Special Educational Needs and Disability
Welcome to our Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) information pages. We hope you will enjoy reading about the variety of ways in which we are able to support your child to reach his/her full potential in order to ensure a successful transition into adult life.
We are an inclusive school and believe that all children should be valued and treated with respect and that learning knows no bounds. The school uses its best endeavours to ensure that the provision for all its pupils is of the highest possible standard, whilst acknowledging that we are continually striving to further improve our practice. We are committed to narrowing the attainment gap between children with SEND and their peers.
At Kings Oak Primary Learning Centre we have two dedicated Special Educational Needs Coordinators (also known as SENDCOs):
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Mrs K Sanders Assistant Headteacher SENCO - Foundation & KS1 |
Mrs A Rawlinson Assistant Headteacher SENCO - KS2 |
If you would like to discuss your child's needs with any of our SENCO staff we have an open door policy at Kings Oak Primary Learning Centre and welcome you to contact us to make an appointment. Please call the school reception on 01226 272740 and our friendly reception staff will be happy to help.
What is a Special Educational Need?
A child or young person has a Special Educational Need if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:
Have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post -16 institutions.
A child under compulsory school age has Special Educational Needs if they fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would do so if the special educational provision was not made for them (Clause 20 Children and Families Act)' (SEN Code of Practice 2014)
What is a Disability?
The Equality Act 2010 states that a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
A physical or mental impairment includes learning difficulties including specific learning difficulties; medical conditions including epilepsy, diabetes, more severe forms of asthma and eczema; autism; speech, language, and communication impairments. If the impairment has a substantial and long-term effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities it may amount to a disability.
What should I do if I think my child has Special Needs or a Disability?
If you feel that your child may have SEND then you should ask to speak to your child's class teacher. If they are unable to see you straight away, they will be happy to make an appointment where you can discuss your concerns in more detail. Your child's class teacher may also feel that it would be helpful to have the SENCO and our school Parent Support Advisor attend the meeting.
The graduated approach
Following the SEN Code of Practice, the school uses a graduated approach when meeting the needs of children with SEN. Up to 20% of children and young people have Special Educational Needs at some stage in their time in school; only around 2% have Special Educational Needs which are of a severe and complex nature. For many children, simple changes to the way that the curriculum is delivered can make a significant impact on removing the barriers to their learning and with these changes in place, they are soon able to catch up with their peers and make expected levels of progress. In school, we call this 'differentiating the curriculum'. Your child's class teacher will be doing this on a daily basis in order to ensure that all of the children in the class can make the most of the learning experiences presented.
For some children, this may not be enough to help them make adequate progress and they may need something which is 'additional to and different from that which is normally provided for all children. If a child requires this type of support the school will monitor them according to the SEN Code of Practice. You will be kept informed of the additional support that your child is receiving.
This could mean that the class teacher may be using different strategies to help your child to learn, or perhaps your child will be receiving some additional support in a small group. The small group work will be carefully targeted to address your child's needs and his/her progress will be closely monitored and evaluated. You may be asked by the school to support your child's learning by
carrying out some simple tasks at home, such as extra reading practice or providing opportunities to practice new skills that have been taught in class. The school will monitor your child at this stage and you will be kept informed of their progress. Often this level of support, in addition to the classroom curriculum differentiation is sufficient to mean that your child no longer has barriers to their learning and they start to make progress.
However, for some children, this may not be enough and the school, with your agreement, will make the decision to increase the level of support provided. This simply means that the school has decided to request the involvement of external professionals or agencies. This external support might be from an Educational Psychologist; Speech and Language Therapist; Occupational/Physiotherapist; Specialist Advisory Teacher; or medical professional. If your child's needs are wide-ranging or more complex, then it may involve several of these people who will need to work in a coordinated way. As more people become involved in helping the school to meet your child's needs, the Head Teacher, SENCO, or Parent Support Advisor may talk to you about holding an Early Help Assessment (EHA) meeting. Once established, the EHA will help the school to organise Team Around the Family Meetings, where everyone involved (including yourself) can sit down together and discuss the best way forward to help your child to make progress. The school may decide to draw up a Personalised Learning Plan. This will record the additional specialist strategies and interventions that will be required to help remove the barriers to your child's learning.
For the majority of children, actions are taken using this graduated approach often mean that the child begins to make adequate or expected levels of progress. If this is the case, then the school, following discussions with yourself, may decide to continue to monitor your child or even decide that he/she no longer needs any additional support because they are making good progress. Only a very small percentage of children require the support of an additional nature beyond this. In this instance, the SENCO may discuss with you the possibility of asking the Local Authority to undertake a Statutory Assessment of your child's needs.
Interventions are available at Kings Oak Primary Learning Centre to support a child with SEND
Quality First Teaching is an entitlement for all children and at Kings Oak PLC we are constantly striving to ensure that this is of a 'good' or 'outstanding' quality. Lessons are carefully differentiated and personalised to take account of individual learning styles and abilities. Where appropriate, children may have access to additional small group activities alongside other children with similar needs. This may be to undertake work on particular intervention programs, to re-visit skills, and to complete overlearning. The interventions are carefully overseen by the class teacher, who is responsible for monitoring the child's progress and carefully targeting the support.
The school currently has the following group interventions available for children:
Read, Write Inc.
Letters and Sounds
WELLCOMM
Success @ Arithmetic
1st Class @ Number
Time to Talk
Socially Speaking
Thrive
Rapid Maths
Lego Therapy
Music Interaction
Active Phonics
Some children may require interventions of a one-to-one nature for very short periods of time. The school currently has the following one to one interventions available for children:
• Catch Up
• Thrive
• Precision Maths
• Play Therapy
• Jump Ahead/Up and Away
A number of our staff are confident in Makaton signing and Makaton signs are clearly displayed in key areas. Visual cues are clearly displayed in the classroom and communal areas in order to facilitate easier access for our children who require a communication-friendly environment. Visual timetables are clearly displayed in all classrooms. The Head Teacher/SENCO is responsible for the allocation of one-to-one and group interventions. This information is detailed within the School's Provision Map.
Monitoring assessment and progress in SEND
The school has a rigorous program for assessing children's learning. Some assessment takes place at the end of specific pieces of work to inform the teacher's planning of the children's next steps in learning. Also, ongoing assessments take place on a daily/regular basis to ensure that the opportunities presented to children are appropriate to meet their needs and aid learning and development. In some instances, further assessments may be appropriate for children with Special Educational Needs in order to provide additional information to determine their strengths and areas for development. However, if it is felt that something more specialised is required then the relevant service would be contacted to discuss this. The school sets aspirational targets for all of its children, including those with Special Educational Needs. Individual targets are shared with children so that they are aware
of what they need to learn next. Children with Special Educational Needs who have a Personalised Plan are aware of their learning targets and are engaged in the discussions relating to how much progress they feel they have made. Personalized Plans are shared with parents/carers and their contribution to the setting of new targets is welcomed. Once a new Personalised Plan has been written the school will carefully monitor the progress being made. If it is felt that the targets are inappropriate then the school will discuss more appropriate targets with parents/carers at the earliest opportunity
Schools effectiveness for children with SEND
The school has a robust policy for Special Educational Needs. The policy is implemented by all members of staff and its effectiveness is monitored and evaluated by the Governing Body on an annual basis. Teaching and Support Staff regularly undertake specific training in order to help ensure that the environment and strategies used are appropriate to meet a child's needs. The SENCOs meet with the SEN Governor on a regular basis. This enables the progress of children with SEN and the provision made for them to be shared with the whole Governing Body. Information from parents and children's comments are reported to the Governing Body in relation to the support provided or feedback on the effectiveness of new resources. This will also help us to ensure that we make the necessary developments to ensure that we have used our best endeavors to minimalise the gaps in our provision for children with SEND.
