Special Educational Needs Policy
Contents:
At St. Peter’s CE Primary we take safeguarding very seriously and all of our policies are developed with a high priority on children’s safety and in the light of our safeguarding policy. All of our school policies are interlinked and should be read and informed by all other policies. In particular, the SEND policy is linked to behaviour, anti-bullying, medical and curriculum policies.
Aims
At St. Peter’s C.E. Primary School we support and value the abilities of all our pupils. It is our duty to provide equal opportunities for every person in our care and a safe and fully equipped learning environment which caters to the needs of every child as an individual. We are committed to inclusion within the school curriculum and participation in all aspects of school life.
St.Peter’s C.E. Primary School adopts a 'whole school approach' to special educational needs. All staff make reasonable adjustments to enable all children to have full access to all elements of the school curriculum. The school is committed to ensuring that pupils with special educational needs can fulfil their potential and achieve optimal educational outcomes.
Objectives
The objectives of our SEN policy and practice in this school are:
Responsibility for the Co-ordination of SEN Provision
St. Peter’s CE Primary School has a named SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) and a named Governor responsible for SEN. They ensure that the School’s Special Educational Needs policy works within the guidelines and inclusion policies of the Code of Practice (2014), the Local Education Authority and other policies current within the school.
The named responsible person on the Governing Body is Mrs Caroline Swain. The SENCo is Mr Andy Wilson. The SENCo is also a member of the school leadership team.
The SENCo has day-to-day responsibility for the operation of SEN policy and coordination of specific provision made to support individual pupils with SEN, including those who have EHC plans.
The SENCo provides professional guidance to colleagues and works closely with staff, parents and carers, and other agencies. The SENCo is aware of the provision in the Local Offer and is able to work with professionals providing a support role to the family to ensure that pupils with SEN receive appropriate support and high quality teaching.
The key responsibilities of the SENCo are:
In addition to the SENCo, there is a specialist team of people who support the work of the SENCo. Their roles and responsibilities are;
Name: Responsibility:
Mrs C. Parker ASD Lead Practitioner (ASD level 3)
Miss K. Smith Speech & Language Lead Practitioner (Elklan Level 3)
Role of the Governing Body.
The governing body challenges the school and its members to secure necessary provision for any pupil identified as having special educational needs. They ask probing questions to ensure all teachers are aware of the importance of providing for these children and ensure that funds and resources are used effectively.
The governing body has decided that children with special educational needs will be admitted to the school in line with the school’s agreed admissions policy. The Governing Body reviews this policy annually and considers any amendments in light of the annual review findings. The Head teacher reports the outcome of the review to the full governing body.
What are Special Educational Needs?
Definition of special educational needs
The 2014 Code of Practice says:
A person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. At compulsory school age this means he or she has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others the same age, or, has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools.
SEN CoP 2014 0-25yrs
At St. Peter’s CE Primary School it is the belief that all children have an equal right to a full and rounded education which will enable them to achieve their full potential. We identify the needs of pupils by considering the needs of the whole child which will include not just the special educational needs of the child or young person but also areas such as:
We use our best endeavours to secure special educational provision for pupils for whom this is required, that is ‘additional to and different from’ that provided within the differentiated curriculum to better respond to the four areas of need identified in the new SEND Code of Practice:
This SEN policy details how we will do our best to ensure that the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has special educational needs and that those needs are known to all who are likely to work with them. We will ensure that teachers are able to identify and provide for those pupils with special educational needs, allowing them to join in all school activities together with pupils who do not have special educational needs.
Identification, Assessment and Provision
Definition of special educational provision
The 2014 Code of Practice says:
For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers. For a child under two years of age, special educational provision means educational provision of any kind.
SEN CoP 2014 0-25yrs
Provision for children with special educational needs is a matter for the whole school.
The governing body, the school’s head teacher, the SENCO and all other members of staff, particularly class teachers and teaching assistants, have important day–to–day responsibilities. All teachers are teachers of children with special educational needs.
St. Peter’s CE Primary School will assess each child’s current attainment on entry in order to ensure that they build on the patterns of learning and experience already established during the child’s pre-school years. If the child already has an identified special educational need, this information may be transferred from other partners in their Early Years setting and the class teacher and SENCO will use this information to:
The identification and assessment of the special educational needs of children whose first language is not English requires particular care. Where there is uncertainty about a particular child, a teacher will look carefully at all aspects of the child’s performance in different subjects to establish whether the problems are due to limitations in their command of English or arises from special educational needs.
Monitoring Children’s Progress
The school’s system for observing and assessing the progress of individual children will provide information about areas where a child is not progressing satisfactorily. Under these circumstances, teachers may need to consult the SENCO to consider what else might be done. This might lead to the conclusion that the pupil requires help over and above that which is normally available within the particular class or subject. The key test of the need for action is that current rates of progress are inadequate.
Adequate progress can be identified as that which:
At St. Peter’s, In order to help children with special educational needs, we carry out a graduated response. We first, assess needs, we then plan for this. We put provision in place and we then review it to see if it is successful (Assess, Plan, Do and Review) This may see us using specialist expertise if as a school we feel that our interventions are still not having an impact on the individual. The school will record the steps taken to meet the needs of individual children through the use of an I.P (Individual Plan) and provision map and the SENCo will have responsibility for ensuring that records are kept and available when needed. If we refer a child for an Education Health and Care Plan, we will provide the LA with a record of our work with the child to date.
When any concern is initially noticed it is the responsibility of the class teacher to take steps to address the issue. Additional Support will be put in place and monitored for a period of up to 6 - 12 weeks. This support is recorded on the school’s Provision Map and discussed with parents at parents evening meetings. If no progress is noted after this time the child may be added to the school SEN register and will receive Enhanced Support. The class teacher after discussion with the SENCo will then provide interventions/support that are additional to those provided as part of the school’s differentiated curriculum and the child will be given individual learning targets which will be recorded on an Individual Plan (I.P). These targets will be monitored by the class teacher and teaching assistants within the class and reviewed formally with the SENCo, parents and child.
Reasons for a child being added to the SEN database may include the fact that he/she:
Partnership with Parents
Partnership plays a key role in enabling children and young people with SEN to achieve their potential. Parents hold key information and have knowledge and experience to contribute to the shared view of a child’s needs. All parents of children with special educational needs will be treated as partners given support to play an active and valued role in their child’s education.
Children and young people with special educational needs often have a unique knowledge of their own needs and their views about what sort of help they would like. They will be encouraged to contribute to the assessment of their needs, the review and transition process.
The school website contains links to our policy for special educational needs, the
Special Educational Needs Information Report including the arrangements made for children in our school with special educational needs.
At all stages of the special needs process, the school keeps parents fully informed and involved. We take account of the wishes, feelings and knowledge of parents at all stages. We encourage parents to make an active contribution to their child’s education and have regular meetings each term to share the progress of special needs children with their parents. We inform the parents of any outside intervention, and share the process of decision-making by providing clear information relating to the education of their child.
Parents always have access to the SENCo and parents and children have access to the school website which has a section dedicated to Special Educational Needs.
The Nature of Intervention and Support
The SENCo and the child’s class teacher will decide on the action needed to help the child progress in the light of earlier assessments/observations. This may include:
After initial discussions with the SENCo, the child’s class teacher will be responsible for working with the child on a daily basis and ensuring delivery of any individualised programme in the classroom. Parents will continue to be consulted and kept informed of the action taken to help their child, and of the outcome of any action. Parents will be invited to meet regularly with the class teacher and SENCo and they will have specific time slots to discuss individual targets and progress with the SENCo on termly basis.
Links to Support Services and Outside Agencies
Sharing knowledge and information with support services is key to the effective and successful SEN provision within our school. The following services provide valuable expertise, advice and support to our school:
These services may become involved if a child continues to make little or no progress despite considerable input and adaptations. They will use the child’s records in order to establish which strategies have already been employed and which targets have previously been set.
The external specialist may act in an advisory capacity, or provide additional specialist assessment or be involved in teaching the child directly. The child’s Individual targets will set out strategies for supporting the child’s progress. These will be implemented, at least in part, in the normal classroom setting. The delivery of the interventions recorded in the pupil’s Individual Plan (or other target system) continues to be the responsibility of the class teacher.
Outside agencies may become involved if the child:
Monitoring and Evaluation
The SENCo monitors the movement of children within the SEN system in school and provides staff and governors with regular summaries of the impact of the policy on the practice of the school. The SENCo is also involved in supporting teachers and in drawing up Individual Plans for children. The SENCO and the head teacher hold regular meetings to review the work of the school in this area. In addition the SENCO and the named governor with responsibility for special needs also hold regular meetings
School Request for an Education Health and Care Plan
A request will be made by the school to the LA if the child has demonstrated significant cause for concern. The LA will be given information about the child’s progress over time, and will also receive documentation in relation to the child’s special educational needs and any other action taken to deal with those needs, including any resources or special arrangements put in place.
The evidence will include:
An Education, Health and Care plan is for children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities and where an assessment of education, health and social care needs has been agreed by a multi-agency group of professionals. It is available from birth to age 25.
Pupils with an EHC Plan
Once a pupil has an EHC plan, the school will ensure that those teaching or working with the child or young person are aware of their needs and have arrangements in place to meet them. The school will ensure that teachers monitor and review the pupil’s progress during the course of a year. Formal reviews of the EHC plan will take place at least annually. If a pupil’s SEN change, the local authority will be informed and will arrange to hold a review as soon as possible to ensure that provision specified in the EHC plan is appropriate.
In Service Training (CPD)
We aim to keep all school staff up to date with relevant training and developments in teaching practice in relation to the needs of pupils with SEN.
The SENCo attends relevant SEN courses and facilitates/signposts relevant SEN focused external training opportunities for all staff.
We recognise the need to train all our staff on SEN issues. The SENCo, with the senior leadership team, ensures that training opportunities are matched to school development priorities.
Links with Other Schools
The SENCo attends regular network meetings to share advice, updates on future initiatives, training and development activities and expertise. Liaison is made between secondary schools to which children with special educational needs will be attending in the new school year of September, during the summer term.
Complaints Procedure
If a parent or carer has any concerns or complaints regarding the care or welfare of their child, an appointment can be made by them to speak to the SENCO, who will be able to advise on formal procedures for complaint.
For further information please refer to the Complaints Policy.
This policy will be reviewed and updated annually. The SENCO will also report annually to the Governing Body concerning the effectiveness of the policy.