SEND Information and Report
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Information Report
Our Commitment
Education is clearly a shared responsibility and we aim to work in partnership with parents and other professionals. Bishop Douglass School is a mainstream Catholic secondary Academy. We pride ourselves on being a fully comprehensive and non-selective school recruiting from a wide range of primary schools. A child or young person has SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disability) if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they: (a) have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age (b) or have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions. If a child is identified as having SEND, we will provide provision that is ‘additional to or different from’ the normal differentiated curriculum, intended to overcome the barrier to their learning, (SEND Code of Practice 0-25 years (DfE, 2015), within the limits of our resources. We will use the school’s mainstream funding and top-up SEND funding to furnish this support.
Accessibility
school is a mixture of 1950’s build with a modern extension and although there is a lift, parts of the school might be difficult to access for those with reduced mobility. Individual accessibility needs are considered, and reasonable adjustments made where possible. SEND students are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities, including a weekly youth club to promote inclusion and peer relationships. The school has a strong and effective anti-bullying policy. We work in partnership with a range of external agencies including CAMHS (Children & Adolescent Mental Health Service), the school nursing/health service, social care and various charities. There is a SEND governor who oversees this area of policy. Preparation for adulthood is embedded across the curriculum and pastoral support, including development of independence, social skills and transition planning for post-16 education or training. We liaise with local support services before the end of Year 11 to support a smooth transition to post-16 provision. Our SENCO is Ms Isabelle Goursaud (contactable through schooladmin@bishopdouglass.barnet.sch.uk. Complaints about SEND will be dealt with as per the Complaints Policy. The local authority contact for advice and support is senadmin@barnet.gov.uk. The Local Offer is detailed on: https://www.barnetlocaloffer.org.uk/
Details of the accessibility plan can be found by clicking here. Details of the SEND Policy can be found by clicking here.
How we support Special Education Needs
We endeavour to visit feeder primary schools to facilitate transition and will seek to put in place transition support for those previously identified as having special needs or disability, if we deem this appropriate. We assess prior to admission, to identify special needs or disability but assessment and monitoring for SEND is regular and on-going for all students. Once a child has been admitted to Bishop Douglass School, support is provided according to individual need through a graduated approach, and parents, will be invited to bespoke consultation, planning and review meetings. Support is tailored to match the profile of four broad areas of need as defined in the SEND code of practice: communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health and sensory and/or physical needs. The wishes of the child will, of course, be taken into consideration at all times. The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator); a specialist teacher, can be contacted for assistance and there are a number of staff who support those identified as having special needs or disabilities and we work with external professionals, including educational psychologists, where appropriate. All teaching staff have received basic training in special educational needs and disability. Training is provided to all staff including teachers and Teaching Assistants (TAs) as the need arises and there is ongoing professional development for all staff as well as opportunities to further develop their skills. Our policy is to facilitate full access to the curriculum and meta-curriculum, where feasible, for SEND and disabled students so that they do not feel they are treated less favourably than other students. This includes consideration of reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. As well as considering academic progress, we have regard to social and emotional development needs. Pupils are placed in ability streams and setting is used to enable teachers to teach to the appropriate level. We assess the success that those with special needs achieve by benchmarking against expected progress from prior attainment levels at Key Stage 2. We build in regular consultation with parents to garner their views. At the beginning of each term, parents will receive a curriculum booklet giving an outline scheme of work and indicating how parents can support their child. Every term we will send progress grades but if parents have any concerns they can contact the Head of Year or SENCO to arrange a meeting. At Bishop Douglass, we have a three-tiered approach to supporting SEND learning: Universal (class-teachers make minor adaptations), Targeted (bespoke intervention) and Specialist (involving the use of external professionals). We use the recommended graduated approach, supporting our students’ learning, to assess, plan, do and review interventions, involving external expertise as needed. SEND students tend to be supported in class, however, occasionally students are withdrawn from mainstream lessons. Those with more pronounced learning difficulties may be placed in a smaller teaching group in Year 7 but follow a standard curriculum based closely on the national curriculum. Exceptionally, a small number of learners have a more personalised curriculum to match their individual needs, interests and abilities. There is a special needs homework club every evening (Monday to Thursday) to support students. Pastorally, SEND students are supported by a dedicated Head of Year. Annual Reviews are held for students with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). These reviews focus on achievements, the progress made towards the outcomes, support and future plans and are held with parents/carers, the student and any other agencies involved.
Reviewed: March 2026