Special Educational Needs (SEN) Information Parents
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Neston Primary is a village school with approximately 205 children on roll across 7 classes. We currently have approximately 15% of pupils on our SEN register. We have a lower than average number of pupils who are eligible for us to access the pupil premium allowance.
All schools in the Corsham Cluster have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and are supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. All schools are supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with SEND being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible, where families want this to happen.
1. What do we mean by SEN/ SEND?
Under the 2014 Special Education Needs Code of Practice, Special Education Needs and Disabilities are placed together, and abbreviated to SEND.
A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls or special educational provision to be made for him or her.
A child has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:
Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others the same age,
Or
Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of the educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools.
2. What is the Local Offer?
The local offer is where Wiltshire Council publishes information on all services and support for young people with SEND (Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities) Please click here for more information on Wiltshire’s Local Offer.
3. How does the school know if my child needs extra help?
Class teachers, supported by subject leaders and the Senior Leadership Team, make regular assessment of the progress of all pupils. If there are concerns about progress, or if any child needs extra support, this is identified early and acted upon. As parents, you may also have raised concerns about your child and we liaise with previous settings when children transfer. Most difficulties will be supported within the classroom as part of excellent differentiated classroom teaching using a variety of styles and resources.
Wiltshire produce checklists for schools to use to identify children whose difficulties mean they should be placed on the SEN register. This ensures that when we identify pupils with SEND, we are using the same criteria as other Wiltshire schools.
The identification of SEN is built into the overall approach to monitoring the progress and development of all pupils. Class teachers make regular assessments of progress for all pupils. Where pupils are falling behind or making inadequate progress given their age and starting point they are given extra support.
Where pupils continue to make inadequate progress, despite high-quality teaching targeted at their areas of weakness, the class teacher, working with the SENCO, will assess whether the child has a significant learning difficulty. Where this is the case, then an agreement about the SEN support that is required to support the child is made.
Once a potential special educational need is identified, four types of action are taken to put effective support in place – Assess, Plan, Do, Review – this is the graduated approach called SEN Support.
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 would consider involving specialists, including those from outside agencies.
4. What should I do if I think my child could have Special Educational Needs?
Start by speaking to your child’s class teacher.
If you require more information, then an appointment can be made for you to talk to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), Ms Patrick. Please note that Mr John Andrews is our SEN governor.
You know your child best. It is vitally important that we work together with you as parents and carers so that we can help your child to achieve his/ her potential during their time with us.
5. What special needs does the school cater for and how?
The types of difficulty identified in the Education Act are:
Communication and Interaction; this includes children who experience a difficulty in communicating with others; children who may not understand or use social rules of communication and children who have speech or language difficulties.
Cognition and Learning; this includes children who may learn at a slower pace to their peers even with appropriate differentiation and excellent classroom teaching.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties; these difficulties manifest themselves in many ways including withdrawal or disruptive behaviour.
Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties; this includes disabilities which prevents or hinders a child from making use of the educational facilities generally provided.
However, we also acknowledge that some children may have learning needs which may not have a ‘label’ or diagnosis, but who would still benefit from accessing extra support in school. At Neston, it is our aim to treat each child as a unique and valued individual, responding to their individual needs accordingly.
6. What specialist services and expertise are accessed by the school?
Support Services are accessed according to the need of the child at appropriate developmental stages. You may be asked for permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional. This would help us to understand your child’s needs better and enable us to support them better in school. Services which the School frequently make use of include:
Speech and Language Therapists;
Special Educational Needs Support Service (which has specialists for a wide range of difficulties);
Educational Psychologist,
Behaviour Support Team,
School Nurse.
These service advise and support our staff by delivering training, assessing and monitoring children individually and by recommending support programmes for children with additional needs.
7. How would school staff support my child?
Support will always be given primarily by the class teacher, teaching assistants and higher level teaching assistants. Teaching assistants may be trained in specific areas, such as emotional literacy support, or in the delivery of specific interventions, such as “Back on Track” for maths. Support may be part of whole class teaching, small group work or individual support.
8. How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
Class teachers usually differentiate lessons as part of their day to day planning. Typically this might mean that in a lesson there would be three different levels of work set for a class. Children with SEN may need work to be further differentiated in order to meet their needs and may need additional resources such as alphabet mats, different reference books or a lap-top.
Teaching assistants (TAs) may be allocated to work with the pupil in small focus groups or 1-1 to target more specific needs.
If a child is identified as having a special educational need, they may be given an Individual Education Plan (IEP). The child, parent, teacher and SENCO will set and agree targets according to their area of need. These will be monitored on a weekly basis and reviewed three times a year.
Where appropriate, specialist equipment may be given to the pupil e.g. writing slopes, pencil grips or easy to use scissors.
9. How will my child be included in activities and events outside of the classroom e.g. school trips?
At Neston School, we want all our children to experience the same range of educational opportunities and to feel fully included as part of our school community. Every effort is made by the whole staff to ensure that all children are fully and appropriately integrated into all aspects of the school. There are a variety of ways in which we may do this, such as preparing a child for a change of routine or increasing adult to child ratios on trips or experiences.
10. Who can I talk to / how, if I am not happy with what / how my child is learning?
The class teacher will meet with parents twice a year, as well as reporting comprehensively on your child’s progress in their annual report. For children on the special educational needs register, further review meetings will be held.
If you are unsure at any time, please talk to us. Your first port of call should always be your child’s class teacher. Together, you can then decide whether it is a matter for the SENCO or whether the issue can be dealt with by yourself and the class teacher. You are more than welcome to make an appointment with the class teacher or SENCo through the usual channels.
11. How accessible is the Learning Environment for my child?
Neston Primary School is, for the most part, a single storey school, with all of our classrooms on the ground floor of one building. Our playground is accessible, with ramp access where required. We have a disabled parking space and two disabled toilets.
We are lucky to have several rooms and areas which we use to work with individuals and small groups of children. They are also used by visiting professionals for assessments and support and by Teaching Assistants to run intervention support groups.
12. How does the school allocate resources to match children’s special educational needs or disability?
It is the Governing Body’s responsibility to ensure that resources in school are allocated to support appropriate provision for all children. These resources include learning materials/ apparatus for te children as well as provision and training of Teaching Assistants and Teachers. It is important for children to have a balance of support from Teachers and Teaching Assistants, as well as opportunities to work with their peers and independently in class. The Headteacher, together with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meet regularly to review and monitor the provision across the school for ALL children, and to allocate resource appropriately.
13. If my child has additional medical, physical or social needs, how will the school support them?
In consultation with parents and/or health professionals a care plan will be drawn up to ensure that your child’s needs are met and that staff are appropriately trained.
14. What training is received by staff supporting children with SEND?
All teachers receive regular training to make sure that they plan and deliver high quality teaching, which is differentiated for the needs of each child in their classroom.
All staff within the school will have access to training, advice and resources to enable them to contribute to developing fully inclusive practice.
The SENCo attends regular training, including meetings with other local SENCos.
The SENCo has completed the post graduate National Award in Special Educational Needs.
15. How are parents/carers and the child involved in the assessment and review process?
At Neston School we value the views of children and parents, and recognise that you and your child will be a crucial part of the Assess, Plan, Review, Do process.
It is important for all parents to know what progress their child has made and what the next steps in their learning are. Our school has 2 Parent Consultation meetings per academic year and you will receive an Annual Report. If you have any concerns about your child, we welcome you to arrange a convenient time to meet with your child’s class teacher at any point during the school year.
If your child has a statement or a My Plan (Education, Health and Care Plan), your views will have been sought by the SENCo during the assessment process. You will also be involved in the review processes and kept informed of any developments noted by the services involved with your child. This could involve being invited to review meetings, completing questionnaires or regularly discussing your child’s progress with the professionals who help to support you and them.
If your child has been identified by the school as having additional needs and he or she has worked with other services (such as those named above) you will be invited to attend assessment and review meetings with the school and these services.
If the school is the only service working with your child, then your child’s class teacher and sometimes the SENCo will meet with you at either a Parent Consultation Meeting or at another mutually convenient time to discuss your child’s needs and your views about how they are progressing.
Your child may be given an IEP (individual education plan), which will be shared with you at least three times per year. We also use One Page Profiles for some of our children with additional needs and have found these to be an excellent way of capturing and sharing your child’s views about what works for them and what is important to them.
16. How will the school prepare and support my child to join the school?
First and foremost, we will talk to you as parents/ carers to plan a smooth transition into our school. If your child is due to start school at the start of September in Reception, we will also liaise with your child’s Nursery/ Preschool. We have excellent links with Nurseries and preschools in the area. We also offer induction sessions and home visits to all children who are starting in Reception. If your child is due to start with us at any other time, we will liaise closely with their previous school. We will also talk to any other professionals who have been involved in meeting their needs. Where required, we will hold a transition meeting to share information between all those who have been involved with your child’s education and all those who will be supporting them in the future.
We will then plan a suitable transition programme for your child, depending on their needs. This may include:
Extra visits to the school before your child’s start date
Meeting significant members of staff such as their class teacher or teaching assistant
Ensuring that other adults around the school are aware of your child’s needs
Visiting their classroom when there are no other children present
Providing a general timetable or photographs of the classroom, hall, playground, toilets etc to familiarise your child with at home
Ensuring that the correct resources are available and reasonable adaptations to the school environment have been made
Developing a reduced timetable to introduce your child to the setting gradually
17. How will the school prepare and support my child to transfer to a new setting e.g. secondary school or a specialist unit in another school?
Our Y6 teachers work closely with the relevant local secondary schools to ensure that all children have a successful transfer experience.
If your child has a statement or EHCP (Education, health and care plan – known in Wiltshire as “My Plan”), a transition review meeting will also be arranged in Year 5.
We can arrange for your child to make extra visits into their new school, take photographs, ask questions and meet the staff before they start.
Secondary school staff may also visit your child here in Years 5&6 so that they have a chance to get to know the child in a familiar environment.
18. How will the school prepare and support my child to move year groups and/or classrooms?
Information about your child will be passed onto their new teachers.
Our schools have a new class induction session in July of each year, for the children to meet their new teachers as a whole class.
If your child needs more support with transitioning to their new class the school will support these special arrangements for your child and may hold a transition meeting.
19. Who can I contact for further information and how?
In the first instance, please speak to your child’s class teacher. If you are a prospective parent, please contact the school office (admin@neston.wilts.sch.uk or 01225 810478) to arrange a visit or to speak to the Head Teacher , Mr. Gary Risdale or the Special Educational Needs Coordinator, Ms Patrick.
We hope you have found the answer to your questions about SEND at Neston School here, but if we have missed something, please let us know and we will do our best to answer any further questions you may have.
