St Mary's CE Primary School

Schools extended Local Offer response

Special Educational Needs policy

At St Mary’s our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy aims to:

• create an environment that meets the special educational needs of each child
• ensure that the special educational needs of children are identified, assessed and provided for
• enable all children to have full access to all elements of the school curriculum
• ensure that parents are able to play their part in supporting their child's education
• ensure that both our children and parents have a clear involvement in and knowledge and understanding of this process.
• identify the roles and responsibilities of staff in providing for children's special educational needs and make clear the expectations of all partners in the process.

For further information and access to school policies please check St Mary's CoFe School website.

 

Teaching and learning

All work within class is pitched at an appropriate level so that all children are able to access according to their specific needs. Typically this might mean that in a lesson there would be three different levels of work set for the class, however on occasions this can be individually differentiated. The benefit of this type of differentiation is that all children can access a lesson and learn at their level. Some children may require extra support in small groups, where support is provided on a 1:1 basis, typically these children have an EHCP in place to sate their required provision. We have both part time and full time support staff working in school who may be used to facilitate this.  

 

Other children may require specific equipment or resources to help them to access the curriculum. The school will endeavor to act upon any advice that is received from outside agencies such as Occupational Health, to ensure access to the curriculum.  

 

Marking and feedback (both written and verbal) is used across the school to create a positive dialogue between teacher and pupil, leading them forward to the next stage in their learning and enabling pupils to participate more fully in the process.

Parents of SEND children will be able to meet with class teachers every half term if required to discuss a child’s needs, support and progress (this could be as part of parent’s evening).

Identifying and assessing Special Educational Needs

Concerns about a child may be raised in a variety of ways including the following:

• liaison with the child’s previous setting (where appropriate)
• child performing below expected levels
• concerns raised by parent
• concerns raised by teacher
• liaison with external agencies.

If parent’s have concerns then they should talk to their child’s class teacher who will then discuss those concerns with the relevant professional in school.

An Alert Form will be completed to record the concerns and what will happen next. Concerns may be investigated in a variety of ways such as class observations, discussions with the pupil, parents and staff, tests and assessments. Any plans put in place form part of a graduated approach whereby pupils are assessed in the first instance with actions put in place that are reviewed after 6 to 8 weeks and altered or escalated as necessary. Plans may be put in place to support your child at Wave 1 and 2 and or 3. 

• Wave 1 means that class teachers will be advised to put strategies in place to help your child to make progress in class.
• Wave 2 means that a member of staff will work with a small group of children to work on specific areas of learning that will enable the children to catch up with their peers.
• Wave 3 means that outside agencies such as a Speech Therapist or Educational Psychologist will be asked to carry out further assessments and recommend what the school can do to help your child. In this case parents will be asked for their signature to give us permission to make the referral. Outside agencies may identify a specific condition and in some instances it may be decided that your child would be best supported by implementing an Education, Health and Care Plan. 

Looked after Children and others with very complex needs may also have a specific plan which will be supervised by either the Child Protection Officers in school working with our Family Support Worker and/or the Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator. The provision for these children will be closely monitored and evaluated. Whilst the school has high expectations for the progress and achievement of all, we also recognise that some children will also need to feel secure in order develop confidence and independence.

Involving parents and children/young people in planning and reviewing progress

We are a Rights Respecting School where we value and celebrate each child being able to express their views on all aspects of school life. We have a School Council which has an open forum for any issues or viewpoints to be raised, class circle times enable children to share their views and seek resolutions to any concerns and children are actively encouraged to share any concerns with an adult who will take the time to listen to them and to endeavour to resolve their concern. 

At St Mary’s we believe that education is a partnership between home and school. We encourage you to keep communication channels open, as we will do, especially if your child has complex needs. We are adaptable to using a variety of communication methods to accommodate working parents or parents who may not speak English. 

You are encouraged to make appointments to see your child’s class teacher to discuss progress and ways to support your child; this will give you quality time to have this discussion. We can offer advice and practical ways that you can help your child at home. 

If your child is on the SEND register both you and your child will be regularly involved in the planning and review process (please see the SEND Policy on the school website for further details). 

Parents will receive copies of all reports and plans for their child which may detail what they can do to help at home.  

If your child has complex needs he/she may have an Education, Health and Care Plan which means that many of the meetings held about your child will be more formal in approach. If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan their views will be sought in preparation for formal meetings. Some children they may also attend either all or some of such meetings.

Additional support

Children with SEND may have a Learning Support Assistant (LSA), Teaching Assistant (TA) or other support staff working with them, either individually or as part of a group if this is seen as necessary by the class teacher. The regularity of these sessions will be explained to parents when the support starts.

Some children may require short term help to enable them to catch up with their peers.  Children will be allocated an intervention and will be regularly assessed with support being changed if needed in response to outcomes. Children in need of highly structured individual work, known in school as Wave 3 support may have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities. For support in place for children with Social, Mental or Emotional Health, please see section 7 below.

Class teachers will implement any required strategies and oversee, plan and work with each child with special needs in their class to ensure that progress in every area is made. These will be regularly reviewed. The school's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) will meet with class teachers on a regular basis to ensure that your child’s needs are being appropriately met.

Extra activities

We endeavor to ensure that all children are included in all parts of the school curriculum and we aim for all children to be included on school trips. We will provide the necessary support to ensure that this is successful.   

At St Mary’s we have a range of clubs and other activities that are open to all (please check St Mary's School website for more details). Through our discussions with the parents of and children with SEND, we can identify those activities that will be of interest and organise appropriate access.   

A risk assessment is carried out prior to any off site activity to ensure everyone’s health & safety will not be compromised. In the unlikely event that it is considered unsafe for a child to take part in an activity, then alternative activities which will cover the same curriculum areas will be discussed. The school site is also wheelchair accessible with a portable ramp and disabled toilet large enough to accommodate changing.

Meeting social and emotional needs of children/young people

St Mary’s is a rights respecting and inclusive school; we welcome and celebrate diversity.

We have a caring, understanding team working with our children and our staff believe that children having high self-esteem is crucial to a child’s wellbeing.

We have a very positive approach to all types of behaviour with a clear reward system that is followed by all staff and pupils. After any behavioural incident we expect the child to reflect on their behaviour with an adult. This helps to identify why the incident happened and what the child needs to do differently next time to change and improve their behaviour. 

At St Mary’s we have members of staff providing Pastoral Support (ELSA) in and out of class by means of small group work and 1:1 mentoring support. We identify children that may be in need of social and emotional support through a variety of ways including :

• alert forms
• pupil progress meetings
• liaison with parents, class teachers and sometimes with outside agencies.

The school may then gather further information by means of assessments such as the completion of a strengths and difficulties questionnaire before any interventions are identified and planned for. Some of these children will have a pastoral/behaviour support plan which will involve both staff and parents discussing and agreeing what support is required to help the child involved. For details of the interventions that we carry out, please refer to St Mary's School website.  

Some children who are considered to have difficulties that require further individualised interventions may need extra support or assessments by outside agencies such as Health, Social Services, Behaviour Support Team (SEBDOS) and/or The Early Help Team. Referrals made to these agencies will require parental support. 

Children with very complex needs and the involvement of more than one agency as well as education, such as medical or social care, may also have an Early Help Plan (previously known as ECaf) which will be supervised by either the Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator or Child Protection Officers in school. 

The class teacher has overall responsibility for the pastoral, medical and social care of every child in their class, therefore this would be your first point of contact. If further support is required, the class teacher liaises with the SENDCo for further advice and support.   

Anti-bullying policy:

The governing body, head teacher and all staff view bullying as serious and harmful.

Children have the right to feel happy and secure at school and this is a crucial part of our ethos. As a result we teach children to care and respect each other, and learn about their rights and responsibilities and champion anti-bullying through class charters, whole school assemblies, PSHE, circle time and other curriculum routes.

We aim to be a ‘telling school’ where anyone who sees bullying or has it done to them tells an adult. Senior leaders champion the anti-bullying policy across the school and provide support, strategies and advice to any person who needs it.

Incidents of bullying at St Mary's are very small in number, however all incidents of bullying or alleged bullying or alleged bullying will be logged by class teachers and reported without delay to senior leaders (head teacher, deputy head, assistant head).

Class teachers will challenge any bullying behaviour according to this policy and the school's behaviour policy.

For further information check St Mary's School website. 

Keeping up to date with knowledge and skills

At St Mary’s our staff receive regular training and information about teaching and learning through planned programmes of in-service training days (INSET) and ongoing internal professional development sessions. 

As we are an inclusive school, this training will take into account the needs of all children, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. 

We have a qualified SENDCo with over 10 years experience and a Masters Degree in SEND as well as an Early Years SENDCo who also holds the NASENCO award. 

Our SEND Team of support staff also meet regularly for training and the sharing of good practice. Other support staff meet on a monthly basis and relevant issues and information can be aired during weekly briefings, through a dedicated noticeboard and via email to all staff. One of the Governors is responsible for SEND and meets regularly with the SENDCo as well as attending training where possible. This governor reports to the Governing Body to keep it informed of the school’s SEND provision.  

Formal lesson observations and learning walks carried out by senior staff help us to evaluate our provision for SEND. In addition to our whole school systems of tracking assessment data and provision through Pupil Progress Meetings with senior leaders, our SENDCo also carries out observations and is present at review meetings to ensure that children with SEN are supported appropriately. Any areas where there is further training needed can then be identified and met through individual support, staff meetings or other training methods.  

We may also request our Educational Psychologist, Speech Therapist or other professional to undertake some work to support staff in making good provision for SEND children, for example services such as SEBDOS have undertaken small group and whole staff training for staff dealing with children with behavioural needs.

Transitions

• At St Mary’s we encourage all new children to visit the school prior to starting. For children with SEND we would encourage further visits to meet their new teacher and to assist with the acclimatisation of the new surroundings. We would also endeavour to visit them in their current school if possible and to attend any review meetings held before transfer.
• We liaise closely with staff when receiving and transferring children to different schools ensuring all relevant paperwork is passed on and all needs are discussed and understood.
• When children are preparing to leave us for a new school, typically to go to Secondary education, we arrange additional visits to the receiving school and encourage staff from the new school to come to St Mary’s to meet their new pupil and to talk to staff here about their needs. We can refer those children we feel will may find this transition potentially difficult to SEBDOS to provide a transition support worker.
• If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan then the transition review meeting will identify any additional transition work which needs to take place.
• For those children who we feel will find transition potentially difficult we can make up transition books which use photos and social stories to discuss what the new school will be like and to address any worries or concerns that they may have.

Helpful contacts

The first point of contact would be your child’s class teacher to share your concerns.

You could also arrange to meet the:

• SENDCo/Inclusion Lead, Miss Wood, KS1 and KS2 or
• EYFS SENDCo, Mrs Manjit Nota.

Contact details for the school are:

St Mary’s CE Primary School, Yew Tree Road, Slough, SL1 2AR

Telephone: 01753 534791

Fax: 01753 512452

Email:post@stmarys.slough.sch.uk.