SEND Intent Statement

At Spalding Primary Academy, we aim to offer excellence and choice to all our children, whatever their ability or needs. We have high expectations of all our children. We aim to achieve this through the removal of barriers to learning and participation. We want all our children to feel that they are a valued part of our school community. Through appropriate curricular provision, we respect the fact that children:

• have different educational and behavioural needs and aspirations;
• require different strategies for learning;
• acquire, assimilate and communicate information at different rates;
• need a range of different teaching approaches and experiences.

Implementation

In line with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and the Equality Act 2010, we aim :-

(a) to enable every pupil to experience success

(b) to keep an ongoing register (SEND register) of all children whom we consider to have special educational needs.

(c) to identify those children as early as possible, assess, record and regularly review their progress and needs.

(d) to provide learning programmes geared to their needs.

(e) to work collaboratively with parents, other professionals and support services.

(f) to ensure that parents or carers are able to play their part in supporting their child’s education.

(g) to involve the child, so as to encourage a move from dependent to independent learning.

Impact

Spalding Primary Academy firmly believes in developing a strong partnership with parents/carers and that this will enable children and young people with SEND to achieve their potential. The school recognises that parents/carers have a unique overview of their child's needs and how best to support them, and that this gives them a key role in the partnership. Parents/carers hold key information and have a critical role to play in their children's education.

As of September 2014, all schools are now required to publish details of the support it offers, for pupils with special educational needs and/or a disability, through our SEND Information Report, to compliment the Lincolnshire LA Local Offer. Below are details of the current school offer at Spalding Primary Academy and the Local Offer for Lincolnshire.

DATE: October 2021

What is 'Special Educational Needs and Disability'?

In this context, children with special educational needs are defined as follows, according to the criteria laid down in The Children and Families Act 2014. A child or young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him/her.

A child has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

(i) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of others of the same age.

(ii) has a disability which either 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 post 16 institutions.

(iii) is under the age of five and without special provision would fall into either of the above categories when over five.'

Many children and young people who have SEN may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is ‘… 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’.

This definition includes children and young people with long term medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but where a child requires special educational provision over and above the adjustments, aids and services required by the Equality Act 2010, they will additionally be covered by the SEND definition. In addition, we are required to also have regard to statutory guidance regarding supporting pupils with medical conditions (DfE 2014).

What should I do if I think my child has Special Educational Needs?

If you are concerned that your child has a special educational need (SEN), in the first instance we ask that you speak to your child’s class teacher who will then follow up your concerns. Concerns can be discussed at parents’ evenings which are held twice a year, or by making an appointment to meet with your child’s class teacher at any point throughout the school year.

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCO) is also available to speak to you, via appointment, between 9:00am-3:30pm. 

The SENDCO is responsible for:

• Coordinating all the support for children with SEND and developing the school’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.

• Ensuring that you are:

  • involved in supporting your child’s learning

  • kept informed about the support your child is getting

  • involved in reviewing how they are doing

• Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning.

• Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are up to date records of your child’s progress and needs.

• Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in the school achieve the best progress possible.

How will the school respond to my concern?

The class teacher will listen to any concerns you may have at a pre-arranged meeting. If your concern cannot be met at that meeting then the class teacher will take some time to look into the concern and liaise with the SENDCO and/or Head of School. A follow up meeting will be arranged to ensure your concern is addressed and to plan any additional support your child may receive. If relevant at this stage, possible referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning will be discussed.

How will the school decide if my child needs extra support?

If your child is identified as making limited progress within any of the four broad areas of need as identified in the ‘Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (Cognition and Learning, Communication and Interaction, Social, emotional and mental health, Physical and sensory)’, the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail and to:

• listen to any concerns you may have

• plan any additional support your child may receive

• discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning

What will the school do to support my child?

All children at Spalding Primary Academy, regardless of their need, receive excellent classroom teaching known as Quality First Teaching.

This means:

• That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.

• That all teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.

• Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class within well differentiated ability groups. This may involve things like using more practical learning.

• Your child’s teacher will have carefully monitored your child’s progress and may have noticed that your child has gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

However, we recognise that each child's needs are unique and so each child will receive different support, depending upon their specific needs. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCo) and class teacher will decide which strategies and resources are appropriate to support your child's needs. Where outside agencies are involved, they will provide advice about how best to support your child's needs.

Any pupil identified as having a special educational need and/or disability is on the SEND register. Extra help will be given to these pupils to help them to make progress. Some examples of ways we may support your child further may include:

Specific group work within a smaller group of children
This group or one to one support may be:

• Run in the classroom or outside.

• Run by a teacher or most often a Teaching Assistant who has had training to run these groups.

SEN Support

• Your child may engage in group sessions with specific targets to help him/her to make more progress.

• A Teaching Assistant/teacher or outside professional may run these small group/individual sessions

• You will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward.

• You may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) or Educational Psychologist (EP). This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better in school.

• The specialist professional will work with you, your child, class teacher and SENDCO to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:

  • Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better

  • Support to set specific targets which will include their expertise

  • A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group

  • This type of support is available for a child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning and those who have been identified as requiring SEN Support.

Education, Health and Care Plans

From September 2014, 'Statements' were replaced by 'Education, Health and Care Plans'. This document will continue to outline a pupil's special educational need and the support that the school needs to put in place to help them, but it's a much more child friendly document, based around the pupil and their family.

Only children with the most complex and significant special educational needs will be considered for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). If you think your child needs a EHCP you will need to discuss your concerns with the school Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCO), who will advise you about whether your child needs an Education, Health and Care Plan, and only once the school has exhausted its provision and outside agency support, will this be considered. These discussions are normally held at a review meeting with outside agencies.

Who will support my child in school?

• Qualified and experienced teachers

• Experienced and skilled teaching assistants

• Higher level teaching assistants

• Volunteers

• Peer support

• Outside professionals

What training and expertise do staff have for the additional support my child needs?

Class teachers/Head of School/Executive Head teacher/SENDCO:

• A mix of newly qualified teachers and experienced teachers

• A Physical Education specialist teacher working across classes in KS1 and KS2 and after school clubs

• All teachers have been trained to deliver Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Phonics Scheme

• All teachers have had Quality First training in areas of English and maths.

• All members of staff have had Safeguarding training

• All teachers have received up to date training on epi-pen and individual children’s specific needs

• All class teachers and teaching assistants have received training on Autism from The Autism Education Trust

   

  SENDCO:

• Mrs L Morgan 

• Qualified teacher status; Working towards Postgraduate qualification at Masters level in the National SEN Coordination Award, Lego Therapy, Attachment Training

   

  Teaching assistants:

• Key teaching assistants have been trained to deliver the Colourful Semantics programme (Speech and Language)

• All teaching assistants trained to deliver English and maths intervention programmes

• Key teaching assistants trained to deliver social and emotional programmes (e.g. Friends, Lego Therapy)

• All teaching assistants trained to deliver phonics interventions

• Some teaching assistants hold Higher Level Teaching Assistant Status

• Key teaching assistants have had Paediatric emergency first aid training

• All teaching assistants have received up to date training on epi-pen and individual children’s specific needs

• Some teaching assistants are bilingual.

Who else might be involved in supporting my child?

If your child is identified as needing SEN Support the following may be involved in supporting your child:

• Educational Psychologist

• STT (Specialist Teaching Team Service)

• Speech and Language Therapist (SALT)

• ESCO Service

• Sensory Impairment Lincolnshire County Services (SILCS)

• School Nurse

• Occupational Therapy

• Physiotherapy

• The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

• The Working Together Team including Social Communication Outreach

• Healthy Minds Service

• Hearing Impaired Service

• Social Services/Child Protection

• Family GPs

• Specialist Family Practitioner for the Oncology and Bereavement Team

• Behaviour Outreach Support Service (BOSS)

• Pupil Reintegration Team

What support will there be for my child’s emotional and social well-being?

Supporting children in their emotional and social well-being is an integral part of our curriculum for all children at Spalding Primary Academy.

If your child has a long or short term medical illness then please refer to the Medical Needs and Intimate Care policies which outline the level of care and support provided at our school.

There are many teachers and teaching assistants, including the SLT whom children can talk to if they are worried.

Our themed assemblies support the children’s personal development. Outside agencies support within all areas including social, mental and emotional health, such as CASY Counselling and Healthy Minds.

Our school has a restorative Behaviour policy which outlines a firm but fair approach for all children. Rewards and sanctions are sometimes personalised to suit a child’s particular needs.

We offer a wide variety of after school and before school clubs which change termly. There are opportunities, with the additional funding of Pupil Premium, to ensure children can access after school clubs and trips.

How will my child be able to contribute their views and be involved in the process?

Your child will be able to contribute at all SEND reviews and throughout the whole Assess/Plan/Do/Review process. They can have their views and needs expressed at the reviews, discussions with the class teacher or their views can be sought through pupil interviews, informal discussions, through Feelings Art, Social Stories, etc.

How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?

Class teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class, and will ensure that your child’s needs are met. This includes having any child’s IEP (Individual Education Plan) or EHCP (Education Health and Care Plan) alongside their planning to ensure children with SEND have their needs met.

Specially trained support staff can adapt the teachers planning to support the needs of your child where necessary.

Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.

Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis, if needed, to meet your child’s learning needs.

• In EYFS Assessments are based on the Early Learning Goals Ages and Stages.

• His/her progress is reviewed formally every term in English and maths using objectives from the National Curriculum.

• Children in Year 1 are required to complete the National Phonics Screen that will assess their ability to read real and pseudo words.

• At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATs). This is something the Government requires all schools to do and are the results that are published nationally.

• The progress of children with an EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education.

• The SENCO will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work and in any group that they take part in.

• Outside professionals also provide school with further in depth assessments. These are usually from the EP, STT, SALT.

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

Your child will be allowed to attend any school club allocated to their specific year group. We endeavour to make all activities accessible for all. Where there may be some extra arrangements to be made, you can arrange to meet with the club leader to ensure safety and inclusivity for your child.

How accessible is the school environment?

ICT

Our school has an IT Suite which has enough laptops that all staff can access to support the curriculum. All classrooms have iPads that children can use and all Teachers and Teaching Assistants have their own iPad.

Home Learning

Children's home learning is set on an online learning platform called Seesaw. Children who do not have access to a  device are offered one on loan from school in order that they can complete their home learni9ng set by the teacher. 

Facilities

The building is accessible to children with physical disabilities via ramps from some external doorways. There are disabled car parking spaces in the car park.

How will the school prepare and support my child to join the school?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.

The Reception class teachers do some pre-school visits in the summer term before the children enter our school in Reception class. They speak with your child and their key workers to gain as much information about your child as possible. If your child has already been identified as having special educational needs then the SENDCO will have been invited to attend a meeting at the pre-school setting. Your child will also have visits to our school in the summer term where they will get to meet the teachers, other children that will be starting the school with them and the new school environment.

Full time and full days can be difficult and tiring for children initially, so as soon as September arrives your child will have some staggered days in to school.

Each year at our school, your child will have the opportunity to meet with their next class teacher in their new classroom. On-going meetings, IEPs, reports, etc, are shared with the next class teacher so they are aware of and able to continue with the support required.

How will the school prepare and support my child to transfer to a new setting/school?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible.

If your child is moving to another school:

• We will contact the school SENCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.

• We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.

When moving classes in school:

• Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. All IEPs and/or EHCPs will be shared with the new teacher.

• Additional support, to take account of children’s individual needs, can be arranged, e.g. a child friendly book of photos and additional information to support the transition from one setting to another.

In Year 6:

• Your child will do focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead.

• A member of staff from the secondary school settings comes to visit and meet with the children who will be attending their school. Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school. Many hold open evenings for parents to attend in order to support your decision making process about which school is the right choice for your child.

• If your child has already been identified as having special educational needs, then the SENDCO at our school meets with all the secondary school SENDCOs during the final term of Year 6. Details of the pupil's needs are passed on to the new SENDCO, along with details of what support has been in place at our school to help them. Our SENDCO passes on information about any outside agencies that have been involved and all SEND paperwork is passed on, including documents such as IEPs and outside agency reports. The receiving secondary school will then have all the relevant information needed to put support in place as soon as your child joins them in Year 7.

How can I be involved in supporting my child?

You can support your child by attending parents’ evenings, helping them to complete their homework to a good standard and on time, ensuring your child gets to school on time and with all the appropriate equipment, talking to the class teacher if you have any concerns about your child, providing lots of opportunities to speak and have conversations with your child, read and practise number skills. Teachers are more than happy to share any ideas they have with you so you can top up the learning at home.

How can I access support for myself and my family?

By looking at the Lincolnshire's Local Offer, you will see a list of all the services available to you and your child. You can arrange to meet with our SENCO who might also be able to point you in the right direction.

Who can I contact for further information?

Mr A Raistrick – Executive Headteacher (appointment to be made)

Miss S Beresford  Heads of School - available five days a week between 8:30am and 4:00pm (appointment to be made)

Mrs L Morgan - SENDCO - available five days a week between 8:30am and 4:00pm (appointment to be made)

Class teachers – available five days a week (appointments to be made for more formal meetings)

What are the admission arrangements for pupils with SEND?

Our admissions and exclusion arrangements are fair and transparent, and do not discriminate on race, gender, disability or socio-economic factors. The equality Act 2010 prohibits schools from discriminating against disabled children in respect of admissions for a reason related to their disability.

In accordance with legislation the allocation of places for children with the following will take place first; Statement of Special Educational Needs (Education Act 1996) or Education, Health and Care Plan (Children and Families Act 2014). Remaining places will be allocated in accordance with Spalding Primary Academy's Admissions Policy.