Development of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision at College

Shrewsbury Colleges Group is delighted to announce its planned developments in the way it will support students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) from September 2020.

The 2019 Ofsted visit to SCG confirmed what the College concluded from its own self-assessment processes, of its current Special Educational Needs provision. It was judged as ‘Good’, indicating it has a well-planned approach to supporting our Special Education Needs students.

The report confirmed the College meets their needs and fulfil its functions effectively with outcomes and destinations of students being very positive.

The College’s reputation for very good provision for students with Special Educational Needs locally and regionally means it is anticipating growth in the number of students with Special Education Needs and Disabilities joining in September.

This increase will be the fourth year in a row that numbers will grow significantly, and the College needs to ensure its provision increases to meet this growth.

In order to maintain and continue to improve the SEND offer and meet the growing numbers within the High Needs cohort, it is, therefore, adding the following job roles:

• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Transition/ Review Officer
• Specific Learning Difficulties - Specialist Teacher/ Assessor
• Teaching Assistants

The purpose of the posts is to develop and provide more specialist staffing to enable the College to support students more effectively with particular learning needs.

Catherine Armstrong, Group Vice Principal Curriculum Support and Business Development, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the work that we do in supporting some of the most vulnerable members of our society. The 2019 Ofsted visit confirmed what we thought of our current Special Educational Needs provision from our self-assessment processes.

“It was judged as Good, indicating that we have a well-planned approach to supporting our Special Education Needs students. We meet their needs and fulfil our functions effectively with outcomes and destinations being very positive.”

James Staniforth, Principal of Shrewsbury Colleges Group added: “The recruitment of these roles sits within our strategy for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and provides specialist input within the College. We’re committed to providing support students and staff throughout the learning journey as effectively as possible. We are also seeking to increase the support available in the college to students with neuro-developmental conditions such as Autism and ADHD.”