The King's School (Chester)

The King’s School has good provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities and the whole school department is led by the Director of Learning Support. Children identified or diagnosed with a learning difficulty will be added to our special educational needs register and an IEP (Individual Education Plan) will be written specially for each child. The role of the IEP is to ensure that every teacher is fully aware of the child’s needs, and to provide guidance on how they can adjust their teaching methods to ensure that he or she can make good progress. Children who need more specific support can access group and 1:1 support sessions which run on a weekly basis. Older children studying at GCSE and A level can book in for ad-hoc 1:1 support sessions with the LS team as and when they need them. If a child has been awarded an EHC Plan or Statement of Educational Needs (Wales only) from the local authority, then the King’s School will work closely with the LA and hold annual reviews as required. The Learning Support team is very much part of the whole school and does not work in isolation at any point. Regular liaison with both academic departments and the pastoral teams takes place. The Learning Support team also works closely with class teachers, form tutors, school nurse, school counsellor, examinations officer, senior leadership team and safeguarding lead. The school also has working relationships with external specialist providers including a dyslexia specialist assessor, educational psychologist, and speech and language therapists. The school does not pay for external diagnostic assessments or specialist 1:1 provision.

In compliance with the Equality Act 2010, the King’s School will not discriminate on the grounds of disability. As an academically selective school, every child applying for a place will be required to sit an entrance test before the offer of a place is made. If your child has a diagnosis of a special educational needs then the school can provide access arrangements such as extra time in the entrance test. This will be organised by our Director of Learning Support who will contact you directly to discuss the most suitable options. If your child has particularly significant needs and/or an EHC Plan/Statement, then the Director of Learning Support will invite you into school to discuss your child’s needs in more detail. The School may also make contact with your child’s current setting to find out more about the provision currently in place. The aim of this process is to encourage an open discussion between yourselves and the School so that we might determine whether or not the King’s School has adequate resources to meet the needs of your child.

If your child is moving to King’s from another school, the Director of Learning Support will liaise directly with the SENDCo and class teacher at the child’s current setting. If the child is starting in the sixth form, a copy of the ‘JCQ Form 8’ will be required for the purpose of applying for access arrangements. For children with special educational needs moving through the school, having a ‘whole school’ approach to SEND provision helps ease the transition process. The Learning Support team works closely with parents, the child and class teachers to make sure the transition is a smooth process.

The King’s School is fully committed to training all staff in several areas of special educational needs and disability. Regular training sessions and workshops are run internally by the Learning Support team at several times throughout the academic year. The school also arranges for external trainers to come into school to provide specialist information on a range of specific learning difficulties. This has included sessions on dyslexia, working memory, social stories, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD/ADD, brain injury, visual impairment and speech impairments. In addition, members of the learning support team are committed to attending regular external training sessions run by recognised professional bodies including the British Dyslexia Association (BDA), NASEN, PATOSS and the University of Chester.