THE SCHOOL OFFER
Head teacher – Mrs. Sarah Groves
SENCo – Mrs. Julie Humphries
SENCo assistant – Mrs. Sue Hibbard
How does the school know if a child needs extra support ?
Every child is treated as an individual – their development is tracked and any periods of slow or no progress are noticed and acted on very quickly.
On entry to Belton All Saints your child will be assessed and a base line will be established.
Individual progress will be carefully monitored and tracked by the class teacher.
Assessments may be used to further inform teachers of a child’s ability.
All children are tracked using a whole school tracking system.
Targets are established, shared and reviewed with pupils regularly.
A child’s progress will be reviewed at regular meetings with the Senior Leadership Team.
When a child is working below age related expectations or when progress is slowing down – extra tracking and support may be necessary.
Parents will be notified when concerns arise and will be invited to discuss possible actions to support an individual child’s needs.
The special needs coordinator will be involved at this stage. They will suggest intervention materials or activities, arrange for the support to be put in place and monitor the child’s progress.
What should I do if I think my childmay have special educational needs? (SEN)?
Share your concerns as soon as they arise and trust the school to support you and your child in every way possible.
If you are visiting the school with a view to your child starting – share your concerns with the head teacher. Preparations for a smooth transition can be made before your child commences their education with us.
If your child is already a pupil at our school and you feel they may have special needs – speak to the class teacher as soon as possible and share your concerns.
You can arrange to speak to the SEN coordinator who can start to assess your child, suggest help strategies and if necessary arrange for other professional involvement.
How will early years setting/school staff support my child?
Early intervention is vital for a child to make expected progress. We will do everything we can to support your child and meet their individual needs.
We are firmly committed to early intervention to meet the developmental needs of your child. The Nursery teacher also has the role of SENCo. for the school.She can organise various therapies or intervention programmes to meet the needs of your child during these formative years. If necessary, she can arrange for meetings with professionals who can support your child with more specific needs. As a parent, you can expect to be fully involved and your consent will be sought before any programmes of extra help are introduced. She will also set up communication books with other settings/home so that a full portrait of your child’s achievements is achieved.
If your child needs some extra help, the SENCo will work with the class teacher to arrange a suitable intervention programme and track the progress of your child. The sessions may be short intense catch up activities or longer personalised learning programmes. They may be delivered in small groups, one to one or with partners. It depends upon the needs of your child but the aim is to include children in the class lessons whenever possible. A designated member of staff will be responsible for delivering the agreed programme and monitoring the outcome of each session. They can access support from the SENCo.
How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
We aim to make all lessons exciting, relevant and the activities are carefully matched to meet the individual needs of all abilities.
We follow the International Primary Curriculum, an integrated approach to learning where many of our topics are creative and relevant to the world our children live in. Children are encouraged to investigate areas which interest them so individual needs can be met within the broad topics.
The work is differentiated so all abilities can access the work. Different learning styles are considered so we may have hands on activities, opportunities to listen and visual stimuli. We access St. Luke’s outreach teacher when we need support with planning for specific learning needs.
Teaching assistants are present to support children within lessons. This may involve modelling tasks, providing words of encouragement or explaining the objective of the lesson. They aim to work unnoticed and support a child quietly when they need help.
How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?
We assess the children’s needs and aim to meet these needs by careful allocation of resources at the start of each term.
At the start of each term the special educational needs register for the school is reviewed and children will be added or removed after the following process. It is the responsibility of the SENCo to ensure that the register is updated and the children on it have their needs provided for.
- Senior management meet with each teacher to discuss the progress of pupils in each class. The judgementswill be informed by data from o track and observations.
- Children who are not making age related progress are discussed and parents are informed.
- It may be a temporary barrier to learning which needs attention or there may be a special educational need.
- They will be placed at initial concern and their performance will be monitored.
- The SENCo will start to monitor their progress also.
- If progress is still slow, intervention programmes will be introduced. Parents will be informed of this action and will be asked to support their child with tasks at home.
- A provision map will be made which shows the needs of the children within each class and teachers are responsible for ensuring that the needs are met. Targets will be set for the child to work on.
- The resource may be human. A teaching assistant may be needed to support an individual child or small group. They may be required to deliver a programme or support in the classroom.
- The resource may be an intervention programme or specialised equipment.
- Children will be assessed at the start of the term, monitored throughout and re-assessed at the end of the term.
- Teaching assistants hand their timetables in at the start of each term so human resourcing can be monitored for effectiveness.
How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?
We always aim to balance independence with achievement, when assessing the most suitable support for a child.
Teachers consider the needs of the pupil and will share their concerns at pupil progress meetings. Many needs can be met by support from the teacher through differentiated work, clear lesson objectives, catering for different learning styles, extra equipment to support during a task or encouragement to raise confidence.
Teaching assistants could support a small group or individual when they find a specific task difficult, require further explanation or have difficulty accessing the task due to their impairment. Teachers will indicate this targeted support on their planning.
The senior leadership team, including the SENCo, will consider whether a child needs intense support for a specified period or whether their needs require a longer term arrangement.
The head teacher is responsible for the budget and will assess the viability of purchasing equipment and resourcing interventions. Through discussion with the SENCo and teaching staff, the head teacher will determine where teaching assistants will have most impact for the year. Teaching assistants responsible for working with pupils who have statements will move to the next class to support the child during transition.
The SENCo will match an intervention to a child and organise the delivery of the programme. The time allocated is often determined by the requirements of the programme. The SENCo will also monitor the impact of the support, make any modifications and ensure that the support is meeting the child’s needs.
The SENCo assistant will deliver a specific programme to the majority of the children on the special needs register to further ensure progression by continuous monitoring and assessment.
When a child has a Statement or Education Health Care Plan, the support time will be indicated and monitored very closely. These will be reviewed at a special meeting each year.
How will I know how my child is doing and how will you help me to support my child’s
learning?
We welcome parental support and have formal and informal meetings throughout the year. We can suggest activities to try at home and will help you to support your child at each transition time.
Parental involvement is encouraged in our school but please remember staff are usually busy settling their classes at the start of each day. We firmly believe in the value of partnerships in educating children and welcome information which may help us to support your child. Targets are shared with parents and are displayed with tags on children’s books. Future targets will be shared with parents at any time. If necessary a home/ school link book can be established to ensure medical, social and educational needs are communicated. Homework tasks usually have suggestions for supporting your child.
Teachers are available at the end of the school day and will discuss an individual child’s progress or needs. For more formal meetings with staff, please contact the school office to arrange a suitable time. The progress of children is tracked continuously and this information can be shared with parents when they request it. Targets are also shared with parents.
The SENCo holds termly drop in sessions to discuss the impact of intervention programmes, assess your child’s needs or to listen to your concerns. A meeting with the member of staff responsible for delivering the intervention programme can also be arranged.
Parents’ evenings are held every term to discuss your child’s progress and future targets. The head teacher is available to meet with you on these occasions. An appointment can be made at the school office if you wish to discuss concerns with the head teacher at any other time.
An annual report will precede the Summer Term parents meetings and will summarise the progress and attainment of your child. Opportunity to meet the new teacher and arrangements will be made for a smooth transition after the summer break. Extra transition sessions are organised for some children and a booklet is produced to help you prepare your child for their next class.
What support will there be for my child’s overall wellbeing?
All staff are committed to inclusion and work very hard to ensure children are happy and settled at our school. We urge that parents inform us quickly when issues arise.
Regular meetings to discuss the welfare of our children ensure that most barriers to learning are resolved with a timely chat to the class teacher and a quick intervention.
For the more vulnerable children, we have trained staff who organise social/ emotional/ communication groups. The children meet in small groups and carry out tasks which will develop their confidence about their feelings and concerns. We are hoping to develop an area within the school where children feel comfortable to go and discuss any issues. Parents are fully informed of their child’s involvement in these groups and may request that their child is included – when family issues arise, children find it difficult to concentrate in lessons and our support can help them.
When individual support is necessary, a designated member of staff will check on the child through the day and assess their well being. They have support strategies to put in place and will develop a relationship with the parents/carers.
When the problems escalate and staff or parents feel their child needs more support, outside agencies can be called in. These may include educational psychologists, behaviour specialists or members of the medical profession. Through a team approach we hope that all barriers to learning can be removed.
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?
Sometimes we need to access support in order to help your child so we call in the professionals.
At any time, staff or parents may feel that a child would benefit from an intervention from an outside agency. Parental consent is required to access this support but we all work together because we recognise it is in the best interest of the child.
Sometimes the professional will work with the child on a one to one basis. They may observe a child in the classroom and design a programme of work to meet their individual needs.
At other times the professional will assess the child and leave a programme for a member of staff to deliver. They will return at a later date to review the impact of the intervention on the child.
We have worked with;
Speech and language Social communication Hearing impaired support
Occupational therapy Physiotherapy IPAS
Behaviour support St Lukes’ outreach worker Educational Psychologists
Community Nurse School Nurse Children and Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
ASET (Autism team) Education preparation unit (EPU)
Parent support Kaleidoscope Social workers
Child development service (CDC) Health visitor
What training have the staff supporting children with SEN and disabilities had or are currently having?
Staff have regular training on delivering intervention programmes and will have extra training when they are due to start working with an SEN child who has specific needs.
Staff are constantly being trained as new intervention programmes and methods of delivering them are introduced. This term the SENCo will be updating her own knowledge when she completed the ‘Leading on Interventions’ training.
Sometimes whole school training is considered valuable – This will take place at INSET times or staff meetings.
(Examples include)
Medical epi pen emergency first aid team teach
Literacy interventions Fresh start phonics Write from the start fiction/non fiction
Mathematics interventions Numicom
At other times individual training is necessary – this will take place in school or on courses.
A teaching assistant due to start delivering a programme will be trained by the professional who has assessed the child and set the programme.
(Examples include)
speech and language social/communication emotional literacy makaton
Precision teaching beat dyslexia visual timetables sensory needs
occupational therapy moving and handling physiotherapy behaviour support
Teaching assistants can request further training to update their skills knowledge or for their own development. They record each session and at the end of the programme the SENCo and Assistant SENCo assess the effectiveness of the intervention.
How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?
We aim to be inclusive and will work together to provide stimulating opportunities for all children.
Outside classrooms, a large playing field and gardened areas are all ways we foster outdoor investigation in all children. Staff have received training in delivering ‘Top Sports’ and refer to the activity cards which enable disabled to be included in games lessons when necessary. After school activities and trips are available throughout the year and all children are invited to participate. Risk assessments have to be carried out prior to any visit and any individual needs are considered. Initially, this is the responsibility of the class teacher overseen by senior management. Examplesof individual needs which will require extra risk assessment range from dealing with life threatening medical conditions, transporting children in wheelchairs or meeting the sensory needs of individuals. Residential visits in year 5 and 6 need careful planning and forethought; as do day trips where venues or activities are restrictive. Parents will be involved in all decisions and occasionally will be invited to accompany their child when we feel this would be beneficial. Safety is of paramount importance and all eventualities will be considered.
How accessible is the school?
Check out our new school website which is gradually building up all the information you will need to know our school really well.
The policies which our school works by will be displayed on the website and will ensure our school is accessible to you. Any further information which you require can be found by contacting the school by telephone or email. Parent mail is set up when you enrol your child so you can be informed of events within school.