SCARCROFTPRIMARY SCHOOL

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS & DISABILITIES POLICY

Rationale

Children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) are a welcome part of our school community. The school is committed to the belief that all children should have their needs recognised and identified at the earliest possible opportunity so that they can meet their true potential.

Roles

  • The Governing Body’s Inclusion Committee has overall responsibility for the school’s SEND Policy
  • The Headteacherhas an overview of SENDissuesthroughout the school
  • The Inclusion Leader is responsible for the day-to-day management of SEND provision throughout the school
  • All staff share responsibility for providing for the additional needs of children within the school
  • The Governing Body’s Inclusion Committee, comprising representative governors, the Headteacher and the Inclusion Leader, meets termly. The minutes are presented to the Full Governing Body. The full role of this Inclusion Committee is summarised in its terms of reference.

Aims

All children and young people are entitled to an education that enables them to make progress so that they:

  • achieve their best
  • become confident individuals living fulfilling lives, and
  • make a successful transition into adulthood, whether into employment, further education or training

Responsibilities

Under the requirements of the SEND Revised Code of Practice 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014, all mainstream schools have a duty to ‘use their best endeavours’ to make the provision required to meet the SEN needs of children and young people in their care. All schools must publish details of what SEN provision is available (for example, on their website) and co-operate with the local authority in drawing up and reviewing the Local Authority’s SEN Offer. Schools also have duties to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled children and young people, to support medical conditions and to inform parents and young people if SEN provision is made for them. In addition, schools must:

  • ensure that children and young people with SEN engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have SEN
  • designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision – at Scarcroft School, the role of SENCO is held by the Inclusion Leader.
  • inform parents when they are making special educational provision for a child
  • prepare an SEN information report, setting out their arrangements for the admission of disabled children, the steps being taken to prevent disabled children from being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to enable access to the school for disabled children and their accessibility plan (showing how they plan to improve access progressively over time)
  • designate an individual governor or a sub-committee to have specific oversight of the school’s arrangements for SEN and disability.

Definitions

These definitions are taken straight from the new SEND Code of Practice:

A child has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age 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

Many children and young people who have SEN may also have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is “…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: ‘long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’. This definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEN. Where a disabled child requires special educational provision they will also be covered by the SEN definition.

In line with the SEND Revised Code of Practice 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014, the school recognises and can support children who have any of the following 4 areas of SEN needs:

  1. Cognition and Learning
  2. Communication and Interaction
  3. Social, Emotional and Mental Health
  4. Sensory and/or Physical

Over-arching Principles

In line with the expectations of the new SEND Code of Practice 2014, the school manages the provision for pupils with SEND based on the following principles:

  1. To identify and assess the needs of individual children within the school as required.
  2. To make provision for any additional needs accordingly.
  3. To provide equal access to a broad, balanced and relevant education for all children, regardless of individual needs, in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and National Curriculum.
  4. To involve parents as partners in the education of their children, providing and encouraging appropriate support and participation.
  5. To have regard to the views, wishes and feelings of the child and the child’s parents.
  6. To have regard to the importance of the child, and the child’s parents, participating as fully as possible in decisions, and being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions.
  7. To have regard to the need to support the child or young person, and the child’s parents, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help them achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes, preparing them effectively for adulthood.
  8. To implement a four-part approach focused around the following elements: ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’.
  9. To provide resources and teaching methods appropriately matched to the development needs of all the children.

Identification and Next Steps

•A Class Teacher or a Parent may identify concerns about a child and whether or not they may have Special Educational Needs (SEN). Alternatively, a child may arrive at the school with SEN.

•The Class Teacher would work closely with the SENCO to identify the specific issues and barriers for learning. A range of tests is available to assist staff in making a judgement about the level of a child’s needs, but some tests have to be carried out by external agencies (Dyslexia diagnosis, Education Psychologist Assessment, Aspergers Diagnosis etc).

•If it is felt that a child does have SEN, then the Class Teacher and/or SENCO will meet with the child’s Parent to discuss their concerns. If the Parent is in agreement, the child will be placed on the school’s SEN Register.

•If the Class Teacher and SENCO feel that a child does not have SEN, but is slightly behind in an aspect of their learning, they may decide that the child would benefit from some additional catch-up activities or interventions. These may be provided by the Class Teacher or by a Teaching Assistant. The Class Teacher would share these concerns with the Parent during the termly Parents’ Evenings, or at a separate meeting if appropriate.

•If a child is receiving additional SEN support, this is set out in an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which is discussed, reviewed and agreed on a termly basis with Parents (usually through the termly Parents’ Evenings).

•If the SENCO feels that additional support or specialist advice is needed in order to best meet a child’s needs, then assistance from the appropriate external agency would be sought (Educational Psychologist, CAMHS worker, Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist etc).

•If the SENCO feels that a significant level of additional support from within the school, combined with external support from a range of specialists, is required to meet the needs of the child, it may be appropriate to consider whether the child meets the criteria for assessment onto an Education Health Care Plan (EHC Plan – formerly Statement of Educational Need). Such decisions are made through the Local Authority, supported by an independent decision-making panel (SENAP).

Guidelines

  1. Organisation within the school takes account of the recommendations in the SEND Code of Practice 2014,the Children and Families Bill 2014 and the Equality Act 2010 (Scarcroft School has a separate Disability Equality Scheme within its Equalities Policy and an accompanying Access Plan).
  2. In the case of a child with severe mobility difficulties applying to attend the school, the Governors, in consultation with the Headteacher, the child’s parents and the LA, will make a decision about the child’s entry based on the ability of the school to meet that child’s needs.
  3. The school informs and involves parents when any SEN provision is made for a child.
  4. Parents are consulted and their views and knowledge are utilisedas fully as possible in assessing and meeting the Special Educational Needs of their child. The views of the child are also taken into consideration.
  5. Parents are given the opportunity and support to assist their child at home.
  6. Class Teachers retain full responsibility for the children with SEN in their class, even where these children may be receiving additional interventions and support outside the classroom from another professional. The Wave 1 quality teaching that the Class Teachers provide takes into account the specific needs of these children and their difficulties in accessing the curriculum, seeking to remove potential barriers to learning.
  7. Class Teachers, through their continual assessment of the children’s learning, are able to highlight pupils who they feel may have SEN and discuss their concerns with the SENCO so that appropriate action is taken.
  8. Where a child’s behaviour is causing concern, the class teacher will keep more detailed records, for use in discussion with other professionals, in order to identify any potential underlying social, emotional or mental health causes for such behaviour.
  9. All children with SEN are recorded on the school’s SEN register. The school’s SEN register is updated termly by the SENCO in consultation with the class teachers.
  10. The SENCO, relevant support services and the Class Teacher produce the child’s Individual Education Plan and organise additional resources and support as appropriate. Strategies designed to overcome any barriers to learning are also set out in the class RAP (Raising Achievement Plan) which each teacher reviews on a termly basis with the Headteacher.
  11. Children who have Individual Education Plans are involved, as much as possible, in the setting and monitoring of their targets.
  12. Wherever appropriate, pupils with Statements of Educational Need (soon to transfer over to EHC Plans between 2015 and 2017) are invited to take an active role in the Annual Review of their provision and progress, with the support of the relevant members of staff.
  13. All staff have the opportunity to attend in-service training relevant to SEN, to ensure that staff are fully up to date about whole-school procedures, current legislation and common approaches to overcome barriers to learning.
  14. Each academic year, the way in which pupils with SEN will be supported is planned by the Headteacher, in consultation with the Governing Body. This may relate to the type of provision, the staffing that will be in place, the resources available to support teaching and learning, or the amount of time allocated to support individuals and groups. These decisions are informed by:

•analysis of assessment data across the school in core areas (i.e. reading, writing and maths)

•analysis of individual progress data in core areas

•analysis of individual attainment in relation to National Expectations

•liaison with external agencies

•guidance from the Local Authority.

  1. The SENCO works closely with the Headteacher to create a Provision Map for each school term, setting out the provision for those pupils on the SEN Register, as well as any additional provision for pupils who may need a little bit of assistance to get back on track .
  2. SEN issues will be treated sensitively and confidentially, on a need to know basis.

Transition

Whether a child has a Statement of Special Educational Need, an EHC Plan, or is on the SEN Register, school staff will work closely with parents to manage transition to Secondary School in an appropriate way. Staff from the new school are always invited to key meetings, in order to plan appropriate transition activities.

Funding Arrangements

At Scarcroft School, a significant proportion of SEN funding is ring-fenced to pay the Inclusion Leader’s salary. The Inclusion Leader fulfils the role of SENCO, as well as providing a wide range of support for pupils and families relating to learning needs, medical needs, disabilities, emotional needs and Child Protection issues. In addition, there is a proportion of Teaching Assistant time allocated specifically to SEN activities and interventions. A fully equipped specialist room and appropriate resources are also available. Resources are provided to support individual learning needs and to support specific Learning Interventions. These are held centrally in the Inclusion Room.

Personal Budgets

Parents of children who have EHC plans have the right to request a Personal Budget, which may contain elements of education, social care and health funding. The Local Authority has information to support parents in finding out more about Personal Budgets – this can be found in the York Core Offer, on The Local Authority will support all parties involved (from health, education and social care) in agreeing a formal approach to making fair and equitable allocations of funding, including the mechanisms of control for funding available to parents.

Evaluation of the Special Educational Needs Policy

As part of the school’s continuous self-evaluation process, this policy is reviewed regularly by the Headteacher, the Inclusion Leader and theGoverning Body’s Inclusion Committee.

Revised November 2014