SEND Information

High Meadow Community School SEND Information Report

Changes in the Children and Families Bill affect the way children with special educational needs (SEN) are supported in schools. The new approach begins in September 2014 and places pupils at the centre of planning. The key principles of the new legislation are:

1. Young people and their families should be involved in discussions about the support they need, so they can share their knowledge and feed back to the school on the young person’s progress.
2. Education, health and care plans (EHCP) will replace statements of special educational needs. New assessments for additional educational needs will follow the EHCP guidelines from September 2014. (Existing statements will remain in force until all children and young people have completed the transition, which will be within three years).
3. School Action and School Action Plus will cease and be replaced by a single school-based category for children who need extra specialist support. This will be known as additional needs.

High Meadow Community School is well placed to adopt these changes and looks forward to working with pupils and parents/carers to ensure fully inclusive access to our education. At High Meadow we strive to support all children to enable them to achieve at school. In order to do this, many steps are taken to support them through their learning journey. Quality teaching is vital; however,for some children there are occasions when further additional support may be needed to help them achieve their targets.

What is SEND?

SEND is Special Educational Needs or Disability. A child may have a physical barrier to learning, such as visual impairment, or a diagnosed condition, such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder, which requires additional or different support. However,many children with a special educational need just require additional or different support from the main provision already given in the classroom. For example, having tried a range of approaches in the classroom, a child may still have difficulty within an area of education. They may besignificantly behind the expectations of their year group or struggling to maintain learning at an acceptable level due to behavioural issues and the school is only able to help them progress through extra support.

If my child has SEND who will be involved?

CLASS TEACHER

Before any SEND are identified your child’sclass teacher will first make sure your child’s learning is suited to them and will adapt the type of task, the way learning is approached, or the way they help motivate your child before seeing the SENDCO (see below) about the need for anything additional or different. Once SEND has been identified, they will ask you to work alongside them in the setting of targets for an Individual Educational Plan (IEP). They will use any strategies, equipment or approaches identified as helpful to your child’s progressand liaise with Teaching Assistants about the progress of your child in class and with any intervention work they are doing with them. Your child’s views will also be sought within this process.

SENDCO and SENDCO assistant

The Special Educational Needs& Disability Coordinator (SENDCO) will help the class teacher in identifying children with SEND and consider what else can be tried within the classroom. Once children are identified, they then liaise with school staff and help with setting appropriate targets and choosing suitable interventions to help your child make progress. They may assess your child to help them do this and seek their view. They also coordinate the intervention from outside agencies such as Educational Psychology or a Child’s Therapist such as a Speech and Language Therapist. The SENDCO will contact you regarding outside agency involvement and may contact you regarding the outcome of assessments, or your child’s needs or progress.

TEACHING ASSISTANT

The Teaching Assistants support your child’s learning in class, either by directly working with them, or by working with others in the class to allow the class teacher to work directly with your child. They also take children for small group or one to one intervention work, designed to help your child make greater progress.

HEADTEACHER

The Headteacher is responsible for leadership and management for all aspects of the school.

High Meadow Community School Local Offer

High Meadow is a mainstream primary school, catering for children from nursery to Year 4. We provide schooling for any pupil for whom main stream education is suitable. We are an inclusive school and provide equal opportunities for all. We celebrate the uniqueness of each individual and all children are encouraged to learn independently and co-operatively.

How does the school know if children need extra help?

Class Teachers continually monitor your child’s progress within lessons and from their marking. If your child is not making progress within lessons, their class teacher will have adapted the provision made for them. This is part of normal classroom practice. If this provision has not helped your child make adequate progress then they will be discussed with the SENDCO as to whether they have a special educational need which requires further intervention or outside agency assessment.
The SENDCO and senior management team also review progress on school tracking data termly, when every child’s progress is formally reviewed in reading, writing, numeracy and science. This helps keep track of your child’s progress. If your child is having emotional or behavioural difficulties, the frequency and nature of these may be tracked over some time to try and identify patterns and triggers behind them.

How will I know if my child may have Special Educational Needs?

If you have concerns that your child has Special Educational Needs or a Disability you should initially talk to their class teacher. The concerns may need referring to the SENDCO if your child is still not making progress. Our SENDCO is of course happy to discuss any matter relating to SEND with you.

How do the school let me know if my child has SEND and how will I know how to support my child’s learning?

If your child has been identified with a Special Educational Need or Disability and is receiving a one to one intervention, the Class teacher and SENDCO will track their learning to see if they are closing the gap between their present attainment and the majority of their peers. Where the concern is behavioural or anxiety based, we would want to see evidence that the frequency of difficulty is lessening and the child is becoming more confident and/or relaxed and able to learn.
If your child has been identified as having a Special Educational Need or Disability they will have a learning path (IEP), which will outline measurable targets being worked towards, how everyone will know when the targets have been met and what provision is being undertaken to meet them. The learning path also has a section for how you and your child can help. Ideally these targets will be discussed and reviewed in person with you. If you are unable to meet with the teacher, copies of the reviewed and newly set targets will be sent to you. In addition to specific meetings set up between you and the class teacher and/or SENCO, your child’s class teacher is available to discuss your child’s progress and to share information about what is working well at home and school so that similar strategies can be used.

How will school staff support my child?

In the first instance your child’s class teacher gives excellent targeted classroom teaching.

Your child’s class teacher will:

• have high expectations for your child and all pupils in their class;
• base their teaching on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand;
• adapt their teaching so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning;
• have carefully checked on your child’s progress and decided if your child has gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress;
• write your child’s Individual Educational Plan (IEP) and share and review these at least once a term with parents.
• have specific strategies in place to support your child to learn.
• use additional or different strategies for motivation and management of your child’s behaviour (if appropriate).

Your child’s SENDCO will:

• ensure your child receives a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school;
• liaise with other people who may come into school to support your child’s learning, such as an Educational Psychologist or Therapist such as a Speech and Language Therapist;
• ensure that you are involved in your child’s learning, kept informed about the support being received and involved in reviewing their progress;
• recommend interventions to match your child’s needs and the subsequent targets;
• make sure there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs;
• provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in the school achieve the best progress possible.

Teaching Assistants in school will:

• support other children’s learning in the class allowing your child’s class teacher to focus on them;
• support your child’s learning by means such as further questioning, modelling the learning and use of practical equipment to aid understanding.
• inform the class teacher (and SENDCO) of your child’s progress and further areas requiring support. run specific group work which is overseen by the class teacher or SENDCO;
• provide one to one intervention work.

Your child’s Headteacher is responsible for the leadership and management of all aspects of school, which includes the support for children with SEND. Whilst giving responsibility to the SENDCO and class teacher, the Headteacher is still responsible for ensuring your child’s needs are met. Part of this is keeping the Governing Body up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.
Your child’s SEND Governor is responsible for making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND. Where a child also has emotional or behavioural difficulties, the wider school staff may be informed of strategies and approaches to use with your child, should they encounter them experiencing difficulty. This is so everyone has a consistent approach.

How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?

The class teacher ensures all children have access to good to outstanding teaching and that the curriculum is adapted to meet your child’s needs. After checking on the progress of your child, resources may be adapted and particular aspects of work be targeted. Nearly all children with special educational needs will follow the main curriculum.
In numeracy and literacy, sometimes a child has an aspect of knowledge and understanding that is very significantly behind where the expectation is for their age. Other children have gaps in their understanding which are a barrier to their progress with the rest of their class. Where this is the case these children may have concentrated learning to address these specific needs for as long as is necessary.

How is the decision made about the type and how much support my child will receive?

If your child continues to make inadequate progress, despite high-quality teaching targeted at their areas of weakness, the class teacher, working with the SENDCO, will assess whether the child has a significant learning difficulty. Where this is the case, in consultation with you, the agreement about the SEND support that is required to support the child will take place. If your child has been given an Educational and Health Care Plan (previously known as a statement.) expectations of the nature of support and how much support they receive will be stated within it and reviewed annually with school staff, parents, the child and any relevant outside agencies.
From September 2014 SEND was placed under a single category. The types of SEND that your child may be registered as having difficulty with from September will be:
1. Communication and interaction
2. Cognition and learning
3. Social, mental and emotional health
4. Sensory and/or physical
Please note that some children’s needs are temporary in nature.

How is my child consulted on their provision and progress?

Your child’s voice about their needs and provision is important, by asking for their input into their learning path, (IEP.)
Where the learning path targets are not developed with the child they will be shared and explained.
Presently a few children have statements, which summarise a child’s needs and outline the provision the school and Local Authority are expected to provide. If a child with a Statement has an annual review (or we are trying to obtain a statement) your child will be asked to answer questions, rate how they feel about aspects of school on scales (1-5) and have the opportunity to take photographs and write captions for these to show how they are getting on at school. Statements were replaced with Educational Health and Care Plans from September 2014.
With your permission, outside professionals like an Educational Psychologist may also spend time gaining your child’s perspective on their learning and school life.

What support will there be for my child’s overall wellbeing?

The emotional and social development of all children is as important to High Meadow as academic progress. Unless children are happy, learning does not take place as well as it could. Class Teachers communicate to parents and carers by phoning home and are ready to meet you to discuss children’s needs. We have an open-door policy. Our school has a good history of helping children who are struggling with emotional difficulties settle in school and a significant part of this success is working closely with home.

How are parents involved in the school? How can I get involved?

If your child has been identified as having a special educational need or disability you will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward. In our experience, the closer home and school work together, the better the outcomes are for your child.
If we consider we need to refer your child to a specialist professional, such as an Educational Psychologist, you will be asked to give your permission. All information from professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.
Individual Education Plans will be reviewed with your involvement each term.
Where it has been agreed as being useful for you and your child, a home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you.
If you are able to give any of your time to help in school, class teachers will be pleased to match your time and abilities to children’s needs. Other ways to become involved in the school are to become a School Governor.

Who can I contact for further information?

If you have initial concerns about a child already attending our school, please contact their class teacher in the first instance.
You can contact our SENDCO Ms Kirkwood either by phoning the school number 01675 462312 or emailing; senco2569@welearn365.com
Our SEND Governor is Mrs Windridge who is responsible for making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school, can be contacted via the School Office.
If you have seen school staff and are not satisfied, please contact the Headteacher Mrs D Hughes on 01675 462312 or emailing; head2569@welearn365.com