SEN Information report
As per the statutory guidance outlined by the DFE, as a school we ensure that our provision is inclusive and meets the following 3 statements through our accessibility policy and plan:-
- Increase the extent to which pupils with disabilities can participate in our curriculum
- Continually strive to improve our school’s physical environment to increase the extent to which pupils with disabilities can take advantage of the education, benefits, facilities or services you provide or offer
- Improve the delivery to pupils with disabilities of information that is readily accessible to pupils without disabilities
This Information Report provides information on what services children, young people and their families can expect and access from a range of local agencies, including Education, Health and Social Care. It should be read in conjunction with the following St James Primary Academy policies:
- Accessibility Policy and plan
- Anti-Bullying Policy
- Behaviour Policy
- Equality and Diversity Policy
- Inclusion Policy
- Medical Conditions Policy
How we identify individual special educational learning needs:-
When pupils have been identified as having a special educational need or disability we work very closely with the people who already know them including parents, previous settings and specialists and use the information available to identify what possible barriers to learning and implement strategies.
If parents believe that, their child has a special educational need we will discuss this with them and assess their child accordingly. Often these assessments will be carried out by school but we sometimes request advice from more specialised services such as Educational Psychology, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy or North Star Advisory Team. We will always share the findings with parents and in consultation, plan the next steps to best support their child.
Sometimes teachers feel that a child has a special educational need; this may be because they are not making the same progress as other pupils. We believe that early identification and intervention is best to help children achieve success. We will observe the child’s learning characteristics and how they cope within our learning environment, we will assess their understanding of what they are learning in school and if appropriate use on going assessments to help us to pinpoint the difficulty using a graduated approach in line with the code of practice (2014). This will help us to identify the child’s needs and plan strategies to support their learning.
If school has become concerned about a child, parents will be contacted by the child’s class teacher or the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo), Sarah Lines and their thoughts and opinions will be sought. We will then work together to create individual learning targets to best suit the child and review this regularly following the Graduated Approach of assess, plan, do and review.
How we involve pupils and their parents/carers in identifying special educational needs and planning to meet them:-
We are a child and family centred school and believe that pupils and parents should be at the heart of all decision making about the child. When we assess special educational needs, we discuss with parents if their child’s understanding and behaviour are the same at school and home; we take this into account and work with our parents so that we are helping their child in the same way and helping them make progress.
Where appropriate, in line with our graduated approach, we will write and review targets with pupils and parents/carers, a copy will always be available to all. We hold regular meetings that allows the pupil, family, school staff, family support worker if required and other appropriate outside agencies to be able to share information, celebrate success and plan next steps. We use homework to repeat and practise activities that are new and presenting challenge to a pupil. Often, this could be in using the skill in a practical and meaningful way. If parents have any concerns about homework or wish to seek advice on how best to support their child at home, we advise them to contact their child’s class teacher.
We have an open door policy, which means that staff can be contacted to address concerns and celebrate successes daily. Appointments can be booked with teachers or the SENDCo when a more in depth discussion is required. A member of the Senior Leadership team are on the playground daily in the mornings and welcome you to raise celebrations or concerns about your child’s needs. We hold regular parent support groups for families of children with Special Educational Needs as an informal way to share ideas support each other and develop relationships.
Who are the best people to talk to in this school about a child’s difficulties with learning/Special Educational Needs or disability (SEND):-
Class Teacher - Responsible for: Checking on the progress of a child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help they may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and the writing of Personal Learning Targets (PLT’s) and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next term.
The SENDCo, Sarah Lines: 01543 452328 is responsible for:
- Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND Policy and action plans to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school. This includes developing and monitoring the schools graduated response of support for our SEND pupils and supporting the assessment of progress and impact.
- Ensuring the changes under the SEND Code of Practice 2014 are implemented in line with the schools SEND Action Plan.
- Ensuring that parents are: involved in supporting their child’s learning and kept informed about the support their child is getting and involved in reviewing how they are doing
- Liaising with all outside specialist agencies.
- Responsible for updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs.
- Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in the school achieve the best progress possible.
- To evaluate, in conjunction with all relevant stakeholders, the effectiveness of the schools SEND provision.
- Applying for additional support and funding where necessary for our most vulnerable children.
- Coordinating Learning Support Assistants and Teaching assistants to ensure the best support is given to the children on the SEND register and those with Education, Health and Care Plans.
SEND Local school governor member – Gemma Hodson and is responsible for:
- Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND.
- Challenging the schools SEND department to ensure ALL children are reaching their full potential.
- How we use other adults in school to support pupils with special educational needs or disabilities. Our team of Teaching Assistants and Learning Support Assistants are able to effectively support individuals or groups of children in the classroom and undertake small group or one-to-one support as appropriate to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs or disabilities. The provision across school is planned for by our class teachers as part of our quality first teaching. We have a specialist Speech and Language therapist who works closely with the school, working with the children and providing strategies for staff.
We have regular contact with external agencies to support staff and children in school including:
Educational Psychologist
NHS Speech and Language
North Star Advisory Team
Occupational Health
Outreach
Wheelchair Services
Parent group / Coffee Mornings
School Nurse
Early Years advisors
Physiotherapy
Teachers of the deaf
Teachers of the visually impaired
Paediatricians
Early Help Team
SEN Assessment team
Virtual Schools for Looked After Children
Community support officer (police)
Other specialist professionals.
How we use specialist resources to support pupils with special educational needs or disabilities:-
Our staff make individual resources for pupils with special educational needs that support their specific learning targets and reflects the learning undertaken by their peers. We have a range of technology to support different learning styles and help motivate and access learning. These include iPads, computers and microphones. We use intervention rooms, pictures, objects, symbol timetables and equipment such as countdown timers for pupils who may need it. We seek advice from external agencies as and when the need arises.
We have changing facilities for those children who require it and staff are compliant with the intimate care policy and procedures.
How we modify teaching approaches for individual pupils:-
Our creative curriculum celebrates the different learning styles of all pupils and supports inclusion and differentiation to address the needs of all of our pupils. We give children the opportunity to record their work in a range of different forms, which suits their needs and enables them to experience success. Our curriculum aims to bring learning to life and wherever possible enables the child to experience and be a part of their learning. We encourage educational visits for all and arrange for visitors to come and enable all children to access and benefit from this learning. We are striving to be an inclusive school. Wherever possible children are taught alongside their peers in clear differentiated groups so that every child has a level of challenge appropriate for them and also experiences success.
Teachers adapt their teaching and the learning environment constantly in order to cater for their pupil’s academic and physical needs. When appropriate, staff are deployed to give children additional support for their academic and/or physical need in small groups outside the classroom, or to provide one to one support. We use class and personal visual or object timelines to help children to understand what activity is coming next.
Teachers assess children’s progress half-termly and discuss this at termly meetings with the Senior Leadership Team. This will help formulate next steps to support a child’s progress.
What other activities are available for pupils with SEND in addition to the curriculum?
Our children with SEND are given the same opportunities as their peers, with differentiation where required. We have a breakfast club and after school clubs which cover a range of interests which include; sports, creative activities, performing arts and music.
We strive to ensure that all of our trips and extra curriculum activities are fully inclusive and work with parents and external professional to do this where needed.
How we support pupils in their transition:-
Children who join in nursery are welcomed into our school community with an open day and with a personal home visit by nursery staff. A series of parent and child taster sessions follows in preparation for their start. Our local authority provides an early year’s advisory teacher to support children with SEND when they make the transition to our nursery from pre-school settings. Transition into Reception and then into successive year groups is supported by staff handover meetings, where information is passed on. The children meet their new teacher and taster sessions in the new class are conducted. Children working across to become familiar with different classrooms and teachers. Children are given ‘transition booklets’ to take home with them to give them the opportunity to familiarise themselves with their new teachers and learning environments. In addition to this, SEND children have further visits to ensure anxieties are reduced.
We will plan a child’s transition to us with information from parents and all professionals already involved to supporting a child. This helps to enable a smooth and supportive start for a child. A child who enrols mid-year is offered a transition programme that is suitable for them and parents.
As a child makes the transition to Secondary school, again we will contact and discuss the child’s needs with our Secondary school colleagues, invite them to observe the child in our setting and through dialogue with parents and the child set up appropriate transition visits to support a smooth transition.
How additional funding works:-
Schools receive funding for all pupils with special educational needs and we are able to provide what pupils need from this (including equipment). The local authority will top-up funding for pupils with a high level of need. If a pupil’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) identifies something that is significantly different to what is usually available, there will be additional funding allocated. Parents will have a say in how this is used. Children who qualify for ‘Pupil Premium’ are tracked and monitored allowing specific, appropriate interventions to be put in place. This information can be found as part of our school’s Pupil Premium statement on our school website.
Where pupils can get extra support:-
Pupils’ voice is important here at St James and we listen to what children tell us about how they like to learn. Their views and feelings are important to us and have an impact on our practice. Our children are made aware of the support that surrounds them in school. They know who to talk to and have access to a member of the senior leadership team at all times. School welcomes parents to share any concerns that they may have, however big or small.
Pastoral support is available every morning along with members of Senior Management Team and Teaching Assistants to hear any concerns.
Safeguarding at St James, have a senior leadership team (DSL’s who work closely with the family support worker to ensure all children are safeguarded including Looked after children and children with Special Educational needs).
Staff training and development
All staff attend regular training to support all children and children with Special Educational Needs. Staff have training to:
Keep up to date with changes
Build confidence
Support teaching and learning
Develop skills and knowledge
The expertise and training of staff to support children with SEN received the following training: Safeguarding Level 1, Writing of SMART PLT targets, In-print, RWI for KS1
Some Teaching assistants have either Paediatric First aid or First Aid at work to ensure children’s safety and medical needs are catered for. A record of this is kept at the school office.
Where parents/carers can get extra support:-
Our inclusive philosophy aims to support parents of children with special educational needs or disabilities so that their child’s journey through our school is smooth, successful and anxiety free. Our practice is enhanced by parent’s views, it is important that people listen to them and that you are satisfied with what happens as a result of our collaboration. Our SENDCo (01543 452328) can put parents in touch with a wide range of support groups as appropriate to the specific needs of your child. Please come into school and discuss your needs. For more information on Walsall’s Local offer, please follow this link:
https://go.walsall.gov.uk/children-and-young-people/send-local-offer
Arrangements for handling complaints:-
Parents can raise concerns about SEN provision by initially contacting their child’s class teacher. If needed then contact SENDCO, a member of the leadership team or the Head of School. If the concern is not resolved informally, parents may lodge a formal complaint. The procedure for lodging a formal complaint is contained within the complaints policy.
Governor:-
Our schools trust governors actively seek the advice from other agencies, including health and social services, local authority support services and voluntary organisations, in meeting the needs of the pupils with SEND and in supporting the families of these pupils when necessary. The governing committee meet regularly to discuss the needs of ALL pupils at St James.
Our SEND school Governor is Gemma Hodson and she meets during the academic year with the schools SEND team to discuss the school provision and progress, this includes talking to pupils and parents.