At Crosfields we use a graduated response to supporting special educational needs and disabilities. We take a neurodiversity approach whereby we strongly believe that our environment should support all our pupils to access the main curriculum with their peers as much as possible. To this end, The Learning Empowerment Team works collaboratively with classroom teachers, teaching assistants and pastoral staff across all year groups to ensure that the vast majority of needs are met in class through high quality, adaptive teaching.
Where pupils in the senior school demonstrate a need for more targeted support, they may have timetabled group lessons in The Hub, our designated Learning Empowerment area. These sessions focus on cognition and learning needs and aim to support progress in the core subjects as well as the development of effective study skills. According to the needs of our cohort, interventions focusing on social communication, executive functioning or other needs may also be in place. Woody, our Hub cavapoo, is a trained therapy dog and is also often on hand to support our pupils. Our aim with all intervention is to build pupils’ skills to promote increasing independence as they move through the school.
Our Learning Empowerment staff is highly trained and includes qualified SENCOs, specialist teachers, assessors, ELSAs and teaching assistants. This enables us to use a range of cognitive ability tests and screeners to better inform classroom support and any interventions for pupils with SEND. We are also able to offer full diagnostic assessments for dyslexia in-house at an extra charge. If we feel a pupil needs assessment or intervention from an external specialist, we support parents in pursuing that avenue where they desire and can accommodate visiting professionals within the school environment where appropriate. GCSE access arrangements are assessed for and processed in-house.
For pupils with SEND, the SENCOs are involved at entrance assessment to ensure we can meet need before a place is offered.
We do not charge for any of our Learning Empowerment services apart from full dyslexia diagnoses.
