The GFC School is privileged to have a wide range of special educational needs across all year groups.

Students’ needs include Autism, ADHD, SEMH, Specific learning difficulties like Dyslexia, and global delay. Over half of our intake have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) although we also take children who do not have an EHCP and we welcome diversity.

The SENCO is a member of the Senior Leadership team and due to this can ensure, with other Leaders, that the fulfilment of needs and progress remain high on the agenda when it comes to the school’s priorities.

Our approach to SEND is very holistic; this means that all of our interventions, teaching and curriculum planning are built upon knowledge of our students and their need types. For example, we meet and greet our students with a positive outlook so they feel safe and confident, have tutor groups to support friendship and collaboration and we give them every opportunity to talk and engage with our therapeutic interventions.

Several staff are trained in Lego Therapy and 1 of our Teaching Assistants has a counselling qualifications. In addition, our Behaviour and Pastoral Manager plans bespoke interventions, such as emotional regulation and anger management, using the gym which can really help our students engage with the support offered. All of our students would agree, however, that the best intervention comes from time with Basil, our gorgeous therapy dog who visits us twice a week!

When students come to the school with an EHCP we have a good awareness of their needs but all children are baselined through academic and behavioural assessment such as the CAT4 testing and the Access reading test.  The SENCO draws up Student profiles which have an introduction by the student themselves, telling the readers what they want us to know about them. These profiles are in addition to the provision maps we send to Medway Council, and are supported by individual risk assessments, behaviour plans and detailed breakdowns of our interventions.

Details of education and welfare provisions for pupils with education, health care plans (EHCP) and pupils who speak English as an additional language include:

• Forest school at an offsite facility
• Outdoor education at an offsite facility
• Literacy booster sessions on a 1:1 basis if required
• Numeracy booster sessions on a 1:1 basis if required
• On site school counsellor
• Anger management sessions

Our legal responsibility towards SEND rests with the completion of a cycle throughout the academic year; this focusses on the ‘plan, do, assess, review’ cycle and is essential to supporting attainment and achievement. Academic achievement is highly important but is just one part of how we measure how far a student has come as we also value progress in self-confidence, resilience, trust and the development of relationships.

We have few EAL (English as a foreign language) students at the school but those who come here quickly become more adept at the English language and learn about British culture.

Our highly experienced and well-trained TA’s have developed specialisms in behaviour, teaching and learning and Mental Health and are very active in supporting progress across the school.

For any enquiries, please contact our Senco Rachel Tidy: rtidy@thegfcschool.co.uk