Comberton has an excellent reputation for supporting students with all types of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
We consider ourselves to be a fully inclusive environment and make many adaptations to mainstream education and the school environment in order that all students can manage successfully and are offered equal opportunities to participate fully in the life of the school and take part in all possible activities. We endeavour to support young people to participate in any additional/extra-curricular activity they would like to without any barriers being put in place. We also take the overall well-being of all students very seriously and support those with social and emotional difficulties by offering access to internal and external support services.
The needs of most students will be met through high quality teaching which is tailored to the individual’s particular needs. However, when a special educational need is identified by the previous school, the parent/carer or Comberton Village College (through data analysis, observation, liaison with other professionals, level of difficulty faced when accessing the curriculum), the school will work with the young person and parent/carer through regular planning discussions, review of provision and tracking of progress. We aim to ‘assess, plan, do and then review’ to ensure that any special educational needs are met appropriately.
Please see the report to the left of this page for full details of our offer.
We recognise the importance of genuine communication and partnership between school and parents/carers and fully acknowledge the importance of parental knowledge and expertise in relation to their own children. We believe that young people make best progress in school when they are supported by a team of people around them. Therefore, in Review Meetings (for students with statements or EHCs) or other appropriate reviews (for students without an EHC), the young person and their parent/carer are fully consulted and involved in discussions and decisions about what type of support and resources the young person will receive and how a parent/carer can further support their son/daughter’s learning needs at home and in the community.
In addition every child with an EHC/statement or a high level of need has a key worker/lead professional who will meet regularly with the child and communicate with the parent to discuss how the child is doing. The key worker/lead professional is the parent’s first point of contact.
We believe that CVC can offer an exceptionally good range of provisions/resources and are confident that our approach of treating every student as an individual means that we can provide tailored support for students with SEND and provide bespoke support and resourcing to specific need.
Our offer comprises the following:
Further resources available
We are also able to offer the following:
We ensure that the school site is fully accessible for wheelchair users, those with mobility issues and visually impaired students. We do this by having lifts, ramps, disabled toilets, a therapy room for physiotherapy, specialist equipment including Tomcat chairs and equipment such as talking scale and calculators, adapted tools and sports equipment. We are currently installing braille signs on all of our classroom doors.
Do ask to come and visit if you would like to have a tour of the school site.
We have a wide and diverse range of Teaching Assistants (TAs) to work with students who have SEND on a daily basis. TAs and teachers are all offered appropriate professional development and training opportunities for example, autism, mental health, EAL, literacy, numeracy.
We also work closely with staff from our locality team (Education Welfare Officer, Young People’s workers and Family Support Workers), Social Care, the Police, the Youth Offending Team, local GPs, Parent Partnership and Pinpoint.
All staff will be happy to discuss your son/daughter’s specific needs.
As with all students in the school, other policies which help us work effectively with those who have SEND areas below. Please see
The Cam Academy Trust Cabin Policy can be found here
https://www.combertonvc.org/parent-and-student-information/policies
https://www.catrust.co.uk/key-information/policies
Health and Safety Policy to ensure that the school is fully accessible to all disabled students
Disability Equality Policy and Accessibility Plan
Equality and Diversity Policy
Safeguarding Policy
Positive Behaviour Policy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cambridgeshire-62156309
If you think your child has SEN please see our Special Educational Needs Policy Click here and/or make an appointment with our SENCo Sean Pollock, Autistic Spectrum Co-ordinator, Jane Hylton or Irayna Owen, Assistant Head of Sixth Form.
The member of the school’s governing body with responsibility for SEND is Mrs Janet Banks.
The Local Authority Local Offer can be found at the pages below:
About Cambridgeshire's local offer - Cambridgeshire County Council
Local offer - Preparing for adulthood (14-25) - Cambridgeshire County Council
If you have any complaints about the school arrangements for SEND then please look at the complaints policy on CAM Academy Trust website.