St Theresa's Catholic Primary School

Special Educational Needs

This policy complies with the statutory requirement laid out in the SEND code of practice 0-25 (June 2014) 3.65 and has been written with reference to the following guidance and documents;

• Equality act 2010 ; advice for schools DfE February 2013
• SEND Code of Practice 0-25 ( June 2014)
• School SEN information report Regulations (2014)
• Statutory Guidance on supporting pupil at school with medical conditions April 2014
• The National curriculum in England Key stage 1 and 2 framework document September 2013
• Safeguarding Policy
• Accessibility plan
• Teacher’s Standards 2012

Information

The named person who is responsible for managing the provision for SEN at ST Theresa’s Catholic Primary School is Mrs Eccles (Houlden). Mrs Eccles can be contacted through the school office on 0114 2397251

The named governor for SEN is Mrs Brecker, who can be contacted through the school office on the above number.

The content of the SEN policy reflects the SEND code of Practice 0-25 2014. It has been shared with the school governing body and will be reviewed regularly.

Every teacher is a teacher of every child or young person including those with SEN.

As such St Theresa’s Catholic Primary school adopts a whole school approach to special educational needs which involve all staff adhering to a model of good practice. The staff of the school are committed to identifying and providing for the needs of all children in a wholly inclusive environment.

Objectives

• To identify and provide for pupils who have special educational needs and additional needs.
• To work within the guidance provided by the SEND code of Practice 2014
• To operate a whole pupil, whole school approach to management and provision of the support for Special Educational needs.
• To provide a Special Educational Needs co-ordinator (SENCO) who will work with the SEN inclusion policy.
• To provide support and advice for all staff working with Special Educational needs pupils.

Definition of Special Educational Needs

What does SEND mean?

SEND means Special educational needs and disabilities. Children have a special need if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made.

This will be if the child:

• Has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.

OR

• Has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of school age within the local authority.

The area of special need will be identified as:

        Communication and interaction

This includes children with speech and language delay, impairments or disorders, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyscalculia, dysgraphia and dyspraxia, hearing impairment, and those who demonstrate features within the autistic spectrum.

       Cognition and Learning

This includes children who demonstrate features of moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia or dyspraxia

       Social, mental and emotional health

This includes children who may be withdrawn, isolated, disruptive or disturbing, hyperactive or lack concentration.

       Sensory and/ or physical Needs

This includes children with sensory, multi-sensory and physical difficulties

Behavioural difficulties do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has a SEN and should not automatically lead to a pupil being registered as having SEN.

The following are not considered to be SEN but they may have an impact on progression and attainment:

• Disability
• Attendance and punctuality
• EAL ( English as an additional language
• Being in receipt of a pupil premium grant
• Being a looked after child
• Being a child of a serviceman/woman

Identification of pupil’s needs

All our children are treated as individuals and the class teacher will plan an appropriate differentiated curriculum for our children with additional needs to ensure high quality teaching and learning with effective support and resources. Clear support plans, assertive mentoring targets and care plans are put into place and reviewed regularly. A range of carefully tailored interventions are developed, reviewed and evaluated to ensure maximum progress and impact for our children. Key assessments  ensure that children are on track to meet targets. Planning accurately addresses needs. Progress, targets and plans are regularly reviewed with parents and children to inform the next steps.

A graduated approach

Quality first teaching

Any pupils who are falling significantly outside the range of expected academic achievement in line with predicted performance indicators and grade boundaries will be monitored.

Once a pupil has been identified as possibly having SEN they will be closely monitored by staff in order to gauge their possible difficulties.

The class teacher will take steps to provide differentiated learning opportunities that will support the pupil’s academic  progress and enable the teacher to better understand the provision and teaching style that needs to be applied.

Staff will consult the SENCO as needed for support and advice. It may be appropriate to observe the child in class.

It can then be determined the level of provision the child will need to move them forward.

Parents will be informed of every stage of their child’s development and are encouraged to share information and knowledge with the school.

The child is recorded by the school as being monitored due to a concern by a parent or teacher but this does not automatically place the child on the SEN register.

Identification and assessment of pupils’ SEN will include:

• End of Key stage assessments
• Assessment for learning materials
• Standardised tests
• Teacher observation
• Information and advice from other agencies
• Views of pupils
• Views of parents
• Diagnostic tests

SEN Support

Where it is determined that a pupil does have SEN, it will be discussed with parents and the child will be added to the SEN register. The aim of formally identifying a pupil with SEN is to help the school ensure that effective provision is put into place and so to remove barriers to learning.

The support consists of a four part process:   Assess    Plan     Do     Review

This is an ongoing cycle to enable provision to be monitored, impact assessed and different interventions to be put into place as the child’s needs change. The assess, plan, do, review cycle enables identification of those interventions which are most effective in supporting the pupil to achieve good progress and outcomes.

Assess

Analyse the pupil’s needs using teacher assessment, experience of working with the pupil, details of previous progress and attainment, comparisons with peers , and views of parents, pupil and outside agencies. Any parental concerns will be noted and discussed.

Regular review to ensure that support and interventions are matched to need and that barriers to learning are clearly identified and being overcome.

Share information with external agencies. Where they are not involved they may be contacted, if this is felt to be appropriate, following agreement from parents.

Plan

Planning will involve consultation with the class teacher, Senco and shared with parents and pupil to agree the interventions and support that are required; the impact on progress, development and/or behaviour that is expected and a clear date for review. A support plan will be written, which will include targets, strategies and support, success criteria and a review date. The support plan will be kept by the class teacher, Senco and parents.

Do

The class teacher remains responsible for working with the child on a day to day basis. Class teachers have responsibility for planning, monitoring, assessments, interventions and liaising with support staff. Teachers are responsible for reporting to parents at the SEN review at least three times per year.

Additional assessment of pupil’s need will be provided by the SENCO. The SENCO will seek advice from outside agencies if appropriate.

Review

The child’s progress will be reviewed regularly ( at least termly) and the impact of support will be monitored. The quality of support will be monitored and reviewed regularly.

The child’s view and the parents view will be taken into account. The class teacher, will revise the support and outcomes based on the child’s progress and development, making any necessary amendments going forward, in consultation with the child and parents. Teachers are responsible for setting new targets. The Senco will advise as necessary.

Referral for an Educational Health Care Plan (ECH)

If a child has complex or lifelong difficulties they may undergo a Statutory Assessment Process which is usually requested by the school but can be requested by a parent. This will occur when the complexity of need or lack of clarity around the needs of the child is such that a multi-agency approach to assessing that need, to planning provision and identifying resources is required.

The application for the ECH will combine information from a variety of sources including:

• Teachers/SENCO
• Parents
• Social care
• Educational Psychologist/clinical psychologist
• Health professionals – CAMHS, school health, Paediatricians.

Information will be gathered relating to the current provision provided, impact of the provision and remaining barriers to learning. A decision will be made by a panel of professionals from education, health, social care about whether the child is eligible for an ECH plan. Parents have a right to appeal against a decision not to initiate a statutory assessment leading to a ECH plan

Educational Health Care Plans (ECH)

 Following statutory assessment, an ECH will be provided by Sheffield County Council, if it is decided that the child’s needs cannot be met by the support that is ordinarily available. The school, parents and other professionals who support the child will be involved in developing and producing the plan.

Parents have a right to appeal against the content of the ECH plan. They may also appeal against the school named in the plan if it differs from their preferred choice.

Once the ECH plan has been completed and agreed, it will be kept a part of the pupil’s formal record and reviewed at least annually by staff, parents and pupil. The ECH plan will also “move” with the child. The annual review ( child centred review) enables provision for the child to be evaluated and where appropriate for changes to be put into place, for example reducing or increasing levels of support/ amended objectives.

What is the Local offer?

The SEND Local Offer is a resource which is designed to support children and young people with Special Educational needs and/ or disabilities and  their families. It describes the services and provision that are available to those families in Sheffield that have an ECH plan and those who do not have a plan, but still experience some form of Special educational needs. The SEND Local Offer includes information about public services across education, health and social care, as well as those provided by the private, voluntary and community sectors.

More information can be found on; www.sheffielddirectory.org.uk

Inclusion of all pupils with SEND

The Head Teacher  oversees the school’s policy for inclusion and is responsible for ensuring that it is implemented effectively through school. The school curriculum is reviewed to ensure it promotes the inclusion of all pupils. This includes learning outside the classroom.

The school will seek advice about individual children , with outside agencies when appropriate.

The admissions arrangement for all pupils are in accordance with national legislation, including the Equality Act 2010. This includes children with any level of SEND; those with ECH plans and those without.

Link with Support Services

The school has strong working relationships and links with external support services in order to fully support the SEN pupils and aid school inclusion. Sharing information and knowledge with the support services is key to the effective and successful SEND provision in our school.

Support services include:

• Health – school nurse, paediatricians, and educational psychologists
• CAMHS – (child, Adolescent and mental health)
• Speech and Language therapists
• Teachers for the visually, physically impaired
• Behaviour support service
• Autism team
• Social services
• Multi-agency teams