Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
Stottesdon is an inclusive school which encourages all pupils to achieve their potential through support, challenge and personalised intervention programmes (additional support planned to help a child’s needs). We make every effort to ensure that children are fully integrated into the life of our school. We are supported by the Local Authority to meet the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs in a mainstream setting, wherever possible and where families want this to happen.
Our SENCo’s name and contact details: Mrs Tracy King : senco@stottesdon.shropshire.sch.uk
Click on the following questions for further information about our school.
Please follow this link for the Shropshire SEND information: www.shropshire.gov.uk/local-offer
How the school liaises with parents
If your child is currently on the school's SEN Support Record and is receiving additional, targeted support, the school will consult with you about your child's progress in the following ways:
- Termly meetings, at the beginning of each term, to discuss the additional provision the school has arranged for your child, including intervention programmes (additional targeted support). During these meetings targets are reviewed and progress is discussed. It is also an opportunity to discuss how you can support at home and any concerns or ideas you may have. These meetings will also include the Annual Review meetings for those pupils with a current Statement/Education Healthcare Plan (EHCP).
- Parents' evenings twice a year, Summer term report and optional consultation.
- We arrange for you to meet with outside professionals in the school setting where appropriate.
- We have an ‘open door' policy where you can meet with staff about concerns.
- Parent workshops are run to inform you about current teaching practices and methods. These also sometimes include activity packs for at home.
- Our website includes a section called supporting your child which includes supportive links and resources.
How we consult with pupils with Special Educational Needs
We encourage pupil involvement in our discussions about their additional support, their next steps and whether they have got there.
Our termly meetings and parents meeting are always intended to include the child.
On a day to day basis, our staff encourage children to discuss their targets and staff regularly feedback to children about how they are doing.
What are the different types of support available for children with SEND?
Wave 1 Provision: Class teacher provision also known as High Quality Teaching.
For your child this would mean:
- That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
- That all teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
- Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning.
- Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCO or outside staff) are in place to support your child to learn.
All children in school should be getting this as a part of excellent classroom practice.
Wave 2 provision:
This means the class teacher has identified your child as needing some extra support in school. This is often referred to as an intervention.
For your child this would mean:
- He/ She will engage in group sessions (run in the classroom or outside of the classroom) with specific targets to help him/her to make more progress.
- A Teaching Assistant/teacher (who has had training) will run these small group sessions using the teacher's plan
This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning.
Wave 3 provision: It is at this point that your child will be put on the school's SEND Support Record (SSR)
This means the class teacher and SENCo have identified your child as needing more intensive support. This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups alone. This support will be informed by Specialist Advice such as:
- Local Authority central services
- Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service.
For your child this would mean:
- Your child will have been identified by the class teacher and SENCo as needing more specialist input instead of or in addition to quality first teaching and intervention groups.
- You will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child's progress and help plan possible ways forward.
- You may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist. This will help the school and yourself understand your child's particular needs better and be able to support them better in school.
- 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.
- A group or individual work with outside professional.
Wave 4 provision:
This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are:
- Severe, complex and lifelong
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, SENCO, Specialist Teacher and the Local Authority Statementing Panel as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school.
For your child this would mean:
- The school (or you) has requested that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child's needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
- 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 with the current in school provision.
- 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 a particular level of support in school to make good progress. If this is the case they will write a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an EHCP.
- The Statement or EHCP will outline the type of provision your child should receive and how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long term goals/outcomes for your child. Additional financial support for the school is provided to enable this.
How extra support is allocated and how children move between the different levels of support?
- The school budget includes money for supporting children with SEND.
- The Head Teacher decides on the budget for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of needs in the school.
- The Head Teacher and the SENCo discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including:
- the children getting extra support already and their progress
- the children needing extra support
- the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected
As a result of the above priorities SEND provision, resources, training and support are allocated on a termly basis. All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed. If extra support achieves the desired outcome children return to normal class provision (wave 1). If extra support is not having the impact required the following approaches will be taken:
- Review the support/intervention and 'tweak' if necessary.
- Give the support/intervention more time to have impact.
- Use a different support/intervention.
If progress is still not satisfactory children will move to the next wave of provision. See above.
Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in this school?
If following assessment and review, it is identified that external advice is needed to help us meet the needs of your child we may engage services below. Parents are always liaised with and permissions sought. When appropriate, you are invited to meet any specialist agency at the school to discuss your child's needs. Following their advice we may purchase or borrow resources as necessary.
Directly funded by the school:
- Independent Speech and Language Therapy input to provide a higher level of service to the school.
- Independent Specialist Teachers
Provided by the Local Authority/Health Service but delivered in school (see local offer):
- Educational Psychology Service
- Learning Support Advisory Teachers
- Speech and Language
- School Nurse
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
How will we assess and measure the progress of your child in school?
We identify needs through assessment, planning of provision and reviewing progress. Assessment happens at many levels:
- Your child's progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher and/or teaching assistant – informally through lessons and more formally at the ends of units of work. The class teacher will also take account of information from observations of your child and parental information.
- Via whole school assessment and pupil tracking. Progress is reviewed formally every term in reading, writing and numeracy.
- Through evaluation of programs of intervention (termly) with yourself and your child.
- Through specific assessments carried out by the SENCO and specialist agencies if at Wave 3 provision and above (EHCP)
- At the end of each key stage/phase (i.e. at the end of Reception, year 2 and year 6). Children are required to be formally assessed nationally at these points. This is something the government requires all schools to do and are the results that are published nationally.
- The progress of children with a statement of SEND/ EHCP is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child's education.
How will the teaching be adapted for my child with 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.
- 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.
Below are examples of our toolbox to show how we adapt our teaching and provide additional support for specific needs that have been identified. This toolbox is always changing and expanding to meet the needs of children within our school.
Speech, Language and Communication:
- simplified/visual timetables
- adapt instructions so they are simple and clear
- provide additional support to check understanding
- pre-teaching of concepts
- memory boosting posters for technical vocabulary
- mind mapping of knowledge and vocabulary
- memory and processing programmes
- word banks
- intervention programmes to develop expressive language
- intervention programmes to support children with articulation of sound difficulties
Autistic Spectrum Disorder/Condition:
- consistent rules and routines
- visual timetables and aids
- clear, simple instructions
- be aware of sensory distractions: noise, texture, colours, smells in the environment and adapt classroom as appropriate
- anxiety management strategies
- emotional barometers
- keyworkers
- peer buddies
- quiet space
General/Moderate learning difficulties:
- small group interventions e.g. phonic, spelling, reading, mathematical recall
- individual interventions e.g. phonic, spelling, reading, mathematical recall
- practical resources to support learning e.g. word banks, numberlines, bead strings, ICT
- pre-teaching of concepts
- memory boosting posters for technical vocabulary
- mind mapping of knowledge and vocabulary
- memory and processing programmes
- word banks
- regular feedback to you and suggestions of how you can help your child at home.
Specific Learning Difficulties e.g. Dyslexia, Dyscalculia
- multisensory activities
- pupils are supported to develop their own strategies to help them overcome their difficulties e.g. learning a rhyme/visual prompt to remember spellings/maths terms
- pupils are given the opportunity to revisit concepts more frequently than other pupils to ensure that pupils are secure with concepts.
- pupils are given regular, daily 5 minute sessions to support depth of learning. We call this ‘over-learning'.
- pre-teaching
- coloured overlays/reading rulers
- Numicon
- Toe by Toe programme
- Use of Ipads/Kindle for reading - the font and the number of words can be changed to make the text more accessible
- Additional reading schemes e.g. Code X
- Precision Spelling
- Precision Reading
- regular feedback to you and suggestions of how you can help your child at home
Social, Mental and Emotional Health:
- rewards, stickers etc to celebrate work
- circle time
- consistent routines/boundaries and expectations
- home school links
- worry boxes
- memory boxes
- quiet/reflective spaces
- personal and social intervention groups e.g. game playing, turn taking, speaking and listening skills
- anger and anxiety management support
Hearing Impaired:
- careful positioning of child to support hearing/lip reading
- clear visual aids
- word banks and precise teaching of subject specific vocabulary
- facing child for every communication
- purchasing specialised equipment following assessment and recommendation
- specific training for staff
Visually Impaired:
- support children in wearing glasses when required
- sit children in supportive position
- provide work on coloured paper
- gain advice and support from outside agencies and follow recommendation
- displaying work in a clear large font suitable to the child
- adapting the environment (furniture and resources) as appropriate
Physical Difficulties:
- see our Disability Equality Scheme
- Provide equipment on the advice of outside agencies e.g. writing slopes, pencil grips, stress balls, wobble cushions
- Regular intervention programmes to develop skills e.g. Cool Kids, Storycise, speed up handwriting, handwriting aerobics
- adapting the environment (furniture and resources) as appropriate
- additional support for physical activities
How we evaluate the effectiveness of SEND provision & how we involve parents, carers and pupils:
Our school evaluates its overall provision through:
- Termly pupil progress tracking (this involves pupils as appropriate)
- Comparing attainment and progress of SEND children at our school to children nationally (Governor involvement)
- Informal monitoring by the SENCo
- Evaluation of all intervention programmes termly (with parents and pupils)
- A monitoring programme which includes observations of lessons and intervention programmes, work scrutiny, pupil interviews and parent/pupil questionnaires (see monitoring policy)
- SENCo report to Governors annually
- Informal monitoring and feedback from parents with SEND children
All evaluation outcomes are then used to inform our next steps forward in our School Development Plan which is updated annually.
How we support the emotional and social development of our pupils with SENd
It is important to us that children with SEND are supported socially and emotionally throughout the school day. We have an inclusive school ethos that values children and celebrates all kinds of achievement. The following practices support us in achieving this:
- Behaviour and Anti Bullying Practice and Policy
- Contact with specific outside agencies such as Barnardos
- Liaison with the School Nurse
- Liaison with Sure Start Centres
- TAHMs and CAHMS project work
- Nurture groups
- Personal, Health, Social and Emotional Curriculum
- Peer buddies
- Quiet areas