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ABBEY VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS and DISABILITY (SEND) POLICY

Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)

Mrs. Paula Roworth

National Award for SEN Coordination (NASC)

Postgraduate Certificate (SEN Coordination)

University of Cumbria 2012

Advocate: for SENCO Mr. Stephen Knight (Head Teacher)

Our policy has been developed to reflect the SEND code of Practice 0-25 and the Children and Families Act 2014.

The Head is the school's "Advocate” and has responsibility for the management of SEND. The Head will keep the governing body informed about the special educational needs provision made by the school. The SENCO will work closely with the Head and the special educational needs governor and staff to ensure the effective day-to-day operation of the school's special educational needs policy. The SENCO & Head will identify areas for development in special educational needs and contribute to the school's development plan. The SENCO will co-ordinate provision for pupils on school support and statements or (EHC) plans.

All teaching non-teaching staff and parents will be involved in the formulation of the special educational needs policy. Parents are the first educators of their children and they know them best. Teaching and non-teaching staff are responsible for differentiating the curriculum for pupils with special educational needs and they will monitor their progress. All staff will work closely with the SENCO.

Beliefs and Values

We at Abbey Village Primary School are committed to meeting the additional and special educational needs of pupils and ensuring that they make good progress. Every teacher is a teacher of every child or young person including those with SEN.

In line with our school aims and the SEND Code of practice 0-25 we:

  • Want to raise the aspirations and expectations for all pupils with SEN.
  • Provide a focus on outcomes for children and not just hours of provision.
  • Ensure that pupils acquire knowledge, understanding and skills, encompassing the current requirements of the National Curriculum and beyond, which will equip them for future education and the responsibilities of adult life.
  • Develop attitudes and values that enable pupils to recognise the worth of individuals regardless of gender, race, creed, disability or age.

By …

  • Offering a broad, balanced and challenging curriculum, according to personal needs and in a manner that will enable all pupils to discover, develop and improve talents and skills, whether they are academic, artistic, musical, sporting or social.
  • Systematically monitoring and assessing pupils’ progress, evaluating teaching programmes and strategies, and acting upon the outcomes to achieve improvement.
  • Involving parents and pupils in theplanning, developing and evaluating process for targeted support.
  • Invite parents and pupils to progress and development meetings that will coincide, wherever possible with Parents’ Evenings and annual reports.
  • Treating all pupils with respect and consideration.
  • Rewarding exemplary behaviour and efforts towards improvement.

Objectives

In order to achieve our aims and to ensure that children with special educational needs achieve their full potential and make progress we will:

  • Identify and provide for pupils who have special educational needs and additional needs.
  • Monitor closely the progress made by pupils with SEN. Using school data and national data.
  • Work with the statutory and non-statutory guidance provided in the SEND Code of practice 2014
  • Operate a WHOLE PUPIL, WHOLE SCHOOL approach to the management and provision of support for special educational needs.
  • Provide support and advice for all staff working with special educational needs pupils.
  • Promote engagement and participation in learning and increase responsibility for learning and behaviour as they move through the school.
  • Ensure good working relationships with parents, carers and the community.
  • Provide a broad balanced and differentiated curriculum that is accessible to pupils with special educational needs and promotes high standards of attainment and achievement.
  • Have a whole school approach to rigorously monitor and identify potential special educational needs so that needs are identified and assessed as early as possible, and progress is closely monitored.
  • Plan, teach, assess and review progress on a termly basis for pupils with special educational needs.
  • Liaise with special schools, outside agencies effectively to meet the needs of staff and pupils.

Identifying Special Educational Needs

On Entry

When children are first admitted to the school they may already have highlighted Special Needs from their Nursery setting. The school will put in place a transition plan and any necessary steps to continue the appropriate support.

All other children will complete on-entry/Baseline Assessments. A low result in these assessmentscould indicate that the child may have some special needs and the school would then look further into the situation.

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special provision to be made for him or her.A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

  • Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
  • Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools.

Class teachers supported by the Head will make regular assessments of progress for all pupils. These will seek to identify pupils making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances. This can be characterised by:

  • Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline.
  • Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress.
  • Fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers.
  • Widens the attainment gap.
  • Other areas will also be considered for example where a pupil needs to make additional progress with wider development or social needs in order to make a successful transition to high school and adult life.

Teachers and the head will consider and take into account other things that impact on progress and attainment but are not SEN.

Disability (the Code of Practice outlines the “reasonable adjustments” duty for all settings and schools provided under current Disability Equality legislation – these alone do not constitute SEN)

  • Attendance and punctuality
  • Health and welfare
  • EAL
  • Being in receipt of pupil premium
  • Being a looked after child
  • Being a child of a serviceman / woman
  • Presenting with an underlying response to a need (behaviour)

A graduated approach to SEN Support

Roles and Responsibilities

Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.

High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN.

We regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and where necessary improving teachers understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered in our school.

Pupils who are not making the expected progress will be identified by staff during progress meetings. If pupils are working below expectations they will be identified for additional support to enable them to get back on track effectively. Teachers will target specific weaknesses and address them through quality first teaching, intervention or booster sessions. These pupils will form the school additional needs register.

If a pupil is still not making expected progress or the progress is at a much slower pace, teachers will investigate further and try to pinpoint specific learning needs. This will involve IDSS or another outside agency to assess and identify specific needs. Before a pupil is formally identified as having SEN the class teacher, SENCO and head will consider all of the information gathered about the pupil’s progress, alongside national data and expectations of progress. Pupils are only identified as SEN if they do not make adequate progress once they have had intervention/ boosters or adjustments to good quality personalised teaching.

Managing pupils needs on the SEN register

We follow the Asses, plan, do, review system. Once pupils have been identified as having SEN, each class has a provision maps that identifies the support and intervention providedin that class. Entry data is identified and targets are set to enable pupils to make progress in a measurable amount of time for example one term. Support and intervention is carefully planned and monitored. At the end of each term pupils will be assessed and progress will be measured. Exit data will be identified on the class provision map. The class teacher is responsible for evidencing progress according the outcomes described in the provision map.

Provision for SEN is reviewed termly in line with whole school progress meetings. The level of provision will be decided based on progress meetings. Additional support and specialist services may be needed to ensure that all pupils’ needs are being met.

Criteria for exiting the SEN register

If a child makes marked progress in conjunction with age appropriate expectations as a result of interventions and outside agency support then the school will remove their name from the register.

Supporting pupils and families

We view Parents as an integral part of their child’s development and as such we will form partnerships based on trust, respect and support. At all times parents are: -

  • Encouraged to be involved at every stage of their child’s education and to voice any concerns they may have.
  • Informed at a pre-entry induction meeting about the school’s SEN policy and procedures.
  • Kept up-to-date about their child’s progress at parent’s evenings, when sudden difficulties occur and when formal reviews are taking place.
  • Asked for their views at times of change in the provision.
  • Are expected to work in harmony with the school’s aims and objectives for pupil progress.
  • Are encouraged to share responsibility for their child’s learning development by supporting homework and carrying out recommendations for developmental activities, etc.

Abbey Village Primary School works towards smooth transitions, especially for SEN pupils, by maintaining close links with feeder nurseries and playgroups, local High Schools, Special Schools and a range of other extended services.

Abbey village Primary School supports the whole family through signposting or referring the family to other appropriate services or agencies such as statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies or counselling services.

Pupils with special educational needs will be admitted to Abbey Village Primary School in line with the school's admissions' policy. The school is aware of the statutory requirements of the SEN Code of Practice 2014 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2002 and will meet the Act's requirements. The school will use their induction meetings to work closely with parents to ascertain whether a child has been identified as having special educational needs at early years action or early years action plus.

If the school is alerted to the fact that a child may have a difficulty in learning they will make their best endeavours to collect all relevant information and plan a relevant differentiated curriculum.

Access for Disabled

To ensure access for pupils or parents with disabilities the school has already undergone many changes to help facilitate access. There are small ramps to the main entrance and junior playground as well as to the Centre. The school has a disabled toilet with changing bed and hoist. As part of the School’s Accessibility Plan we would look into any extra accessibility work that would need completing, to ensure access for any child in the school.

Access to the full life of the School

By using trained and knowledgeable support staff, all pupils, including those with SEN/Disability will be involved in the full life of the school in the following areas:

  • Homework
  • Trips
  • Clubs
  • Swimming
  • Assembly
  • School teams
  • Plays/productions
  • Sport
  • Responsibilities
  • Aspirations
  • Expectations

Make a link to the local offer here

Make a link to managing medical conditions in school. (New requirement Sept 2014)

Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions

Pupils with a medical condition are properly supported in school and we work closely with the medical profession to provide staff training to support medical needs. Pupils with a medical need have full access to the curriculum including school trips and physical education. Pupils with a medical need will have a care plan in place provided by the school nurse. Staff follow guidance and information on the care plan to meet the needs of the individual. Some children with medical needs may be disabled and where this is the case the school will comply with its duties under the Equality Act 2010.

Monitoring and evaluation of SEND

The Assessment co-ordinator will review progress made by pupils with SEN on a regular basis in consultation with the SENCO.

Success Criteria

In addition to the review of the SEND policy and SEN element of the SDP and progress towards the annual targets in the policy, the school will evaluate the success of the policy by: -

Quantitative Judgements / Criteria

/

Qualitative Judgements / Criteria

Movement onto school support – and from the record
PIVAT profiles
Assessment co-ordinator’s monitoring of progress
Curriculum/SATS etc
Provision map targets met
Complaints / Staff views
Parental views (ask them if they are satisfied at review meetings or parent’s meeting and keep a note of their responses)
Pupil views - especially with the emphasis on pupil participation (happy/confident?)
Adviser view – monitoring visits
Community views – comments from neighbours of the school and visitors to school events.

Area Office/EPS

Training and resources

The governors will ensure that they are kept fully abreast of their statutory responsibilities by attending training and receiving regular updates from the Head/SENCO and SEN Governor.

The Head/SENCO will keep fully up to date about special educational needs issues through attendance at training and cluster meetings. In addition, the SENCO will develop her skills through attendance at specialist training, discussions with outside specialists, reading and through subscription to professional bodies where appropriate.

Other teaching staff will be kept up to date informally by the Head/SENCO and formally at staff meetings and participation in training opportunities, including in-service training. .

Support staff that support individual pupils and groups of pupils need to have a wide range of curriculum and special educational needs knowledge. This will be regularly updated and reviewed by the Headteacher.

Roles and responsibilities

The Governing Body has identified a governor to have oversight of special educational needs provision in the school and to ensure that the full governing body is kept informed of how the school is meeting the statutory requirements. At Abbey Village Primary School,

this role is undertaken by Mrs. Louise Brown, who will meet regularly with Mrs. Paula Roworth (SENCO) and Mr. Knight (Head teacher).

All teachers and non-teaching staff have a key role to play in supporting pupils with SEN. Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress of all pupils in their class. Non –teaching staff will work under the guidance of the class teacher.

Mr Stephen Knight (Head teacher) is the designated teacher with responsibility for safeguarding, managing PPG/LAC funding and responsible for meeting the medical needs of pupils.

Storing and managing information

Please see confidentiality policy

Reviewing the policy

The policy will be reviewed annually as we are currently in a process of change and development.

Accessibility

Our school is an inclusive school looking to continuously improve access for all of our children. The school has a statutory responsibility to have an accessibility plan for disabled pupils and to implement the plan to support the children. The plan is developed by looking at children potentially due to arrive in the early years.

Dealing with complaints

Should a parent or carer have a concern about the special provision made for their child they should in the first instance discuss this with the class teacher. If the concern continues then the SENCO and class teacher will consult LEIS, other support agencies, the SEN Governor and the LEA SEN team in order to achieve a mutually satisfactory outcome.