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Special Education Needs

We are a fully inclusive school who ensures that all pupils achieve their potential personally, socially, emotionally and academically.

We do this in all areas of the curriculum regardless of their gender, ethnicity, social background, religion, physical ability or special educational needs, (SEND).

This page is intended to give you information regarding the ways in which we ensure we support all of our pupils, including those with SEND, in order that they can realise their full potential. It may not list every skill, resource and technique we employ in order to achieve this, as these are continually developed and used to modify our provision, to meet the changing requirements for individual pupils.

Children are identified as having SEND when their progress has slowed or stopped and the interventions, resources etc. put in place do not enable improvement. Once this occurs, we have specific Learning Plans and One Page Profiles which help support their development and accelerate progress. Children at Co-op Academy Woodslee make good progress and achieve in line with other schools nationally with SEND. Other useful documents such as our SEND/Inclusion policy and our Disability Equality Scheme and Access Plan are available on the school website. If you would like any further information about what we offer here then please do not hesitate to contact us directly.

The Local Offer provides a wealth of information for parents and carers as well as schools.

How We Will Support Your Child

Class teachers are responsible for:

  • Ensuring that all children have access to good/outstanding teaching and that the curriculum is adapted to meet your child’s individual needs (also known as differentiation);
  • Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support, adapting resources etc..) and discussing amendments with the SENDCo as necessary;
  • Writing Learning Plans, also sometimes called Individual Education Plans (IEP), and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next term;
  • Ensuring that all members of staff working with your child in school are aware of your child’s individual needs and/or conditions and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and make progress;
  • Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are supported in delivering the planned work/programme for your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources;
  • Ensuring that the school’s Special educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

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 receiving;
    • involved in reviewing how they are progressing;
    • fully involved planning ahead for them.
  • Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc…
  • Updating the school’s SEND record of need, (a system for ensuring all the special educational, physical and sensory needs of pupils in this school are known and understood) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs;
  • Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help your child (and other pupils with SEN and/or disabilities in the school) to achieve their potential;
  • Supporting your child’s class teacher to write Learning Plans, also sometimes called Individual Education Plans (IEP) that specify the targets set for your child to achieve;
  • Organising training for staff so they are aware and confident about how to meet the needs of your child and others within our school.

The SEND governor will be responsible for:

  • Making sure that the school has an up to date SEND Policy;
  • Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all children in the school;
  • Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEN and/or disabilities;
  • Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to children with SEND in the school and being part of the process to ensure your child achieves his/her potential in school.

How We Will Support You

  • The SENDCo may meet with you to discuss how to support your child;
  • The class teacher will 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 be used at home.

Children on the SEND Register

  • If a pupil has needs related to more specific areas of their education, such as spelling, handwriting, numeracy & literacy skills etc. then the pupil will be placed in a small focus group. This will be run by the teacher or teaching assistant. The length of time of the intervention will vary according to need but will generally be for a term. The interventions will be regularly reviewed by all involved to ascertain the effectiveness of the provision and to inform future planning;
  • If you have any queries related to the interventions please do not hesitate to contact the class teacher or SENDCo;
  • In addition to interventions during the school day, Co-op Academy Woodslee offers focused teaching of Literacy and Numeracy outside of their usual classroom time for children who are significantly below before or after school;
  • Pupil Progress Meetings are held each term. This is a meeting where the class teacher meets with their Team Leader, a member of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss the progress of the pupils in their class. This shared discussion may highlight any potential problems in order for further support to be planned which will be discussed and implemented by the SENDCo;
  • Occasionally a pupil may need more expert support from outside agencies such as Orrets Meadow, a programme which is delivered within school from a specialist teacher and one of our Teaching Assistants;
  • Sometimes children need to be referred to outside agencies for further assessment we work closely with the Educational Psychologist, Speech And Language Therapist (SALT), Occupational Therapist (OT), Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) Team and Paediatricians. 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;
  • When a pupil has been identified with special needs their work will be adapted by the class teacher to enable them to access the curriculum more easily;
  • 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, concentration cushions, pen/pencils grips or easy to use scissors.

Transition

Co-op Academy Woodslee understands what a stressful time moving schools can be, therefore, many strategies are in place to enable the pupil’s transition to be as smooth as possible. These include:

  • Meetings between the previous or receiving schools prior to the pupil joining/leaving;
  • All children have a transition fortnight at the end of the Summer Term where they spend the time with their new class teacher;
  • The SENDCo is always willing to meet parents/carers prior to their child joining the school;
  • Additional visits to secondary schools are arranged by the SENDCo for pupils who need extra time in their new school;
  • Secondary school staff visit pupils prior to them joining their new school;
  • The Woodslee SENDCo meets the SENDCo from the secondary schools to pass on information regarding pupils with SEND;
  • Where a pupil may have more specialised needs, a separate meeting is arranged with the Woodslee SENDCo, the secondary school SENDCo, the parents/carers and where appropriate the pupil.

Allocated Resources

  • The Headteacher decides on the budget for SEND in consultation with governors, on the basis of need in the school;
  • The SEND budget is allocated each financial year. The money is used to provide additional support or resources dependent on an individual’s needs;
  • The additional provision may be allocated after discussion with the class teacher, the SENDCO, medical professionals and the child’s parents, 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 SENDCo will investigate further support or advice from outside agencies if required;
  • Individual Pupil Premium payments are used to support pupil learning.

All parents are encouraged to contribute to their child’s education through:

  • Discussions with the class teacher;
  • During parents evenings;
  • During discussions with the SENDCo or other professionals;

If you wish to discuss your child’s educational needs please contact:

  • Your child’s class teacher.
  • Our SENDCo – Mrs Leanne McGowan via the school office.
  • The Headteacher.

 

Additional information for parents

Does your child need some support around feelings and bereavement – click play below to watch this very simple but effective video.

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