learning, Communication & Interaction and Sensory & Physical difficulties and disabilities.

Children who are admitted to the academy have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). As an Academy,

places at Co-op Academy Southfield are currently commissioned by the Local Authority in Bradford.

Sometimes a child may have a place at the academy whilst an EHCP is being prepared.

How do we consult with parents and involve them in their child’s education?

For the purpose of this report, we consider parents to include any person fulfilling this role, including

carers. We welcome contact with parents because we know that children make the best progress when they, their parents and the academy work together.

Each pupil’s Education Health Care Plan is reviewed every year and a meeting is held to discuss a child’s

progress and consider any changes to the plan. These meetings are held during the academy day as

parents have told us this is the most convenient time for them to attend. Before the meeting, parents

are invited to complete a questionnaire about their views and submit any questions or concerns.

We will always contact parents if we are concerned about any aspect of a child’s welfare, progress or

behaviour. We try to include parents in a positive, welcoming environment. Some of the ways we engage with parents are as follows:

• Initial introductory visits to the academy and an individual meeting with the member of the wider leadership team
• A planned programme of induction for all new pupils
• A home/school communication agreement that shares information in your preferred format
• Parent workshops and training
• Informal coffee mornings for parents
• Parents’ evenings
• Regular text service to keep families informed
• Letters inviting parents to respond to informal consultations about proposed changes to the Academy
• Invitations to academy events, such as sports day, sing-alongs and other community events
• Parental representation on the Academy Governing Council

How do we consult with young people and involve them in their education?

The ethos of the academy means that ideas and suggestions from comments are responded to in an

appropriate way and we have examples of how these have been introduced over the years.

Opportunities for pupils to be involved in making comments and decisions include:

• The School Council involves pupils in giving ideas and making decisions
• about some aspects of academy life
• A person-centred approach where children are invited to contribute to their Annual Review
• Your Voice questionnaires for students
• Informal discussions with pupils regarding academy life

How do we assess and review pupils’ progress?

Every half term teachers meet with the leadership team and discuss the progress of pupils in their tutor group. Any pupil who is not making the progress we would wish to see is identified and interventions put in place where necessary.

Senior leaders conduct ‘Pupil Progress’ Meetings to discuss each pupil and ensure targets are

appropriate and progress is being made. Support and guidance is provided if progress is not adequate to

ensure this is improved immediately.

Each child has an annual meeting to review their Education Health Care Plan. This follows a

person-centred approach in line with national guidance, and their annual targets are set in consultation with the child and their family.

How are adaptations made to the curriculum and the learning environment?

Our curriculum is all the planned experiences we offer to pupils during the academy day and as part of our

residential trip provision.

We have pupils with a wide range of cognitive abilities at Co-op Academy Southfield.

Our pupils are taught in Key Stage class groups, the majority of which are year group based. Our pupils who are working at the Pre-Key Stage Standards are grouped together in Key Stage groups or based on individual need.

Every pupil’s individual learning needs are carefully considered to ensure they are placed at the correct level once they have been admitted. Pupils, where possible, are taught in year groups; students who are working below the pre key stage standards follow a curriculum based on the Engagement Model.  

Our definition of careers is 'preparing students for the next steps and a meaningful life beyond Southfield'. School staff work co-productively with agencies, families and students to ensure that they have access to relevant labour market and destination information. Alongside this we offer a CEIAG curriculum in all key stages, and as our young people transition into adulthood, we develop links with the PfA team who also offer support and guidance.

All classes are reasonably small, usually between 8 and 12 pupils in each class, with a high level of adult

support from our team of Learning Support Assistants. Some pupils require individual support for most of the day.

Our main building is fully accessible for those with mobility difficulties, including the provision of hygiene suites available on each floor for those students who need support with personal care. Our sixth form provision is single storey and also has appropriate hygiene provision.

Please also see our accessibility plan which can be elsewhere on the academy’s website.

How do we evaluate the effectiveness of our work?

There are many ways that we evaluate what we do and we try to never think that what we do is good

enough.

Some of the things we do are:

• Learning Walks that drop into lessons
• Review peer observations
• Work scrutiny
• Pupil progress meetings and quality assurance case studies
• Look at home-school books and take a note of responses to questionnaires from parents
• Take part in an annual DAP Review with external professional reviewers from Ofsted and our partner special schools
• Listen to pupils and try to respond to what they tell us about their lessons and what is going well
• Collect information about each child’s progress and take action if a child is not making the progress we thought they would
• Review the impact of our improvement work
• Link Governor scrutiny visits

How do we include other professionals and professionals in supporting our pupils and their families?

We work closely with health professionals and therapists.

We have a named school nurse who leads a team of specialist nurses to support our staff who provide care at the academy. They work closely with the Care Team to support our pupils.

Peripatetic staff provide support for individual children with hearing and visual needs.

We commission Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy provision for additional days on top of those commissioned by the Local Authority.

The academy holds clinics on site as requested by paediatricians. This means that our pupils do not always have to miss time away from the academy due to external appointments.

We host multi-professional meetings at academy and offer a base for professionals to meet with children

and their families.

How do we respond to concerns and complaints from parents?

We welcome feedback from parents and will always try to resolve any concerns as quickly as we can.

If a parent has a particular concern, we hope that it will usually be possible to resolve this through an

informal meeting with a member of senior leadership or the Headteacher. If this is not possible, then our

Complaints Procedure outlines what parents need to do to take their complaint further. A copy of our

Complaints Policy is available on our website.

What you need to know about the Local Offer?

The Local Offer has been created to provide a central point of contact to help parents of children with

Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities access the right services and support.

It is hosted by Bradford Council and can be found at this link - https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/

SENDIASS supports parents and carers of children or young people who have special needs and/or disabilities (SEND) AGES 0 - 25 YEARS living in the Bradford district. Children and Young people can also access the service independently. The service supports with: Exclusions, Transfers, Admissions, Transport, Appeals, Mediation, Complaints, Personal budgets, EHCP's SEN support.