SEN Information Report think my child may have special educational needs?

SEN Information Report
How does the school know if children need extra help and what should I do if I
think my child may have special educational needs?
1. Children’s academic progress is tracked termly throughout the school year.
Class teachers are responsible for ensuring children progress in line with
national expectations or progress beyond this. Termly meetings are held
between members of the Senior Leadership team and each individual teacher.
Children falling behind age appropriate expectations will be identified through
these pupil progress meetings and highlighted to the SENCo (Special
Educational Needs Coordinator).
Children already identified as having special
educational needs are part of this process and are also monitored by the SENCo.
High quality teaching targeted at the areas of weakness will be put in place and
the child’s progress monitored over time. Parents will be informed of this during
parent consultations or earlier if necessary. If progress continues to be less
than expected it may be necessary to put in place additional support and a
thorough assessment of a child’s needs takes place. This is led by the SENCo
and includes views of the parents and child concerned. Parents who are
concerned their child may have SEND (special educational needs and disability)
issues should in the first case talk to their child’s class teacher.
How will school staff support my child?
2. Pupil progress meetings, as outlined above, identify children requiring extra
support. Firstly, all children falling behind age appropriate expectations, are
differentiated for within class to ensure access to learning, for which all class
teachers are responsible for. This is when high quality teaching is targeted at
their areas of weakness. Within the classroom, differentiation could be in the
level of work set, targeted adult (teacher or teaching assistant or 1:1 support),
emotional and behavioural support, individual learning programmes working
alongside the mainstream curriculum. In some instances extra provision is
awarded during the day in which gaps in learning can be addressed, in the form
of interventions, almost always led by a teaching assistant. Where the
interventions involve teaching away from the main class the teacher still retains
responsibility for the child and works closely with support staff to plan and
assess the impact of interventions. In addition to this, for children with
specific learning difficulties, the SENCo then becomes involved and additional
assessment and support is put in place. The SENCo provides advice, monitoring
and links with outside agencies. There is a school governor for SEND who
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oversees the school’s work with SEND and ensures the quality of provision is
regularly monitored. Parents are regularly informed of the areas of need to
address for their child. At any point, parents can speak to the class teacher or
SENCo in addition to the planned consultations, at which the SENCo is present,
on a termly basis.
How will I know how my child is doing?
3. Good quality teaching, skilled differentiation and high aspirations for all children
usually ensure expected progress is made and frequently that higher than
expected progress is made. School procedures outlined above ensure children
are monitored regularly and supported when necessary as inspite of all this some
children will require additional support. Children with SEND will be targeted
specifically and have increased opportunity and time to work on specific targets
during the school day, either with the teacher or teaching assistant. These are
shared with the pupils, who are given the opportunity to say how they feel best
supported. Parents are asked to comment on this support too. A termly report
system helps parents keep track of progress throughout the year.
The effectiveness of the school’s provision for children with SEND is evaluated,
reported to governors and monitored by OFSTED.
How will the learning and development provision be matched to my child’s
needs?
4. Brookmans Park has rigorous assessment procedures in place for all children.
In addition to the assessment for all children we have the following tools:
Dyslexic Screener
Dyscalculic Screener
Smartmoves Occupational Therapy Assessment
British Picture Vocabulary Scale (BPVS)
Literacy Assessment (Specific Learning Difficulty Base)
Diagnostic Assessment of Number (Specific Learning Difficulty Base)
PM Benchmark Reading Assessment
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MIRA
Salford Reading Test
Access to Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychologist
Combining teacher’s assessments and additional assessments lead to a range of
interventions that a child should receive in order to address the learning
difficulty present. The views and experiences of the parents and pupils are also
crucial to this process in order to identify any barriers to learning. The School
Core offer (also on the website) lists all interventions currently used within our
school.
What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?
5. The school runs a social group programme which promotes self-esteem, team
building, social skills etc. Currently the school runs a Bright Stars programme
which has offered additional training in this area. The Family Support Service is
able to offer families parenting advice to help manage a child’s overall well-being
and can work with teachers too.
The school has a consistent behaviour policy which is published on the school
website. Staff are trained specifically to deal with transitions for children
(between classes, moving up to secondary school, coming into school or leaving
school) and offer support to individual children where necessary.
The school adheres to the statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils at school with
medical conditions’ and all medication is kept in a secure place and is only
administered by designated people. Individual health care plans are written for
children with medical conditions and shared with all staff that work with the
child including lunchtime staff. There is a designated school nurse who works
together with parents and staff to meet a child’s health needs. In some
instances this will require referring a child to access a specialist support
service. There is an assigned Speech and Language Therapist that works very
closely with the school and an Educational Psychologist.
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the
school?
6. Teachers, support staff and SENCo continually receive training in different areas
of SEND to develop specialisms to ensure there is a wide range of skills and
expertise. Often this training is accessed through our link with the ‘specific
learning difficulty base’ in Welwyn Garden City at Applecroft School. Training is
also regularly delivered to support staff from our speech and language therapist
who shares strategies to help support children with communication difficulties.
Specialisms include Autism, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Literacy Interventions, Maths
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Interventions, Gross and Fine Motor Skills. Occupational Therapists have
recently trained the SENCo to screen for gross and fine motor difficulties using
the Smart Moves programme. In addition to the speech therapist the school has
links with the Educational Psychologist and School Nurse to whom they can
directly refer to. The school can, in addition to the ‘specific learning difficulty
base’, access outreach services from special schools in the area e.g. Woolgrove.
What training have the staff supporting children with SEND, had or are having?
7. All staff are trained in Safeguarding. There is a specifically trained paediatric
first aider for each phase of the school and a designated member of staff
(Headteacher) for safeguarding concerns. The SENCo has completed the
National SENCO Award and has recently been updated on all the current
legislation for the new SEND Code of Practice. Training is refreshed regularly
and all opportunities for additional training are sought to ensure that staff have
an up to date knowledge of SEND issues.
How will you help me to support my child’s learning?
8. Parent’s Evenings are held each term to keep parents fully informed of their
child’s progress and a termly report is written for each child so that parents
know how their child is progressing throughout the year. Parents are involved in
reviews where extra support has been put in place and their views are sought at
each opportunity to help support their child’s learning. Children are set
homework regularly each week which will involve reading and at least one piece
of maths, literacy or topic work so that parents are able to see what their
children are able to achieve independently and support them if necessary.
Information leaflets are handed out each term to inform parents of topics and a
weekly timetable is sent out outlining the main objectives for the week. Parents
are invited to meet their child’s new teacher informally at the beginning of the
year and there are other open evenings in which parents can have an informal
chat and view their child’s work. Members of the Senior Leadership Team
deliver meetings for parents, discussing teaching and learning at Brookmans
Park, sharing teaching practices and new curriculum developments. These
meetings involve regular updates on e-safety.
How will I be involved in discussions about and planning for my child’s
education?
9. There are formal occasions such as Parent’s Evening where parents are involved
in discussions about their child’s education however we have an open door policy
where parents are able to speak to a teacher before or after school to pass on a
message or plan a meeting where a longer discussion is needed. The school
office can arrange these meetings for working parents over the phone. The
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SENCo is out of class and can usually be contacted on the phone during the day.
Parents of children with SEND are regularly involved in discussions about their
child’s learning.
How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school
trips?
10. For all school trips a risk assessment is undertaken to ensure that each child is
kept safe from harm. All children with SEND are included on all school trips and
when appropriate additional staff are deployed. When the outings are run by
outside agencies they are made aware of each child’s needs so that they deal
with them in a sensitive and appropriate manner.
How accessible is the school environment?
11. The school is fully compliant with the Equality Act and reasonable adjustments
are made for all children with SEND where necessary. Brookmans Park is a
single storey building and has a disabled entrance. Our school has disabled
changing and toilet facilities. Specialised equipment is provided where
appropriate for children with SEND needs and advice is sought from the
appropriate medical/health professionals to ensure all children’s health and
physical needs are catered for within the school environment.
Who can I contact for further information?
12. The school has a SENCo who can be contacted by email and is available to meet
with parents if you have any concerns about your child. You may feel it is more
appropriate to speak to your child’s teacher with any initial queries. If you wish
to make a complaint the school has a complaints procedure which is available
from the school office.
How will the school prepare and support my child to join the school, transfer to a
new school or the next stage of education and life?
13. Transition meetings take place for all children throughout their time at
Brookmans Park. For children with SEND there are additional meetings with
the SENCo in order for good, existing practice to continue smoothly. Children
with SEND, depending on their level of need, are planned for individually in
order to begin their secondary education as smoothly as possible. This may
involve meetings with secondary school staff, additional visits to the school
planned, a transition booklet completed with a teaching assistant at Brookmans
Park. If you have any concerns that your child is worried about in terms of
induction or moving on please contact the class teacher. By 2017 all children
currently statemented at Brookmans Park will each have an Education Health
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Plan. These plans enable smoother transitions to secondary education and
indeed into early adulthood.
How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special
education needs?
14. The school has an amount identified within its overall budget called the notional
SEN budget. This is used for resources to support the progress of children
with SEND. This is used to employ teaching assistants to meet the needs of
children with SEND, buy specialist equipment, books or stationary or provide
specialised training for staff. Where a child requires provision which exceeds
the nationally prescribed threshold additional, top-up funding can be applied for
through the local authority (Exceptional Needs Funding).
How is the decision made about how much support my child will receive?
15. The amount and type of support offered to a child is determined by a detailed
analysis of a child’s needs, barriers to learning, stage of development, parental
views, their own views and consultation with class teacher. This support is
reviewed regularly with amendments being made to the programme of support.
Interventions typically last between 1 and 2 terms with the emphasis being on
targeted effective support to minimise any long term need for additional
support.
How can I find information about the local authority’s Local Offer of services and
provision for children and young people with special educational needs and
disability?
16. The authority’s local offer of services and provision for children and young
people with SEND can be accessed at www.hertsdirect.org/localoffer
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