At St Mary's CE Middle School, inclusion is at the heart of all that we do and our goal is to create an environment in which all pupils can thrive and achieve their full potential.   

This comes with great challenges and barriers and therefore the pages below provide the details of how the school intend to remove those barriers and overcome the challenges our pupils with SEN and their families may face.

Our SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disability) department is led by Natasha Sibley (Assistant Head/SENDCo), however our ethos is that SEND is everyone’s responsibility and we believe that in order to create the most effective, inclusive environment, everyone has a role to play in supporting pupils with SEND.

Therefore, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child, please speak with your child's tutor in the first instance, who will be happy to discuss support for your child – they will also be able to request further support from the relevant person, if needed. 

If you do not have a pupil on roll with us, but would like to know more about our SEND provision, please contact Miss Sibley via the school office on 01305 848293.

Every member of staff is considered part of our Inclusion Team, which includes the following roles:

• A SENCo
• Pupil Premium Lead
• A Designated Safeguarding and Pastoral Leader
• A CCN Inclusion Base Lead
• A Specialist SEND Administrator
• Higher level Teaching Assistants
• EHCP Teaching Assistants allocated to specific pupils and groups
• An ELSA/Pastoral Support Assistant

The Inclusion Team is intertwined throughout the school and provides pupils with access to pastoral and academic support.

We have our Teaching & Learning Centre (TLC) is staffed by our ELSA and offers a quiet, nurturing environment in which to learn and receive pastoral support.

St Mary’s also has the pleasure of housing a Complex Communication Needs hub (The Bridge), where 10 places are allocated by Dorset Council in collaboration with the school. Pupils who wish to apply for a place within the base must have an EHCP, communication and interaction difficulties and be able to access a mainstream classroom with up to 30 other pupils. We also aim for pupils to access 80% of their lessons alongside their pupils.

We believe that all teachers are teachers of SEND, and we pride ourselves in being fully inclusive. All our pupils attend mainstream lessons with their peers to ensure that they gain the high-quality curriculum and specialist subject knowledge needed to progress with their mainstream education. In line with the DfE Code of Practice, we invest heavily in our Quality First Teaching, multi-sensory approach to learning and pastoral support to convey our beliefs of ‘pupils being in, rather than out of the classroom’. There are, however, times pupils will need to leave the classroom for specific interventions – please see our Provision Outline for these interventions.

We work closely with a range of external agencies, who provide specialist support and advice for individual pupils depending on their needs.

These agencies include:

• SALT (Speech & Language Therapy)
• Educational Psychologists
• Paediatricians
• Auditory & Visual Support Services
• CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services)
• Specialist teachers in Specific Learning Difficulties, Sensory Processing and SEMH ( Social, Emotional & Mental Health)
• Family Workers
• Local Authority SEN/ Inclusion Team
• Senior Advisors - Physical and Medical Needs and Education & Learning support

Please click this link for the School's SEND Policy

Please click this link for the School's SEND Information Report

Please see the links at the bottom of this page for the St. Mary's SEND Department Provision Outline and Graduated Approach documents.

Find further information on Dorset's Local Offer for children and young people from 0 to 25 years with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).  The link for this is www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/dorsets-local-offer