Inclusion Support

Crestwood Community School believes that all students, including those with learning difficulties or disabilities, should have high aspirations and hopes for their future. The Learning Support Team work with students to overcome barriers that may exist, liaising with outside agencies when specialist support is required and maintaining contact with parents.

As a school we hold the same expectations of progress for all students yet at the same time understand that students need different levels of support in order to achieve their potential. The most effective way to ensure students make progress is for subject teachers in the mainstream classroom to plan for the needs of all learners, allowing alternative ways of recording information or demonstrating ability. For some students, additional adult time might be necessary to overcome barriers to learning or provide additional pastoral support. We aim to develop the independence of students and would expect their reliance upon additional adult time to reduce during their secondary school career.

The team offer literacy and numeracy interventions for those students with the most acute difficulties, following programmes designed to reduce the skills gap between those with learning needs and their peers. There is also limited access to ICT equipment to help students participate across the curriculum.

“Disabled students and those with special educational needs make particularly good progress.” – Ofsted

For those students with social and/or emotional needs, dedicated support staff with appropriate training are deployed to provide additional care. This may take the form of in-class support, small group intervention or 1:1 mentoring to ensure that students feel happy, safe and are able to achieve academic success.

Parents with concerns about the progress their child is making should, in the first instance, make contact with the individual teacher who should be able to provide feedback on current performance towards their target, any barriers impinging success and possible next steps.

Students with Education Health and Care Plans

Parents of children who have an EHC Plan will have a named member of the Learning Support Team who will monitor the provision stipulated within the statement. An annual review will be scheduled every twelve months to review the student’s progress and make support changes as necessary.

Specific Learning Difficulties Resourced Provision (Shakespeare Campus)

Crestwood is one of six secondary schools in Hampshire that has a dedicated provision for students with severe dyslexic difficulties. Applications for a place within the provision takes place directly with the county SEN team. Junior/Primary school SENCos will be able to advise on the process, which begins in Year 5. Students with provision placements spend the majority of their time with peers in mainstream classes but have access to additional specialist intervention.

Social, Emotional & Mental Health Needs Resourced Provision (both Campuses)

The resource provision supports students with EHCPs for SEMH Needs. Admission is managed by the Local Authority and only two or three places are available each academic year. Admission priority is given to students in specialist provision during KS2 who are ready to transition to a supported mainstream setting in Y7.

High Expectations

Crestwood Community School works hard to ensure that students with learning difficulties enjoy their time at school and are able to achieve academic success. Key to these high expectations is working with parents to ensure that a full understanding exists of where a student is with their learning and the next steps required for them to make progress.

Teacher Planning

All teachers at the school are expected to plan their lessons so that the needs of individual learners are met and that all groups of students can be successful. Precise planning means that the majority of students, despite their difficulties, can be successful across the curriculum without additional adult support.

In-Class Support

The majority of classroom support assistants (CSAs) are attached to specific subject areas so they can support student progress using informed and effective strategies. Developing student independence is crucial to their success and it is expected that students receive less CSA time as they move through the school.

Literacy / Numeracy Intervention

Screening Assessments carried out annually identify students who may benefit from basic skills support in the form of literacy or numeracy intervention. The majority of this is carried out during tutor time in six-week sessions. For students with significant difficulties, more ongoing intervention is put in place.

Contact us

If you have any enquiries, please email us at inclusionsupport@crestwood.hants.sch.uk