SEND

Special Educational Needs and Disability Support for Pupils and Parents

At Ingham Primary School we believe that all pupils have an equal right to an education that will enable them to achieve their full potential. We seek to provide targeted special educational provision for pupils, alongside quality teaching that doesn't place limits on learning. Some children may require reasonable adjustments to be made to their provision and to incorporate their specific area(s) of need as identified in the Code of Practice (September 2014).

What does special educational needs mean?

A child is likely to have special educational needs if they need resources which are ‘additional to or different from’ those generally available for other children of the same age. This goes beyond the normal approaches and learning arrangements provided by the teacher as part of high quality, personalised teaching.

The 2014 Code of Practice identifies four areas of special educational needs. These are

Communication difficulties and finding it difficult to get on with others
Thinking and learning difficulties (e.g. Difficulties with English and Maths skills)
Difficulties related to social, mental and emotional health (e.g. anxiety)
Sensory and/or physical difficulties

1. What should I do if I think my child has special educational needs?

There are a number of different circumstances which may lead to the suggestion of special educational needs.

You may feel there has been a problem of some kind for a while, though you may not be able to identify what that problem is.
A difficulty may have been suggested by a health visitor, doctor or other health professional.
Your child’s class teacher may speak to you with a concern that they have about your child’s progress, or with a specific difficulty.

It is very important that parents and the school work together, so if you have any concerns, please make an appointment to speak to your child’s class teacher, just as he/she will contact you for an appointment if he/she has any worries.

2. Who is responsible for ensuring SEN provision?

Jackie Peacock SENCO

Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, even where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.

The Head Teacher has overall responsibility for the learning of all children in the school; class teachers identify what is needed and how they will meet those needs; the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) monitors the provision and provides advice for both parents and teachers.

Presently the SENCO is Mrs Jackie Peacock.

If you would like to contact Mrs Peacock, please get in touch via the school office.

3. How will the school respond to my concern?

4. How will the school decide if my child needs extra support?

The decision that your child needs extra support will be made by the class teacher, but only in consultation with yourself, and the SENCO. It will be made on the basis of initial investigations, collection of evidence and family history and may also involve different assessments made by other professionals. The information will be shared with you at the follow-up meeting and the decision discussed. Many families find this to be a very positive experience as it often confirms suspicions they have previously held and provides a plan of how the school will meet your child’s needs.

The decision to place a child on the school’s SEN register is not taken lightly and takes into account the quality and quantity of the evidence. Your child cannot be placed on the SEN register without your permission.

5. What will the school do to support my child?

Firstly, the school will continue to provide high quality teaching which matches the needs of individual pupils. Alongside this, additional support may be necessary to allow children further opportunities to practise key skills. This may take the form of a booster programme or may be more specialised/individualised as a result of a child being placed on the SEN register.

A booster programme is a series of sessions with an adult, usually as part of a group, which focus on practising key skills that have been taught in the classroom. Wherever possible, we try to deliver short sessions as they are more effective and we don’t want children to miss out on lessons that they enjoy or are good at. Teachers and Teaching Assistants will encourage children to use the skills they have learned in these sessions in the classroom.

The support will be planned and reviewed by the class teacher, working with you to discuss how well the programme has gone. Programmes follow a cycle of looking at what the problem(s) is; planning what we will do to support your child; reviewing the success of the plan within a 12 week cycle and deciding on what to do next.

Your child will have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which is individualised and will show what support your child will receive, how often and by whom. It will include measurable targets which will be part of the plan-do-review process. Children will also have a Pupil Profile which identifies any adjustments to the learning environment, including any resources that may be pertinent to your child. This is updated annually.

Where a child continues to make little or no progress, despite well-founded support that is matched to the child’s area of need, the school will consider involving specialists, including those from outside agencies.

6. Who will support my child in school?

When they are working in the classroom your child will mainly be helped by the Teacher or Teaching Assistant; they may also be helped by a volunteer, such as a parent, or by another child in the class. Where this is a parent helper, the person will have signed a confidentiality agreement with the school agreeing to keep any information private. On other occasions, children may be withdrawn from the classroom to receive support in a small group setting or occasionally on a 1:1 basis; this usually is with one of our Teaching Assistant staff.

Other people who may support your child include:

Miss Apps who is a trained ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) specialist in our school.

The school is sometimes assisted by outside agencies, who give specialist advice. You can see a list of these agencies in section 9.

7. What training and experience do staff have for the additional support my child’s needs?

All the teaching staff in Ingham Primary School are qualified teachers with many years’ experience of supporting children with a whole range of additional needs.

Mrs Peacock is SENCO at Ingham Primary School and has completed her National SENCO Award which is a Master's Level qualification in Special Needs. Her role is to monitor and organise provision in school, and to direct parents and teachers towards professionals who can help and provide support.

Many of our Teaching Assistant Staff have significant levels of experience with children with a broad range of SEND. All staff have completed RWI phonics training and the majority of the Teaching Assistants have received specific training in supporting children with Autism which is updated regularly.

8. Who else might be involved in supporting my child?

Agency	Name	Role
Educational Psychologist (EP)	tbc	Working with the school to support a variety of needs. Providing advice, ideas for teachers and consultations with parents Conducting specific assessments/observations to help to analyse difficulties
Specialist Teacher and Applied Psychology Service (STAPS)	Mrs Helen Housam	Conducting specialised detailed assessments to help identify difficulties; advising teachers and parents with support; planning and delivering specific programmes of work to support learning
Speech and Language Therapist (SALT)	LCC	Planning programmes of work to be delivered in school to support children with speech and language difficulties.
Physiotherapy Team	Range of staff	Planning programmes of work to be delivered in school to support children with the development of physical skills
Community Paediatrician	Lincoln County Hospital Community Paediatrics Dept.	Children may be referred to the community paediatricians for assessment and management of a range of conditions including ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)	West Lindsey Team	This service is for those children who need further support for their behaviour and social and emotional well-being
Working Together Team	Adele Sherif	This service support schools in meeting the needs of children with social and communication difficulties, including autistic children

9. What support will be there for my child's emotional and social well-being?

Pastoral and social support:

The school offers a range of support for children with emotional and social needs including ELSA. Support will always include the opportunity for children to meet on a regular basis with a named adult (usually a Teaching Assistant) to discuss any concerns the child may have and ideas about how they can be enabled to help themselves.

Some children may take part in a specific programme aimed at developing social and emotional skills, such as ‘Time to talk’ or ‘Social Stories’®. The aim here will be to ensure that children feel good about themselves and their learning, and will take steps to ensure that the child’s self-esteem and confidence are maintained.

Where further advice is needed from a qualified professional, a referral may be made to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (see section 9)

Medication

For children with needs which require prescription medication to be taken in school, these needs can usually be met by arrangement with the school. We are only allowed to administer medication in accordance with a prescription from a qualified medical practitioner. These will be administered in line with the school’s ‘Medicines Policy’ which can be downloaded from our school website.

Please note the school will listen to any unusual circumstances and will act to meet the needs of children so please talk to the Headteacher.

Behaviour

Ingham Primary School sees good behaviour as a key aspect of a child’s education. Poor behaviour choices have an impact on the education of both the child themselves and other children in the school. The school has a series of Golden Rules which outline the school’s expectations of behaviour and attitude to learning. Teachers are trained in a broad range of behaviour management strategies which fundamentally focus on reward for good behaviour and praise in public. For children who really struggle with issues related to behaviour choices, advice may be sought from other agencies (see section 9). It may be necessary to put a Pastoral Support Plan in place in order to give further guidance for a child who is experiencing difficulties with behaviour choices in order to try to avoid exclusion. You can download our school’s Behaviour Management Policy

Attendance

Good school attendance is really important. Research clearly shows that children who attend school regularly have greater chances of success both now and in the future. Attendance is monitored regularly both at school, and by the external agencies. Where difficulties are identified with a child’s attendance a meeting will be arranged with parents to discuss how support can be put in place to make sure the child is attending school regularly. Any arrangements will take into account any underlying issues which may be contributing to the attendance difficulties. You can download the school’s attendance policy under the 'Policies' section.

10. How will my child be able to contribute their views? How will my child be involved in the process?

Your child’s views are important to us. They will have opportunities to contribute their own views about their needs either through discussion with the class teacher, or in some cases with a Teaching Assistant, or when appropriate will be invited to attend the meeting itself. These views contribute to the writing of the ‘Pupil Profile’ and the ‘SEN Support Plan’ (see below).

11. How will the curriculum be matched to my child's needs?

Meeting your child’s needs all starts with high quality teaching every day in the classroom. Teachers are skilled at matching the curriculum to a broad range of ability across their classes. This is no different for children with additional needs. However, further to this, children with additional needs may need extra or different support. This may include:

Routine strategies such as seating arrangements, use of ICT, additional resources or equipment;
Additional support in the classroom, such as another adult or a Teaching Assistant supporting the child’s learning;

Further support such as a “booster” or intervention programme. This is a series of short sessions focusing on a particular skill or area of understanding and may take place in the classroom, or a group may be withdrawn to a quieter place;
Completely different work to be set by the class teacher for part of the curriculum;
Programmes undertaken by the whole class, if appropriate.

The support put in place by the school will be recorded in two documents:

Pupil Profile (reviewed at least annually) which highlights your child’s strengths as well as areas they find more difficult and ways that they can and will be supported;
IEP Support Plan (reviewed at least 3 times per year) which shows your child’s targets and the support and programmes being put in place by the school in order to help them achieve these

These documents are written with the parents and the pupil, and copies are provided following each review.

12. How will I know how well my child is progressing?

We will meet with you at least 3 times per year. The class teacher and you will meet together to discuss how your child has been progressing with their targets as well as their academic progress in relation to their peers.

Additionally, the school operates an “open door policy” and welcomes the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress at any stage. Where there are particular concerns, the school may suggest either a regular programme of review meetings, for example weekly, or alternatively a home-school book to allow for daily dialogue. In the majority of cases the main point of contact will be the class teacher, however for a small number of children with more significant needs, special arrangements may be put in place for more regular contact with a Teaching Assistant.

13. How does the school know how well my child is doing?

The school has a number of different ways of measuring the child’s progress depending on both their age and their stage of development:

Some children may require more specific assessments to be made related to their needs. Where this occurs, re-testing at a future date can also be used to measure progress.

Progress of all children in the school is regularly monitored by the Headteacher to ensure that children are not falling behind.

14. How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?

Open communication between the school and you is the key. If your child has additional needs which require special access arrangements, the school would always want to meet with you at the planning stages of the trip in order to ensure maximum access for your child. Should an additional adult be required to support with these arrangements this can be arranged by the school. All after-school clubs are open to any child within the target age range who wishes to take part and additional needs should be no barrier to this. Please speak to your child’s class teacher if you have a concern about this.

15. How accessible is the school environment?

Ingham Primary School has a long-standing tradition of working effectively with parents to support children in accessing the school environment. For children with mobility needs, 3 of the 4 classrooms are on the same level, there is a lift down to the Hall and a disabled toilet. The school has access to advisers who can offer support with a range of communication and mobility needs including technical support and guidance.

16. How will the school prepare and support my child to join the school?

All children joining the school in our reception class have a number of visits to the school prior to starting in September. These visits will help to support the child and ensure they are familiar with routines and have had an opportunity to meet their new class teacher and to see the classroom they will be taught in. Further visits can be arranged to discuss any specific needs your child may have. Many of the children in our school join us from Little Acorns preschool; for children with identified additional needs our Foundation Stage Leader is commonly invited to attend a review meeting during the summer term before the child starts school. This is usually also possible with other local pre-schools.

For children joining our school at any other point during the school year, or in any other year group, we are happy to arrange a taster day prior to the child starting at the school should this be practical. For all children joining the school at other points, we will engage with the previous school in order to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.

17. How will the school prepare and support my child to transfer to a new setting/school/college?

During Y5 and Y6, there will be opportunities for your child to visit local secondary schools in order to make an informed choice about which school suits their needs the best. For children with additional needs it is good to take opportunities early in Y5 to begin this process as you may need longer to consider the choices. It is a good idea to visit schools more than once as you may think of different questions on a second visit. All schools offer open evening events for parents, which give an ideal opportunity for you to discuss your child with the SENCO. Ingham Primary School are also happy to offer advice in terms of who to speak to and key questions to ask: speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance. From September 2014 you will also be able to find information about each school’s own ‘Local Offer’ on their school website.

Once your decision is made, all children have a number of opportunities to visit the receiving school prior to the end of Y6. Additionally, children who are on the SEN register can have further visits arranged focusing on areas of anxiety or on how the secondary school can support their needs. Ingham Primary has an excellent relationship with all the local secondary schools, passing on crucial information to the SENCO and their transition support staff. It is common practice for the SENCO of the secondary school to be invited to the final review meeting of Y6.

18. How can I be involved in supporting my child

At Ingham Primary School we believe that parents should be very much part of the process of supporting your child. Whenever IEPs are put in place for a child, there will be an opportunity to discuss what support you can offer and advice of how to help your child achieve their targets. We would also very much value your contribution of strategies or information which you have found to be successful at home or away from school. If it any time you would like further guidance, please do not hesitate to pop in after school to see your child’s class teacher, or call to make an appointment. The support that you can offer your child at home is one of the principal keys to success in meeting your child’s needs and we very much value your contribution.

19. How can I access support for myself and my family?

LIASE is a group that provide support for parents whose children have special educational needs. They can provide a whole range of advice both on the phone and in the form of leaflets. Their contact details are:

Telephone: 0800 195 1635

Email: liaise@lincolnshire.gov.uk

Website: https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/liaise

20. Who can I contact for further information?

If you have any further questions you can also talk to: