SEND
Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for taking the time to read this. It has been written to help you understand how we support children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
We hope it is easy to understand. This will inform you of the basic principles of our SEND Policy and SEND Information Report. You can ask for either of these documents in paper form or you can find them in our SEND documents below.
We hope this sets out the SEND process and explains some of the terms used. It tells you the names of some of the people who may be involved in helping your child if they require additional support at any point during their time with us at St Lawrence.
If you have any questions about SEND and your child, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Please contact us through the school office via email (office@stlawrenceprimaryschool.co.uk) or via phone (01926 812447) to arrange a meeting in school.
We are here to help you and your child.
Emma Shepherd
SENDCo
Special Educational Needs and Disability
What does it mean?
All children are individuals who learn at different rates. Some children find learning easy and some find it hard, but with the right support and help they will learn at their own pace.
How do we support learners?
The class teacher plans lessons to meet all the needs and differing abilities of the children. Different approaches in learning will help most children, but some may need more support.
Some children may need special provision to be made for them so that they can increase their access to the curriculum.
The children who need more support may have special educational needs.
Areas of need
There are four main areas of need:
- Communication and Interaction
- Cognition and learning
- Social, emotional and mental health
- Sensory and/or physical needs
Some children may have needs in more than one of these areas.
If a need is identified, we may ask your permission to put your child’s name on the Special Educational Needs Register (SEND Register). The SEND Register lists children in the school who need extra support in addition to normal class differentiation. Some children may only be on the register for a short time, while some may be on it for a long time due to their complex needs.
The support can be short or long term and can take a variety of different forms.
We may also ask our SENCo Advisory Teacher to work with you child to give support or advice or an outside specialist with your permission.
Identifying Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
The process of identifying and helping to support additional needs that your child may have is set out below. This follows four distinct and important phases - they are; assess, plan, do, review. These are followed on a continuous cycle to help your child to progress with clear targets, appropriate adaptations, monitoring and evaluation.
Assess
As a parent or carer, you know your child best. If you express a concern about your child’s development, we will listen and respond to your concerns. We also listen and address any concerns raised by your child.
Early Years Foundation Stage: (Little Lawrences and Reception)
All staff make on-going assessments of children’s progress using the Early Years Outcome Guidance. Pupils are formally assessed when they start school using a baseline assessment and at the Foundation Stage, using the EYFS profile.
If a child’s progress is causing concern, staff will explain these concerns to you and ask for your opinion. Where possible, the child’s opinion will also be asked for. More assessments may be carried out and, if you agree, we may ask for specialist advice from our advisory teacher or an outside agency.
Key Stages 1 and 2:
Year 1 pupils undertake a phonics screening check. This may indicate or confirm pupils who need extra support to learn to read words. Pupils are formally assessed at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) and Key Stage 2 (Year 6) by Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs). In addition, pupils are assessed regularly throughout the year by their teacher. The information gathered shows which pupils are not making the expected progress given their age and individual circumstances. Teachers will make reasonable adjustments and deliver high quality teaching targeted at the identified areas in the first instance.
If progress is not made, the teacher and the SENDCo will gather information, including the views of parents/ carers and pupils, to identify whether there is a Special Educational Need.
Plan
If your child is identified as needing SEN Support, the teacher will inform you and work in partnership to establish the support your child needs. A Learning Action Plan will be written explaining this support and the impact this support should have on your child’s progress, development or behaviour. Where possible, the profile will take account of your child’s views. The profile will be reviewed each term.
Do
Parents/ carers and staff carry out the agreed actions and strategies on the Learning Action Plan which might include language skills, math’s targets or developing social skills for example.
Review
At the agreed review date, the teacher and parents will look at the Learning Action Plan to see which targets have been met and discuss which strategies were successful. Next steps will be planned and the profile updated.
If expected progress is not made after three terms, other agencies have been involved and your child has been seen by the Educational Psychologist, the parents and staff can decide whether your child meets the criteria of complex needs and a request can be made for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment from the local authority. The local authority will look at the information from the child, parents, teachers and other professionals and will decide whether to carry out an assessment. This assessment may lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Who may work with your child?
Teaching Assistants (TAs) may work with your child on their own or in a small group delivering evidence-based interventions under the guidance of the class teacher or SENCo.
SENCo Advisory Teacher from SEN Supported, who supports the school with SEND interventions, observations, assessments of pupils with parental agreement. A report will be generated by the advisory teacher.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (RISE CAMHS) if your child is experiencing emotional or behavioural difficulties, mental health, or needs a referral to the Neuro-developmental Team, they may be referred to RISE/CAMHs for assessment.
Educational Psychologist (EP) may observe or assess your child, talk to you and your child’s teacher, and give advice on methods, next steps and resources.
Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) If a child has a communication difficulty, they will be referred to SALT for assessment after initial screening and intervention in school.
Occupational Therapy (OT) If you child has difficulty relating to fine or gross movement, or sensory needs, they may be referred to OT for assessment following initial checks and intervention in school.
Integrated Disability Service (IDS) A child with a physical disability, hearing or visual impairment, autism or a severe and complex learning need may be supported by IDS.
How can you help?
Your role is vital in helping your child succeed!
You can help by spending time with your child and making them feel good:
- Show an interest in your child’s hobbies
- Talk to your child and give lots of praise
- Hear your child read
- Support your child with their homework and Learning Action Plan targets.
You can help by working with the class teacher:
- Talk to the teacher about any concerns
- Share information about your child
- Attend meetings to check progress and plan the next steps in your child’s learning.
A shared approach will result in the best progress for your child.
Warwickshire Inclusion Charter