SEND

WE BELIEVE IN HIGH ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL

“We provide a richness of experience that enables all to develop their God given talents..” 

Anne-Marie Whitten

At St. Aidan’s Catholic Academy, provision for pupils with additional needs is at the very heart of the ethos of our school. We have the highest of expectations for every individual and we truly believe that every individual is capable of excellence. We encourage each individual to work hard, fulfilling their potential to pursue their next steps in life, whether it be their choice of University or a high-quality career.

Special Educational Needs and / or a Disability can affect many pupils throughout their school career and beyond. Whilst disabilities generally affect pupils long term, not all SEN difficulties should be seen as ‘Life Long’. Pupils classed as SEND are those that require provision that is additional to, or different from the rest of their cohort. For example, they may have a specific need such as dyslexia or autism. Every pupil is unique and it is important that we have a carefully planned approach to their provision, also ensuring (most importantly) that they have access to high quality class teaching.

Our school has a variety of key policies which directly impact upon our provision for children with SEND, and ensure that we fully comply with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations (2014). These are all available as part of our school website, and include:

Our SEND Information report is a valuable source of information for parents in relation to SEND. This report details our ethos, processes, curriculum accessibility and provision for SEND, including who to contact if you have a question, query or complaint. Of course, our door is always open – so please speak with us if you ever need to.  This is also part of the Sunderland Local Authority Information Report (Education and Training | Sunderland Information Point).

SEND Information Report – 2024 2025

Mrs. C.Robinson is our SENDCo. She is supported by Mr. R. Lannon (Deputy SENDCo), as well as Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust’s trust level SEND team. This is headed by Mrs. R. Bowman. She is also support by the school’s Head of School and senior leadership team. Every teacher is a teacher of SEND at St. Aidan’s. The SEND team can be contacted via the school office or via [email protected] or [email protected] directly.

For parents of pupils with an identified, or undiagnosed special educational need, it is important to know who you can turn to for specialist advice and guidance beyond the school. Sunderland the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) is a free confidential and impartial information, advice and support service on issues related to Special Educational Needs and disability. To find out more follow the link Sunderland SEND Information, Advice and Support | Sunderland Information Point or contact them on 0191 537 5764.

The ‘Local Offer’ 

St. Aidan’s is a part of the wider ‘local offer’ that Sunderland must provide for all pupils aged 0 – 25. This encompasses education, training, health and support. This is available via Education and Training | Sunderland Information Point.

Schools have a legal duty to carry out accessibility planning for disabled pupils.

Our school’s accessibility plan is aimed at:

Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum
Improving the physical environment of schools to enable disabled pupils to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided, and

Improving the availability of accessible information to disabled pupils

Please take a look at our full plan, below.

Accessibility Plan – 2024 – 2025

Equalities at St. Aidan’s….

We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010. Under the general duty of public sector equality duty, in the exercise of our functions, have due regard to the need to:

Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited under the Act.
Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

As part of our public sector equality duty, we formulate, review and publish our school’s Equality Policy and Objectives - sharing them with all those connected to our school – in order to ensure that our mission is clear and communicated to all. This can be found below:

Public Sector Equality Policy

Teaching pupils about equalities, rights and difference is important to us at St. Aidan’s. We aim for our pupils to have a “strong sense of moral purpose, personal responsibility, integrity, honesty and respect for others” (A Whitten, 2024). In order to do that, they must be able and willing to recognise, understand and embrace difference. Our PSHE curriculum, encompassing our approach to Relationships and Sex Education, is a key in delivering this mission – as part of our wider ethos and the virtues which we promote. Please follow the following links to see our curriculum information; including our PSHE curriculum and overall curriculum design and ethos and virtues articulation.

Click here for our Curriculum Statement

Click here for our PDE curriculum

Click here to read about our Ethos and Core Values