SEND @ Learning in Harmony
Our support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
Being a Trust with 10 primary schools and two special schools has significant advantages for our staff, our pupils and our local community.
Our two special schools, JFK Special School (an Outstanding provider) and the newly opened Connaught Special School, together with our central SEND Improvement Team, work closely with our primary schools to enable all of them to successfully meet the needs of our young people with SEND.
Please find below an overview of our SEND provision, and if you have any questions, please do get in contact at: info@lihtrust.uk
Our Trust-wide Commitment to SEND
Across our Trust, we are committed to ensuring that all our students with SEND have access to a provision which meets their needs.
We are passionate about the lives and outcomes of our young people within and outside of mainstream learning. Our culture ensures all learners with SEND or additional needs are fully welcomed within their school community.
Access to Expertise Within the Trust
Our special schools and central SEND team support SENCOs to provide quality-first teaching for SEND learners in mainstream classrooms and create specialised resources, including a bespoke teaching toolkit, to support all classroom teachers.
By creating a strong network of SEND expertise, they are able to support schools to undertake SEND audits and help to develop SEND specific improvement plans. Our Trust helps to mentor new SENCOs, and provide specialist advice and support across a range of areas. We also offer a range of inreach opportunities, particularly with regard to:
- Behaviours of concern
- Effective models of communication
- The sensory curriculum
- Structuring the environment to promote learning
- Structured teaching and learning
Our SEND Team
SEND & Inclusion Team (ID 1133)
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Ashley EastwoodExecutive Leader
Ashley Eastwood
Ashley became an executive leader at Learning in Harmony in 2019 and now leads on improving the quality of education for young people with SEND,working particularly closely with our two special schools, JFK and Connaught. He has been in education for over 25 years and a headteacher for over 15 years, leading his second school through a process of expansion, amalgamation and ultimately academisation by joining the Learning in Harmony Trust. He has always loved working in highly collaborative, creative and nurturing environments. He is an experienced coach and mentor, having worked as a Local Leader of Education for a number of years.
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Kirsty AllardSEND School Improvement Team
Kirsty Allard
Kirsty has over twenty years experience as a SENCO and Inclusion leader across Southend and is a member of the SEND School Improvement Team in our Trust, leading on the auditing of SEND provision and working with SENCOs and senior leaders to identify and support high quality SEND provision. Kirsty’s experience includes supporting SENCOs through the delivery of network meetings, targeted training and the induction of new SENCOs. She works with Eastern Partnership to deliver the NASENCO qualification and the Advanced SENCO and SENCOs as Leaders qualifications nationally, and is seconded one day a week in Southend City Council as an Advisory SENCO.
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Kathy ReesSEND School Improvement Team
Kathy Rees
Kathy has led on Inclusion as a Deputy Head in schools in Newham and Southend. She has over 15 years experience as a SENCO and a Designated Safeguarding Lead, and leads on supporting school leadership teams to improve outcomes for SEND pupils in mainstream schools, both within our Trust and in other MATs. Kathy is seconded one day a week to Southend City Council as an Advisory SENCO and is a trainer for the Senior Mental Health Lead course.
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Julie NewmanSEND School Improvement Team
Julie Newman
Julie has been teaching for 38 years, starting her teaching career in early years education and has since worked with 2 to 19 year olds. She has considerable experience in mainstream, resourced provision and special school education. She has worked in a local authority advisory team and been an Inclusion Development Officer. Julie has also been a headteacher of an outstanding special school. Her field of expertise is in understanding autism spectrum conditions and she has delivered accredited courses from Canterbury Christ Church University and the Institute of Education to teaching assistants and teachers in areas of SEND, as well as delivering the NASENCo course. She has been a Specialist Lead in Education (SLE) and is an advanced Team Teach tutor. Julie has also co-authored ‘Autism and ICT. A Guide for Teachers and Parents (Hardy, Ogden, Newman and Cooper. 2002 Fulton) and contributed a chapter in ‘Inclusive Strategies for Meeting Individual Needs’ (Edited by S Soan 2007 Optimus press.
Access to Networks
We facilitate our own SENCO and specialist teacher networks for our mainstream specialist settings to be able to access in order to share ideas and enhance their own provision.
Access to Training and Development Opportunities
We provide a range of training opportunities, including:
- Autism Education Trust training
- Team Teach Level 1 and Level 2 training
- Attention Autism training
- Signalong
Further information regarding the Learning in Harmony outreach offer can be found here.
Learning in Harmony SEND in the Media
The Learning in Harmony SEND & Inclusion team have been featured in a number of publications regarding our SEND provision, examples of which can be found below:
- The Headteacher Magazine - Best practice in SEND – Sharing expertise
- TES - How our trust is upskilling all teachers on SEND support