SEN
(Special Educational Needs)
St Andrews Benn C of E Primary School
SEN Information Report
Changes to Special Needs Provision. September 2014
The new SEND Code of Practice took effect from 1st September 2014
This has implications for the way that schools:
Identify SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) pupils
Record pupils with SEN or D
Support pupils with special needs
Monitor and review provision
Involve pupils and parents in decision making
The SEND Register:
Children currently on the register at School Action (SA) and School Action Plus (SA+) will become SEN Support.
Statements will be replaced by Education, Health and Care plans (EHC plans) within 3½ years.
All children identified with a learning need will still continue to receive support and intervention, whether in the classroom or in addition to current provision. This fundamentally will not change from what we are doing currently.
There are now 4 Categories:
Communication and Interaction
Cognition and Learning
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
Sensory and/or Physical
At St Andrews Benn we will continue to maintain high quality SEND by:
Early identification
Information gathering
Considering causal factors
Planning
Targeted high quality teaching
Review with parents
Offer additional support from external agencies if needed
Our SENDCO is: Ms G Amponsah,
Ms Amponsah can be contacted by telephone: 01788 574697 or email: amponsah.g@welearn365.com
For more detailed information on our SEND provision please look at our core offer for SEND on this page.
Offer for Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEND)
Who will support my children at school?
Question
Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s difficulties with learning/ Special Educational Needs (SEND)?
People
SENCO Ms G Amponsah
01788 574697
Email: amponsah.g@welearn365.com
Summary of Responsibilities
She is responsible for:
Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs (SEND) and developing the school’s SEN Policy to ensure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school whether physical needs i.e ramps, disabled toilets, emotional needs i.e 1:1 support, tailored transition to suit each child/parent as needed .
Ensuring that you are involved in:
o supporting your child’s learning
o ensuring that trusted adults are available for the children to talk to as required
o kept informed about the support your child is getting through parents evenings, IEP/Statement/EHCP review meetings, phone calls
o involved in reviewing how they are doing from assessments, learning walks, book trawls, meetings with teachers and parents.
o part of planning ahead for them.
Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, EIS, EPS, IDS etc.
Updating the school’s SEND Records of Need (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.
To provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help your child (and other pupils with SEND in the school) achieve the best possible progress in school.
To take part in network meetings with other agencies and schools.
To undertake any training required to meet the needs of the role of SENCo. Currently Miss Angless is starting the Postgraduate Certificate in Special Educational Needs Consultation.
Question
People
Class teacher
Summary of Responsibilities
S/he is responsible for:
Ensuring that all children have access to good/outstanding teaching and that the curriculum is adapted to meet your child’s individual needs (also known as differentiation)
Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support, adapting resources etc.) and discussing amendments with the SENCO as necessary.
Ensuring that children are responding to comments and tasks from any marking, we encourage peer marking and offer the children a star grade system for work difficulty – allowing the children to take ownership of their own learning.
Ensuring that all members of staff working with your child in school are aware of your child’s individual needs and/or conditions and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and make progress.
Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are helped to deliver the planned work/programme for your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources.
Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.
Question
People
Teaching Assistant (TA)
Summary of Responsibilities
A Teaching Assistant (TA) may be allocated to a pupil with exceptional special educational needs and/or disabilities and whilst they take a very valuable role in your child’s education we would prefer that questions regarding your child’s learning and progress are directed initially to the
Class teacher and/or SENCO.
Of course, as a school we welcome daily dialogue between parents and TAs on how a child’s day has been and we do actively encourage this continued feedback.
Question
People
Head teacher
Miss Abigail Huggins
Summary of Responsibilities
She is responsible for:
The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.
She will give responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
She must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.
Question
People
SEND Governors
Isabelle McKenzie & Tracy Burvill
Summary of Responsibilities
She is responsible for:
Making sure that the school has an up to date SEND policy
Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all children in the school
Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND and/or disabilities
Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to children with SEND in the school and being part of the process to ensure your child achieves his/her potential in school.
How could my child get help in school?
Children in school will get support that is specific to their individual needs this may be all provided by the class teacher or may involve:
· Other staff in the school
· Staff who will visit the school from the Local Authority services such as STS (Specialist Teaching Service)
· Staff who visit from outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service.
Types of support provided also showing the stage of the Code of Practice (the document that schools use to plan their SEND input) children will be at when receiving this input.
Class teacher input via targeted classroom teaching also known as Quality First Teaching.
What could this mean for your child?
The teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
All teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
Putting in place different ways of teaching so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning or providing different resources adapted for your child
Who can get this kind of support?
All children in school when needed
Specific group work with in a smaller group of children. This group may be
· Run in the classroom or outside.
· Run by a teacher or most often a Teaching assistant who has had training to run these groups.
These are often called Intervention Groups
Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has gaps in their understanding/learning or any social and emotional development needs, and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.
S/he will plan group sessions for your child with targets to help your child to make more progress.
A Teaching Assistant/teacher will run these small group sessions using the teacher’s plans, or a recommended programme.
Examples of intervention groups we run are: nurture sessions, booster groups, self-esteem groups, friendship groups, play therapy groups, learning screening.
Your child’s learning environment in all areas of the school will offer a communication friendly environment with examples of multi-language displays.
Any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning.
Children who are at the stage of the SEN Code of Practice once called School Action. At St Andrews Benn, this will now be called Targeted, which means they have been identified by the class teacher as needing some extra support in school.
Specialist groups run by outside agencies e.g. Emotional Literacy
AND/OR Individual support
for your child from a Learning Support Teacher
If your child has been identified as needing more specialist input instead of or in addition to classroom teaching and intervention groups, referrals will be made to outside agencies to advise and support the school in enabling your child to make progress
Before referrals are made you will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward.
See above for interventions run by outside agencies.
The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:
Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better
Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise
A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group or sensory circuit
A group or individual work with outside professional
The school may suggest that your child needs some agreed individual support in school. They will tell you how the support will be used and what strategies will be put in place.
Children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups.
Children who are at the stage of the SEN Code of Practice once called School Action Plus. At St Andrews Benn, this will now be called Intense which means they have been identified by the class teacher/SENCO as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school.
This may be from:
· Local Authority central services such as the ASD Outreach Team or Sensory Service ( for students with a hearing or visual need)
· Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service.
Specified Individual support
This is usually provided via a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by the class teacher/Inclusion Manager as needing a particularly
high level of individual need which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school.
Usually your child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:
· STS
· IDS
· Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT)
The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process and you can find more details about this in the on the Warwickshire website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk
After the school have sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this they will ask the school to continue to support your child at a Targeted or Intense Level.
After the reports have all been sent in, the Local Authority will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong and that they need more than 20 hours of support in school to make good progress. If this is the case they will write a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an EHC Plan. If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the support at a Targeted or Intense Level and also set up a meeting in school to ensure a plan is in place to ensure your child makes as much progress as possible.
The Statement or EHC Plan will outline the funding units allocated and how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short term goals for your child.
The additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child.
Children whose additional needs are severe, complex and lifelong.
The range of needs may include thinking and understanding, physical or sensory difficulties, emotional and behavioural difficulties, or difficulties with speech and language, or how they relate to and behave with other people.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will we support your child with identified special needs starting at school?
We will first invite you to visit the school with your child to have a look around and speak to key staff. If other professionals are involved a multi-agency meeting will be held to discuss your child’s needs, share strategies used, and ensure provision is put in place before your child starts. Your child’s key person may make a home visit and also visit your child if they are attending another provision. We may suggest adaptations to the settling in period to help your child settle more easily
How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?
If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially. If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress you should speak to the SENCO or Head teacher. If you are still not happy you can speak to the school SEND Governor.
How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?
When a teacher or a parent has raised concerns about your child’s progress, and targeted teaching has not met the child’s needs, the teacher must raise this with the SENCO. The school also has meetings every term between each class teacher and senior staff members in the school to ensure all children are making good progress. This is another way your child may be identified as not making as much progress as they could be. If your child is then identified as not making progress the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more details:
To listen to any concerns you may have
To plan any additional support your child may receive
To discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning
How is extra support allocated to children and how do they move between the different levels?
The school budget includes money for supporting children with SEN. The Head Teacher decides on the budget for Special Educational Needs in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of needs in the school. The Head Teacher and SENCO discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including the children getting extra support already, the children needing extra support, the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected. They also decide what resources/training and support is needed. All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed.
Who are the other people providing services to children with an SEND in this school?
Specialist Teaching Service (STS)
Educational Psychology (EP)
Sensory and Physically Impaired (SPI) Team
Autism (ASD) Team
IDS (Integrated Disability Service)
Which NHS services can the school refer my child to?
Speech and Language Therapy
Occupational Therapy
School Nurse
Speech and Language
Physiotherapy
CAMHS/RISE
How are the teachers in school helped to work with children with an SEND and what training do they have?
The SENCO’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEND. The school has a training plan for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those with SEND. This includes whole school training on SEND issues such as ESBD, specific learning difficulties and ASD etc. Whole staff training to disseminate knowledge, strategies and experience, to ensure consistency of the school’s approach for children with an SEND. Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class e.g. from Speech and Language Therapy
Training takes place on a regular basis. If you would like to hear about the training which is currently taking place or has taken place by the staff members in the school, speak to the Head teacher.
How will the teaching be adapted for my child with learning needs (SEND)?
Class Teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class, and will ensure that your child’s needs are met. Specially trained support staff can adapt the teachers planning to support the needs of your child where necessary. Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups. Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed to meet your child’s learning needs.
How will we measure the progress of your child in school?
Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher. His/her progress is reviewed formally every term and a National Curriculum level given in reading, writing, numeracy and science. If your child is in Year 1 and above, but is not yet at National Curriculum levels, a more sensitive assessment tool is used which shows their level in more detail and will also show smaller but significant steps of progress. The levels are called ‘P levels’.
At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do.
Children at a Targeted level of need will be reviewed through a Provision map and Intense Level of need will have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which will be reviewed with their and your involvement, every term and the plan for the next term made. The progress of children with a statement of SEND/ EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education. These children will also have an Individual Learning Plan. The SENCO will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work and in any group that they take part in. A range of ways will be used to keep you informed, which may include:
Home/school contact book
Letters/positive praise postcards sent home
Additional meetings as required
Reports
How have we made this school accessible to children with SEN?
We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs. Enrichment and after school activities are extended to all pupils irrelevant of their needs
How will we support your child when they are leaving this school? Or moving on to another class?
We recognise that ‘moving on’ can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible.
If your child is moving to/from another school:
We will contact the school SENCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.
We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.
We will arrange induction days, and can arrange part time timetables at the start of terms.
When moving classes in school:
Information will be passed on to the new class teacher IN ADVANCE and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. All Provision Maps/Individual learning Plans will be shared with the new teacher.
If your child would be helped by a photo book to support them understand moving on then it will be made for them.
In Year 6:
The SENCO will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENCO of their next school. Your child will attend a small group in school and extra transition visits will be arranged, to support their understanding of the changes ahead. This may include creating a ‘Personal Passport’ which includes information about themselves for their new school. In most cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.