Following an inspection in November 2008, Bredon School has been re-accredited by the Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils (CReSTeD). To read the report in full please click here:

Mrs Sue Webb

In the 1970s, the school was among the pioneers in recognising and helping pupils with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Since then, through its Access Centre now headed by Vice Principal (Director of Education) Mrs Sue Webb, it has continued to refine its expertise.

As a result, the school has the capabilities, facilities and understanding to help boys and girls with a wide range of learning difficulties - as well as a wide range of abilities.

Yet Bredon School is not a Special School: around 40-50% of its pupils have Special Educational Needs (SEN), but the rest do not.

Bredon School's SEN policy is an integral part of its strategic planning. The school's objectives in maintaining provision for pupils with SEN are in line with the UK's Education Act 1993 and its Code of Practice. Each pupil is viewed within the principles of entitlement and inclusion and all pupils are, therefore, actively engaged in a full curriculum.

Entry to Bredon School depends on an interview. The identification of pupils with SEN rests on previous assessments, as well as those made on entry to the school.

All pupils identified as having SEN are for help under the national School Action or School Action Plus procedures, as in the Code of Practice. Pupils are placed on a register, and the necessary provision is then made by the LSC. Individual Education Plans are written and based on the needs and requirements of each pupil. These are overseen by the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).

Mrs Webb is responsible for overseeing all pupils who use the Access Centre. The centre consists of six full-time and six part-time members of staff. She monitors each pupil with SEN. The school carries out full assessments at the end of the UK National Curriculum's Key Stage 2 and 3. All Access Centre lessons are at particularly advantageous teacher/pupil ratios.

Time is allocated to the SENCO and Mrs Webb for SEN for in-service work among staff within the subject departments. This is carried out on administration days at the start and finish of each term, as well as in departmental meetings and timetabled weekly sessions. In-service work ensures all pupils are sympathetically taught by all subject staff and that there is liaison between the SENCO and fellow teachers.

The Access Centre offers wide-ranging types of provision. Pupils with specific learning difficulties of a dyslexic type are offered individual or small group tuition in Literacy, Numeracy and/or Speech and Language. These lessons may mean withdrawal from low-priority subjects.

Pupils placed in small, low-achieving classes are taught National Curriculum English each day by a qualified teacher of specific learning difficulties, as well as being offered individual or small group additional tuition. This group of pupils may well follow a more vocational course, with support, from Year 10 onwards.

GCSE and Sixth Form pupils are offered specialist learning support lessons, where a balance is created between furthering literacy skills and reinforcing all subject coursework.

Pupils who require English as an Additional Language (EAL) are also well supported by a teacher who is ESOL-trained (English for Speakers of Other Languages). These pupils are offered individual or small-group tuition. At GCSE and Sixth Form levels, these pupils are supported and withdrawn in order to develop their English language skills.

The school is supported by such agencies as a speech and language therapist, an educational psychologist, an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist, as well as specialist learning consultants, such as specialists in the Davis procedure, for example. It employs one full-time and three part-time qualified nurses. Links with UK health services, social services and educational welfare services are made for a small number of pupils with statements of special educational needs.

Annual reviews for the statemented pupils are carried out in accordance with the Code of Practice. Personal Tutors, housestaff and subject teachers are all involved in the writing of the Individual Education Plans, and as many staff as possible are invited to attend the Annual Review.

Good liaison between school, parents, pupils and UK Local Education Authorities (where appropriate) is ensured over and above that required by the Annual Review. For each pupil, each academic year the school holds two parent/teacher meetings, submits two full school reports and six half-termly grade sheets. Parents and the Local Education Authorities are welcome to contact the school for further discussion at any time.

As Bredon School continues to develop in many areas, curriculum development will always take SEN into consideration.

With many years of experience behind it, Bredon School's reputation for its provision for SEN pupils is well established. But the school is not content to rest on its laurels and will always strive to build on its success.