Clavering Primary School

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS POLICY

The Objectives of the Special Educational Needs Policy

At Clavering Primary School we seek to meet the needs of all our pupils.  We are fully inclusive and recognise that some pupils will, either permanently or from time to time, have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of their same age.  Some may have disabilities which may prevent or hinder them from making use of the facilities provided for our pupils.  We will give these children individual consideration and make special provision for them, working in partnership with others, as necessary.  The governors’ intention is that the needs of all children are identified and met.  As far as possible, all children whether they have special educational needs or not, will have equal opportunities to participate in the full curriculum and all other activities. All pupils will be encouraged to become independent and take responsibility within the school.

Definition of SEND:

Definition The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (January 2015) states that: ‘A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

  • has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of 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 or post 16 institutions’ [COP – p 15 – 16 xiii, xiv] ‘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.

Categories of Need:

The Code of practice describes four broad categories of need [COP 6.2.8-6.35]:

Communication and interaction Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives. Children and young people with ASD, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.

Cognition and learning Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment. Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder. Clavering has clear and effective processes and well trained staff to support children and young people, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour, so it does not adversely affect other pupils.

Sensory and/or physical needs Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties. Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers. Some children may find it hard to deal with sensory experiences, such as noise, light and touch or require additional sensory explorations to support their regulation and ability to focus.

In short, the objectives for the Special Educational Needs Policy are in line with the school’s mission statement and revolve around:

  • providing a caring environment where pupils can learn and develop to their full potential
  • that all pupils will have access to a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum
  • that the school values the contributions and achievements of all pupils; all children will experience success
  • staff to have high expectations and standards for all children; responding to individual needs, where necessary
  • seeing all pupils as individuals with differing interests, knowledge and skills
  • recognising that support is an entitlement for all children who may need it, rather than a special addition to their education

The Special Educational Needs Leader

Miss Yolanda Crosby is the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SENDco) Leader and is responsible for the day to day operation of the SEN policy.

The arrangements for co-ordinating educational provision for pupils with SEND

Everyone in the school community, governors, staff, pupils and parents have a positive part to play in achieving provision for pupils with SEND.  The SEND leader has overall responsibility for:

  • management of the policy
  • assessment and provision for pupils with special educational needs
  • keeping the governors informed
  • overseeing the implementation of the school’s Special Needs Policy
  • co-ordinating provision for pupils with special needs including over-seeing the SENDco team, monitoring support, planning and assessment.
  • maintaining the school’s special needs register and overseeing the records kept by class teachers on pupils with special educational needs, which form part of the pupil’s individual support plan
  • advising teachers on how pupils might meet planned learning objectives
  • liaising and working in partnership with parents of children with special educational needs, where appropriate
  • contribute to the training of staff and governors
  • supporting, where appropriate, liaisons with external agencies, including the Educational Psychology Service, Special Needs Support Services, Inclusion partner, Child Protection Service, Health Education Service, Hearing Impairment Service, Occupational Health Service, Educational Welfare Service, Multicultural Education Service and Visual Health Service as well as medical, social and voluntary organisations
  • liaising with staff of feeder nursery/playgroups and the pre-school support service as well as secondary feeder schools
  • monitoring and evaluating special needs provision in line with the school’s self evaluation process

Admission Arrangements

The Admissions Policy makes no distinction between pupils identified as having special educational needs and those not so identified.  Within the Admissions Policy, the aim of the school is to meet the needs of the children of any parent, who wishes to register them at the school.

Children with an EHC (Education, Health and Care) plan that name Clavering School on the statement are required to be admitted to the school, regardless of their need as long as:

  • the needs of the child can be met
  • the education of other children will not be adversely affected
  • the efficient use of resources is taken into account

In the case of any child with a an EHC (Education, Health and Care) plan, the Special Educational Needs and disability Leader (SENDco) will work closely with the external agencies in coming to a decision about the most appropriate provision for the pupil.  No pupil will be refused solely on the grounds that s/he has Special Educational Needs.

Specialism and special provision

There is no SEND specialism or special enhanced provision within the school.

Special facilities

There are special facilities available to support children with special educational needs in the form of an enabling lift and a disabled toilet and shower. There is now access to all areas of the school for wheelchair users.

Allocation of resources

The Governors, through the Finance Committee, will allocate funds to meet the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs.  At the meeting of the Governing Body which approves the budget, the Finance Committee will draw the governor’s attention to the amount delegated to the school by the LA under Special Needs headings and to the amounts allocated for special needs in the proposed school budget.

The Head teacher will manage the funds allocated by the governors to meet the differing needs of the pupils in the school with Special Educational Needs.

Identification and needs determined

Access to the full curriculum of the school is to be achieved by the careful differentiation of class work by the class teacher. Through assessing and planning the teacher will define what the pupil is expected to learn.  Once the learning objectives are defined, a class teacher can seek advice from the SENDco on strategies which might be used to help the child achieve the learning objectives.  Each child on ASI (Additional School intervention) will have a Learning Plan (LP) or a SEMH (Social, Emotional, Mental Health) support plan, where appropriate.

All those who teach a pupil with Special Educational Needs will be informed of that child’s particular needs by the SENDco and by the previous class teacher/Learning support Assistant.  Where there is essential information (e.g. that a child is epileptic) or a pupil requires treatment or management different to that normally given to other pupils, the SENDco and the class teacher responsible for that child will ensure that all who are likely to come into contact with the pupil are appropriately informed.

Termly pupil progress meetings take place, which inform progress of individual pupils. Any information regarding children with SEND is passed to the SENDco.

Stages of assessment will take the following format:

Stage 1 (monitoring) – officially there is no Statutory Stage for monitoring under the Code of Practice, but at Clavering we have agreed to keep this so that early identification of special needs may be monitored and addressed.

The class teacher;

  • Identifies that a pupil may have special educational needs.
  • Consults the SENDco and in turn may meet with the pupil/parents, after a period of time monitoring progress – parents will be regularly updated during parent/teacher consultations and more often, if necessary.
  • Collects relevant information about the pupil.
  • Ensures a differentiated curriculum.
  • Monitors and reviews the progress of the child.
  • Recommends either continuation, removal from monitoring register or upgrades to Additional School Intervention (ASI).

Stage 2 (ASI) – The class teacher (supported by the SENDco, if necessary) will;

  • Write a Learning Plan or SEMH support plan, in conjunction with parents and pupil and ensure the SENDco has a copy.
  • The class teacher will make sure that any relevant SEND information they may receive is passed on to the SENDco and Headteacher, where appropriate.
  • Ensure that there is sufficient support within the classroom so that targets can be met.
  • Discuss strategies and teaching techniques and the efficient use of resources for assisting with the implementation of the Learning Plan.
  • Monitor and review the progress of the child, using the Assess, plan, do, review process.
  • Inform the parents every term of progress made – more often, if needed.
  • Recommend the continuation or removal from the register

The class teacher and SENDco (where necessary) will also

  • Consider and amends the Learning Plan in consultation with the parents, pupils and outside agencies.
  • Consider whether the pupil meets the criteria justifying application for an EHC plan.
  • Increase support within the class situation and review use of resources and teaching strategies.

The advice of outside specialists may be sought at all stages.

Stage 3

At this stage, the School or parents may decide that it is appropriate to request a Statutory Assessment. It is always best if the School and Family work together.

The Local Authority considers the need for a statutory assessment and, if appropriate, may agree to a multidisciplinary assessment.

Stage 4

The LA considers the need for an EHC plan based on evidence from the school, the Family and any outside agencies involved. The LA may then propose a Draft EHCP which will be discussed at an Outcomes Meeting. A decision is then made by the Local Authority as to whether an EHCP will be agreed. The LA, if appropriate, will monitor and review provision.

Review Procedures

At all stages of assessment the class teacher will record and monitor progress as part of our assessment procedure within the school.

The Learning Plan is reviewed every term with the parents, support staff and pupils. Parents views are sought at Parent/Teacher Consultation meetings and Learning plans amended accordingly. Parents may request a further meeting, if needed. New short-term targets may be set in line with the long term objectives. Deployment of support staff is also reviewed, as are the strategies that are used to implement the Learning Plan.

Monitoring is in line with our monitoring policy.

Children who have EHC plans have reviews every term with their parents and have an annual review (where specialists involved may be invited to attend).

Access to a balanced and broadly based curriculum

All children who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities will have access to the school’s extra-curricular activities, whenever possible.

Evaluation

The governors will evaluate the success of this policy within the school by enquiring how effectively children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities participate in the whole curriculum and all activities. The governors will take particular note of how pupils with Special Educational Needs and disabilities develop their independence and assume responsibilities throughout the school.  The governor responsible for SEND has contact with the SEND leader and is updated about children on the SEND register. The governor responsible for SEND (Mrs Julia Mackintosh) is responsible for monitoring and reporting on SEND at governors’ meetings.

Complaints procedure

From time-to-time parents may have a concern about their child’s education. Many of these can be resolved at school level, particularly as they sometimes arise from misunderstandings about the aims of the school and the methods employed to achieve them.

If a parent has any concerns regarding SEND provision they should approach, in the first instance, their child’s class teacher. If they still have concerns, they should then contact the SENDCO and finally the Head teacher.  The Governing Body is also there to assist families; the Governor responsible for Special Educational Needs may be contacted through the school office.

The school has a Complaints Policy on our school website – www.clavering.essex.sch.uk

Staff Training

Staff training and development is given high priority at Clavering Primary School and is linked to the priorities as set out in the school’s development plan (school improvement plan).  All members of staff are invited to attend appropriate in-service training and are able to request training for their individual needs.

There is a professional development programme and performance management (appraisal) system in place. (Please refer to Performance Management and Professional Development Policies).

Other agencies

The school has good links with all outside agencies and will make referrals only after consultation with parents of the child concerned.

Role played by parents

Clavering Primary School values working in partnership with all parents.  We seek to involve parents in all decisions about their children. The views of parents will be sought at all stages of assessment and provision.  We will make every effort to discuss openly each stage of the child’s progress and encourage the positive, rewarding the achievements of all children, regardless of their special needs.

Transition arrangements

As a school we work closely with feeder pre-schools who inform us of any children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.  We ensure that we make contact with the SEND Department in all Secondary Schools to which the children may transfer from Year 6. Meetings are arranged, information and strategies are shared, where necessary, to ensure a smooth transition.

Links with Health Services, Social Services, Educational Welfare Services and Voluntary Organisations.

Our Educational Welfare Officer is in contact with the school periodically and can be contacted by phone if necessary.

We have regular contact with our Attendance Advisor, supporting children who may find school challenging.

Our school nurse is Elaine McGuinness who visits the school on a regular basis to carry out routine screening.  Other professional organisations are contacted when and where necessary.

We are very lucky to be part of the Pets As Therapy initiative; we have Maisie our Reading Dog and Louise (her owner) who regular visit our school, supporting children with reading and social skills.

Reviewed November 2023