Special Educational Needs
and Disabilities (SEND)

Welcome to the SEND department page. 

Introduction: 

Avonbourne Academy’s mission is to help our students to believe in their own individual talents in order to empower them to reach their full potential.  We achieve this through offering a safe and inclusive environment where everyone is valued and respected, and by providing a personalised programme of support. 

Avonbourne Academy aims to encourage the development of each individual student, to motivate their self-belief and sociability, to remove barriers to learning and to ensure that every student has the opportunity to fulfil their maximum potential.  

The Learning Support department is led by Mrs. A. Brittain (SENDCo), Miss S. Truesdale (Deputy SENDCo and KS4 SEND lead) and Dr. K. Sholem (Deputy SENDCo and KS3 SEND lead) and supported by Miss K. Hermon (Assistant to the SENDCo).   It comprises of a team of specialist staff who support students across the two Academies. We are located in A block, close to Visitors’ Reception, and our facilities include 2 teaching rooms, an ELSA / Nurture area and a sensory room. 

Interventions include: 

• Nurture- helping students to learn socially, nurture groups help to develop confidence, become responsive to others, learn self-respect, raise self-esteem and take pride in behaving well and achieving. 

• SALT- Speech and Language Therapy 

• Social language and communication support 

• ELSA- Emotional Literacy Support Assistants are specialist teaching assistants who have been trained to support children with emotional difficulties. 

• Literacy  

• Numeracy 

• Homework clubs 

• Bespoke small group support 

• Dyslexia Support 

We work closely with a range of external agencies who provide specialist support and advice for individual students depending on their needs.  These agencies include: 

• SALT (Speech and Language Therapy) 

• Educational Psychologist 

• Community Paediatrician 

• Occupational Therapist 

• CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) 

• Physiotherapist 

• Hearing and Vision Support Services 

• Local Authority SEN/ Inclusion Team 

Assessment and monitoring: 

All students who enter the Academies complete baseline testing. This information is used alongside other data to identify students who may require additional support. Intervention sessions are provided to target specific development needs and the progress of each student is monitored closely. Students who do not make progress in light of interventions are placed on the SEND register and further interventions may be offered. The SEND register is reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that students are moved through the SEND stages of the Code of Practice in an accurate and timely manner. 

 Support from Learning Coaches: 

Classroom teachers and Learning Coaches ensure that support is effective and builds upon learning in lessons. Learning Coaches often work with small groups of students to develop particular skills and regularly make use of multi-sensory teaching to pre- and post- teach basic skills and concepts, that will lead the student to make progress in the lessons. 

Inclusive education: 

We pride ourselves on being fully inclusive and all students attend mainstream lessons with their peers, to ensure they gain the highest specialist subject knowledge from their teachers. Staff at the Academy are continually receiving CPD on how to support a variety of additional needs, therefore in line with the DfE Code of practice, Quality First Teaching is at the heart of support for SEND students. 

For further support on BCP’s services and provision to supporting parents and young people please see the local offer. 

The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole SEND Local Offer - BCP Council