Whinney Lane, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF7 6DJ
01977 798616

SEND

 

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS and DISABILITIES

 

At Streethouse Primary School every child matters. We maintain every child’s right to education and recognise the diverse educational needs within our community. We believe it is our duty to offer that provision where we can, to foster inclusion and provide full educational access.

We try to ensure that all barriers to equal access in our school are removed or overcome. We monitor and track progress of all children so that the support provided is as effective as possible. We welcome the full engagement of parents and carers and where necessary seek support and advice from specialists outside school to ensure we develop and maintain a range of flexible resources to meet the needs of all our children.

The local authority and other services must set out a Local Offer of all services available to support children who are disabled or who have special educational needs and their families. The local offer will enable families to understand what services they can access and what support they can expect from a range of local agencies, including from the local authority, health services, schools, leisure services and the voluntary sector. The offer will include provision from birth to 25, across education, health and social care. The Families Information Service is the lead organisation providing the Local Offer for Wakefield, their website can be found at http://wakefield.mylocaloffer.org/Home. This statement forms Streethouse Primary School SEND information and report in terms of what we can offer children with SEND in or via the school. This includes how we can provide access to other organisations, but more specifically what support the school will offer directly to pupils and parents.

 

Who are the best people to talk to at Streethouse Primary School about my child’s difficulties with learning/ Special Educational Needs or Disabilities?

Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) – Mrs H Rose Responsible for:

  • Overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEND policy.
  • Co-ordinating provision for children with SEND.
  • Advising on providing SEND support.
  • Advising on the deployment of the school’s delegated budget and other resources to meet pupils’ needs effectively.
  • Liaising with teachers and parents of pupils with SEND.
  • Liaising with other schools, educational psychologists, health and social care professionals, and independent or voluntary bodies.
  • Being a key point of contact with external agencies, especially the local authority and its support services.
  • Liaising with potential next providers of education to ensure a pupil and their parents are informed about options and a smooth transition is planned.
  • Working with the Headteacher and the School’s governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements.
  • Ensuring that the school keeps the records of all pupils with SEND up to date.

 

Class Teachers

Responsible for:

  • Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (for example, targeted work, additional support) and informing the SENDCO as necessary.
  • Writing Individual Education Plans (IEP), and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next term.
  • Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are helped to deliver the planned work/programme for your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources.
  • Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

 

Headteacher – Mrs N Wright Responsible for:

  • The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.
  • She will give responsibility to the SENDCO and class teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
  • She must make sure that the Local Authority is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

 

SEND Governor – Miss D Morris

  • Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND.

 

Who are some of the other people providing services to children with SEND in this school?

Directly funded by the school:

  • A least one Classroom Assistant in each class.
  • Additional Learning Support Assistants providing targeted support for children with SEND.

 

What are the different types of support available for children with SEND at Streethouse?

Class teacher input via excellent targeted classroom teaching also known as Quality First Teaching.

For your child this would mean:

  • That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
  • That all teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
  • Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning.
  • Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENDCO or outside staff) are in place to support your child to learn.
  • Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

All children in school should be getting this as a part of excellent classroom practice.

 

If your child is identified by their class teacher or the SENCO (or you may have raised your concerns) as needing some extra support they may suggest that your child receive some agreed group or individual support in school. This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching. This could be in the form of:

Specific group work within a smaller group of children. These Intervention groups, may be:

  • Run in the classroom or in an alternate, more suitable room.
  • Run by a teacher or a Learning Support Assistant who has had training to run these groups.
  • Group support in the classroom run by a trained Learning Support Assistant.
  • Individual adult support in the classroom to help your child to access the curriculum alongside their peers.
  • A targeted programme delivered to your child in a 1:1 or small group situation outside the classroom by a Learning Support Assistant.

 

If your child is identified by the class teacher or SENCO as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school they could receive the following:

  • Specialist group or 1:1 support, run by an outside agency.
  • Local Authority services such as the Communication Interaction Team and Special Education Needs Support Service (WISENDSS).
  • Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy Service.
  • An individual programme of support from the Educational Psychology Service.

 

For your child this would mean:

  • You will be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologist or Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs). This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better in school.
  • The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:
  • Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better.
  • Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise.
  • A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group.  Specified Individual support
  • The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
  • If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with the support currently being provided.  
  • At Streethouse children are continually assessed, teachers observe the children in their class in different situations, and they talk and listen to them and assess their written work.
  • A parent might have shared their own concerns with their child’s class teacher or the SENDCO.
  • For particular children more in depth assessments may be required. Some of these can be carried out by our SENDCO and sometimes we ask external agencies to carry these out.
  •  Talk to your child’s teacher or the SENDCO.  
  • Class teachers and TAs know the profile of their class and individual needs and learning activities are planned to match children’s learning needs.
  • Each class has a teacher and a teaching assistant.
  • All staff have access to training, advice and resources to enable them to contribute to developing fully inclusive practice.

 

How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

  • Their progress is reviewed every half term and discussed formally with the Headteacher every term.
  • The progress of children with a Statement of SEND or an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education and a Local Authority representative.  
  • At Streethouse we firmly believe that children’s learning is helped through parents, friends and the school working together to ensure that each child receives the encouragement and support needed to develop his/her potential.
  • We listen to what parents and carers tell us about their children and use that information to make sure everyone who works with a child understands their needs. 
  • If your child is identified as not making the appropriate progress school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail, to listen to any concerns you may have and plan any additional support your child may receive.
  • Our open door policy encourages partnership working with parents and carers. 

 

How does Streethouse Primary work in partnership with parents?

  • The SENDCO monitors the progress of all children with SEND and checks that the support and interventions they are receiving are proving effective.
  • Children on the SEND Register have a Supporting Me to Learn Plan (SMTLP) which is reviewed in partnership with parents, every term and the plan for the next term made.
  • Your child’s progress is continually monitored by their class teacher.
  •  Classes are well resourced and for children with additional needs, we will do our utmost to organise specialised equipment.
  • The environment is stimulating and supportive. Learning Walls and interactive displays provide prompts and reminders to encourage children to learn and achieve independently. 

 

How will we support your child to access the curriculum? 

  • Your concerns will always be taken seriously, as your views are very important to us. 

 

What should you do if you think your child has Special Educational Needs?

  • Whatever the difficulty, more can be done for children if help is sought earlier rather than later in their school careers.
  • Initial identification may also be made as a result of information or expressions of concern from other professionals e.g. a social worker.
  • If a class teacher has a concern about a child’s lack of progress or low attainment then they will speak to the SENDCO and inform parents at the first opportunity to alert them to concerns and enlist their active help and participation. 

 

How does the School know if my child has Special Educational Needs?

  • After the reports have all been sent in, the Local Authority will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex or lifelong and that they may require specialist help or more support in school to make good progress. If this is the case they will write an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The EHCP will outline your child’s needs, the provision they require and the outcomes sought for your child.
  • After the school have sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment.
  • This is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).This means that despite the school taking relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the Special Educational Needs of your child they have not made expected progress and need a particularly high level of individual support which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school.   
  • The school keeps parents of children with SEND fully informed and involved by: o ensuring that parents with children on the SEND Register are aware of this and that they know what this means. 
  • Ensure that parents are aware of the support that is available for their children.
  • Give parents opportunities to identify their experiences with their child at home.
  • Provide information on SEND procedures and processes.
  • Provide opportunities for parents to feed into the target setting process at IEP meetings.
  • Ensure that the review process seeks and takes account of the parent and pupils views.
  • We will seek parental consent for external provision (as required) from outside agencies.
  • Ensure that parents are clear on whether their child is making progress.  

 

How is Streethouse Primary School accessible to children with SEND?

  • We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
  • Extra-curricular activities are accessible for children with SEND.  
  • The SENDCO’s job is to support the class teacher and learning support assistants in planning for children with SEND.
  • Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class.

 

How will your child be supported when they are leaving the school or moving to a new class?

If your child is moving to another school: 

  • We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.  
  • Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance and a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher and all relevant staff.
  • If your child would be helped by a book to support them understand moving on then it will be made for them.
  • Your child will have several visits to their new classroom and meetings with their new teacher and teaching assistant.   
  • When moving classes in this school:
  • Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and staff from the new school will be invited to visit your child in this school.
  • We will contact the school’s SENDCO and ensure they know about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.
  • We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible. 
  • The school has a training plan for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those with SEND  

 

How are the teachers in Streethouse School helped to work with children with SEND and what training do they have?

  • We will make reasonable adjustments to meet the need of any child with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities joining our school.
  • After school provision is accessible to all children including those with SEND.
  • Our building is wheelchair accessible; all of the learning spaces are on one level, the school has widened doorways and a disabled toilet. 

 

What should I do if I am concerned about my child progress or I have a complaint?

If you are unhappy with any aspect of your child’s care at Streethouse Primary, you should discuss these concerns with the School. This will be with your child’s class teacher in the first instance, with whom any issues should be managed. If this does not resolve the problem or alleviate your concern, you should take the problem to the SENDCo (Mrs Rose) or the Headteacher (Mrs Wright).

 

Useful Links:

 

 

Please see our policies page for all SEND related policies

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