Policy for Additional and Special Educational Needs and Disability
for MenorahFoundationSchool

Last updated: January 2017

Guiding Principles

This policy has been formulated with regard to the January 2015SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 Years, the Equality Act 2010 and the Children and Families Act 2014.

  • In this school we have high expectations and set suitable targets for all pupils.
  • In this school a special educational need is defined in accordance with the 2015 SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 Years.
  • All pupils are entitled to access the full school curriculum and to take part in every aspect of school life, unless there is a specified modification or disapplication outlined in an individual pupil’s Statement of Special Educational Needs or EHCP (Education and Health Care Plan)

All teachers are teachers of special educational needs. We recognise that it is the teacher’s responsibility to meet the needs of all children in their class through their classroom organisation, teaching materials, teaching style and differentiation. However, if the pupil does not make adequate progress even when teaching approaches are targeted at a pupil’s identified area of weakness, then the pupil may be identified as having special educational needs.

Some pupils find work difficult because their first language is not English. They do not have special educational needs unless they also have a learning difficulty. Their needs are explained in our EAL policy.

Guiding Principle

Our guiding principle is one of Inclusion. We want to identify and break down possible barriers to learning.

Objectives in making provision for pupils with SEN

  • We value all the pupils in our school equally.
  • To ensure that all pupils have equal access to a broad, balanced curriculum which is differentiated to meet individual needs and abilities.
  • The aims of education for pupils with difficulties and disabilities are the same as those for all pupils.
  • It is the responsibility of all teachers to identify and meet the SEN of pupils. In this they can draw on the resources of the whole school.
  • Every child is entitled to have his or her particular needs recognised and addressed.
  • To offer high quality support to ensure that all needs are met.
  • To maximise the opportunities for students with special educational needs to join in with all the activities of the school.
  • All pupils are entitled to experience success.
  • Consideration of SEN crosses all curriculum areas and all aspects of teaching and learning.
  • Good special needs practice is good practice for all pupils.
  • Any pupils may encounter difficulties in school at some stage.
  • All special educational provision is more effective if pupils and parents are fully involved.
  • To seek the views of the child and take them into account.
  • To acknowledge and draw on parent knowledge and expertise in relation to their child.

This policy will contribute to achieving these objectives by ensuring that provision for pupils with SEN is a matter for the whole school and is a part of the continuous cycle of assess, plan, do, review.

Terms:

  • SEN: Special Educational Needs. A person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. At compulsory school age this means 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 facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools. Taken from 2015SEN Code of Practice: 0 to 25 Years – Introduction xiii and xiv.
  • SEND: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
  • AN: Additional Needs. Not identified as a Special Educational Needs but a need nonetheless that is creating a barrier to learning. This could include a social need.
  • ASEND: a broader term that refers to an additional or special educational need or a need arising from a disability that requires service additional to that which is normally offered in school.

Objectives

  • To identify, at the earliest possible opportunity, barriers to learning and participation for pupils with ASEND (see also curriculum and assessment policies)
  • To ensure that every pupil experiences success in their learning and achieves to the highest possible standard
  • To enable all pupils to participate in lessons fully and effectively
  • To value and encourage the contribution of all pupils to the life of the school
  • To work in partnership with parents
  • To communicate with the Governing Body to enable them to fulfil their monitoring role with regard to the Policy Statement for ASEND
  • To work closely with external support agencies, where appropriate, to support the need of individual pupils
  • To ensure that all staff have access to training and advice to support quality teaching and learning for all pupils

Responsibilities and Resources

The SENCO and Kodesh (religious studies) SENCOs, in collaboration with the Headteacher and Governing Body, are responsible for the operation of this policy and co-ordination of special needs provision, working closely with staff, parents and carers, and other agencies.

The SENCO and Kodesh SENCO, also provide professional guidance to colleagues to secure high quality teaching for pupils with SEN. Mrs Ruthanne Sireling currently holds the post of SENCO and Mrs Ruth Ehreich and Mrs Sarah strassman currently hold the position of Kodesh (religious studies) SENCOs. Their responsibilities include:

  • Day-to-day management of all aspects of the school’s work in relation to inclusion, including provision for children on the inclusion register and with an individual plan
  • Ensuring that children on the inclusion register are enabled to make good progress academically and in their social, emotional and physical development
  • Strategic responsibility for leading and developing the school’s high quality provision for Inclusion
  • Leading the development, evaluation and review of school policies and practice on inclusion, ensuring compliance with all statutory requirements
  • Reporting to the Headteacher, Mr Stuart Fink and deputy Head teacher Mrs Karen Kent on changes to the inclusion register and the impact of interventions
  • Reporting termly and annually to the Governing Body on Inclusion, in accordance with the 2014 SEND Code of Practice 2014: 0 to 25 years

The duties of the Governing Body are set out in the SEN Code of Practice, November 2001, section 1:21. The SEN Governor for this school is Mrs Hayley Phillips.

Specialisms

  • Mrs Ruthanne Sireling SENCO has the RSA SPLD diploma and has attended an ASD course for half a day a term in Brent and 2 day SCERTS training with Emily Rubin December 2016 , a 2-day solution-focussed therapy course, Designated Person Child Protection & Safeguarding training level 3 (most recently June 2016), ADHD training, emotional intelligence training, behaviour management training, working with TAs training, Lego therapy training, social stories training, paired reading and precision teaching training, received regular training from Brent in OT, SALT, and other specialist areas and now attends Barnet termly SENCO network training giving local and national updates and workshops, Barnet training for SENCOs new to Barnet and the Jewish SENCOs termly network meetings
  • Mrs Naomi Klein is qualified in Jenny Mosley Circle time training and comes in half a day per week
  • Mrs Natasha Polack is a qualified art therapist who comes into school one afternoon a week.
  • There are 2 specialist TAs trained in feeding, physiotherapy and personal care for a pupil with Cerebal Palsy and another teacher is qualified in feeding and personal care of that pupil.
  • There is one specialist TA for a pupil with ASD.
  • TAs accompany pupils for SALT sessions and are trained by the speech and language therapist to carry out therapies.

Professional development

A comprehensive programme of Continuing Professional Development for inclusion is planned according to the school pupil profile. Professional development to support Inclusion Autumn 2016 has included:

  • Whole school safeguarding training by Helen Elliot
  • Whole school first aid training by specialist trainers
  • The SENCO went on SCERTS training
  • Staff attended ASD training at Barnet
  • Staff attended sensory processing and sensory diet training at Barnet
  • Barnet intensive ASD support has been provided weekly
  • Feeding, personal care, SALT, OT and physiotherapy training has been provided where needed

Facilities for Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

We have facilities for disabled pupils and visitors with ramps for wheel chairs and disabled toilets

The school will have regard to the Equality Act 2010, the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Code of Practice 2014: 0 to 25 years in terms of admitting pupils with disabilities. Wherever possible, we will make reasonable adjustments, including anticipatory adjustments, for pupils, parents, staff and visitors with disabilities. These may include relocating activities or meetings to accessible ground floor rooms, where possible.

Anticipatory adjustments that the school has made include the construction of an access ramp for the main school building.

There are facilities for small group/individual teaching and pastoral work in the conservatory, the SENCO room, the Kodesh 1:1 room, the library, rooms at the top of the new building and one at the top of the main school building.

The Equality Policy and Plan and the Medical Conditions Policy should be read in conjunction with this policy.

Resources

Funding for inclusion support is secured through:

  • the school’s delegated budget, in accordance with the local schools funding formula which is £45,347
  • funding for pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an EHC Plan

This funding is used:

  • to employ additional support staff
  • to provide specialist staff training and guidance
  • to commission specialist external therapy, teaching support, assessment and evaluation of children’s needs
  • to provide specialist teaching resources
  • to support the inclusion of pupils in school activities including off-site visits
  • to provide whole-school leadership and provision for inclusion

Priority in the allocation of Pupil Premium funding is given to supporting the inclusion and educational progress of those pupils who attract the Pupil Premium, where appropriate. Priority in the allocation of Statement and EHC funding is given to supporting the inclusion and educational progress of those pupils who attract the funding.

Identification, Assessment and Review

The school follows the SEND Code of Practice 2014: 0 to 25 yearsfour-stage graduated approach for the identification, assessment and review of pupils with special educational needs:

Assess: Class teacher and SENCO clearly analyse a pupil’s needs before identifying a child as needing support.

Plan: parents are notified wherever it is decided that a pupil may require additional support. The support is carefully planned to meet the child’s identified needs.

Do: the class teacher is responsible for teaching and supporting the child on a daily basis and for monitoring progress. Where interventions involve group or 1:1 teaching away from the main teacher, they still retain responsibility for that pupil’s learning and for monitoring progress. Interventions are recorded, together with information about the pupil’s learning and progress, and are assessed and evaluated.

Review: the effectiveness of the support is reviewed. The SENCO and Kodesh SENCO meet to discuss pupil progress and pupils whose review is about to take place. Kodesh and chol teachers meet regularly and before every IP meeting to ensure that they have a holistic view of their pupil and are aware of current assessment of the pupil in both Kodesh and Chol in order to present a cohesive report.

Pupils on the inclusion register receive an appropriately differentiated curriculum. Any member of staff can raise initial concerns/issues about a child with a potential SEN or other barrier to learning,with the class teacher, Kodesh SENCO,SENCO, Head of Kodesh Deputy Headteacheror Headteacher.

We use a range of internal and external assessment data to help identify children at risk of underachievement or needing additional support. These include e.g. relevant family/medical history, Foundation Stage Profiles, P Scales, half-termly Teacher Assessments, screening tests, SATs results, RAISEOnline data, FFT data, Teaching Assistant assessments, reading/spelling/phonological awareness tests; behaviour observations, and ongoing teacher assessment.

Categories of SEN – Broad Areas of Need

We recognise the four broad categories of SEND that are identified in the 2014 Code of Practice:

1. Communication and Interaction, including:

  • SLCN (Speech, Language and Communication Needs)
  • ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorders / Conditions)

2. Cognition and Learning: when children learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. They include:

  • MLD (Moderate Learning Difficulties)
  • SLD (Severe Learning Difficulties – where pupils are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication)
  • PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties – where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment)
  • SpLD (Specific Learning Difficulties affecting one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia)

3. Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties. They include e.g.:

  • Wide range of difficulties that manifest themselves in many ways e.g. becoming isolated, withdrawn, displaying challenging, disruptive behaviour. They may reflect underlying mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or other physical symptoms that are medically unexplained.
  • ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
  • ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder)
  • Attachment Disorder

4. Sensory and/or Physical Needs, including:

  • Visual Impairment
  • Hearing Impairment
  • Multi-Sensory Impairment
  • Physical Disability

Special Educational Needs

If a child is formally identified as having SEN or SEND by an external agency, with the agreement or parents/carers he is placed on the SEN register. If he is either not making expected progress in Kodesh and or Chol, or is achieving at a significantly lower level than national expectations for his age, a decision may be made to request formal assessment for an EHC Plan (Education and Health Care Plan). An application will ordinarily only be made following two full cycles of Assess, Plan, Do, Review (as above), covering at least two terms.

Review Meetings

Review meetings with the Kodesh SENCO andSENCO are held termly with parents for all pupils on the SEN register. Representatives from external support agencies may also be invited, if appropriate. If a decision is made at the meeting to draw up a new individual plan the Kodesh SENCO and SENCO will file a copy centrally and send a copy to parents/carers, teachers, r and any external agency that is involved.

Other children have an IP where we feel one is needed and these pupils have a review during the autumn term and during the spring term the review may take place during parents’ evening.

For pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Need or an EHC Plan, reviews may be more frequent depending upon need. An Annual Review is also held to review progress towards objectives/outcomes outlined in the Statement/EHCP. A copy of the review report is sent to all invitees, including parents/carers, and the SEN Team.

For children issued with a Statement of Special Educational Need or EHC Plan, there will be an additional review no later than 6 weeks after the issue date. The SEN Team will be involved as well as any other external agencies.

The SEN Register and inclusion register

The registers are updated termly to take into account summative assessment results. Class teachers who wish to nominate additional pupils to be placed on the SEN register will provide the following evidence to the SENCO:

  • Class record (e.g. Record of Concern)
  • Results from any curriculum tests
  • Evidence of strategies already in place
  • National Curriculum levels, attainment in relation to year group expectation, or P Scales
  • A piece of unaided work from the curriculum area(s) where the pupil is experiencing difficulties
  • Other relevant information e.g. medical, family circumstances, etc
  • Overall Teacher Assessment
  • Written evidence of communication with parents
  • Kodesh assessments

Curriculum

Pupils have access to a differentiated, broad and balanced curriculum with their needs identified in planning documents and Individual Plans.

To enable access to the curriculum for pupils on the provision map/inclusion register, the school provides e.g.:

  • Specialist teachers
  • Teaching Assistants
  • Individual teaching programmes
  • Individual timetables
  • Intervention resources
  • Specialist equipment
  • Visual, OT, sensory and physiotherapy programmes as advised by professionals

The School Offer, and its place within the Barnet Local Offer, are made available on the school website.

Complaints

The school works in partnership with parents to ensure a collaborative approach to meeting pupils’ needs. All complaints are taken seriously and are heard through the school’s complaints policy and procedure.

External Support

Agencies with which the school works include:

  • The Barnet Educational Psychology Service
  • Barnet visual impairment service
  • Barnet Speech and Language service
  • Norwood Speech and Language service
  • Oak Lane occupational therapy and physiotherapy service
  • BINOH – specialist unit, educational psychology service, specialist teachers and rebbes
  • Behaviour Support Service
  • Autistic Spectrum Disorder Team - Barnet
  • The School Nurse
  • Education Welfare Service
  • Parent-Partnership Service
  • Special Schools
  • Specialist Inclusion Services (e.g. ASD Team)
  • Children’s Social Care
  • Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
  • Tavistock Clinic
  • Parent Partnership
  • Hackney social care

The school will also seek support from other voluntary and private agencies as required.