Our Vision
We are a Local Authority Secondary school, and we admit pupils from age 11-18. Ken Stimpson Academy has additional provision to support identified students in Year 7 and 8 through transition from primary to secondary school.
We also have a specialist hub to support those specifically with Autism as well as a nurture provision that offers additional support. Due to the success of our additional support model for these students, we have expanded our provision and have five teachers who offer an inclusive curriculum with additional specialist teacher input.
SEND Educational Needs or Disability (SEND) provided for in our school
Within Ken Stimpson we provide support for a range of SEND needs including:
- Communication and Interaction
- Speech and Language Difficulties
- Social Communication Difficulties
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Cognition and Learning
- Mild to Moderate Learning Difficulties (terminology slowly being phased out)
- Specific Learning Difficulties e.g. Dyslexia, Dyscalculia
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs (SEMH)
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Anxiety
- Attachment Issues
- Sensory and Physical
- Physical Disability
- Hearing Impairment
- Visual Impairment
- Dyspraxia
How does your school ensure that students who need extra help are identified as early as possible?
Our school identifies children / young people with SEND through:
- Close links with primary feeder school for transition planning
- Testing/assessing students at regular intervals as and when the need arises
- Target Setting and performance tracking – performing below age expected levels through regular monitoring of performance by teachers and middle leaders.
- Assessing for Exam Access Arrangements (towards end of Year 9)
- Concerns raised from subject teachers and other staff.
- Concerns from parents/carers
- Concerns from students
- Referrals from external professionals such as health professionals
What specialist provision do you offer within the school?
Our school regularly accesses the following services. Please check the local offer for details of how to access this service or contact the SENCo.
Educational Psychologists
Hearing Impairment Service
Autism and ADHD Specialist Teacher Service
Visual Impairment Specialist Teacher Service
Specialist PD Specialist Teacher Service
Speech and Language Therapist Service
Sensory Support Services
Consultant Paediatrician through the Child Development Centre
Wheelchair Services
Physiotherapy
Occupational Therapy
We also work closely with many other external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual student's needs within our school. These may include: GP, School Nurse, Police, the Behaviour Support Service, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and Social Services, including Cheviots Children’s Disability Service, and Social Workers.
You can read Peterborough’s Local Offer here
Who will explain my child's needs and progress to me?
EHCP (Education and Health Care Plan)
For those children with an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP), your child’s educational targets will be explained to you and be overseen by the SEN Lead, SENCo or Assistant SENCo Leads.
Annual review meetings will be held by the SENCo or Assistant SENCo. The SEN Lead will quality assure these processes.
Parent /Carers will also receive a termly report to monitor progress.
Parent/Carers will also have the opportunity to attend a parent’s evening and tutor evening (Year 7).
Co-ordinated Plans
For those students with a Co-ordinated plan, your child’s educational targets will be explained to you and be overseen by the SENCo or Assistant SENCo Leads. The SEN Lead will support by quality assuring of these plans.
Assess / Plan / Do / Review (ADPR) meetings
Parent /Carers will also receive a termly update to monitor progress.
Parent/Carers will also have the opportunity to attend a parent’s evening and tutor evening (Year 7)
For those students identified as needing some form of SEN support an ADPR review approach will be adopted if considered appropriate by the SENCo.
How do teachers match the curriculum to an individual child's needs?
All teachers have student’s guidelines to support their planning and delivery of teaching and learning and to provide personalised differentiation for all student’s with SEN.
Our approach to differentiation is to:
- Ensure Quality First Teaching, which is an entitlement for all children, is delivered across the school, a key feature of which is differentiation.
- Provide differentiation in the classroom - by task, groupings, resources, pace of lesson, outcomes, dialogue and questioning
- Provide regular Continued Professional Development/Training for all staff on SEND issues and differentiation.
- Ensure that teachers are aware of students’ individual needs.
- Offer individual meetings to staff regarding the particular needs of Learners to support appropriate differentiation.
How are the school's resources allocated and matched to children's special educational needs?
We ensure that all students with special educational needs are provided for/ to the best of the school’s ability with the funds available.
We have a team of teaching assistants and part of their responsibility is to deliver programmes designed to meet individual or groups of student's needs.
The budget is allocated on a need(s) basis. The students who have the most complex needs are given the most support and available resources. The budget is allocated according to:
- Devolved SEN funding from the Local Authority with additional top-up funding allocated to individual students with an EHC Plan or statement
- Governor / Principal guidelines
- Governor agreement through the finance committee
Our decision-making process when matching support to need is:
- Formal assessment / testing process
- Information provided from primary feeder schools
- Cost-effectiveness of support
- Referrals from professionals or recommendations
What opportunities will there be to discuss our child's progress?
We believe that your child’s education should be a partnership between parents, the school and the teachers. We therefore aim to communicate with you regularly.
You will be able to discuss your child's progress at parent's evenings.
You are also welcome to make an appointment at any time to meet with either a class teacher or SENCo.
What support can the school offer my child in terms of pastoral, medical and social support?
The school offers a wide range of support to children (with regularly support from the SEN team) such as:
- Head of Year / Student Support Officers pastoral support
- First Aid support
- School Nurse support and input
- Attendance Officer support
- Dedicated wellbeing team and mentoring support
- Dedicated family liaison and safeguarding support
- Outside agency referrals (where appropriate)
How will my child be encouraged to give their views?
As a fully inclusive school we welcome and encourage student’s voice. The student voice is gathered by:
- Student voice processes (student council and tutor times)
- Subject parent meetings
- Meetings with parents / carers and students through the annual reviews and the ADPR cycles
- Open Door policy within the SEN department
How can parents/carers contribute their views?
The school welcomes and encourages parents to contribute their views to support this partnership. Parents can contribute their views in many ways including:
- Contact their child’s form tutor
- Contact their child’s Head of Year or Student Support Officer
- Contact the SENCO or SEN Team
- Tutor Parents Evenings
- Subject Parent Evenings
Complete feedback forms that are sent out to parents periodically over the year
SEND - Specialist Services
Our school regularly accesses the following services. Please check the local offer for details of how to access this service or contact the SENCo.
Educational Psychologists
Hearing Impairment Service
Autism and ADHD Specialist Teacher Service
Visual Impairment Specialist Teacher Service
Specialist PD Specialist Teacher Service
Speech and Language Therapist Service
Sensory Support Services
Consultant Paediatrician through the Child Development Centre
Wheelchair Services
Physiotherapy
Occupational Therapy
We also work closely with many other external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual student's needs within our school. These may include: GP, School Nurse, Police, the Behaviour Support Service, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and Social Services, including Cheviots Children’s Disability Service, and Social Workers.
You can read Peterborough’s Local Offer here
How do you ensure that all children can access all of the activities offered?
We provide the following to ensure that all children in our school can access all of the activities offered:
Accessible environment
Purpose built learning support department with facilities for a nurture provision and a specialist Autism Hub unit.
Personal Care rooms
Adapted equipment in classrooms
Homework club with computer access
Intervention learning environments and classrooms
How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including day and residential trips?
We aim for all children to be included on school day trips and residential stays. We will provide the necessary adaptations, having consulted with you, to ensure that this is successful.
A risk assessment is carried out prior to any off-site activity to ensure everyone’s health & safety will not be compromised. In the unlikely event that it is considered unsafe for a child to take part in an activity, then alternative activities, which will cover the same curriculum areas will be provided in school.
What training have the staff supporting children with special educational needs, had or are currently having?
The SEN Lead and SENCo hold the National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordination (NASENCo). 2 additional staff members also hold this qualification.
The SENCo holds a wide range of qualifications including Certificate of Competency in Educational Testing (CCET) and Certificate in Psychometric Testing, Assessment and Access Arrangements (CPT3A) and is registered by the British Psychological Association (BPS).
Our Autism Hub Leads and Teaching Assistants hold a range of qualifications including specific Autism Level 1 and 2 training and social story training.
All our Teaching Assistants receive regular training in specific SEN areas such as dyslexia, autism, mental health and sensory processing and medical needs. This is both part of in-house training and
CPD encouraged as part of the developmental needs.
Some of the courses undertaken in the previous academic year include:
- Emergency first aid at work
- Diabetes and its management Level 1 training
- Bereavement Support Level 1
- Understanding Autism Level 2
- Understanding Social Stories
- Emergency First Aid at work
- Forest School Program Training
- Understanding specific learning difficulties Level 2
- Exam Concession Update of new regulations
- Manual Handling
Additional qualifications and regular CPD is also undertaken as part of the school’s development and teaching and learning practice.
Key Contacts
Your first point of contact is:
Mrs Sharpe (SENCo including Leader of Nurture Provision)
External Support
External Support services for information include:
SEND Information Advice Support Service (SENDIASS, formerly Parent Partnership) on pps [at] peterborough.gov.uk or telephone number 01733 863979.
Peterborough’s local authority local SEND offer can be found here
Key staff who may support your child outside of the classroom may include:
- SENCo
- Assistant SENCo
- SEN Administrator
- Head of Year
- Student Support Advisors
- HLTA’s (Higher Level Teaching Assistants) support interventions
- Key Workers / Teaching Assistants
- Learning Mentors
- External Professionals e.g. Specialist Teacher Service, Educational Psychologist and Speech and Language Therapists
What should a parent do if they think their child may have special education needs?
Information regarding most issues can be found on our website. This includes a number of school policies which can be found under policies. Other policies can be viewed on request. If you have any comments or queries regarding any school activity or relating to the education and the welfare of your child, please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you need to speak to a member of the learning support department the please contact us on 01733 765950. Alternatively email a member of the team:
Mrs Aimee Sharpe (SENCo)
What specialist staff do you employ to support my child?
We are a fully inclusive school and employ a wide range of staff to support all children. Within the SEN team this includes:
Senco
Assistant Senco
Dedicated SEN Administrator
Teachers of Nurture
HLTA’s for Intervention Programmes
Dedicated Autism Teaching Assistants
Dedicated Learning Mentors
A number of Teaching Assistants with a wide range of training in different SEN areas of need
How are the Governors involved and what are their responsibilities?
The SEN Lead and SENCo reports to the Governors annually to inform them about the progress of students with special educational needs or disabilities.
There is a SEN Governor responsible for special educational needs and meets regularly with the SEN Lead and SENCo. This year this is Reverend George Rogers.
The Governors agree priorities for spending within the special educational needs budget with the overall aim that all students receive the support they need in order to make progress.
Governors support the school to fulfil their statutory duties to students with SEND including:
- Secure appropriate resources.
- Have regard for the SEND Code of Practice January 2015 and Ken Stimpson School’s SEN School Information Report.
- Participate in appropriate training.
- Annually review the SEND Policy.
- Evaluate the success of education provided for those with SEND.
How will the school support my child?
The school promotes and enforces the message that all teachers are teachers of SEN. The SENCo will provide teachers and support staff with personalised guidelines to support teaching and learning for all students identified as having SEN.
Class teachers will oversee, plan and work with each student with SEN or disabilities in their class to support progress
How will you support me to support my child's learning?
The class teacher (subject specific) or the SEN Team can offer advice and practical ways that you can help your child at home.
If your child has complex special educational needs or a disability they may have Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health Care Plan (EHCP), which means that a formal meeting will take place annually to review your child’s progress.
If your child has a coordinated plan specific targets and outcomes will be set with key workers identified to achieve these goals. This means that a formal meeting will take place termly to review your child’s progress.
For those parents or carers who’s children do not have a EHCP or Co-ordinated plan, more generalise support may be given as well as referring to additional agencies as a source of support. Such support is often covered by our ADPR cycle.
Recommendations from external agencies e.g. Autism and ADHD Specialist Teachers, will be shared with you so that strategies can be implemented at home and school.
If you are concerned or require support, please contact your child’s form tutor in the first instance.
How accessible is the school environment?
We have made every effort to make our site accessible to students and staff of all abilities. Students are able to access the upper levels via lifts if required and support is available to ensure movement around the building is as unrestricted as possible.
You can view our school Accessibility Plan here and our Admissions Policy here for further information.