Stottesdon CofE Primary School

If you have concerns about your child you should initially speak to your child's class teacher. Class teachers will work with parents and children to make sure provision supports progress.
If you feel you need further support/information/advice/guidance you can contact the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), Miss Kate Robinson : kate.robinson@stottesdon-school.co.uk
Mrs Jones (Headteacher) will be happy to liaise with you if further clarification is needed. Appointments may be booked through the school office. We also have a SEND Governor: Mark Daborn who would be available as appropriate.
If you are unhappy with any element of your child's education, and wish to make a complaint, please follow the complaints procedure in the policy section of this website.

Class Teacher:

He / She is responsible for:
Ensuring that all children have access to high quality teaching and that the curriculum is adapted to meet your child's individual needs (also known as differentiation).
Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (such as targeted work, additional support, adapting resources etc.) and discussing amendments with the SENCO as necessary.
Writing learning targets; sharing and discussing these with parents and children at least once each term and planning for the next term.
Ensuring that all members of staff working with your child in school are aware of your child's individual needs and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and make progress in the school.
Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are supported in delivering the planned work / programme for your child so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources.
Ensuring that the school's SEND Practice is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

Ensuring that as parents you are: involved in supporting your child's learning kept informed about the support your child is getting; involved in reviewing their progress; involved in planning their next steps for learning

SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator):

He / She is responsible for:
Coordinating all the support for children with SEND, and making sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
Ensuring that as parents you are: involved in supporting your child's learning kept informed about the support your child is getting
involved in reviewing their progress
involved in planning their next steps for learning

Liaising with all the other agencies who may be coming into school to help support your child's learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc...
Ensuring that all records of your child's needs, provision and progress are reviewed and updated at least termly.
To provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help your child (and other pupils with SEND) achieve their potential. Supporting your child's class teacher to write learning targets for your child to achieve.

Teaching Assistant (TA):

A TA may be allocated to a pupil with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a TA they are responsible for carrying out the programmes for supporting your child in accordance to the planning and instruction of the class teacher. This TA will be fully capable of running any programmes for your child and individual training for a TA will be put in place if required.

Headteacher:

He/She is responsible for:
The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND. He / She will give responsibility to the SENCO and class/subject teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child's needs are met.
Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs (SEN) and or disabilities.
Monitoring the support your child is getting.
Monitoring training for staff so they are aware and confident about how to meet the needs of your child and others within our school.
To provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in school so they can help pupils with SEND in the school to achieve their potential.
He / She must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

SEND Governor:

He/She is responsible for:
Making sure that the school has an up to date SEND Information Report.
Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all children in the school.
Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEN and/or disabilities.
Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to children with SEND in the school.
Reporting to governors on SEND provision within the school.

If your child is currently on the school's SEN Support Record and is receiving additional, targeted support, the school will consult with you about your child's progress in the following ways:
Termly meetings to discuss the additional provision the school has arranged for your child, including intervention programmes (additional targeted support). During these meetings targets are reviewed and progress is discussed. It is also an opportunity to discuss how you can support at home and any concerns or ideas you may have. These meetings will also include the Annual Review meetings for those pupils with a current Statement/Education Healthcare Plan (EHCP).
Parents' evenings twice a year, Summer term report and optional consultation.
We arrange for you to meet with outside professionals in the school setting where appropriate.
We have an ‘open door' policy where you can meet with staff about concerns.
Parent workshops are run to inform you about current teaching practices and methods. These also sometimes include activity packs for at home.
Our website includes a section called supporting your child which includes supportive links and resources. We also regularly signpost to resources in our weekly school newsletter.

We encourage pupil involvement in our discussions about their additional support, their next steps and whether they have got there.

Our termly meetings and parents meeting are always intended to include the child.

On a day to day basis, our staff encourage children to discuss their targets and staff regularly feedback to children about how they are doing.

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible.

If your child is moving to our/another school at Year 6 OR at other times:
We will contact the school SENCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.
We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.
Where possible, we will invite the Secondary SENCo to attend reviews in the year before your child moves. This will give everyone an opportunity to liaise well in advance.
If your child needs additional familiarisation visits before they move this can be arranged.
Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and, in some cases, staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.
At Year 6 all children do focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead. If a child needs additional support in this area, this can be arranged.
When moving classes in school: Information will be passed on to the new class teacher IN ADVANCE and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher.
If your child needs additional familiarisation with the new class before they move this can be arranged.

Stottesdon school endeavours to make reasonable adjustments, both in terms of the learning and physical environment, to ensure that all pupils can access the facilities and opportunities on offer.
As part of the Disability Equality Scheme, the school's Accessibility plan provides details regarding our ongoing commitment to making reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils. These adjustments include modifications to building and site, as well as the provision of specialist equipment to support the inclusion and participation of disabled pupils.

All children who are identified on our SEND record will have their curriculum and learning environment adapted to meet their needs. This may include additional resources such as particular equipment, adapted programmes of learning or teaching assistant support.
Throughout the school, at assessment times, children with SEND may be supported in being able to do assessments through readers, scribes, extra time, rest breaks, modified resources etc.

Wave 1 Provision: Class teacher provision also known as High Quality Teaching.

For your child this would mean:
That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
That all teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning.
Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCO or outside staff) are in place to support your child to learn.
All children in school should be getting this as a part of excellent classroom practice.


Wave 2 provision:

This means the class teacher has identified your child as needing some extra support in school. This is often referred to as an intervention.

For your child this would mean:
He/ She will engage in individual or group sessions (run in the classroom or outside of the classroom) with specific targets to help him/her to make more progress.
A Teaching Assistant/teacher (who has had training) will run these small group sessions using the teacher's plan
This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning.


Wave 3 provision: It is at this point that your child will be put on the school's SEND Support Record (SSR)

This means the class teacher and SENCo have identified your child as needing more intensive support. This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups alone. This support will be informed by Specialist Advice such as:
Local Authority central services
Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service.

For your child this would mean:
Your child will have been identified by the class teacher and SENCo as needing more specialist input instead of or in addition to quality first teaching and intervention groups.
You will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child's progress and help plan possible ways forward.
You may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist. This will help the school and yourself understand your child's particular needs better and be able to support them better in school.
The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:
Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better.
Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise
A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group.
A group or individual work with outside professional.

Wave 4 provision:

This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are:
Severe, complex and lifelong
This is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by the class teacher, SENCO, Specialist Teacher and the Local Authority Statementing Panel as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school.

For your child this would mean:
The school (or you) has requested that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child's needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
After the school have sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child's needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child's needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with the current in school provision.
After the reports have all been sent in the Local Authority will decide if your child's needs are severe, complex and lifelong and that they need a particular level of support in school to make good progress. If this is the case they will write an EHCP.
The EHCP will outline the type of provision your child should receive and how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long term goals/outcomes for your child. Additional financial support for the school is provided to enable this.

The school budget includes money for supporting children with SEND.
The Head Teacher decides on the budget for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of needs in the school.
The Head Teacher and the SENCo discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including: the children getting extra support already and their progress
the children needing extra support the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected As a result of the above priorities SEND provision, resources, training and support are allocated on a termly basis. All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed. If extra support achieves the desired outcome children return to normal class provision (wave 1). If extra support is not having the impact required the following approaches will be taken: Review the support/intervention and 'tweak' if necessary. Give the support/intervention more time to have impact. Use a different support/intervention. If progress is still not satisfactory children will move to the next wave of provision. See above.

If following assessment and review, it is identified that external advice is needed to help us meet the needs of the child we may engage services as appropriate. Parents are always liaised with and permissions sought. When appropriate, parents are invited to meet any specialist agency at the school to discuss their child's needs. Following the advice, we may purchase or borrow resources as necessary. Agencies we engage with include the following:
Speech and Language Therapy
Independent Specialist Teachers
Educational Psychology Service
Learning Support Advisory Teachers
School Nurse
Occupational Therapy
Physiotherapy
Sensory Inclusion Services
Tuition Medical Behaviour Support Service

The SENCo supports the class teacher in planning for children with SEND.
The school has a training plan for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those with SEND, hearing impairment, visual impairment and attachment to current expertise. This includes whole school training and individual training. Current expertise includes: Speech, Language and Communication,Occupational Therapy. Our expertise is only for children with mild difficulties. Our school is committed to training staff to meet needs of children as they arise.

We identify needs through assessment, planning of provision and reviewing progress. Assessment happens at many levels:
Your child's progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher and/or teaching assistant – informally through lessons and more formally at the ends of units of work. The class teacher will also take account of information from observations of your child and parental information.
Via whole school assessment and pupil tracking. Progress is reviewed formally every term in reading, writing and numeracy.
Through evaluation of programs of intervention (termly) with yourself and your child.
Through specific assessments carried out by the SENCO and specialist agencies if at Wave 3 provision and above (EHCP)
At the end of each key stage/phase (i.e. at the end of Reception, year 2 and year 6). Children are required to be formally assessed nationally at these points. This is something the government requires all schools to do and are the results that are published nationally.
The progress of children with a statement of SEND/ EHCP is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child's education.

Class Teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class, and will ensure that your child's needs are met.
Trained support staff can adapt the teachers planning to support the needs of your child where necessary.
Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.
Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed to meet your child's learning needs.



Below are examples of our toolbox to show how we adapt our teaching and provide additional support for specific needs that have been identified. This toolbox is always changing and expanding to meet the needs of children within our school.

Speech, Language and Communication:

simplified/visual timetables
adapt instructions so they are simple and clear
provide additional support to check understanding
pre-teaching of concepts
overlearning opportunities to enable embedding of learning
memory boosting posters for technical vocabulary
mind mapping of knowledge and vocabulary
memory and processing programmes
word banks
intervention programmes to develop expressive language
intervention programmes to support children with articulation of sound difficulties


Autistic Spectrum Disorder:

consistent rules and routines
visual timetables and aids
clear, simple instructions
be aware of sensory distractions: noise, texture, colours, smells in the environment and adapt classroom as appropriate
anxiety management strategies
emotional barometers
keyworkers
peer buddies
quiet space

Updates form the Neurodiversity workstream:

Further investment has been made in the Neurodiversity teams for Bee U, Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), to increase capacity
A 'what to expect’ video outlining what families and children may experience on the day of their Multidisciplinary Assessment (MDA) has been created: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R0zScj1bbE
Shropshire Community Health Trust (SCHT) have developed the information video as an introduction to sensory processing for Parent Carers and professionals: https://www.shropscommunityhealth.nhs.uk/chot-senses
The Neurodiversity Practitioners (NDPs) have all received really positive feedback in evaluations from parents, school staff and children.
The Parents and Carers Council (PACC) have recently organised and facilitated a ‘Living Positively with Neurodiversity’ conference in collaboration with Autism West Midlands. Reports on the event can be found on the following links: http://www.paccshropshire.org.uk/mental-health-awareness-week-ndash-supporting-parent-carer-wellbeing http://www.paccshropshire.org.uk/pacc-conference-2024-reflection

Mild/Moderate learning difficulties:


small group interventions e.g. phonic, spelling, reading, mathematical recall
individual interventions e.g. phonic, spelling, reading, mathematical recall
practical resources to support learning e.g. word banks, numberlines, bead strings, ICT
pre-teaching of concepts
memory boosting posters for technical vocabulary
mind mapping of knowledge and vocabulary
memory and processing programmes
word banks
regular feedback to you and suggestions of how you can help your child at home.



Specific Learning Difficulties e.g. Dyslexia, Dyscalculia


multisensory activities
pupils are supported to develop their own strategies to help them overcome their difficulties e.g. learning a rhyme/visual prompt to remember spellings/maths terms
pupils are given the opportunity to revisit concepts more frequently than other
pupils to ensure that pupils are secure with concepts.
pupils are given regular, daily 5 minute sessions to support depth of learning. We call this ‘over-learning'.
pre-teaching
coloured overlays/reading rulers
Numicon
Toe by Toe programme
Use of Ipads/Kindle for reading - the font and the number of words can be changed to make the text more accessible
Additional reading schemes e.g. Code X
Precision Spelling
Precision Reading
regular feedback to you and suggestions of how you can help your child at home



Social, Mental and Emotional Health:


rewards, stickers etc to celebrate work
circle time
consistent routines/boundaries and expectations
home school links
worry boxes
memory boxes
quiet/reflective spaces
personal and social intervention groups e.g. game playing, turn taking, speaking and listening skills
anger and anxiety management support



Hearing Impaired:



careful positioning of child to support hearing/lip reading
clear visual aids
word banks and precise teaching of subject specific vocabulary
facing child for every communication
purchasing specialised equipment following assessment and recommendation
specific training for staff
gain advice and support from outside agencies and follow their recommendations



Visually Impaired:



support children in wearing glasses when required
sit children in supportive position
provide work on coloured paper when appropriate
gain advice and support from outside agencies and follow recommendation
displaying work in a clear large font suitable to the child
adapting the environment (furniture and resources) as appropriate



Physical Difficulties:



see our Disability Equality Scheme
Provide equipment on the advice of outside agencies e.g. writing slopes, pencil grips, stress balls, wobble cushions
Regular intervention programmes to develop skills e.g. Cool Kids, Storycise, speed up handwriting, handwriting aerobics
adapting the environment (furniture and resources) as appropriate
additional support for physical activities

Our school evaluates its overall provision through:
Termly pupil progress tracking (this involves pupils as appropriate)
Comparing attainment and progress of SEND children at our school to children nationally (Governor involvement)
Informal monitoring by the SENCo
Evaluation of all intervention programmes termly (with parents and pupils)
A monitoring programme which includes observations of lessons and intervention programmes, work scrutiny, pupil interviews and parent/pupil questionnaires (see monitoring policy)
SENCo report to Governors annually
Informal monitoring and feedback from parents with SEND children

All evaluation outcomes are then used to inform our next steps forward in our School Development Plan which is updated annually.

Our school makes reasonable adjustments to ensure children with SEND have access to after school activities. We have a full programme of after school clubs.
If an after school activity would benefit a SEND child we actively encourage attendance and liaise closely with the parents.

It is important to us that children with SEND are supported socially and emotionally throughout the school day. We have an inclusive school ethos that values children and celebrates all kinds of achievement. The following practices support us in achieving this:
Behaviour and Anti Bullying Practice and Policy
Contact with specific outside agencies such as Barnardos and Beam
Liaison with the School Nurse
Liaison with Sure Start Centres
Nurture groups
Personal, Health, Social and Emotional Curriculum
Peer buddies
Quiet areas