Many pupils will, at some time or another need extra help at school. This may be because they are experiencing problems ranging from slight difficulties that do not take long to rectify, to more severe learning difficulties which require a longer-term plan of action. Children who are exceptionally able in any area also need to be identified and catered for.
At Borden Church of England Primary School, we seek to remove barriers to learning and participation. This means that every child is treated as a special child and is entitled to a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum.
The class teacher is aware of the particular individual needs of each child and will provide differentiated work that is tailored to them. We also have trained teaching assistants who will help individuals or groups within the classroom.
We greatly value information from parents and seek to work together to provide the best opportunities for every child.
Every year we review the needs of all children in our school. A personalised provision plan may be written if appropriate and all aspects of special needs support will be discussed with parents or carers.
Having identified that your child is experiencing some difficulties, we will provide a planned intervention. This may be carried out by a Teaching Assistant, either working 1:1 with your child, or, more commonly, with the child as part of a small group. This support will be additional and different to the Quality First Teaching that is provided in all classrooms as part of the minimum mainstream core standards. Interventions may include; Social, emotional and welfare support, speech and language support, additional phonics support and physio support. Your child will be placed on the SEND Register, a confidential document as ‘School Support’.
If a child doesn’t make appropriate progress, we will try to find out more about what is the barrier to learning. Usually this means that, with your permission, we refer your child to the relevant outside agency. This outside agency support is assessed through the Local Inclusion Forum Team (LIFT) which meets termly. An assessment may be carried out and we may be given advice on how to move forward.
Rarely, in about 2% of cases, a child has severe and complex difficulties which challenge the school’s ability to meet those needs from within its budget. In that case, a request for an ‘Educational Health Care Plan’ is made to the Local Education Authority. This request can be made by a parent, or by school with the consent of the parent.
If the Local Authority (LA) decides that there are grounds to proceed, then a range of assessments will be carried out – by other agencies. These reports are examined by a panel and a decision is made on whether their criteria for issuing an ‘Educational Health Care Plan’ have been met. If so, then the LA will write the EHC plan which will detail the nature and extent of the difficulties, the objectives for that child, and the resources needed to meet them. This generally identifies the need for a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) to support that child for part of the school day.
The EHC plans are reviewed annually. Updated reports are sought from all relevant parties to ensure that the provision remains appropriate.
The school is committed to compliance with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 and the Disability Discrimination Act and is fully compliant with the 2014 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice. We have a disability access plan which aims to ensure that we do not treat disabled pupils or parents less favourably for a reason related to disability and we take reasonable steps to ensure that disabled pupils are not placed at a substantial disadvantage. The school’s commitment to inclusion ensures that we actively seek to accommodate those with disabilities. The school is currently accessible to all children, including those in wheelchairs, and we have a disabled toilet on the ground floor.
All staff receive appropriate support and guidance to meet their duties to their pupils.
Mrs Wickham is our SENCo and is available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to discuss any individual pupil needs. We also have a governor with responsibility for SEN and Danielle Keen can be contact via the school if required.
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Our Special Educational Needs Policy and our Accessibility Policy can be found in the list below.