An important part of the College's success is the skill of our teaching staff in adapting learning for a range of students. The classroom is the place in which all students should experience high quality input from their teacher, those students with SEN are part of this vision, practice and GCSE success. Subject teams construct ambitious curriculums that consider the needs of all learners. These curriculum overviews are available on our website for your information.

Tutors adapt the learning to consider the needs of all learners in each class, including those with SEN. This is known as differentiation and is a very varied approach specific to the individuals in the class. It may involve considering how an extra support adult is deployed within the classroom to support learners. In order to do this effectively our IN team provide information on any students with additional needs and suggested strategies that can be used to support their learning in and out of the classroom.

Enriching learning with opportunities outside of the classroom is something the College is fully committed to and like all aspects of our work it applies equally to all students. We have a huge range of clubs, activities and trips that are open to all our students. If necessary, we make adaptations to ensure students with additional needs can take part.

View our Enrichment Activities programme

If you are interested in a particular area of learning or enrichment please contact us.

Learning is not just something for our students, the ongoing development of our staff team is a significant part of our commitment to high quality teaching. Our teaching team benefit from a range of departmental and whole College training on pedagogy that support all students’ progress. At times, we target this training on specific areas of need or practice. We also provide personalised support based on the needs of particular students or teachers by observing, collaborating and supporting the development of differentiation in the classroom setting.

As a Teaching School, our training for staff is also differentiated for all staff hence we have a programme of development for beginning and training teachers.

This programme of professional development is reviewed and adapted on a regular basis and in response to the needs of individuals and cohorts.

We use lots of ways to determine this with a priority focus on working with the people who know that student best; their parents, their teachers and their own perception too. However, there are a few indicators and we look to create a whole picture of how many indicators we have and ultimately whether a young person needs support above and beyond the high quality input they receive in the classroom.

Some of our indicators are: what primary school thought and any previous  identification of needs; reading age tests; CAT tests; our internal attainment results; staff feedback; our Ed Psych or specialist assessors opinion and results; a screening tool; the wider range of professionals we work with in CAMHS, Occupation Therapy, STEPS, SALT and beyond.

We think carefully about what the problem is and work collaboratively to find solutions. We know there is no one approach and we need to be innovative and willing to try a variety of methods, sometimes rethinking and trying again and again. Our commitment to this is unwavering. Some of the things we try are:

• Individual target reports
• Mentoring
• Learning Support Assistant support -Link to our LSA Code of Conduct.
• ‘T6’ our Learning Support Unit
• Reading Support
• Accelerated Reader
• Lexia
• Success @ Arithmetic
• Counselling
• Social Skills Group
• Reading pens
• Laptop Use
• Adapted resources

We do not have a set list of specialists, our provision is driven by the needs of our students and the list of services is as exhaustive as the needs of our students. The list below should give you a flavour of some services and people we have worked with before:

• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team (CAMHS)
• Educational Psychology Service
• The STEPs team: a range of services who offer advice and guidance on a range of needs including specific learning difficulties, physical disabilities, visual and hearing impairments, Autism and many more.
• Specialist Sensory Occupational Therapists
• The Speech and Language Therapy Team
• Physiotherapists
• The Clinical Psychology Team

More information about many of these services can be found in the Derby City Council's Local Offer

View the Council's Local Offer

All students are regularly assessed in class and our Data Entry points are the culmination of each terms data gathering. This is intensively monitored at all levels by teaching staff, Learning Leaders, Heads of Year, Heads of Key Stage, the Senior and Executive Teams and Governors to ensure all students are on track to make progress.

Where we have a concern we work on an ‘assess, plan, do, review’ model in line with the Code of Practice that incorporates extra college based and/or specialist intervention and parent liaison to get students back on track.

Some students are supported by an Individual Learning Plan completed by the IN team in liaison with Learning Tutors, Personal Tutors, home and the student. These plan document the students barriers to learning and outlines the strategies and provision the students needs to help them make progress. They are reviewed up to three times a year or in response to a change of need or support when necessary.

For our students with EHCPs the IN Team conduct termly and an annual review in line with the principles of person centred planning. These meetings seek to involve all those who are involved in the student’s progress to discuss current progress and next steps.

It is crucial you refer to our Admissions Policy in order to understand the process as this governs much of the process. However, for young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan, they need to apply through the Local Authority. We ask that if you are considering naming Landau Forte College Derby on your child’s EHCP, you contact us first and come and have a look round and a chat. Jointly, we can get a much better sense as to whether the College is the right placement. Then, if accepted following formal consultation via the Local Authority, we then work with you to plan very carefully for the admission of your child. We are committed to ensuring that we have taken all steps to ensuring pupils with SEND are not treated less favourably and all potential barriers to their admission are reviewed.

If you have applied and secured a place through the normal admissions process and your child has SEND but no EHCP or is in the process of applying, please make contact with us so we can begin to liaise with you and their current school to put the right support in place for these students too.

View the College's Admissions information

Every student is funded by the Department for Education and schools use this funding flexibly to ensure all students make progress. Schools receive an additional pot of money known as the Notional budget for SEND (or ‘Element 2’) which is available to spend on additional interventions such as the ones listed above. The College decides each year how to spend this money to make sure all students have access to what they need to be successful learners. If a student has the highest level of SEND, the College may receive another layer of funding to offer support that exceeds what we might otherwise be able to provide. In order to receive this money (‘Element 3’) we need to request it from the Local Authority on an annual basis and it is only available for young people who have an EHCP.

We have already undergone works to ensure we can accommodate a wide range of students who may have varying needs in relation to accessibility. The building design and layout is spacious, light and airy. The site has full disabled access and lifts provide access to all teaching areas above ground floor level. There are toilets that are accessible to wheelchair users. Changing rooms and showers are also accessible for wheelchair users. The IN team has a dedicated suite of rooms located on one corridor on the ground floor. However, we frequently audit the College in order to draw up action plans for review and make improvements for people with a range of disabilities.

If a student is deemed to have a short term or long term medical condition, the College will ensure that arrangements are in place to support them. In doing so, we will ensure that the student can access and enjoy the same opportunities at the College as any other student. The College, health professionals, parents and carers and other support services will work together to ensure that a student with a medical condition receives a full education. The onsite College nurse has an overview of this area. The key document to refer to is the Medical Policy.

View the College's policies

Student voice is vital and we pride ourselves on being a listening College. We have a Landau Forte Parliament which is made up of students from all seven year groups, they focus on making positive change within the College and leading on issues that may have a local, national or global concern. The members canvas student opinion and are a powerful force in implementing positive change. Furthermore, we conduct student surveys that offer students chance to anonymously offer their feedback. We know that some young people find it more challenging to make their voice heard and we use our knowledge of individuals to find ways to seek their views.

Our aim is for parents and carers to be fully involved in college life. Communication is crucial and we use a variety of accessible methods to keep parents and carers up to date about developments at the College. Communication may take the form of meetings with parents and carers, regular letters and text messages, newsletters and the website.

All parents and carers are invited to join us at personal tutor consultation evenings and parent evenings. Attendance is superb and we regularly ask for feedback from parents on these events to ensure the written reports and events meet the parent’s needs. We also offer information evenings which give parents and carers the opportunity to find out about the curriculum offer for the year group and ask questions. Lastly, we schedule parent drop-in days where all are welcome to come in and have a chat with the senior team.

Our sixth form support is very much an extension of the high level input we offer across all years. However, we seek to support young people to feel empowered in discussing, seeking and coordinating their own support. It is crucial that they leave us ready to advocate for themselves at University, work and beyond. As a result, we work alongside our students in creating their support package which include but is not exclusive to:

• Co-writing an Individual Learning Plan to be shared with teaching staff
• Agreeing on a check-in schedule (weekly/fortnightly/half-termly) with our Post-16 Lead Learning Support Assistant - this allows progress to be reviewed and concerns flagged early
• Establishing any priority subjects for support- this involves drop-in or hover support unless there is a specified need for something more comprehensive
• Agreeing and implementing any exam support arrangements
• UCAS/CV support sessions including guidance on DSA
• Support to set up work-placements where needed
• Co-writing referrals for additional support or intervention if needed

Additionally, we build strong links with parents and carers to ensure they are kept informed of the support in place. We utilise the Post-16 parents evening, offering an appointment to all parents/carers of students who are on the Code of Practice with one of our team.

If you feel you are able to, please talk to us first. You can reach out to any of the key members of staff who support your child but our SENCOs might be best placed to help with an issue around needs and provision. You know your child best and we want to partner with your expertise to ensure your child has the best possible experience of their education here. There are very few things we cannot find a way to work round together. That said, we know that things go wrong at times and you can find the complaints procedure below if you need it.