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.
Early Identification of Need
In deciding whether to make special education provision to support educational, social, physical or emotional needs, we :
- Work in partnership with parents/carers,
- Consult with relevant external agencies
- Use assessment tools & materials in the school setting ( eg ELS phonics)
- Use observations
- Use Short Notes
- Use information from statutory testing or and / or comparison to National Curriculum age related expectation
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 use methods listed above to gain information so that we can work effectively with parents and external agencies to meet the need of the child.
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
As part of this approach, every child with SEN will have an individualised SEN Support Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes & provision to meet those needs. Parents/carers and child/YP (where appropriate) views are integral to this process.
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.
In the event that a child has not made the expected progress , despite using a range of strategies to adapt the learning and environment . And after a minimum of two cycles of Assess, Plan, Do , Review processes have been undertaken, an Education Health and Care needs assessment could be considered. Making this request does not guarantee an EHC plan
For more detailed information see the Local Offer
Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN
The first person to identify that a child has special educational needs may be:
- Yourself, as parent or carer
- The class teacher
- A health visitor
- Another medical professional
If it seems that your child may have special educational needs, your child’s class teacher or the Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) will assess:
- What your child is good at and what they need help with
- What your child would benefit from learning
- How best to help your child learn
Information about your child’s targets and any extra support they receive at school may be recorded on a Short Note or Support Plan
A small percentage of children and young people with significant learning difficulties might need an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan. Full details can be found on the Local Offer website.
You can find details of how we adapt the curriculum and make it more accessible for pupils with SEN below:
- Quality First Teaching
- Specific group work matched to the needs of the child
- Specialist group support from outside agencies e.g. Speech and Language Therapy;
- Specific individual support for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong
- Range of teaching and learning styles;
- Broad and balanced curriculum
- Opportunities for social interaction
- Differentiated learning opportunities
- Activities focused on targets set
- An innovative and supportive curriculum;
- Mentoring and Counselling;
- A broad range of extra-curricular activities, Differentiated materials.
- School trips planned to take account of individual need
Support for literacy, numeracy, children with significant learning difficulties, children with physical needs, children with speech, language and communication needs, children with a hearing, visual or multi-sensory impairment, children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, children with medical needs, children with English as an Additional Language and looked after Children with SEND will require specific support focused on individual need and using the expertise of school staff and external agencies. Using support methods listed above in conjunction with specific agreed support, school will ensure that individual needs are met.
The school tracks and monitors pupil progress for individual pupils with SEND. Detailed records show progress throughout the school year. Progress is measured using appropriate assessment tools .
The school evaluates the effectiveness of provision for pupils with SEND by monitoring teaching, learning and progress over time. SEN Support Plans make clear the targets for individual children. This progress will be shared with you at regular intervals in the year.
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment..
For further information please view or download our Accessibility Plan which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.