Special educational needs

At Ark Victoria we strive to ensure all pupils have their learning, wellbeing and safeguarding needs met, so that they can successfully learn and thrive in school and are able to achieve their life goals. We are committed to providing every pupil with the individual support they need to make exceptional progress and fulfil their potential. Our curriculum is inclusive to meet the needs of all pupils without narrowing their experiences and opportunities.

Ark Victoria Academy’s SEND offer:

High Quality First Teaching
Curriculum Adaptations
Adapted teaching strategies
Robust identification process
Targeted interventions for all needs
Specialised bespoke training
Specialised Mental Health mentoring
School Counsellor
External agency communication
Referrals to internal and external agencies
Strong relationships with Educational psychology, Communication and Autism Team and Pupil School Support.
English as an Additional Language offer (identification and interventions)

Whilst our curriculum has high aspirations for all pupils, teachers know to adapt resources and outcomes for the ability of individual students. As such, pupils with additional needs will receive the same high-quality teaching input from their class teacher, whilst perhaps working on different targets to their peers – for example the end result of a task may take a different form.

We know that support must be holistic and focus upon the whole child. This means that alongside academic intervention and support, we also focus upon social and emotional skills (particularly emotional regulation), growth mindset and self-esteem, life skills (such as self-organisation and time management) and well-being (physical and mental) through working closely with the pastoral team. We aim to model reflective

We know that students may need different or additional support at specific times during their time in our school to be successful. Our school SENCOs works closely with all teachers and support staff to identify needs early and assess which interventions or specialist support is required. We monitor progress following the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ model to ensure support is appropriately pitched, targeted and personalised. This approach provides a continuous cycle of assessment as children's strengths and needs develop and change. Our teachers aim to support all learners to ensure that they access the curriculum and maximise their potential. We formatively assess through every interaction. This perspective, alongside the learner themselves and their families, is central to being able to work successfully with us as the SENCOs and other specialists. 

Children with additional needs will have Individual Learning Plans with personalised targets. Class teachers will provide regular opportunities for children to make progress towards these targets, whilst accessing the same curriculum as their peers. practice which is not simply reactive but pro-active to anticipate and plan for support ahead of challenges to come.