SENCO – Mrs Christina Nesbitt; National SENCo Award
Contact details – senco@garforthacademy.org.uk
This Academy is a member of the Delta Academies Trust. The academy will use the resources and expertise of the Delta Academies Trust and work closely with other Delta academies to ensure that the SEND policy is implemented using best practice. It is the aim of Garforth Academy that every student achieves the very highest level of Attainment which reflects their ability.
At Garforth Academy, students with Special Educational Needs are fully included within our academy. Furthermore, we ensure that any student who requires additional support, for whatever reason, will be recorded according to the Code of Practice at K SEN Support, or EHCP so that every student in the academy is fully supported to achieve their potential.
The SENCO and the Support team are responsible for providing support to other staff in the academy for students’ needs to be met. The nature of this support is specifically tailored and determined by the needs of the individual student or teaching group. The support may involve: Teaching Assistants support in lessons, preparing differentiated resources, or advice from the SENCO. The SENCO will involve the students, their parents/carers, their teachers, and other necessary professionals in the planning of support.
We communicate with parents regularly through professional meetings, 1-2-1 meetings, via our Support team, through school parents’ evenings and via School Comms. All students on the SEND register have a learning passport which is shared to all staff to ensure that all staff are involved in supporting our students.
In addition to quality first teaching and classroom support, the academy offers a range of provisions and bespoke interventions to fully support pupils with additional needs in the Support Department, ILC, Excellence Centre and Personalised Learning Centre.
The SENCO also works closely with the local primary schools and the local authority to ensure that students are appropriately transitioned to us from our feeder schools.
The SEND Inclusion Award
The SEND Inclusion Award offers mainstream schools the opportunity to gain accreditation for high-quality provision and outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Schools are required to reflect on and improve their provision in line with a series of objectives that fulfil both Ofsted criteria and the SEND Code of Practice. Specifically, the award focuses on ‘outcomes’ for pupils and how schools can demonstrate the impact of their SEND provision. The award leads schools through a process of self-evaluation, action planning and evidence collection before final verification and accreditation. The award will help schools develop high-quality SEND provision throughout the school.
We are very pleased to let all of our parents/carers know that we achieved the SEN Inclusion Award in July 2025. This award will now be maintained by the school until July 2028. The assessment process was vigorous, with the requirement of a full portfolio of evidence to be submitted, to allow the process of achieving the award to be verified.
Department Staff
Mrs Nesbitt – SENCO – 01132127127
Miss Foreman – SEN Co-ordinator
Mr Gayles – Bridge
Mrs Thimm – PLC
Mrs Watson – Higher Level Teaching Assistant
Mrs Lang – Higher Level Teaching Assistant
Mrs Harvey – SEND Admin Assistant
Mrs Dunn – Teaching Assistant
Mr Warering – Teaching Assistant
Miss Baxendale – Teaching Assistant
Mrs Essien – Teaching Assistant
Mrs Higgins – Teaching Assistant
Mrs Taylor-Bates – Teaching Assistant
Mrs Jacobs – Higher Level Teaching Assistant
Miss Bradley – Teaching Assistant
Ms Calvert – Teaching Assistant
Mrs Coates – Teaching Assistant
Miss Winter – Teaching Assistant
More information regarding SEND can be found on the statutory information page