Special Educational Needs and Disability Provision at Wilton and Barford C of E Primary School

Wilton and Barford C of E Primary School

SEND Information Report

Special Educational Needs and Disability Provision at Wilton and Barford C of E Primary School

From September 2014 all schools and academies are required to publish information about their Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision. In Wiltshire, this will form part of a SEND Information Report and details about our SEND provision and that of the Local Authority. Please see the link to the Wiltshire Local Offer website below.

In September 2014 the new SEN Code of Practice came into force. This focuses on providing the right support for children and young people from 0 to 25 who have a special educational need and / or a disability. It also gives parents and carers a greater say in what appropriate provision is for their child.

The new Code of Practice sees the phased ending of Action, Action Plus and Statements as a means to categorising SEND – instead where there is a need, children will be identified as requiring extra support either through SEN Support, or for those where there will be a higher level of support, the child will be provided with an Education and Healthcare Plan (EHC). In Wiltshire, the EHC is referred to as a ‘My Plan’, meaning that it is owned by the child.

Below are a set of questions that will help you understand more about SEND and our approach to SEND at Wilton and Barford.

What kinds of special educational needs are provided for WB?

Wilton and Barford Primary School has an inclusive ethos where all children are “Inspired to Learn, Supported to Succeed and Encouraged to Excel.”

We are proud to be able to provide an inclusive education for children who may have:

·  Cognition and learning needs

·  Communication and interaction needs

·  Physical and medical needs

·  Behavioural, social and emotional needs

·  Sensory needs

The school currently has a resource base for ten children with communication and interaction (including autism) needs (CIRB). The resource base is currently over-subscribed with eleven children on roll. The CIRB caters for children from EYFS to Year 6. There is currently one teacher and two SEN TAs. There is also a Speech and Language therapist employed by the NHS for 0.75 day a week.

How do we identify children and young people with SEN and their needs?

Prior to starting school a child may have already been identified with a Special Educational Need or Disability. Where this is the case, we work closely with parents and supporting agencies to ensure transition into school is as smooth as possible and to plan so that good achievement is made by that child.

In school we make regular assessments of children and record their progress against the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in reception, or against the National Curriculum for children from Year 1 to Year 6. We also monitor closely children’s emotional and behavioural wellbeing. Where assessments show a child is not operating at age related expectations, or they are making less than expected progress, or if they are finding it difficult to make friends or behave appropriately, we will use our professional judgement to ascertain if the child may have a Special Educational Need.

Once we have considered the possibility that a child may have a Special Educational Need, we will, in the first instance, approach that child’s parents or carers todiscuss our concerns. In agreement with parents we will then assess the specific issue that is preventing the child making progress, or is preventing them from making friends, or behaving appropriately.

To make our assessments, in most cases we use a ‘toolkit’ provided by SEND services at Wiltshire Council called the ‘Graduated Response to SEND Support’ (GRSS)’. To assess for a specific learning difficulty we use WESFORD pupil profile and games and resources to develop key skills.

Once we have made our assessments we will be able to ascertain whether we can adapt our class based provision to meet a child’s needs or whether we need to involve outside agencies. Again, parents will be kept informed and included in the decision making process. At every stage of the identification process, we will also involve the young person.

Of course, if you have concerns that your child may need additional support, you should approach the school at your earliest convenience.

Our current SEN policy can be found on the School’s website, or you can request a copy via our school office.

Who are our SEND team?

Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Mrs Bev Davis. She has overall responsibility for leading school development in SEND. Our SENDCO is contactable via the school in writing at:

Wilton and Barford Primary School

Burcombe Lane

Wilton

Salisbury

SP2 0ES

Or via the school telephone on 01722 742621

How do we consult with parents of children who have SEND?

Where we have an initial concern it is most likely that your child’s class teacher or SENDCo will approach you either informally if the opportunity presents itself or via telephone to discuss concerns and next steps.

If your child has been identified as having SEND and outside agencies are involved, you will be invited to attend a meeting at least once a year to discuss your child’s provision. Parent/teacher meetings are available twice a year, at which time you can also meet with the SENDCo.

We welcome contact outside of formal meetings so that we can all work together to find the best provision for children with SEND.

How do we consult with children who have SEND?

Class teachers will consult regularly with children who have outcomes planned for them individually, and how they feel they are progressing towards meeting those outcomes. Children will also be part of any review meetings and will be asked to give their views either on paper (where a child has a difficulty that prevents them from drawing or writing a teaching assistant or teacher might work with that child to complete any written evidence) and /or in person at the review meeting.

What arrangements are in place for assessing and reviewing children and young people’s progress towards outcomes and what opportunities are available to work with parents and young people as part of the assessment and review?

Young people with SEND will be invited to participate in any formal meeting that is organised to review progress towards meeting outcomes.

Parent evenings are offered in term 1, term 4 and term 6 to discuss progress towards meeting outcomes.

The school holds Pupil Progress meetings termly when progress towards outcomes is discussed through focussed and structured conversations. Parents of target children are invited to school for a meeting to discuss progress towards outcomes. This is in addition to any formal parent teacher consultations.

All parents are offered support on how to work with their children outside of school through termly class newsletters and other events that are held for parents on how to help their child make progress.

What arrangements are in place for supporting children and young people moving between year groups in school and for moving from the primary phase to the secondary phase of education?

Towards the end of each school year, class teachers meet to share information to help make transition from one year group into another as seamless as possible for all pupils. Children also experience some time with their new class teachers. For children with SEND, this provision may be increased and a new class teacher might, for example, provide a small book to a child who finds change difficult so that child knows what to expect when they move class.

For Year 6 children, the SENDCO will arrange to meet with transition workers and SENDCOs from receiving secondary schools and a firm plan for transition will be made. This may include extra visits to the receiving school. Children will meet these adults and will be involved in the transition process. Parents will also be kept informed about these meetings. Transition booklets may be completed for their new setting.

For children starting school with SEND, Transition into School Meetings (TISM) are held with key workers from nursery schools, SEND Lead workers, parents, class teacher and any outside agency professionals.

How do we approach teaching children and young people with SEND?

We aspire for all children to achieve their potential and have high expectations of all learners, including children with SEND. As an inclusive school we:

·  adapt our learning environment

·  hold Teacher and SENDCo meetings in Terms 1,3, and 5 to discuss outcomes

·  teachers differentiate planning so that individuals have personalised learning outcomes:

·  withdraw children from class for short periods of time so that any gaps in learning can be

closed;

·  provide intervention support

·  provide extra adult support in class so that children are focussed on accessing the curriculum;

·  meet regularly in staff teams to discuss provision and if it needs to be adapted;

·  liaise with outside agencies, including medical professionals, to receive the best advice to

support children’s learning

·  adapt buildings and furniture if necessary so that children are not restricted from using the

school fully.

Every child and every need is individual and therefore we offer a personalised approach to children with SEND. We will endeavour to always involve parents and children in developing the best provision so that children have the best possible school experience.

What adaptations are made to the curriculum and learning environment for children with SEND?

In our curriculum, and depending upon the need of the child, we make adaptions so that children can access learning. These include:

·  breaking curriculum content down into small parts;

·  visual timetables

·  provide visual resources so children are able to access learning

·  personalised curriculum for more complex SEND children

It may also be necessary to make physical adaptions in the school building to allow children with SEND to access learning. Adaptions could include:

·  specialist furniture;

·  installation of induction loops for children with hearing difficulties;

·  seating arranged so that there is line of sight to important resources and the class teacher;

·  access to specialist IT equipment;

·  modifications to toilet facilities;

·  widening of entry and exit points; and

·  installation of ramps and removal of stairs to allow wheel chair access.

What interventions do we use to support SEND?

We use a range of interventions, run by trained TAs, to support children’s learning in reading, writing and maths. These include:

·  Sound Discovery phonics programme

·  Catchup literacy (reading and writing)

·  Numicon

·  Toe by Toe

·  Daily/frequent reading, phonics/spelling groups

·  Handwriting groups

·  Nippy Numbers (using Cuisenaire) or 1st Class maths – maths support in Years 1 and 2

·  Use of Numicon

·  Precision teaching – reading of high frequency words/phonics/x tables

·  Booster groups with Year 6

·  1-1 support for phonics

·  Personalised and targeted support for children with EHCP

ELSA

We have 3 trained ELSAs in school. They work with small groups of children for social skills, friendships skills and anger management, or 1-1 with children with emotional needs. One of the ELSAs is trained as a counsellor.

Speech and Language Therapy Assistant

The school has also employed a Speech and Language therapy assistant to work with children across the school to develop early communication, phonic awareness and narrative skills. One of her primary roles is the early identification of children’s speech, language and communication needs for early intervention. Some of the interventions that she uses to support include:

·  BLAST programme – to support listening and attention in Reception class

·  Colourful Semantics – Early narrative skills

·  Talkboost – Supports attention and listening, verbal sentence building and vocabulary

·  Makaton Story telling – Supports speaking and listening through signs, story mapping and acting out

·  Attention Autism – using a bucket and interesting objects!

·  Shape and colour coding to support literacy topic (Extension of Colourful Semantics)

·  Memory and vocabulary building, around topic/English - Teaching memory strategies and

how to generalise into the classroom

·  Working memory and inference group, including higher level thinking

·  Individual children’s speech and language targets for those who are being supported

by SALT

As a school we have a holistic approach to supporting children. Some of the support groups that we use are:

·  Play Therapy (Counselling)

Works with 2 children once a week for approximately 10 weeks – targeted for emotional needs

·  Family Link Partner

·  SpLD support – for children with dyslexia or reading difficulties

·  11+ club

·  Parent Counselling

·  Behaviour Support – supporting 1-1 on specific behaviour targets, usually for one term, working

in conjunction with Teacher/TA, generalising strategies into the classroom

·  Occupational Therapy – fine and gross motor skills (water therapy in summer months). Our sports coach runs a gross motor skills group before school, and a lunchtime group

·  Lego social skills – to support children with social communication difficulties or Autism

·  Riding for the Disabled – children from our Resource Base attend riding lessons 3 or 4 times a year at the local Wilton group stables.

How do we ensure that our staff are trained to support children and young people with SEND?

The SENDCo has a PGDip in Supporting Vulnerable Learners, which included a module in autism.

The school SENDCO, Mrs Bev Davis has a nationally recognised SENDCo qualification and has studied many modules for supporting vulnerable learners. She attends regular updates on SEND provision and disseminates this to colleagues.

Staff have received training in:

·  Speech, Language and Communication Needs,

·  Supporting Autism,

·  Attachment Disorder

·  Behaviour management and de-escalation through BSS

·  Inclusive classrooms

·  Transgender support

We also send other staff on relevant continuing professional development courses so that they are equipped to teach children with SEND.