SEND - Newstead Primary

At Newstead Primary Academy we strive to support all children to enable them to achieve their full potential as we guide them through their learning journey. Quality first teaching is vital; however for some children there are occasions when further additional support may be needed to help them achieve their learning goals.

The School SENDco:

Miss L Gallagher

Below is a glossary of the most common SEN terms.

ADD	Attention Deficit Disorder	HI	Hearing Impairment
ADHD	Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder	IEP	Individual Education Plan
ASD	Autistic Spectrum Disorder	LAC	Looked After Child
BESD	Behavioural Emotional & Social Difficulties	LEA	Local Education Authority
CAF	Common Assessment Framework	LM	Learning Mentor
CAMHS	Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service	MLD	Moderate Learning Difficulty
COP	Code of Practice	OT	Occupational Therapist
CP	Child Protection	SEN	Special Educational Needs
DCD	Developmental Co-ordination Disorder	SEND	Special Educational Needs & Disability
EAL	English as an Additional Language	SENCo	Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
EP	Educational Psychologist	SLCN	Speech, Language, Communication Needs
FSM	Free School Meals	SpLD	Specific Learning Difficulty
FLO	Family Liaison Officer	VI	Visual Impairment

Current SEN Updates

Children and Families Bill 2013

The Children and Families Bill takes forward the Coalition Government's commitments to improve services for vulnerable children and support strong families. It underpins wider reforms to ensure that all children and young people can succeed, no matter what their background. The Bill will reform the systems for adoption, looked after children, family justice and special educational needs.

The Government is transforming the system for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN), including those who are disabled, so that services consistently support the best outcomes for them. The Bill will extend the SEN system from birth to 25, giving children, young people and their parents/carers greater control and choice in decisions and ensuring needs are properly met.

It takes forward the reform programme set out in Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability: Progress and next steps by:

• Replacing statements and learning difficulty assessments with a new birth- to-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, extending rights and protections to young people in further education and training and offering families personal budgets so that they have more control over the support they need;

• Improving cooperation between all the services that support children and their families and particularly requiring local authorities and health authorities to work together;

• Requiring local authorities to involve children, young people and parents in reviewing and developing provision for those with special educational needs and to publish a "local offer" of support.

What is the Local Offer?

• The Local Offer was first introduced in the Green Paper (March 2011) as a local offer of all services available to support disabled children and children with SEN and their families. This easy to understand information will set out what is normally available in schools to help children with lower-level SEN as well as the options available to support families who need additional help to care for their child."

What will it do?

• The Local Offer will provide parents/carers with information about how to access services in their area, and what they can expect from those services. With regard to Education, it will let parents/ carers and young people know how school and colleges will support them, and what they can expect across the local settings. During the last year, the Local Offer Steering Group has developed questions for schools, and trialled them with a small number of settings.

• There are 14 questions, devised in consultation with parents/carers and other agencies, which reflect their concerns and interests. These will be answered by agencies, schools and colleges to provide information to parents and carers to enable them to make decisions about how to best support their child's needs.

Below are Newstead Primary Academy's responses to these questions.

1.1. How does Newstead Primary Academy know if children need extra help?

We know when pupils need help if:

• concerns are raised by parents/carers, teachers, teaching assistants or the pupil's previous school

• there is lack of expected progress or attainment

• there is a change in the pupil's behaviour

• a pupil asks for helpWhat should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?

• If you have concerns then please contact your child's teacher, Miss L Gallagher.

1.2. How will I know how Newstead Primary Academy supports my child?

• Each pupil's education programme will be planned by the class teacher and reviewed half termly. It will be differentiated accordingly to suit the pupil's individual needs. This may include additional general support by the teacher or teaching assistant in class.

• If a pupil has needs related to more specific areas of their education, such as spelling, handwriting, numeracy & literacy skills etc. specific interventions will be used to support them. The interventions will be regularly reviewed by all involved to ascertain the effectiveness of the provision and to inform future planning.

• Progress Meetings are held each half term. The Executive Head teacher, Head of School and class teacher discuss each pupil's progress. This discussion may highlight any potential problems in order for further support to be planned which will be discussed and implemented by the SENDCO and Class Teacher.

• Occasionally a pupil may need more expert support form an outside agency such as the Children's Therapy Team, Paediatrician etc. Referral forms are then completed in conjunction with parents/carers and forwarded to the most appropriate agency. After a series of assessments, a programme of support is usually provided to the school and parents/carers.

• Newstead Primary Academy has a named person, Miss Rawlings to monitor Safeguarding and Child protection procedures. She is also responsible for the monitoring and correct administration of the Disclosure and Barring service procedures and the school's Single Central record. In a support and challenge role the Advisory Board ensure that the school is as inclusive as possible and treats all children and staff in an equitable way. They monitor and review the accessibility plan and all other statutory policies as defined by the DfE.

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

• When a pupil has been identified with special needs their work will be differentiated by the class teacher to enable them to access the curriculum.

• Teaching Assistants may be allocated to work with the pupil in a 1-1 or small focus group to target more specific needs.

• If appropriate specialist equipment may be given to the pupil e.g. writing slopes, pen/pencils grips or easy to use scissors.

1. 4. How will I know how my child is doing?

• You will be able to discuss your child's progress at Parents Evenings.

• Appointments can be made to speak in more detail to the class teacher or SENDCO by visiting the school office.

• IEPs (Individual Education Plans) are discussed with parents/carers each half term. Targets are usually set by the class teacher. Parents/carers are encouraged to contribute their input to be included on the IEP.

How will you help me to support my child's learning?

• The class teacher may suggest ways of supporting your child's learning through messages, at parents' evenings or if you are requested to attend a meeting.

• Miss L Gallagher may meet with you to discuss how to support your child. The class teacher may meet with you to discuss strategies to use if there are problems with a child's behaviour/emotional needs.

• If outside agencies or the Educational Psychologist have been involved suggestions and programmes of study are normally provided that can often be used at home.

1. 5. What support will there be for my child's overall well-being?

The school offers a wide variety of pastoral support for pupils who are encountering emotional difficulties.

These include:

• Members of staff such as the class teacher, teaching assistants and SENDCO, readily available for pupils who wish to discuss issues and concerns.

• Pupils who find lunchtimes a struggle are able to take time out inside with a member of staff. However, for poor behaviour during break or lunchtimes children will be withdrawn from these times and spend time in Study Club where they are asked to reflect on their behaviour and what they can do to improve it in the future.

Pupils with medical needs

• If a pupil has a medical need then a detailed Care Plan is compiled in consultation with parents/carers and the school nursing service. These are discussed with all staff who are involved with the pupil.

• All staff will receive basic First Aid training in addition to those that are already fully trained.

• Where necessary and in agreement with parents/carers medicines are administered in school but only where a signed Medication agreement in line with the medication policy is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member

1. 6. What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?

At times it may be necessary to consult with outside agencies to receive their more specialised expertise.

The agencies used by the school include:

• Safeguarding Children Advisors

• SENDS (Specialist advisors including Autism, Specific learning difficulties, Visually and hearing impared)

• Educational Psychologist

• CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service)

• AAP (Attendance Advisory Practitioner previously known as Educational Welfare Officers)

• Social Services

• Children's Therapy Team (Speech & Language/Occupational Therapy)

• Paediatricians

• Behaviour Support Service

• SureStart Play Therapy

An Educational Psychologist is allocated to each school. He/she would normally only work directly with pupils who needs are felt to be quite considerable and have not responded well to the interventions previously put in place for them.If a case is opened with the Educational Psychologist, specific assessments are carried out.

He/she will offer advice to the school and parent/carers on how to best support the pupil in order to take their learning forward.

1. 7. What training are the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had or are having?

All staff have received some training related to SEND.

These have included sessions on:

• How to support pupils on the autistic spectrum.

• How to support pupils with emotional needs.

• Speech and Language development training

• Literacy development training

• Development of social skills training

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

Activities and school trips are available to all.

• Risk assessments are carried out and procedures are put in place to enable all children to participate.

• However, if it is deemed that an intensive level of 1:1 support is required a parent or carer may be asked to accompany their child during the activity.

1. 9. How accessible is the school environment?

As a school we are happy to discuss individual access requirements.

Facilities we have at present include:

• Ramps into school to make the building accessible to all.

• Parking (two spaces).

• Two disabled toilets

1. 10. How will the school prepare and support my child when joining Newstead Primary Academy or transferring to a new school?

Newstead Primary Academy aims to ensure that pupil's transition is as smooth as possible. Strategies include:

• Meetings between the previous or receiving schools prior to the pupil joining/leaving. Additional visits are also arranged for pupils who need extra time in their new school.

• Whole school Transition Days where each class spend the afternoon with their new class teacher.

• Secondary school staff visit pupils prior to them joining their new school.

• Meetings between teachers, SENDCO and the SENDCO from the secondary schools to pass on information regarding SEN pupils.

• Where a pupil may have more specialised needs, a separate meeting is arranged with Mr Kinsey (SENDCO), the secondary school SENDCO, the parents/carers and where appropriate the pupil.

1. 11. How are the school's resources allocated and matched to children's special educational needs?

• The SEN budget is allocated each financial year. The money is used to provide additional support or resources dependant on an individual's needs.

• The additional provision may be allocated after discussion with the class teacher at pupil progress meetings or if a concern has been raised by them at another time during the year.

• If any concerns are raised on completion of the assessments, the inclusion manager will investigate further support or advice from outside agencies if required.

1. 12. How is the decision made about how much support my child will receive?

• When the children join the school support is allocated on the information provided by the feeder school. Usually, in consultation with the SLT, the SENDCO will allocate teaching assistants to individuals or small groups to support in class or in other focus groups tailored to the pupils' needs.

• During their school life, if further concerns are identified due to the pupil's lack of progress or well-being then other interventions will be arranged.

• Parents/carers will be able to see the support their child is receiving on a provision map. A provision map is a record of support that the pupil is receiving including the impact it is having on the pupil's learning.

1. 13. How will I be involved in discussions about and planning for my child's education?

All parents are encouraged to contribute to their child's education.

This may be through:

• Discussions with the class teacher.

• During parents evenings.

• During discussions with Miss L Gallagher or other professionals.

1. 14. Who can I contact for further information?

If you wish to discuss your child's educational needs or are unhappy about something regarding your child's schooling please follow the school's Complaints policy. Do not hesitate to contact the school if you have further questions.