As a school we recognise that each child has a variety of abilities. Children identified as having a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND) will require effective inclusion across the curriculum and may require additional intervention and provision to be made to enable them to access a broad and balanced curriculum. Barrow Primary is committed to children with SEND. We believe that every child should participate to the best of their ability in the everyday life of the school. The purpose of this report is to outline how we teach and support children so that they are able to achieve their potential.
Who are the best people to talk to about additional support?
In the first instance it is always best to speak to your child’s class teacher
· SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) Mrs J. Woodland
· Head Teacher Mrs H Ashe
How does the school identify children who may need SEN support?
All pupils are entitled to access a broad and balanced curriculum. Through identification we are able to plan for each individual learner’s needs and ensure that the correct support is put in place for each child.
The Code of practice identifies 4 broad categories of need:
1) Communication and interaction
2) Cognition and learning
3) Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
4) Sensory and/or physical needs.
We identify the needs of our learners by looking at the whole child and we use a range of assessment measures so we are able to understand and support each child fully, these include:
· information from parents/carers
· information from pupils
· information from class teachers
· tracking progress of pupils learning and sharing this information during pupil progress
· meetings setting achievable and measurable targets termly and careful monitoring of targets
· observations of pupils by class teachers/ Key Stage Leaders/SENDCo
· formal assessments
· support/discussions/observations with outside agencies.
Class teachers and the SENDCo are happy to meet with parents whenever possible to discuss pupils’ progress or any concerns, we believe that this is fundamental to the success of our pupils and benefits all involved greatly.
From the Children and Families Bill in 2014 local authorities and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services that are available for children and young people with special educational needs aged 0-25.
The Local Authorities Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It is also an important resource for professionals in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area.
A further key role for the Local Offer is to inform the joint commissioning for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities by setting out in a single place what is available locally. (This means parents, school, and any other services involved, agreeing to the planned support used to help the young person in a meeting.)
The local authority must work together with children and young people, parent carers and with local services, including the voluntary and community sector, to develop their offer and keep it under review. This is co-production.
The Local Offer must include information about the provision the local authority expects to be available in its own area for children and young people with special educational needs and outside of its area for the children and young people for whom it is responsible, regardless of whether or not they have Education, Health and Care Plans.
What the Local Offer covers
The Local Offer will cover:
• education, health and care provision for children and young people with SEND (which should include information about its quality and the destinations/outcomes achieved by those who use it);
• arrangements for identifying and assessing children and young people with SEND, including arrangements for requesting an EHCP needs assessment;
• other education provision (outside of schools or colleges such as sports or arts provision);
• training provision, including apprenticeships;
• arrangements for travel to and from schools, post 16 institutions and Early Years providers;
• support to help children and young people in moving between phases of education and to prepare for adulthood.
How does the school know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?
All children at Barrow School are carefully monitored by experienced teaching staff and trained Teaching Assistants. If there should be any examples of the children struggling in class they are supported a number of ways.
The children’s ability in class is judged from evidence of work and we track these judgements to ensure that the children are improving at a steady pace.
Children that have lower than their national age expectation can sometimes be classed as having a Special Need. (Children that may have a judgement that is lower than the average of the class does not mean that they have a Special Need.)
If parents have a concern about their child’s progress in class they are able to speak to the class teacher by requesting a meeting either directly with the teacher or via the school office.
Parents have the option to attend parents evening meetings in the Autumn and Spring Terms. In the Summer term there are written progress reports for the parents. If there are any queries arising from these reports there is the option to meet with the parents at an agreeable time.
At Barrow School we like to make sure we have a daily face to face opportunity at the classroom door for parents to raise any concerns they may-have.
How will school staff support my child?
We assess and provide personalised learning within 3 levels of support.
Level 1: support is accessed through the classroom and Quality First Teaching, this is organised through the class teacher. Learning tasks are scaffolded and adapted as necessary to meet the needs of all the learners and to support them in achieving their personal targets. Pupils may have individual needs for support at this stage, and may have specific resources to support their learning.
Level 2: support takes place through more specific and targeted teaching, this may be through a range of interventions/small group work to target difficulties that learners may have.
Level 3: support comes through more specific interventions and/or a higher level of support within and outside the classroom, at times this may be 1:1 support or interventions. Pupils may have access to outside agencies for further support and advice; these may be Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Specialists, SES Advisors for example. At this stage, pupils will have an IEP detailing their individual targets for learning and how they can be supported. These IEPs provide essential information for our learners and help staff and parents support learners in progressing towards their next steps. In some circumstances pupils may require an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) to support and plan for their more complex needs.
Class support during Quality First Teaching will be provided in a variety of ways and may include adapted tasks, specific resources/equipment, visual timetables, speech and language support, Teaching Assistant support.
School support offers a variety of interventions delivered by trained Teaching Assistants. These include specific maths and literacy interventions (e.g. Phonics catch-up); Social and Emotional Support Activities (eg Time to Talk or Socially Speaking) to support children’s mental well-being; Gym Trails to support fine and gross motor skills.
Outside agencies may also be involved in pupil support including Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, SES (Specialist Education Service), School Nurse and Child Development Centre.
If there is a need to provide your child with extra support in class the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) will firstly inform you of any concerns and ask if you have seen any of the same examples at home.
In consultation with you, the school will make their recommendations of key work and support that will help your child in class. You will be informed of how often this support will take place and with whom.
The Teacher and Teaching Assistant will run a specially designated programme with identified targets for an agreed length of time and during this time their progress in tracked and monitored carefully.
The role of the SENDCo is to ensure that children with identified needs are helped and supported during the school day by deploying specifically trained staff to help your child. The aim of the SENDCo is to ensure that your child is making good progress with the support provided by the class teacher and the Teaching Assistant.
How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
Every lesson that is delivered at Barrow School is differentiated for the class. This means that the teaching and learning is adjusted to suit the needs and abilities of three principle groups; at age expectation, above age expectation and below age expectation.
When lessons are segmented in this manner, your child will be able to access the learning at their own level. They will be able to engage in their own learning and ensure that the pace and outcomes are matched to their needs. This enables your child to feel confident with their own learning and not comparing themselves to others.
How is extra support allocated to children?
The Local Authority for Suffolk allocates an annual SEND budget, which is distributed according to the needs of the pupils across the county and received as part of the school’s budget. For pupils with significant additional needs applications can be made to the Authority for extra funding via the High Tariff Needs (HTN) process. Staff members meet regularly to discuss and review support for pupils as is necessary. Interventions are closely monitored to ensure they are effective for particular pupils. Teaching Assistant timetables are monitored and adapted to support the allocation of time to those pupils in need.
What support will there be for my child’s overall well being?
We consider every child’s emotional well being when in the school setting. We are aware that for some especially the very young and those with a Special Need, separation for their family for the duration of the school day is sometimes very difficult. We aim to settle your child in school by ensuring there is a regular predictable routine in place.
There are opportunities for children that do not have an educational need to have additional learning opportunities to prepare them for social situations. We have held nurture style groups to ensure the children can practice asking for help or approaching others to play. These groups enable your child to practise expressing themselves to make themselves and their feeling understood.
At Barrow School we try to ensure that every child’s needs are met. If your child has high anxiety, hyper vigilance, PTSD, or any other condition that can result in unpredictable behaviour, we will try to ensure their needs are catered for to minimise incidents of unacceptable behaviour.
In the case that there is unacceptable behaviour we will refer to and follow our behaviour policy.
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?
At Barrow School we have the ability to access the external services of:
* Specialist Education Service (SES) who work together to support schools and children
* Speech and Language for children with a speech impediment, delay or verbal processing difficulty.
* Hearing Impaired Unit
* Social Care Team
* Local Advisory Team
* Educational Psychologist
* Occupational Therapy
* Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
* School Nursing Services and Health Visitors
We are able to implement within school:
Carefully adapted and scaffolded learning
Teaching assistants
Visual timetables/ now and next boards/ visual prompts
Use of interactive whiteboards/ iPads
Writing slopes
Pencil grips
Chair cushions
Resources to help develop and support fine and gross motor skills
Gym Trail
Phonic streaming across KS1
Nurture style groups using the Time to Talk & Socially Speaking scheme
Circle of Friends (for isolated pupils)
Lego Therapy
What training are the staff supporting children with SEND had or are having?
All teachers are trained to provide Quality First Teaching and learning is scaffolded and adapted carefully with all pupils in mind. Teachers attend meetings and training to develop supporting learners with Special Educational Needs through both external and internal training. Good practice is regularly shared through staff and Key Stage meetings. All staff are regularly trained in safeguarding skills.
How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?
At Barrow School we make every effort to ensure all the children are able to take part in activities inside and outside of school. We call this: reasonable adjustments. This means what can we alter or put into place to enable every child to be able to participate and succeed.
In some cases, it is appropriate to;
deploy additional adult supervision
rearrange the tables is the classroom setting
enlarge print for ease of reading
enable the child to record on a lap top computer
We want each child to explore the wide variety of experiences we organise at Barrow School and with open discussion between school and parents we will be able to make special arrangements to enable all children to take part.
How is Barrow school accessible to children with SEND?
Pupil areas of both school buildings are in one level, all entrances and exits are accessible and there is a fully equipped disabled toilet. All entrances and exits are fully accessible. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards and access to iPads to enable visual learning. Seating arrangements are considered carefully to ensure a good visual and auditory environment for learners.
How will we support your child when they leave our school or move to another class?
Children are prepared for their new classes or schools through a range of strategies, transitions are discussed carefully and considerately for all learners. Pupils have opportunities to meet new staff and visit new schools. When necessary extra visits; social stories and transition plan are put in place to support vulnerable learners.
Where else can I find support information as a parent of SEND?
You can read our policies on relevant issues by requesting copies from the school office, these include:
