SENDCO
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator
Name: Our school SENDCo is called Mrs Heath.
Contact: amy.heath@taw.org.uk
Availability: Mrs Heath works each day and is based across all 4 centres to allow time for her to support SEND across the school.
A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A learning difficulty or disability is a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age. Special educational provision means educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age in a mainstream setting in England (Code of Practice 2014).
Many children who have SEN may have a disability a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (Equality Act 2010)
Aims of our provision in regards to pupils with special educational needs and/or disability
In line with the new SEND Policy 2014, Linden Centre staff will strive to;
- Identify children who may have a special educational need as early as possible.
- Make reasonable adjustments for those with a disability or special educational need to ensure they have full access to all parts of the curriculum.
- ensure that children and young people with a special educational need or disability engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have additional needs.
- Reduce barriers to progress through careful monitoring
- Use their best endeavours to secure special educational provision for those who need it, when the need is “additional to and different from” that provided within the differentiated curriculum, to better respond to pupils needs. This will be done in consultation with the SENCO
- Respond to parents’, carers’ and pupils’ views in order to develop a collaborative working partnership at all levels of need.
- Ensure a high level of expertise to meet pupil need, through appropriate, relevant high quality training (see website for the school’s CPD under ‘Our School’, ‘Staff Training’ tab ) and through collaborative working with other staff members and the SENCO.
- Support pupils with medical conditions to achieve full inclusion in all aspects of school life (in consultation with health and social care professionals.
- Ensure there is a multi-professional approach to meeting the needs of all vulnerable learners by working with the Local Authority and other agencies.
- Work with parents and carers to ensure good attendance if problems arise.
The kinds of SEND that are provided for.
SEND needs can be broadly categorised into four areas (some children may have needs that come into more than one category).
1. Communication and interaction - (including difficulties in communicating with others, both receptive and expressive language deficits, children with ASD who struggle with social interaction)
2. Cognition and learning – (including children with learning difficulties where pace is slower than peers even with differentiation, where pupils may need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated mobility and communication, complex learning difficulties, physical disability and sensory impairment, also specific learning difficulties)
3. Social, mental and emotional health – (including withdrawn and isolated pupils, those showing disruptive or disturbing behaviour, mental health difficulties, attention deficit disorders, attachment disorders)
4. Sensory/physical – (including visual and hearing impairment, physical difficulties)
How does our school know if children need extra help?
Initially, we listen to all the facts and concerns presented to us. This may come from a variety of sources including; -
• Concerns raised by parents/carers of looked after children
• Pupil’s views
• Teachers concerns from our school or a previous school
• Lack of progress shown through the school’s stringent tracking system (picked up by teachers and the SLT at pupil progress meetings)
• Pupil observations
What should a parent do if it thinks their child may have special educational needs?
Parents are welcome to come into school to speak with a child’s teacher or the SENCO at any time. Once concerns are raised, an information gathering process will take place in the form of a pupil passport so that we can see the whole child. The child will be consulted, the parents and the teachers directly involved with the child. Likes, dislikes, favoured strategies and difficulties will all be considered. We will need to rule out aspects such as attendance, health and welfare (including hearing and sight), change in family circumstances etc, to see if there is a reason, other than learning difficulties, which is preventing a child from making good progress. If we find that there are extenuating circumstances why the child has not progressed, these will be appropriately addressed. However, if these aspects have been ruled out, we will carry out further assessments to indicate what action we need to take.
It may be that simple ‘reasonable adjustments’ need to be made, such as providing additional equipment (writing slopes, coloured overlays, support chairs etc) or adjusting lesson delivery and putting in simple strategies to suit specific learning styles.
If the need is more than making adjustments, then the need will generally fall into one or more of the four categories listed above.
A graduated approach is then started to address specific issues which are preventing the child from making good progress and a plan of action is drawn up. This is considered to be an ‘Early Response’ when a cycle of intervention commences. We assess, we plan, we do and we review in collaboration with parents and pupils. These cycles last for a mutually agreed period of time.
Interventions used will vary depending on the need.
After this ‘Early Response ‘cycle has been reviewed and we mutually agree that the chid does have a special educational need, the child will be added to the special needs register and specific provision will be made to cater for those needs.
How will we support a child with SEND?
All pupils will be provided with high quality teaching that is differentiated to meet the needs of all learners. The quality of classroom teaching provided to pupils with SEND is monitored through a number of processes that include:
1. classroom observation by the senior leadership team, the SENCO and external verifiers
2. ongoing assessment of progress made by pupil in specific intervention groups
3. scrutiny of planning and provision mapping
4. teacher meetings with the SENCO
5. pupil and parent feedback when reviewing target attainment
6. whole school pupil progress tracking
For children with an identified SEN, we follow a graduated approach.
1. Assess: Data on the pupil will be collated by the class teacher in collaboration with the SENCo in order to make an accurate assessment of the pupil’s needs. Parents will always be invited to this early discussion to support the identification of action to improve outcomes.
2. Plan: If review of the action taken indicates that “additional to and different from” support will be required, then the views of all involved including the parents and the pupil will be obtained and appropriate evidence-based interventions identified, recorded and implemented by the class teacher with advice from the SENCo.
3. Do: SEN support will be recorded on a plan that will identify a clear set of expected outcomes, which will include stretching and relevant academic and developmental targets that take into account parents’ aspirations for their child. Parents and the pupil will also be consulted on the action they can take to support attainment of the desired outcomes. This will be recorded and a date made for reviewing attainment.
4. Review: Progress towards these outcomes will be tracked and reviewed regulary with the parents and the pupil.
If progress rates are judged to be inadequate despite the delivery of high quality interventions, advice will always be sought from external agencies regarding strategies to best meet the specific needs of a pupil. This will only be undertaken after parent permission has been obtained.
For a very small percentage of pupils, whose needs are significant and complex and the SEN Support required to meet their needs cannot reasonably be provided from within the school’s own resources, a request will be made to the local authority to conduct an assessment of education, health and care needs.
How will the curriculum be matched to each child’s needs?
• Teachers plan using pupils’ achievement levels, differentiating tasks to ensure progress for every pupil in the classroom.
• When a pupil has been identified as having special educational needs, the curriculum and the learning environment will be further adapted by the class teacher to reduce barriers to learning and enable them to access the curriculum more easily.
• These adaptations may include strategies suggested by the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and/or external specialists.
• In addition if it is considered appropriate, pupils may be provided with specialised equipment or resources such as ICT and/or additional adult help. All actions taken by the class teacher will be recorded and shared with parents.
How will parents know how their child is doing?
Attainments towards the identified outcomes will be shared with parents termly through SEN reviews but also through the school reporting system and Parents’ Evenings. Parents are encouraged to arrange an appointment to discuss their child’s progress with the class teacher, the SENCO, or a member of the senior leadership team at any time when they feel concerned or have information they feel they would like to share that could impact on their child’s success.
Pupils with medical needs
Pupils with medical needs will be provided with a detailed Individual Health and Care Plan, compiled in partnership with the school nurse and parents and if appropriate, the pupil themselves.
Staff who volunteer to administer and supervise medications, will complete formal training and be verified by the school nurse as being competent.
All medicine administration procedures adhere to the LA policy and Department of Education (DfE) guidelines included within Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions (DfE) 2014 and identified in the School Medicine Administration Policy.
