Special Educational Needs/Disability Policy

Special educational needs/Disability Policy

The new Equality Act 2010 has harmonized the nine major pieces of existing equality legislation and around 100 statutory instruments that have been introduced over the past 40 years including:-

·  Race Relations Act/amendment Act 2000

·  Sex Discrimination Act 1976

·  Children Act 1989 and Updated 2004

·  Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 20013

·  Childcare Act 2006

·  Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Amendment Act 2005

·  The Equality Act was introduced in October 2010.

·  Lamb enquiry (2009)

·  Children and Families Act - July 2014

1) Definition of Special educational Need

A child has Special Educational Needs if he or she has a learning difficulty, which calls for Additional Educational provision to be made for him or her.

2015 Code of practice states that a child -

1)  Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.

2)  Have a disability, which prevents or hinders the child from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

3)  For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers. For a child under two years of age, special education provision means educational provision of any kind.

4)  A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if he or she is likely to fall within the definition of 1) or 2) above when they reach compulsory school age or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them.

Disabled children

Many children with SEND may 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’. (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 with such conditions do not necessarily have SEND, but there is significant overlap between disabled children and those with SEND.

Children must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught.

Definition in the Children Act 1989 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995(amended 2005).

However, Special Educational Needs cannot be defined in absolute terms - as they are relative to a situation and to a particular moment in time. We believe that all children are special and have varying needs. It is within a wider description that we base our response to children with Special Needs. Special Educational Needs are not just a reflection of pupil's inherent difficulties or disabilities; they are often related to factors within schools, which can prevent or exacerbate some problems. We aim to meet the demands of a diverse range of individual needs through agreed approaches to learning. We believe that children with S.E.N.D should not be seen as a fixed group, their needs will vary over time and in response to school policies and teaching.

Having regard for the Code of Practice and in line with Local Offer our SEND policy reflects a continuum of need which varies from term to term and within the age range of our nursery classes.

Everyone in the school community; governors, staff, children and parents, have a positive and active part to play in achieving this aim. Our response to children with SEND is the responsibility of everyone in the school. The Headteacher/SENCo has overall responsibility for management of the policy, for assessment and provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs and for keeping the governors informed of pupil progress. Any complaints about general or specific provision will be referred to the Inclusion manager in the first instance.

2)  Admissions Policy

The Nursery has developed a specialist response to SEND which includes a team of teaching assistants under the direction of the Inclusion manager. They have high levels of skills and training. They are deployed in a range of ways to meet children who have specific needs and to respond to emerging needs of children entering the school.

Approximately 10 places each year are assigned to children who have long term, complex needs. These places are usually identified/and allocated before entry to Nursery. Children attending Nursery who have emerging undiagnosed needs will be assessed at Nursery and their progress carefully monitored through:

·  the yellow file observation system

·  our entry assessment /on-going assessment

·  additional support (focused group work/staff meetings)

·  a CAF assessment (common assessment framework)

·  external advice/assessment

·  family plan/meetings and Early support services

·  PDJ (Practitioners developmental Journal)

·  medicals (held at Nursery)and liaison with health visitors

On school transfer

Some identified Special Needs children may be admitted earlier /and/or stay on at Nursery longer than other children. These children would have an EHCP and the outcome of a statutory review would be agreed by all/including the LA (local Authority) ( deferred entry/exit may be decided at panel meetings).

3)Specialism

Our Special Needs children are fully integrated/as appropriate whilst acknowledging their particular level of need. To enable us to do this we have a wide range of expertise within the School. Our teaching assistants (TA) have skills in language and speech development (Elklan, PECS), behavior management, sensory integration, Makaton, BSL offering both oral and aural approaches for our hearing-impaired children.

Our key workers work closely with all children they are highly qualified and experienced in their field, incorporating, for example, counselling skills, English as a second language - child protection and other relevant issues relating to Special Needs Children. We have developed a range of AAC’s (alternative augmented communication systems) for children placed on the autistic spectrum (PECS, photo cue / symbol cue system / TEACCH methods and computer generated symbol systems) to support a range of communication approaches.

4) Access to the Nursery

The Nursery has a secure, fenced play area that incorporates a tarmac surface and soft/safe garden area. Parents and children are directed in through one entrance. Other visitors to the Nursery are directed in through the reception entrance and have to 'sign in' before entering the learning space.

The learning space is on the ground floor and has a gradual slope/ramp style entrance to the cloakroom, allowing disabled access. Nursery has facilities to change children. Rooms have been developed to enable staff to run individual or group programmes, There is also a disabled toilet with rise/fall changing bench, and change room with fixed hoist/rise and fall bed (Reference Accessibility Plan).

5.Allocation of Resources

Resources for children who take a supported place at the Nursery come from the school SEND budget and through LA funding for children with EHC plans resourcing. Some children are in receipt of Early Access funding. The Nursery funds weekly T.A meetings. SEND training is paramount in order for us to meet the diverse range of needs, and this is funded by our schools training budget. Specialist equipment is funded through our curriculum budget, or through other grants. Children on supported places have access to physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy, the teacher of the hearing impaired (HI), and teacher of the visually impaired (VI) through the Early Support system.

6)Identification, Assessment and Review Procedure

All children are visited prior to entry - those on Supported places are usually visited by the SENCo and the teacher who will have responsibility for the child. An additional visit may be made in the Autumn term by the SENCo and the allocated TA. Parents are invited into school. Home/school books are used by some families as an additional way of passing information between home and school.

Assessment is ongoing - all staff are involved in each child's assessment but those children who have TA assistance have detailed I.S.P. 's ( Individual Support Plan). Evidence of achievement is recorded as with any other child. A green folder system (SEND file)is in place to collate all relevant children’s information.

All those who teach a child with Special Educational Needs will be informed of the needs by the SENCo. If there is essential information (medical) or a child requires treatment or management different from that normally given to other children, the SENCo will ensure that all who are likely to come into contact with the children are appropriately informed, and that this is documented on the I.S.P. When a child is identified as having additional needs that cannot be met within the schools expertise relevant sections of a CAF (Common assessment form) will be completed with parents and consent agreed to request Early support external involvement.

Additional Special Support (ASS) START Team

ASS ensures that as far as possible special needs are met, when they appear, at the level of need and in the least restrictive setting. Our SEN register is kept by SENCO: Kay Dimelow and up-dated each month. The register reflects a flexible response to the level of need of our children. Information about children placed on the register is passed on to the relevant receiving school, so that the process can continue in a seamless way. Members of staff liaise with visiting agencies at the Nursery and a teaching assistant meeting is held on a weekly basis to exchange information.

Statutory Assessment resulting in EHCP

Where a child has a long term and complex needs and it is clear that additional resource is required to support their learning and development an EHCP (Education, health and care plan) will be requested.

This is an external assessment undertaken by the LA(Local authority). The reasons for an assessment and the process is explained in a series of meetings with the family, and any other agencies involved in meeting the child’s needs. These meetings can involve a case worker from the START(statutory assessment and review team) team but held at the Nursery.

Parents of children in Nursery with completed statements will be offered post statement and annual review meetings to discuss progress. Children with EHCP’s will have 6 monthly reviews.

7)Monitoring

Monitoring is undertaken by the headteacher, the class teachers and the Governor responsibility for SEND. The T and L governors committee review the SEND policy and procedures and visit the Nursery to monitor teaching, learning and progress of children on supported places.

8)Staff training takes the form of:-

·  In-house training

·  Individual professional development

·  Bought in specialist training

·  Visits to other provision/settings

·  Purchase current theoretical /research text for reference

·  Subscribe to early years publications

Use made of Support services

The school has excellent relationships with other agencies and services. The LA provide the equivalent of ½ day of SAL(Speech and Language) therapy and the Nursery purchase an additional ½ day of SALT.

Early support services are used to secure outside agencies involvement in the identification and support of children with SEND. Medicals are held annually at the Nursery. VI, HI and Early year’s specialist teachers assist the Nursery in meeting the needs of the children when required.

9)Transfer to school for children with SEND include:

·  Admissions and school registration process

·  Liaison with school SENCO /staff

·  Additional school visits

·  Transfer of information/records/equipment/strategies to enable continuity of approach

·  Resource allocation (statement/EHCP)

·  Support after transfer from Nursery staff

·  Planning meetings/phone support

10) Parents are our partners

Parents have a statutory right to contribute to the decision making process about their child’s education including in relation to assessments of SEND and in the way the support is provided .

Children have a right to be involved in decisions and exercising choices. Their view should be given due weight according to their age, maturity and capability. (Code of Practice 2015)

Huntingdon Nursery school values working partnerships with parents. We seek to involve parents in all decisions about their children, but without causing alarm or anxiety. Nursery is often the first educational experience that parents are involved in and often need to be guided with a supportive response to acknowledge the needs of their child.

Our work involves:

·  Sign-posting and passing on information/courses/voluntary organization/benefits

·  Support for additional pressures that families face

·  Sensitively explaining the need for other agency involvement and obtaining consent

·  Offering meeting time and parent conversations to discuss progress/concerns.

·  Working with the Children Centre to give family support

Our intention is to reach high levels of involvement/engagement with parents, in any process that involves their child. This means we will constantly look at how we inform parents about Nursery processes, how we consult with them about choices and decisions about their child. How we involve them in the day to day work - of meeting their child’s needs and about collaborating with them to ensure that we achieve the best outcomes for the children in our care. In this way we intend that our parents feel empowered about the choices available to them and their child and that together all our children will progress.

Huntingdon Nursery School SENCO is Kay Dimelow.

Reference to other policies

Intimate care policy

Health and Safety policy

Physical restraint/ Intervention policy

Teaching and Learning policy

Assessment and record keeping

Safeguarding policy

Equality and Diversity

DDA

Complaints procedure

Accessibility Plan

Reviewed Nov 2016

To be Ratified at T and L Gov’s committee meeting. 29/11/16

5