SEN Report

Special educational needs (SEN) information report

1. What types of SEN does the school provide for?

Talbot Specialist School is the only local-authority – maintained secondary special school in Sheffield. We serve students aged 11 – 19 with profound, severe and complex learning difficulties, including significant medical, sensory, communication and behavioural needs. Students are working at very early developmental levels to those working towards Y1. All students at Talbot have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP).

Talbot School follows Sheffield City Council’s school admission arrangements

Applying for children with special educational needs | Sheffield City Council

2. Which staff will support my child, and what training have they had?

Students are taught in three developmental pathways plus Post-16 routes: Pathway 1 for profound and multiple learning disabilities, Pathway 2 for severe and complex needs including autistic sensory learners, and Pathway 3 for severe learning disabilities with more linguistic communication. All curricula align with the Preparation for Adulthood framework from Year 7 onwards.

Students at Talbot School are placed in a class group in the Pathway that is most aligned to their needs.

Staffing levels are highest in Pathway 1 and Pathway to Enriched Adult Life these groups and classes have around 6 students with one teacher and 3 Teaching Assistants.

Class groups in Pathway 2 and Pathway to a Supported Adult Life are usually around 8 students with one teacher and three Teaching Assistants.

Class groups in Pathway 3 and Pathway Towards some Independence in Adult Life are usually around 12 students with one teacher and two Teaching Assistants.

Provision is enhanced through skilled specialist teams: Inclusion Team, Communication Team, Behaviour Team, and Wellbeing Team – each essential for enabling access, communication, regulation, safeguarding and medical support.

External agencies and experts

Sometimes we need extra help to offer our pupils the support they need. Whenever necessary we will work with external support services to meet the needs of our pupils with SEN and to support their families. These include:

• Speech and language therapists
• Educational psychologists
• Occupational therapists
• GPs or paediatricians
• School nurses
• Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
• Education welfare officers
• Social services and other local authority (LA)-provided support services
• Voluntary sector organisations

Specialist equipment including switches, communication aids, specialist seating and standing frames is provided for individual students as required, following multi-professional advice and assessments. The school has a hydrotherapy pool which is fully accessible.

Training

Our staff receive ongoing training related to their roles in school and this may be as a whole staff or on an individual basis according to priorities and interests. We have our own trainers in school as well as sourcing appropriate external training.

All staff are trained in Team Teach, Makaton/Total communication, Personal care/dignity and respect and Moving and Handling. Additional staff training has been given in intensive interaction, sensory integration and attention autism. Key staff have been trained in the delivery of Essential letters and Sounds phonics.

3. How will the school measure my child’s progress?

The progress and achievement of students is closely monitored and scrutinised through ongoing assessment. Interventions are put in place where needed. The progress of students receiving pupil premium is closely monitored and these students achieve in line with other students in the school.

At the yearly annual review parents and young people work alongside school staff and other involved professionals to review a student’s EHCP and set targets for the next 12 months.

The EHCP outcomes inform curriculum targets directly, which are reviewed and assessed by teachers each term. Progress towards these targets is captured through Evidence for learning and shared with families.

4. How will I be involved in decisions made about my child’s education?

Parental engagement is a key aspect to the development of our young peoples learning. At Talbot we ensure that we provide a wide range of opportunities for parents to be involved in their child’s education:
Consultation

• A tour of school with a member of the SLT to support parents to make their choice of school

At Transition

• School staff will visit your child’s primary school
• Parents / carers invited into school for orientation and pack sent home with details about school life
• You will bring your child for their first visit to Talbot to introduce them to their new school
• Flexible arrangements for transition visits (at least 3 visits to Talbot)

In September (or whenever start date may be)

• Phone calls to inform parents / carers about child’s progress in settling into school
• Parents / carers invited into school during first half term to take part in learning activity with their child and their class

Weekly

• Home / school communication book written in by class staff about activities in school. Parents / carers to write back with information from home

Termly

• Special events in school such as assemblies and presentations
• Letters, usually sent through Parent Pay
• Half-termly newsletters
• Parents and carers are updated on pupils’ learning throughout the term with pictures and observations shared through the app, Evidence for Learning

Yearly

• Annual reviews
• Parents afternoons / evenings

You may contact school through home/school diary, via email or phone. We will return calls as soon as possible. We can arrange other meetings or home visits as needed to ensure you and your child are confident about what is happening and feel safe and happy in school.

We will provide updates on your child’s progress through Annual Review, end of year Report and termly Progress Meetings (Parents Evenings).

We know that you’re the expert when it comes to your child’s needs and aspirations. So, we want to make sure you have a full understanding of how we’re trying to meet your child’s needs, so that you can provide insight into what you think would work best for your child.

We also want to hear from you as much as possible so that we can build a better picture of how the support we are providing is impacting your child outside of school.

If your child’s needs or aspirations change at any time, please let us know right away so that we can work together to make things better.

5. How will my child be involved in decisions made about their education?

Students opinions and aspirations are at the heart of the provision offered to them.

The level of involvement will depend on your child’s age and needs. Student voice is important and we support our students to be active participants in decision making, make choices and advocate for themselves. Staff who know your child well, will also advocate for them.

We may seek your child’s views by asking them to:

• Attend meetings to discuss their progress and outcomes
• Prepare a presentation, written statement, video, drawing, etc.
• Share their views with a member of staff who can act as a representative during the meeting

We also seek student voice in a variety of ways for issues that are meaningful to our students, for example the design of our new library, arrangements for celebration / festive events.

6. How will the school adapt its teaching for my child?

The school provides a personalised, inclusive curriculum that is carefully adapted to meet each child’s individual needs, communication style, and stage of development. Students are taught within flexible pathways (Pre-Formal, Informal, and Semi-Formal) that ensure learning is appropriately matched and ambitious, with opportunities to learn alongside peers across pathways where beneficial.

Teaching is adapted through a strong focus on communication, guided by the school’s Communication At The Heart of the School (CATHS) approach. This ensures that strategies, environments, and groupings reflect each child’s communication needs and support their engagement in learning. Classes are organised by developmental stage rather than age, and consistent staffing helps build secure relationships and a deep understanding of each child.

The curriculum is broad, balanced, and carefully sequenced, with learning broken down and revisited over time using a combination of spiral and mastery approaches. This allows students to build skills gradually, practise them in different contexts, and apply them in meaningful, real-life situations. Learning is delivered at a pace suited to the individual, with adaptations made to ensure accessibility, engagement, and appropriate challenge.

All teaching is closely aligned with each child’s EHCP outcomes and Preparation for Adulthood goals, focusing on key areas such as communication, independence, wellbeing, and community participation. This ensures learning is relevant, purposeful, and tailored to support long-term development and future life skills.

7. What support will be available for my child as they transition between classes or settings, or in preparing for adulthood?

We minimise the number of transitions our students make within Year 7-11 and then within Year 12-14. If any changes are made between years, we plan class teams carefully so that wherever possible there is some continuity in staffing.

To help be prepared for a new school year we:

• Ensure current and future teams meet to share relevant information
• Schedule lessons with the new team towards the end of the summer term

Moving into Post 16:

• We ensure current and future teams meet to share relevant information
• We arrange meetings with parents/carers to share information and to enable you to meet the new staff team
• We set up visits to Post 16 towards the end of the summer term

Moving on from Talbot:

Students can leave school at Y11 and may move on to one of the Sheffield Colleges. Most students remain at Talbot for post 16 provision. Post 16 students leave school at Year 12, 13 or 14 and move on to a range of education and social care providers. Multi-agency, personalised planning takes place to identify the appropriate provision and to ensure secure plans and funding are in place prior to the student leaving school. The school supports transition planning by facilitating transition meetings and liaising closely with families and providers. We support students on transition visits to a range of social care providers.

• We provide all our students with appropriate opportunities to visit a range of providers
• We support our students to make choices
• We advocate for our students
• We work with parents / carers to secure appropriate provision

8. How does the school support students with disabilities?

The environment is adapted to the needs of students as required. This includes:

• Ramps
• Elevators
• Corridor width
• Disabled parking bays
• Accessible toilets and changing facilities
• Use of mobile and ceiling hoists to promote the safer moving and handling of students
• Activity areas at wheelchair accessible height eg adjustable sinks/ hob for food technology
• Wider classroom door openings to allow ease of movement
• Automatic door openings / button door openings

Our school uses a range of communication methods to make sure information is accessible. This includes:

• Internal signage
• Large print resources (available on request)
• Pictorial or symbolic representations
• Objects of reference
• Communication Profiles to inform adults how best to communicate with students
• Staff are trained and experienced in supporting student accessing information through a Total Communication approach.

More detail can be found in our accessibility plan (available on school website)

9. How will the school support my child’s mental health, and emotional and social development?

Your child’s class staff are the key adults involved in supporting all aspects of your child’s needs, including their mental health, emotional and social development.

This team is supported by our Wellbeing Team (safeguarding, health, medical needs) and Inclusion Teams (communication and behaviour) who are line managed by our Deputy Head for Quality of Inclusion (who is also our DSL and named SENDCO). Together, these teams offer support and training to class teams (communication, behaviour, regulation, safeguarding and medical support). These teams also work closely with families and external professionals. The school has a programme of Nurture provision, led by the Well-being team, and this is offered to students throughout the school as needed. We work closely with CAMHS and the educational psychology service and adopt a multi-professional approach.

Social Skills is a key part of our provision, students are supported to develop social interaction, emotional understanding and confidence so they can make and maintain friendships. For some of our students this might be engaging in shared play experiences, indoors and outdoors, where adults model, scaffold and support positive interaction. For others it may be developing friendships, teamwork and emotional understanding through shared interests and activities. Adults will be a key part of modelling and facilitating these interactions, to support emotional and social development. Social Skills forms part of learning in and out of the classroom, in lessons and at break / snack / dinner times.

All staff are trained in Team Teach and are skilled in implementing strategies in order to de-escalate behaviours that could lead to crisis. Repair and reflect activities support students in developing strategies to manage their own emotions.

We have a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to bullying.

10. How will the school evaluate whether the effectiveness of provision?

SLT ensure that the provision in school is continually monitored and evaluated to ensure it is highly effective for all the children in school. The process involves systematically analysing all areas of the school and reporting outcomes and future recommendations to governors.

11. What support is in place for looked-after and previously looked-after children with SEN?

Karen Halford is the SEN coordinator contact her on the school number 0114 2507394. She is Deputy Head for Quality of inclusion and is also our teacher in charge of CLA.
Children who are looked-after or previously looked-after will be supported much in the same way as any other child who has SEN. However, looked-after pupils will also have a personal education plan (PEP). We will make sure that the PEP and any SEN support plans or EHC plans are consistent and complement one another.

12. What should I do if I have a complaint about my child’s SEN support?

The school has a complaints procedure which is followed by the headteacher and governors. Complaints that cannot be resolved by the headteacher are referred to the Chair of Governors.

You can find a copy of our Complaints Policy on the school website.

If you are not satisfied with the school’s response, you can escalate the complaint.

To see a full explanation of suitable avenues for complaint, see pages 246 and 247 of the SEND Code of Practice.

If you feel that our school has discriminated against your child because of their SEN, you have the right to make a discrimination claim to the first-tier SEND tribunal. To find out how to make such a claim, you should visit: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school/disability-discrimination

You can make a claim about alleged discrimination regarding:

• Admission
• Exclusion
• Provision of education and associated services
• Making reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services

Before going to a SEND tribunal, you can go through processes called disagreement resolution or mediation, where you try to resolve your disagreement before it reaches the tribunal.

13. What support is available for me and my family?

If you have questions about SEN, or are struggling to cope, please get in touch to let us know. We want to support you, your child and your family.

The Local Authority SEN officers can be contacted on 0114 2736394.

To see what support is available to you locally, have a look at your local authority’s local offer. Sheffield publishes information about the local offer on their website:
Local Offer | Sheffield

Our local special educational needs and disabilities information, advice and support (SENDIAS) service is:
https://sheffieldsendias.org.uk/

Local groups that offer information and support to families of children with SEN are:
Sheffield SEND Facebook Group
Sheffield Parent Carer Forum
Sheffield Autistic Society | Supporting autistic people and their families

National charities that offer information and support to families of children with SEN are:
IPSEA
SEND family support
NSPCC
Family Action
Special Needs Jungle