School SEND Offer

Children and young people with SEN have different needs, but the general presumption is that all children with SEN but without an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) are welcome to apply for a place at our school in line with the school admissions policy. For a child with an EHCP, parents have the right to request a school that is suitable for their child’s needs.

Special educational needs and provision can be considered as falling under four broad areas:

• Communication and interaction

• Cognition and learning

• Social, mental and emotional health

• Sensory and/or physical

Communication and interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

Cognition and learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication. Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder or Attachment Disorder.

 or Attachment Disorder.

Sensory and/or physical needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties, which makes it even more difficult for them to access the curriculum or study programme than for those with a single sensory impairment.

Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers. 

Our SENCo - Mrs Smith and assistant SENCO – Mrs Hammond are responsible for:

• Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (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, in line with changes at statutory and at school level.

• 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 eg. Speech and Language Therapy; Educational Psychology; Occupational health, 

• 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 appropriate 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.

Our class teachers are responsible for:

• Providing quality first teaching including adapting the curriculum as appropriate

• Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering/co-ordinating the delivery of any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) in conjunction with our SENCO as appropriate.

• Planning appropriately and setting achievable, measurable suitably challenging targets based on any previous progress. Sharing and reviewing these with parents termly.

• Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are helped to deliver 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 SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

Our Headteacher - Mrs Amos is responsible for:

• The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.

• Delegating responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers whilst still ensuring that your child's needs are met.

• Communicating appropriately to the Governing Body to make sure that they are kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

SEN Governor – Mr S Mutsigwa is responsible for:

• Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND.

• Attending liaison meetings with the SENCO.

Walsall Getting it right for SEND guidance and Banding  document and Walsall SEN toolkit are used to identify interventions and support.

Class teacher input via quality, differentiated, targeted classroom teaching also known as Quality First Teaching

For your child this would mean:

• 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.

• That the teacher is also aware of the need to revisit, revise and consolidate as appropriate within the differing groups in her/his classroom.

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

• Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCO or outside staff) are in place to support your child to learn.

• Your child's teacher will have checked on your child's progress and will have identified gaps in their understanding/learning; this will then trigger a need for some type of extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

All children in school should be getting this as a part of quality classroom practice when needed.

Where it is decided that special educational provision is required, parents will be informed and their partnership sought in order to improve attainment. 

Action relating to SEN support will follow an assess, plan, do and review model with the parent’s and child’s involvement throughout.

Support may be as follows;

Specific group work within a smaller group of children

This group, often called an intervention or booster group in school, may be run

• in the classroom

• in a smaller teaching area in school;

and may be facilitated by a teacher or a Teaching assistant, who has had appropriate training to run these groups.

For your child this would mean:

• He/she will engage in group sessions with specific targets to help him/her to make more progress regularly for an identified period of time.

• A Learning Support Assistant/teacher will run these small group sessions using the teacher's plan.

• The groups are flexible, continual teacher/formal assessment ensures your child is making progress within the intervention group and the curriculum is appropriately matched to their needs.

This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning. 

If progress rates are still inadequate despite the support, advice will be sought from external agencies regarding the best strategies to best meet the specific needs of a pupil.

Specified Individual support each week in school

Your child may have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). 

This type of support means your child will have been identified by the class teacher/ SENCO/ Senior management team as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching which cannot be provided from the normal budget available to the school.

Usually your child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:

• Local Authority central services such as Educational Psychology or Sensory Service (for students with a hearing or visual need).

• Local Authority central services such as Speech and Language therapy, Occupational therapists.

• Other outside agencies such as CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service), Advisory teachers and Birmingham CAT (Communication and Autism team).

•  .

For your child this would mean:

• The school or parent can request that the Local Authority carry out the new assessment towards developing an EHCP. A key worker will be appointed at this stage to assist in ensuring that the correct information is appropriately forwarded to the LA SEND department for assessment. This may be a member of school staff.

• The assessment will be made based on the evidence presented by all professionals. Children's views feature strongly in the new approaches to assessing needs. 

• In the event of a request being unsuccessful, parents will be informed and advised on next steps by the LA.

This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are:

• Severe, complex and lifelong.

• Need considerable weekly personal support.

• If you have concerns about your child's progress you should speak to your child's class teacher initially.

• If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress you should speak to the SENCO or Head teacher.

• If you are still not happy you can speak to the school SEND Governor.

We know when pupils need help if:

• Concerns are raised by parents/carers, external agencies, staff or previous schools.

• Assessments indicate gaps.

• Whole school tracking indicates lack of progress.

• Observation.

If your child is identified as not making progress the school will:

• set up a detailed meeting to discuss this with you;

• listen to any concerns you may have too;

• discuss/plan any additional support your child may receive;

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

• The school budget, received from Walsall LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND.

• The Headteacher, in conjunction with the Senior leaders of the school, decides on the budget for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of identified priorities for the best possible progress.

• Provision is evaluated regularly through our Provision Map which is updated termly.

• Educational Psychology service - these are a team of Educational Psychologists who offer expert advice in assisting children who have problems progressing with their education as a result of emotional, psychological, cognitive (learning) or behavioural issues.

• Speech and Language service - these are a team of Speech and Language experts who assist in helping children to reach their maximum potential in communication. They also support young children who have issues with eating or drinking and can make referrals and request assessments as they deem appropriate, in conjunction with the picture school and parents present. 

• Advisory Teacher service – we have a certain number of sessions each year and this team offer advice to parents and staff. They will assess children and support children as required.

• Occupational health and Occupational therapy - these two providers offer specific courses for identified children based on their own assessments- they also provide advice and monitor this as needed - reporting to school and parents. They also support school to deliver interventions and individualised programmes depending on children's needs.

• Our designated school nurse - she provides support in updating medical training, Individual Medical care plans and any specific training required.

• CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental health) - these are a group of professionals who support a variety of children with needs which have resulted in their referral to CAMHS by either parents, doctors etc. They work alongside staff, parents and children identifying next steps in progress and supporting effective monitoring of interventions.

• Social services

• Education Welfare Officer

• Birmingham Communication and Autism Team (CAT)

• Hearing Impairment Team

• Visual Impairment Team

• Integrated Behaviour Support Services

• We have a team of able Learning Assistants who are trained at differing levels to support pupils with a range of educational, social and emotional needs.

• Our team of Learning Assistants are able to effectively support individuals or groups of children in the classroom and undertake small group or one-to-one support, as appropriate, to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.

• The Learning Assistants are trained to run small intervention groups including; Lego therapy, Self esteem groups, Friendship groups, Language and Pragmatic groups and Cool Kids.

• We have a trained ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) to support our children with emotional needs

• We have a nurture room where children use it according to their individual needs (sensory, SaLT and small group work)

• Our 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.

• Our Support staff with specific areas of expertise can adapt the teachers planning to support the needs of your child, where necessary.

• Specific resources and strategies are used to support your child individually and in groups.

• Planning and teaching is adapted on a daily basis as appropriate to meet your child's learning needs.

• We are communication friendly and use class and personal visual timelines to help children to understand what activity is coming next.

• Our support staff and staff are able to use basic Makaton signs.

• We are a Dyslexia friendly School and adopt these approaches in all classrooms.  

• Your child’s progress will be measured at their appropriate level following the school’s assessment policy. The children will know their targets and what they need to do to improve.

• We offer an open door policy where you are welcome to make an appointment to meet with either the class teacher or SENCO and discuss how your child is getting on. We can offer advice and practical ways that you can help your child at home.

• We believe that your child's education should be a partnership between children, parents and teachers, therefore we aim to keep communication channels open and communicate regularly, especially if your child has complex needs.

• If your child is on the SEND register they will have individual targets put in to place to support their needs. These will be discussed and reviewed, with staff, parents and pupils, on a termly basis. 

• The children will be involved in discussing their progress and setting targets. We will ask their opinion in an individual way appropriate to their development; through discussion, Makaton, photographs or pictures.

• As a school we measure all children's progress in learning against national expectations and age related expectations.

• These are shared with Governors and specific groups, including SEND children, are tracked carefully within each year group and over time.

• The class teacher continually assesses each child and notes areas where they are improving and where further support is needed. As a school, we track children's progress from entry through to Year 6, using a variety of different methods.

The SENCO’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEND.

Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class. 

The Walsall Banding Guidance and the SEN toolkit is used to identify interventions and resources to help support the children.

The SENCO will work closely with any external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual children's needs within our school including:

• The class teacher is regularly available to discuss your child's progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and school so similar strategies can be used.

• The SENCO is regularly available to meet with you to discuss your child's progress or any concerns/worries you may have. 

• All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you, with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.

• All target review meetings (formerly IEP meetings) will be reviewed with your involvement each term.

• A home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you, when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child.

Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS) offer independent advice. The nearest IASS can be located via https://www.wcld.co.uk/kb5/walsall/asch/service.page?id=yj2W-cxJVEg

For parents who are unhappy with the LA or school, parents may seek mediation from the regional mediation services. Information is located via https://www.kids.org.uk/regional-mediation

Walsall’s Local offer can be found via 

https://go.walsall.gov.uk/the-send-local-offer

• We have a before and after school club with trained staff from school to support the needs of all children.

• We have a number of lunchtime and after school clubs which cover a range of interests which include: football, netball, Gymnastics, Choir, Guitar club, prayer group, story club, phonics, Pupils with SEND are welcomed and included, additional support is offered as necessary to support access.

• We include all children in all activities and endeavour to support children with SEND as necessary. 

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.

• Parents and children are invited into Nursery to a taster session before their September start.

• If your child requires further visits, this is arranged individually with staff.

• If your child is moving to another school:

  • We will contact the school SENCO/ Head teacher 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. Where possible new teachers and support staff will be invited to attend the target review meetings prior to the transition. Where appropriate a transition plan is put into place and a purposeful, a transition book with photographs, will be prepared and shared with parents for familiarisation over holiday periods.

  • Moving up preparatory visits to each classroom will be made for all children- those with SEND will be informed of times etc.

• In Year 6:

  • Transition meetings with relevant outside agencies school staff parents, where possible and Secondary colleagues such as SENCO and Y7 tutors are facilitated. Relevant targets and transition worries/concerns are openly discussed and documented.

  • All children will have opportunities to complete focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead.

  • Where possible all children with SEND will visit their new school on at least two occasions and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.

  • A transition book will be facilitated and given to parents to share during the holidays. 

  • A one page Pupil passport will be prepared for the child to take to their new school.

The school offers a wide variety of pastoral support for pupils. These include:

• PSHE curriculum

• Pupil and parent voice

• Small group interventions (Self-esteem, Friends, Friendship, Circle of Friends)

• Mentoring available.

• ELSA

• Access to CAMHS service through our School Nursing Team.

Pupils with complex medical needs will be provided with a detailed Health Care plan, compiled in partnership with the school nurse, parents and pupils.

Staff who volunteer to administer medications will complete formal training. In September, all staff receive training on Asthma, administering Epipens. Staff who work closely with children with Epilepsy will receive training every two years from the Epilepsy Nursing team.

All medicine administration procedures adhere to the LA policy and Department of Education guidelines included within ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ (DFE 2015) 

• Disabled parking spot

• Disabled toilet

• Ramps

• Handle in 1 toilet

• Medical room

For more information see our Accessibility Plan.

July 2022

4 children with SEN

3 children with EHCP

KS2 Combined reading, writing and maths 

• England SEN support 2022  

• School SEN support 2022 0%

• England EHCP 2022

• School  EHCP 2022 0%

July 2023

5 children with SEN

1 child with EHCP

KS2 combined reading, writing and maths

• England SEN support 2023 

• School SEN support 2023

• England EHCP 2023 17%

• School  EHCP 2023 0%

Children who are looked after will be supported in the same way as other children with SEND.

Regular PEP meetings will be held along with IEP meetings to review and set targets.