Special Educational Needs & Disabilities
How do we remove barriers without lowering ambition?
At Sikh Heritage Girls School, every girl is entitled to a rich, ambitious education. Where a pupil has special educational needs or a disability, our starting point is not to reduce what she can access, but to understand the barriers she is experiencing and find the most effective way through them.
Our small classes are an important strength. Teachers know pupils closely and can notice changes in learning, communication, independence or engagement early. Support does not need to wait for a formal diagnosis where a clear barrier to learning has already been identified.
Identifying and Meeting Need
SEND support is planned carefully with families and reviewed over time. We use a graduated approach of assess, plan, do and review, drawing on classroom evidence, pupil voice, parent knowledge and specialist advice where this is needed.
High-quality teaching remains the foundation. Adaptations may include clearer modelling, visual support, additional rehearsal, reduced language load, assistive technology, alternative ways of recording, sensory or physical adjustments, or breaking learning into more manageable steps.
The important knowledge and intellectual ambition of the curriculum remain. Support should improve access and, wherever possible, help pupils become progressively less dependent on it.
Partnership and Individuality
Parents know their daughters well and are essential partners in understanding what helps a pupil learn successfully. Communication is therefore open and ongoing rather than reserved for formal review points.
Pupils themselves are also encouraged to understand their strengths, the things they find difficult and the strategies that help them. As girls mature, we want them to become increasingly able to communicate what they need and take an active part in managing their own learning.
Where appropriate, we work with external professionals and use specialist recommendations to strengthen provision. Where a pupil has an Education, Health and Care Plan, its outcomes and agreed provision inform the support she receives.
Full Access, High Expectations
SEND should not mean exclusion from the wider life of SHGS. We work to ensure that pupils can participate meaningfully in Forest School, sport, swimming, music, visits, performances, practical learning, competitions and the wider curriculum, with reasonable adjustments made where required.
We do not confuse difference with inability. Some pupils may need more time, more repetition, a different method or particular adjustments; they still deserve challenge, intellectual curiosity and opportunities to discover where their own strengths lie.
Our aim is for pupils with SEND to leave SHGS knowing themselves well, having experienced genuine success and challenge, and with growing confidence in advocating for what helps them learn.
Full details of our approach are set out in the SHGS SEND Policy and associated accessibility arrangements.