Mrs K Morrison-Johnson	SENDCO & Teacher of English
	Mrs S Welland	SENDCO Assistant
	Mrs V Readman	Teaching & Learning Assistant
	Mrs D Robertson	Teaching & Learning Assistant
	Mrs M Tee	Teaching & Learning Assistant

At Purbrook Park School, we believe that the vast majority of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities are best served by being taught by expert teachers in mainstream classrooms, alongside their peers. Inclusion is not a place; it is a principle. Our starting point is always that pupils belong in lessons, learning ambitious content, participating fully in school life, and benefiting from high-quality teaching.

We have immense faith in the expertise of our staff. We are a school of professionals: teachers, leaders and specialists with a wide range of qualifications, experience and expertise, including degrees, master's qualifications, SENCO accreditation and extensive professional development. We place our trust in evidence-informed practice, professional judgement and the accumulated knowledge of experienced educators. We do not allow educational decisions to be driven by social media trends, fashionable narratives or unsupported claims. Our responsibility is to provide support that is effective, proportionate and grounded in evidence.

We reject the notion that a special educational need should become a barrier to ambition. Nor do we believe that pupils are best served by having limitations repeatedly reinforced. We recognise and support genuine need, but we are equally committed to developing resilience, independence, self-regulation and metacognitive skills. These are not optional extras; they are essential life skills that enable young people to flourish both in education and beyond.

Our aim is not to create dependency. We do not routinely attach adults to pupils throughout the school day where this may inhibit independence, social development or self-confidence. Instead, we carefully consider how support can be structured to help pupils become increasingly autonomous learners. Success is not measured by how much support a pupil receives, but by how effectively they are able to learn, participate and thrive.

We know from both research and experience that high-quality teaching has the greatest impact on pupil outcomes. Time and again, we have welcomed pupils whose families or previous settings were told that mainstream education would never work for them. Many of these pupils have gone on to leave Year 11 as confident, resilient and successful young people who have exceeded expectations, developed independence and secured positive destinations. Their achievements reinforce our belief that potential should never be underestimated.

This is not to say that specialist intervention has no place. Where needed, we provide carefully targeted, time-limited and purposeful support delivered by appropriately trained staff. Such interventions are designed to remove barriers to learning and enable pupils to access the curriculum more effectively. However, intervention complements classroom teaching; it does not replace it.

Ultimately, our philosophy is simple. The most powerful resource available to any pupil is an expert teacher in an inclusive classroom, delivering excellent instruction, building strong relationships and maintaining high expectations. Our commitment is to ensure that every pupil, regardless of need, receives exactly that.

We are a school that believes in support, but also in challenge; in understanding, but also in aspiration; in accommodation, but also in growth. Above all, we believe that young people are capable of more than they sometimes realise, and it is our duty to help them discover that for themselves.

"Children do not learn from labels."

• Dylan Williams

"Every teacher is a teacher of SEND."

• The SEND Code of Practice

 

If you have any questions about our provision for pupils with SEND, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Morrison-Johnson in school.

Find us on Facebook @ppsSEND