Most children and young people in mainstream schools will have their special educational needs met through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching. As a school we measure children’s progress in learning against national expectations and age related expectations. The class teacher continually assesses each child and notes areas where they are improving and where further support is needed. Staff assess the children each term in their reading, grammar and punctuation, writing and mathematics. As a school, we track children’s progress every term from Reception through to Year 6 to ensure that we can carefully monitor progress and attainment. Children who are not making expected progress are identified and a discussion takes place concerning why individual children are experiencing difficulty and what further support may be needed.
Early Identification of Need
As a school, we assess all children continuously across all areas of learning including the four broad areas of Special Educational Needs. We assess informally everyday through observations and classroom activities and carry out assessments at the end of every term to measure progress and identify the next steps in learning. We work in partnership with parents, carers and children by building good relationships, working together and supporting each other. If there is an identification of need then we will discuss this with parents. We may begin to gather evidence to inform whether to make additional provision and consider if we need to consult with relevant external agencies and use assessment tools and materials to ensure early help or identification of SEN happens.
- Early Years, Key Stage 1 and 2 staff and the SENCO, where necessary, liaise with Nursery or the child’s previous school.
- If a child is performing below age expectations then meetings will be held with the class teacher and SENCO. Observations of the child may also take place.
- Termly staff meetings to review support plans and set new outcomes.
- We have regular parent meetings and take into account any concerns raised by parents. We pride ourselves on having an ‘open door policy’ where at any point parents can talk to staff.
- Concerns raised by teacher for example behaviour or self-esteem is affecting performance.
- Liaison with external agencies we work closely with Speech and Language Therapy Service, Occupational Therapy, CAMHS, Crisis Response, Educational Psychology Service, the School Nurse, EWEL team, Behaviour Suport Service, ASC Advisory Team.
- Health diagnosis through local paediatrician at the hospital.
SEN Support
Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.
This means that we will:
- Assess a child’s special educational needs
- Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
- Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
- Review the support and progress
This means that we will write an individualised SEN Support Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes and provision to meet those needs. Parents, carers and children’s views are integral to this process. When the child’s Support Plan is reviewed comments are made against each target to show what progress the child has made. If the child has not met the target, the reasons for this will be discussed, then the target may be adapted into smaller steps or a different approach may be tried to ensure the child does make progress. Children may also cease to require a support plan as the intervention has provided the support needed for children to ‘catch up’.
A small percentage of children and young people with significant and/or complex needs may require an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Children with significant and/or complex difficulties in any/more than one of the four areas MAY be eligible for an EHCP assessment. This should be discussed in detail with the SENDCo. The process of applying for an EHCP takes up to twenty weeks and requires a vast amount of evidence to be submitted to the LA. An EHCP does not mean the child receives one to one support in school, but some children do need extra support across the day including unstructured times. Each case is dealt with on an individual basis.
For more detailed information see the Local Offer
Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN
If your child has SEN, it is important for us to carry out formal assessments to identify their strengths and identify their needs accurately. To do this, we will use a range of methods depending upon their needs. When your child enters our school, their current attainment is assessed to give us a ‘baseline’ from where they will progress. In addition to the assessments that all children take part in and depending upon their needs, other assessments may be needed. These could include:
Communication and interaction (SLCN, ASC)
- Speech Therapy Assessments – which may focus on sound production, language understanding, or other relevant assessments of your child’s needs
Cognition and learning (MLD, PMLD, SLD, SpLD)
- Subject specific assessment
- Education Psychology Assessments – which may include memory, understanding, reasoning, logic, and general skills assessment.
Social, Emotional and Health Difficulties
- Assess through observations of pupils
Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties
- Handwriting and copying skills baseline assessment
Your child will be assessed against age related expectations for children who are working on the National Curriculum (i.e. the same as the majority of other children in their year group), or they may be assessed against other measures for children who are not ready to work on National Curriculum Levels (i.e. the steps before the National Curriculum). Aspirational targets are set for all children to ensure that all children make good progress, including those not ready to access the National Curriculum. The outcomes of all assessments are shared with parents and carers at our Parent Evenings and in your child’s School Report. If other agencies are invited to work with your child, you will be invited to attend a meeting where the outcomes of these assessments and their next steps will be shared with you. If parents have any concerns then these can be shared with the class teacher and or SENCo who will arrange a meeting to discuss and resolve any difficulties.
We always encourage parents to come in and discuss any concerns with us face to face. Children who are working with number of agencies will have a termly review, even if they don’t have an EHCP so that parents have a chance to discuss any concerns about the provision their child is receiving. All parents of children with SEND are invited in three times a year to speak to staff.
We strive to ensure access to appropriate high quality teaching, differentiation and intervention for all of our SEND children. All planning is monitored by the SLT, books are collected in frequently and learning walks take place daily across the school to ensure high standards for all of our learners , including those with SEND .
For further information please view or download our Accessibility Plan which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.