Want to know more about joining Cedar?
Attend out Headteacher Talk for prospective parents of children starting school September 2026, taking place on Tuesday 18th November at 5pm.
(No booking is required)
Join us for one of our open event tours on:
Thursday 6th November, Thursday 20th November, and Thursday 2nd December 2025, 9:30am - 11:30am
Wednesday 12th November and Wednesday 26th November 2025, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
Spaces are limited so please contact our reception to book your place.
The SEN Information Report (Local Offer) was first introduced in the Green Paper (March 2011) as a local offer of all services available to support disabled children and children with SEN and their families. This easy-to-understand information will set out what is normally available in schools to help children with lower-level SEN as well as the options available to support families who need additional help to care for their child.
Please click here to view Medway’s Local Offer Website
What will it do?
The Medway framework will allow the Local Offer to provide parents/carers with information about how to access services in their area, and what they can expect from those services. With regard to Education, The SEN Information Report will let parents/ carers and young people know how school and colleges will support them, and what they can expect across the local settings.
SEN at Cedar Children’s Academy
At Cedar Children’s Academy, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all children. We believe in developing an inclusive and safe environment in which all children can thrive and display the attributes that we promote.
We believe that quality first teaching and a focus on every minute being a learning minute is vital to a child’s education but we also recognise that some children will need extra support in order to thrive; including those that have difficulties within the four broad areas of need:
The questions below, were devised in consultation with parents/carers and other agencies, which reflect their concerns and interests. These will be answered by agencies, schools and colleges to provide information to parents and carers to enable them to make decisions about how to best support their child’s needs (as per schedule 1 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014).
Cedar Children’s Academy – responses to these questions
How does Cedar Children’s academy know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?
What should I do if I think my child has a special educational need?
How will I know how Cedar Children’s Academy will support my child/young person?
How will the curriculum, learning environment and teaching be matched to my child’s needs?
How will I know how my child is doing?
How will the school evaluate its effectiveness of its provision for pupils with SEN?
If your child is on the SEN register, they will have a School Based Support Plan. This plan details reasonable adjustments that could be made on a regular basis to enable your child to access the curriculum. It also includes specific targets that your child will be working towards in order to progress with their learning. Where outside agencies are involved, these targets may be suggested by them.
What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?
At times it may be necessary to consult with outside agencies to receive more specialised expertise and advice.
The agencies used by the school include:
An Educational Psychologist is allocated to each school. He/she would normally only work directly with pupils whose needs are felt to be considerable and whom have not responded well to the interventions previously put in place for them.
This involvement is planned at the ISR (In School Review). These are meetings held three times a year between school staff and where appropriate, other professionals. The aim of an ISR is to gain an understanding of and try to resolve a pupil’s difficulties
In order to help understand the pupil’s educational needs, the psychologist will generally meet with the parent and give feedback after the assessment has been completed.
He/she will offer advice to the school and parent/carers on how to best support the pupil in order to take their learning forward. If a child presents as having particular needs, we may be able to make a referral to outside agencies to support with this.
As a school, we purchase time from a Speech and Language Therapist and an Occupational Therapist so that we can meet the needs of children with these difficulties in school.
What training are the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had or are having?
All staff have received some training related to SEND. These have included sessions on:
The school also has two teaching assistants who have received ‘First Class at Number’ Maths intervention programme. We also have an early years teaching assistant who has had training to deliver the Nuffield early language intervention (NELI)
How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?
How accessible is the school environment?
As a school we are happy to discuss individual access requirements. Facilities we have at present include:
We are actively planning further improvements to make the school more accessible and have an up to date Accessibility Plan.
How will the school prepare and support my child when joining Cedar Children’s Academy or transferring to a new school?
Cedar Children’s Academy understands what a stressful time moving schools can be therefore many strategies are in place to enable the pupil’s transition to be as smooth as possible. These include:
How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?
How is the decision made about how much support my child will receive?
How will I be involved in discussions about and planning for my child’s education?
All parents are encouraged to contribute to their child’s education. This may be through:
Arrangements for making complaints
The normal arrangements for the treatment of complaints at Cedar Children’s Academy are used for complaints about provision made for special educational needs. We encourage parents to discuss their concerns with the class or subject teacher, the SENCO, the Deputy Head teacher or the Head teacher to resolve the issue before making the complaint formal to the Chair of the governing body.
Further information regarding complaints can be found in the SEND Policy
Who can I contact for further information?
If you wish to discuss your child’s educational needs or are unhappy about something regarding your child’s schooling, please contact one of the following:
We hope these have answered any queries you may have but do not hesitate to contact the school if you have further questions.
Admission arrangement for pupils with disabilities
Some children may have a disability within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010. It is unlawful for a school to treat a disabled child less favourably than a non-disabled child, without justification.
A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out day to day activities.
There will be some children who have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who do not fit this definition but, equally, there will be children who do not have an EHCP who are considered to have a disability.
When considering the admission of a pupil with a disability, meetings will be held with the parent/carer and child, where appropriate, to ascertain reasonable adjustments that need to be made and whether the school can meet the needs of the pupil. A decision regarding the admission of the pupil will be made based on these discussions.