SEND Information Report
Millbrook Primary School is an inclusive school. We ensure that all pupils are included in all aspects of learning and school life throughout our school.
It is our aim to meet the needs of all children through high quality teaching with clear differentiation. From time to time some children may require extra support, that is different from or additional to that provided for all children, to help meet their needs. At all stages both the children and their families will be updated with the progress they are making.
The flowchart below gives a brief overview of the steps taken when children are identified as needing additional support.
Identifying Special Educational Needs
After consultation between teaching staff, parents/carers, outside agencies it may be decided that the children have ‘Special Educational Needs’.
‘A child or young person has SEN 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 or a young person 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 educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.’
Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years (July 2014)
The decision as to whether a child has a Special Education Need will be made based on the individual pupil. Some of the factors that will be considered:
If a child is identified as having additional needs we will make a decision as to what area of need this falls in to. The different areas are:
Some children may have needs that fall in to more than 1 of these areas.
If you are concerned that your child may have Special Educational Needs that are not already being addressed, please contact your child’s class teacher or the School SENCo.
Once a child is entered on to the SEND register within school they will have an SEN profile created. This outlines the child’s:
Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
‘An EHC plan details the education, health and social care support that is to be provided to a child or young person who has SEN or a disability. It is drawn up by the local authority after an EHC needs assessment of the child or young person has determined that an EHC plan is necessary, and after consultation with relevant partner agencies.’
Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years (July 2014)
Some children may require a more intensive level of specialist help that cannot be met from the resources available to school. In these instances we may apply for an EHC assessment for the child involved. An EHC plan brings your child’s education, health and social care needs into a single, legal document.
Inclusion
It is our belief, that all children, regardless of their individual abilities and needs, should have access to the same opportunities. Through adaptations to the school environment, the curriculum and any other activities or opportunities offered, we feel that all children are fully included in all aspects of school life.
More information about our school curriculum can be found in the school’s curriculum policy. If you have any questions about the adaptations made to this or any other aspect of school life, please contact your child’s class teacher or the SENCO.
Meeting children’s needs
It is our aim to meet the needs of all children through first quality teaching. However, we recognise that there are times when children may need additional support and/or interventions. The aim of these interventions is to support children with a view to them making accelerated progress in the area being targeted.
‘Wave 2’ support
If it has been identified that a child needs additional support, the first step is usually to put an intervention in place. The majority of these interventions are done in class by either the class teacher or teaching assistant (maybe extra reading . These interventions will usually be done in small groups and will be additional to the quality first teaching. Support may also come in the form of access to resources to meet the child’s needs.
Examples of the resources that may be made available are (but not limited to):
If the pupil still needs extra support to access the curriculum then further intense interventions will be given such as Fresh Start Phonics.
There are also times where we may feel it is necessary to get specialist outside agencies involved to advise school on how to best meet a pupils needs. Many of these are provided through Tameside Pupil Services or the NHS after a referral by the class teacher or SENCo. Any involvement with outside agencies will be done with full consultation of the child’s parents.
Parent and Pupil Involvement
Parents and children are involved at every opportunity to ensure they are fully involved in meeting the needs of children at our school. This starts when the additional needs are first identified and will carry on throughout the ‘plan, do and review’ process. Parents and pupils are also asked for their views on how the child’s needs can best be met and be kept regularly updated on the progress they are making. As well as formal parent’s evenings and SEND drop in sessions with the school SENCo, parents are also welcome to arrange meetings with their child’s class teacher to discuss anything related to their learning needs.
Assessment and reviewing
Pupils are regularly assessed both formally and informally to ensure we have a clear picture of their strengths and areas for development so we can best meet their needs. This also helps us to ensure that all children are making progress. We recognise that some pupils may make less progress due to their additional needs and for this reason it is often necessary to use a small steps approach to assessment such as PIVATS.
More information about assessment can be found in the School’s Assessment Policy.
Regular assessment allows us to constantly review the children’s needs and also look at the effectiveness of the support children are receiving. This allows us to decide whether any support needs to be modified to best meet the needs of our children.
We also recognise that parents will invariably have an excellent knowledge of their child’s strengths and areas for development through the time they spend with their child outside of school. Parents are invited to share any such information as part of parents evening and SEND drop in sessions. Parents are also welcome to arrange a meeting with their child’s class teacher and/or the SENCo if they feel it is necessary.
Where appropriate, children are also asked to consider their own strengths and areas for development. This allows us to identify any areas where the children feel they may need additional support.
Staffing
Leanne Ashton – Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo)
The role of the SENCo is to oversee SEND provision within the school. This includes responsibility for the day to day operation of SEN policy and provision. The SENCo provides professional guidance to colleagues and will work closely with staff, parents and other agencies.
Susan Nuttall - SEN Governor
Lynn King – Parent Support Advisor
Our Parent Support Advisor works closely with children and their families to provide additional support, advice and pastoral care. Much of this is done through 1:1 or small group work focussed around children’s social and emotional needs.
Each class has an assigned teaching assistant, these staff deliver high quality evidence based interventions to the pupils as necessary.
Staff training
Regular CPD opportunities are made available to all staff working at Millbrook Primary School to ensure they have an up to date subject and pedagogical knowledge to enable them to best meet the needs of children they work with. From time to time, individual members of staff may be given additional support to meet the specific needs of the children they are working with. If you would like further information about the expertise and training please contact the SENCo.
Transitional arrangements
We aim to make admission into school and transmission to another school or department as smooth as possible. Before entry to school, children will be invited to come in and look round the school and talk to the receiving teacher and the Headteacher. For children with Special Needs, there may also be extra visits and, if needed, transitional books and photographs to welcome them.
For children transferring to Secondary Education, visits are arranged once the receiving school has been allocated. Most children get at least 2 full days at their receiving school in the July prior to them starting in the September. For children with Special Needs the SENCo will liaise with the SENCos from the receiving schools to ensure that all information and documentation is passed on and that transition is as easy as possible for the pupil. We also set up extra transition activities as appropriate and each child will have an individual transition plan.
Looked after children
The arrangements in place for looked after children with additional needs matches those available to other pupils. Issues related to safeguarding may mean it is not possible to involve the maternal parents of children, in which case the carer’s and the designated social worker will be fully involved with the SEND process.
Complaints procedure
Regular communication between school and home ensures that any concerns parents have are promptly acted on. Where this has not happened, however, parents/carers are able to make a complaint by contacting the Headteacher or, if this fails to resolve the issue, the governing body.
Our complaints procedure sets out the steps in making a complaint in more details. This is available on the school website.
Contact
If you wish to contact the SENCo, please call school on 01457 834 314, to make an appointment.
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