Consultation on additional provision for children with special needs at Friern Barnet School

We asked

We asked for your views on our proposals to expand SEN provision in Barnet through the opening of an Additional Resourced Provision (ARP) for secondary aged children with learning and cognition needs at Friern Barnet School.

You said

We received four responses to the online questionnaire. All of the respondents said they either agree with the proposal or did not disagree. Respondents agreed on the basis of the following:

acknowledged the need for additional SEND specialist places in Barnet and the benefit to Barnet children
acknowledged the need for additional secondary specialist places in Barnet
Acknowledged the need for greater choice of specialist provision

Additionally, you asked would the provision be teacher led and will there be appropriately qualified specialist teachers?

We did

The school has recruited a qualified teacher to lead the ARP provision, who will work alongside the school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). Support for meeting the needs of the students will be matched to the different needs of the students admitted. All mainstream schools are able to meet the needs of children with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. The pupils who will be admitted to the ARP provision will have more complex learning and cognition needs. Oak Lodge special school have provided buddying support in assisting the school in preparing to meet the needs of the students admitted.

We decided to proceed with the opening of the Friern Barnet ARP provision and the first cohort of children were admitted into Year 7 in September 2022. Cohorts will be introduced at the start of each new academic year until 2026 when the ARP will be able to take its full capacity.