SEND Information Report Details

What school leaders and governors do to make sure that all children feel welcome, included, and achieve their potential?

 

Our SENCo is Mrs Leech. She works alongside Mrs Bryan, our Head Teacher, and the Governing Body to determine the strategic development of the SEND Policy and Information Report, and provision for pupils with SEND in school.

 

She keeps a list of children we identify as having a SEND.

 

She also keeps a record of the provision* of all the different ways that we provide extra support (for example, support for reading, communication, and maths) for children with SEND.

 

A child’s provision can also be found on their Individual Provision Map document.

 

We carefully monitor the progress and well-being of children with SEND and the quality of our provision, including teaching and support. For example, senior leaders observe lessons and hold discussions with teachers and support staff.

 

If something is not working well, we change and improve our provision. We make sure that support is well matched to a child’s needs. We also make sure that the provision is professionally researched and effective.

 

The Governing Body* challenges us to make sure we constantly improve the quality of provision for children with SEND and the outcomes that they achieve.

 

We have several parents on the governing body and one of their roles is to represent the views and concerns of all parents, including those with children with SEND.

 

We have a Governor who takes a particular responsibility for SEND matters. He meets with our SENCo regularly and makes visits to classrooms looking at learning and teaching.

 

We fully involve our Governors when we review and revise our SEND policy and our Information Report at the end of each school year.

 

How do we develop and utilise the skills, knowledge and expertise of St Joseph’s staff?

 

Additional support for learning

 

Considerable thought, planning and preparation goes into utilising our support staff to ensure children achieve the best outcomes, gain independence, and are prepared for adulthood from the earliest possible age. Each class has teaching assistants who support the class teacher to ensure the quality first provision within classes.

Teaching assistants are used in a variety of ways: to lead intervention groups, to pre-tutor, to revisit any misconceptions to name a few.

Additional provision such as 1:1 adult support is offered to help pupils with specific needs or those with an EHC Plan meet the targets outlined on their plans.

 

Expertise and training of staff

 

We are committed to developing the ongoing expertise of our staff. We have current expertise in our school in the following areas:

• Smart Moves
• Differentiation
• Fine Motor Skills
• Phonics
• Rapid Reading
• Lego Therapy
• Speech and Language
• Social Skills
• Listening Skills
• Memory Development
• Mental Health First Aid

 

Key members of staff also work alongside the speech therapist to deliver specific targets set out by the therapists on a 1:1 basis. We have established intervention groups based on the needs of the pupils and the expertise of our staff. One of our TAs is a Communication TA (main link with Speech and Language; receive regular updates and training opportunities through cluster groups).

 

What do specialist support services do to support the progress and well-being of children with SEND?

 

Teaching and support staff work closely with relevant members of specialist services which provide support for our school. The services providing support in our school include:

• Learning Support Team
• Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)
• Outreach Team
• Occupational Therapy
• Behaviour Support Team
• Complex Communication Needs Team
• Educational Psychologist
• School Nurse
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• Early Help

 

The Glossary at the end of this document explains what each of these teams does.

 

These services provide a range of support including:

• Working one to one and with small group work with children.
• Providing training for teaching and support staff.
• Helping us to assess needs and plan next steps and review progress.

 

Each service has referral and eligibility criteria* – this means that service support is targeted on children with higher levels of need. More information about these services can be found on Worcestershire’s Local Offer website http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/sendlocaloffer

 

We will always involve you in any decisions about whether your child has a special educational need and the best ways to provide support. If your child requires these services, we will involve you in the process at every stage. We will ask you to sign a referral form before the support can go ahead.

How do we identify and assess children with SEND?

 

Our starting point is to meet with parents/carers in the summer term before children start our Reception Class. We know that parents are the first educators of their child and we need their knowledge to plan effectively.

 

We will also plan careful transitions for children starting at our school. Often our staff will speak with your child’s previous teacher before your child joins our school.

 

We ask whether parents/carers have any concerns about their children, or if their child has any additional needs. This helps us to plan how we will support their child once they start school.

 

In addition, we assess all children in the first half term in our school through careful and sensitive classroom observation and an early review of progress.

 

We also listen to children to find out how they are settling into school.

 

We continue to assess and monitor all through the child’s time in school so that we can look out for any special educational needs that might arise later.

 

We take great care to establish whether lack of progress is because a pupil has English as an additional language (EAL)*, for example by talking to the child (and parents) in her/his home language.

 

We also work with specialist services, for example Educational Psychologists and Speech Therapists. They can provide expertise in finding out the type and range of a child’s needs.

 

We follow Worcestershire’s guidance for the identification of SEND.

 

We are committed to personalised planning and regular assessment/review cycles to make sure that your child makes progress.

 

You can see more details on how we identify children with SEND in our SEND Policy and Information Report.

 

How do we review your child’s progress?

 

It is particularly important for our school that ALL our children enjoy success and achievement and make good progress in learning.

 

We use the information we have about each child who has been identified as having SEND to plan a personal programme of SEND support. This is your child’s Individual Provision Map (called a My Plan) and will include termly outcomes (targets).

 

Individual Provision Maps will include short term outcomes (targets) and will describe how we will support your child to achieve these targets.

 

Once a term we review in school how well all children, including those with SEND, are progressing. We call this our Pupil Progress Meeting.

 

We will report formally once a year on the progress of all children, including those with SEND and for some pupils we will provide more frequent reports.

How do we ensure that teaching and support help your child learn and make good progress?

 

We know that high quality teaching and well-matched support will make a big difference to the progress of children with SEND.

Making sure that this happens in all classrooms is one of the most important things that our school leaders do.

We make sure that all Teachers and Teaching Assistants have a clear understanding of the learning needs of the children in their class.

Our school leaders work closely with teachers and support staff to provide effective teaching and support for children with SEND in a variety of ways. These include:

• Delivering Quality First Teaching* to all pupils.
• Teachers having the highest possible expectations for all pupils in their class.
• Carefully differentiated* planning which ensures that all children can make progress.
• Supporting the Class Teacher to take full responsibility for the learning and progress of all children.
• Using a wide variety of teaching approaches, including guiding learning through demonstration; providing visual support material.
• Providing a stimulating, rich and interactive classroom environment.
• Using regular, clear and rigorous assessments that help teachers to track pupils’ progress and identify gaps in their understanding.
• Using our marking policy to make sure that children know how to improve their work and respond to feedback from their teachers.
• Providing additional adult support from well-trained and well supervised Teaching Assistants.
• Making available specialist equipment and digital technology to support access and participation in learning.

 

We help all children to develop their skills as learners – and to persevere when they find learning difficult.

How do we ensure our school and classrooms are safe, accessible, and stimulating?

 

We work hard to make sure that our school building and all classrooms are safe, stimulating, and accessible.

We aim to make lessons varied, stimulating and highly visual to support children with a variety of learning needs.

 

We have an Accessibility Plan* through which we are making improvements to the school environment over time.

 

Specialist teams, for example Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, The Outreach Team and The Worcestershire Visual Impairment Support Service provide guidance, advice and equipment for a child with particular access or support needs.

 

We have a range of equipment designed to support the development of children’s coordination and motor skills.

 

For some children with special educational needs, we provide specialist equipment including digital technology such as Prodigi, iPads and laptop computers.

How do we ensure children with SEND enjoy a broad and balanced curriculum?

 

We provide a curriculum that is broad, balanced, motivating, and accessible to all children.

 

We want our exciting curriculum to be one of the many reasons our children love coming to school!

 

We work hard to ensure that all our children achieve in lots of different ways as well as academic learning – for example, in drama, sport, music, dance, showing leadership and taking on responsibilities.

 

We encourage children with SEND to play a full part in the life of our school. Many of our children with a special educational need have extra responsibilities and taking such roles helps them to communicate more confidently with other children.

 

We arrange educational visits and journeys and make sure that all our children can take part. We do a risk assessment* and when necessary make reasonable adjustments* to plans and arrangements to make sure that all children can attend.

 

We also adapt the curriculum to include children with SEND, for example:

 

• Providing quiet time out for a student with emotional needs.
• Providing a visual timetable* and clear explanations of tasks for children with communication needs.
• Providing assistive technology* to ensure effective communication.

How do we work in partnership with parents and carers?

 

We know that the active involvement of parents/carers in supporting the education of their child is one of the most important factors in ensuring a child’s success and achievement.

 

We know that parents are the first educators of their child and that we need their knowledge to plan effectively.

 

We will always involve parents and children in planning and reviewing progress.

 

We make every effort to communicate clearly and regularly with parents and carers of children with SEND about, for example:

 

• How we support their children.
• Their achievements and their well-being.
• Their participation in the full life of our school.

 

We will also help and advise parents/carers on how to help their children make progress at home, for example in mathematics and reading.

 

We welcome and value feedback on how well we are working with our parents.

 

We try to communicate in plain English and have a bi-lingual member of staff who can offer translation and interpretation services in Polish. With notice, we can arrange a translator in other languages.

How do we listen and respond to children with SEND?

 

We know that the only way to really find out if a child is happy , feeling safe and taking part in the full life of our community is for the school to be certain that it hears the voices of children, especially those most vulnerable.

 

We make sure that we listen to children in our school and respond to what they say in several ways, including:

 

• Clear policies and systems to support children in expressing any worries or concerns that they have: giving children the right to choose a preferred adult to talk to.
• Talking to children and/or groups of children after lesson observations to understand their experience of the lesson.
• Inviting children to make personal contributions to their Annual Review meetings.
• Doing an annual pupil questionnaire on pupil voice* – giving children their say.
• Encouraging children to respond to feedback given through developmental marking.
• Agreeing with them individual targets.
• Making sure that our school Council is inclusive and represents the whole of our community.
• Ensuring that our safeguarding procedures are strong and that all staff are well trained.

How do we support children with transition when joining or leaving our school? 

 

When a child joins St Joseph’s, a member of staff will collect information and records from the child’s previous school and from the family. We always encourage parents to visit our school before the transition. We plan carefully to help children to feel safe and to settle in. We arrange transition events so children can meet their new teacher and support staff and also so the school becomes a familiar place.

 

When a child moves up to the next class, we organise class hand-over meetings where teachers and support staff make sure that the new teacher and Teaching Assistant (TA) have a clear understanding of the needs of all children.

 

We also provide an opportunity for parents and their children with SEND to meet the new teacher and TA before the start of the school year.

 

Transition days allow children to visit the new classroom and get to know the new adults who will be teaching and supporting them.

 

When a child comes to our school in the middle of a term, we plan a range of support – depending on the needs of each child. This may involve a team of children to help her/him settle in to the new class and provide help to find their way around the school.

Other transitions may include:

 

Primary to Secondary

• Support for move to new building and curriculum.
• Support for friendships and well-being.
• Planning support for learning.
• Attend Induction days.
• Hold Transition meetings with parents.
• Invite visits to our schools.
• Secondary SENCO attends Year 6 Annual Reviews.

 

Mid-term admissions

 

• Support for coming to a new school – e.g. learning, friendships and well-being.
• Meet pupil and parents.
• Assess needs.
• Go through classroom routines and weekly timetable.
• Tour the school.

How do we support children’s health and well-being including safety, attendance and behaviour?

 

The school takes the personal development and well-being of children very seriously.

 

We know that children are unlikely to flourish unless they are developing positive relationships, feel safe and are adopting healthy lifestyles. Our ethos and mission statement are embedded in our curriculum. These include the rights to be safe and healthy.

 

We also know that some children with SEND are particularly vulnerable when it comes to making and keeping friendships. We offer a variety of support with this including targeted playground activities for vulnerable children.

 

We address many of these issues in our PHSE (Personal Health Social and Economic Education) * curriculum.

We encourage children to develop confidence and resilience* through teaching, social play opportunities and through more targeted support where this is needed.

 

The children in each class develop their own Class Rules which become a point of reference for the class and it signifies a joint undertaking which binds everyone together. We also have playground rules to guide children to play well outside.

 

We have a zero tolerance of bullying and talk about all aspects of bullying in assemblies and lessons: we have very little bullying in our school but when it does occur we work with the children involved to make sure that it does not happen again.

 

We provide expert help for any child who is experiencing any difficulties with behaviour or relationships from well-trained staff. We will always consult and involve parents in the decision to offer this support. Our specialist help and some of their services includes:

 

CAMHS:

• Support with emotional health and wellbeing
• Advice on family therapy
• 1:1 child psychotherapy

 

Educational Psychology Service

 

• Behavioural support
• Bereavement services
• Assessment of emotional and learning difficulties
• Staff training and workshops

 

We make sure that our school council is representative of the population of the school – we currently have two children with SEND serving on the Council – and we encourage and support children with SEND to take on whole school responsibilities, for example, as Green Ambassadors.

 

We have an up to date policy on how we manage medical needs. See our website for further information.

A senior leader has responsibility for Health and Safety concerns across the school.

 

Children with serious medical needs have an Individual Health Care Plan which sets out

 

• The medical condition and resulting needs, e.g. medication and treatment; environmental issues.
• Support for educational and emotional needs.
• Who provides support, their role and training and who needs to be aware.
• Arrangements for working with parents/carers.
• Support for long term absence.
• Support on school trips and journeys.
• Emergency procedures.

 

When a child with medical needs is absent long term from school we make sure we keep her or him in touch with learning and friendships.

 

Our school Nurse provides advice and support to parents and the school on any medical issues.

We support all children to attend school regularly, for example thorough providing an enjoyable and stimulating curriculum and through home support where this is needed.

 

We provide specialist support and up to date training for staff on safeguarding, keeping children safe and meeting children’s emotional needs. Our volunteers are also provided with this training.

All our staff and governors have an up-to-date DBS * check.

How will we know that we are successful?

 

We constantly monitor important evidence for success and take action where we are not successful.

These are some of the things we look at to make sure we are meeting the needs of children with SEND:

 

• Their academic standards and progress.
• Their behaviour.
• Their school attendance.
• Their involvement in activities, visits and clubs.
• Their involvement in the full life of the school.
• Destinations and smooth transitions. For example, feedback from secondary schools.
• Parent feedback or complaints.

 

We also want to understand the experience of children with SEND so we regularly think about and discuss with children:

 

• Their sense of inclusion.
• Positive attitudes to self, peers and school.
• Their personal resilience and confidence as learners.