Inclusion
Special Educational Needs and Disability
By the time all children leave The Oaktree School, we want them to be confident, and independent individuals, who are equipped with the skills to live fulfilling lives. We strongly believe that every child has the right to be included and educated alongside their peers, and we respect the unique contribution that every pupil can make to the community.
We believe every child is special and we aim to motivate and inspire children, building and developing on each individual child’s strengths and talents. We are fully committed to ensuring that the needs of all children are met within an environment which embraces the highest possible academic aspirations, whilst accepting individual differences in ability, aptitude and level of skill. We are passionate in striving to ensure that every child at The Oaktree School is valued and their achievements celebrated.
We value the social and emotional well-being and positive mental health of the pupils in our care and education. This is reflected in our school development plan, our curriculum, our way of teaching and the support with provide for individual pupils whom require additional intervention or strategies.
Where necessary, we provide appropriate intervention and support to ensure that all of our children achieve their next steps. Miss Harrison is the school Inclusion Lead and SENCo who lead our team of dedicated teachers and support staff, to ensure this is possible.
We value SEND at The Oaktree School and have a dedicated classroom and work space called Badger Class. This room is used to run some of our specific SEND interventions, as well as provide a quiet area for relaxation, therapy time and 1:1 work with external agencies and professionals. Click on the link at the bottom of this page to find out more about Badger Room and access a comprehensive range of SEND resources and websites which may be of use.
We welcome visitors to our school to observe our high quality SEND practice and provision. If you have any questions or require any further information regarding SEND at The Oaktree School, please contact the main school office via phone or email and ask to speak to Miss Harrison.
How do we meet the Statutory Requirements for SEND?
- We follow and adhere to The SEND Code of Practice (2015)
- We adhere to the Surrey Local Offer and access the wide range of resources and documentation.
- We follow The Graduated Response and The SEND Profiles of Need 2019.
- We ensure a systematic approach to identify needs, using the: assess, plan, do and review model.
The SEND Code of Practice 2015 outlines Class Teacher Responsibilities and focuses on the importance of quality first teaching in order to support all pupils. At The Oaktree School, we believe this is our starting point in order to meet the needs of all our pupils. This includes ensuring:
- Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants and/or specialist staff.
- Lessons are planned to address potential areas of difficulty and to remove barriers to pupil achievement.
- The first response should be high quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils who have or may have SEN. Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching.
In addition to The SEND Code of Practice, we follow The Graduated Response and The SEND Profiles of Need (2019). The Graduated Response is the support put in place for children with identified special educational needs. By doing this, barriers to learning can be removed.
The Graduated Response covers 4 areas of need:
- Cognition and Learning
- Communication and Interaction
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Sensory and Physical
There are 4 stages of support for each of these areas, starting with Quality First Teaching and increasing to School SEND Support, Specialist SEND SUPPORT and Statutory Support, where applying for an Educational Healthcare Plan (EHCP) takes place. At every stage within the graduated response, schools we involve the child and their parents/carers.
The SEND Profiles of Need is a statutory toolkit to support teacher’s to identify pupil needs in the first instance.
Supporting Documentation -The Oaktree School
Supporting Documentation and Resources - External
Autism Central is a peer education programme, commissioned by NHS England. It aims to build knowledge and understanding of autism and empower families and carers to advocate for autistic people they support to get the right understanding and adjustments in place across the services they use. Please click here to be directed to the webpage.
English as an Addition Language (EAL)
Accordion content
Pupil Premium
For information please follow this link.
Young Carers
At The Oaktree and The Hermitage Schools, we are aware that some of our pupils are young carers. A young carer is someone under 18 who is caring, unpaid, for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems. They often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult.
Some tasks children may engage in: practical tasks (e.g. cooking, housework and shopping); physical care (lifting or helping someone use the stairs); personal care (dressing, washing, helping with toilet needs; managing the family budget (collecting benefits and prescriptions); managing medication; looking after younger siblings; helping someone to communicate with others both inside the home and in the wider community.
Research suggests there are at least 700,000 young carers in the UK, with an estimated 14,000 young carers in Surrey, but many more do not realise they are a young carer.
We know that young carers may need a little extra support to enjoy and do well at school. At The Oaktree and The Hermitage School, we are committed to ensuring that all pupils who are young carers are identified and supported effectively. Some examples of things we offer are support from a member of our pastoral team, special consideration for extra-curricular activities and referral to outside services such as Surrey Young Carers. Anything offered will be individually tailored to the pupil’s individual needs.
Part of my role as a Home School Link Worker (HSLW) is to help identify and co-ordinate the support for our young carers across both schools. I have attached some documents that may help you decide.
If you think, your child might be a young carer please let us know by completing the slip below and return it via the school office in an envelope marked for Mrs Jones (HSLW). If you do not feel comfortable doing this or have any further questions, please contact me directly. Any information that is given to us will be treated sensitively and no information will be shared without your knowledge.
Are you helping to look after someone in your family? Could you be a YOUNG CARER? Click here to find out more information.
Woking HomeStart and Family Centre