Schools Extended Local Offer Response

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

• Speech and Language (NHS)
• Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy
• Educational Psychology
• SENDSS
• Nursing facilities via the school nurse
• ELCAS

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

• Whole school communication between staff
• Regular child protection and safeguarding updates for all staff
• Speech and language specialist trained staff members
• PIVATs trained staff
• Motor skills/physical development
• Whole school medical training
• Specialist SEN training accessed when relevant to a particular child

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's/young person's needs?

• Teachers in our school are continuously monitoring and assessing the children’s learning and emotional well being. There are a variety of ways in which we monitor children’s attainment and behaviour so we can identify those pupils who need extra support. Regular assessments are carried out, so we can monitor pupil progress. Pupil progress meetings are also held every term where individual children are discussed and their needs addressed. We also work closely with any transferring nursery, primary or high school when a transition is taking place.
  Throughout your child's time here they will be involved in the following assessments:
• End of Foundation Stage stage assessment (Reception)
• Phonic screening (Year One)
• Statutory assessments (SATs) (Year Two and Year Six)
• School also carry out the following extra assessments:
• Speech & Language screening (Reception)
• Ready For Sounds (child specific)
• Formative and Summative Teacher Assessments supported by Optional SAT tests

These assessments can be used to identify additional need. A teacher or parent can raise concerns about a child. If a teacher has a concern over a child’s progress, attainment or behaviour, they will initially discuss the issue with parents/carers and with the school’s SENCO.
A follow up meeting may be arranged to explore what future support and advice may be given.

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

Contact school and initially talk with the class teacher. From that meeting we may decide that we need to refer to our SENCO who would then contact external experts as appropriate. If school have any concerns about your child’s progress/attainment, behaviour or wellbeing we will contact you and ask you to come into school to discuss this.

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall well being?

We have a range of experienced staff working with our children. Our learning support staff are trained to deliver support on a 1:1 or small group basis throughout the school. We also have a number of staff who support children with specific needs. The school liaises with outside agencies and the local authority to provide up to date training and to ensure our provision is successfully delivered.

What specialist services and expertise are avaliable at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

We have worked hard to provide all our children, regardless of ability, with a fun, stimulating curriculum that helps them to develop new skills, provides them with opportunities to acquire new information and shows them how to think critically about the world around them. Lessons will be differentiated by our teachers to ensure all pupils access the curriculum at a level that will not only match their ability, but will stretch them. We know that some children will need extra support or specialist equipment to be able to access the curriculum and so our teachers and support staff receive regular training. We work closely with parents/carers and external agencies to ensure support is the there when needed.

What training have the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had? Are any being trained currently?

Our teachers and support staff are trained to take account of all learning styles. Whilst it is often a difficult task to tailor every lesson to each individual need within a full class, teaching methods will be varied by use, for example, of visual, kinesthetic and  auditory stimuli. Our classroom resources aid us in attempting to develop ideas and make them accessible and teachers constantly evaluate lessons in order to improve, adapt and reinforce learning.

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom including school trips?

Teachers and support staff are continually monitoring pupils' attainment and progress through observations of children's responses, through questioning children and through marking the children's work. Assessments take place at key points through the year, teachers engage in pupil progress meetings with the Head teacher twice a year and we feed back as much information as we have to parents during twice yearly parents' evenings and through the end of year report. It is also possible for you to talk to your child's teacher, the SENCO or head teacher at any point during the year by contacting school to make an appointment. If we have any concerns about a child's attainment, progress, behaviour or emotional welfare we will contact parents of guardians in order to begin to address issues.

How accessible is the setting/school/college enviroment?

On entry to school we will ask you to sign a home school agreement which sets out our expectations in terms of supporting your child in school. For those children who need them, we will use a home school diary so that we can maintain daily contact and keep parents as informed as possible. We often send home guidance for how to help your children when, for example, reading with them or helping them with their homework. Parental workshops relating all sorts of different key areas of learning take place at various different points throughout the year and we will run parent information evenings relating to children starting school in Reception class and the Year 6 SAT tests.

How will the setting/school/college prepare and support my child/young person to join the setting/school/college or the next stage of education and life?

Our positive behaviour system makes clear what our expectations are in terms of behaviour and attitudes. It is clear to the children what is and what is not acceptable and the rewards, sanctions and consequences are also clearly set out. This makes our school a safe and happy place to learn, although we know that there are occasions when this is not the case for some children. We have a number of initiatives in place to support children's emotional well-being including structured support at lunchtimes where children work with an adult and other children on craft activities and games. Children can request an appointment to talk through issues which may be causing them concern. Social groups take place to help those children who find it difficult to relate or communicate appropriately with their peers. We have used these groups to guide children in how to play safely and negotiate with others on the playground at break times. We sometimes ask external agencies to give us specialist help and training in being able to support children's personal and emotional development when there is a need.

How are the setting's/school's/college's resources allocated and matched to children's/young people's special educational needs?

We offer before school care for your child with a Breakfast Club (from 7:40-8:40am). As well as this we offer an extremely wide range of extra-curricular activities. We have used some of Sports Premium funding, allocated by the government, to offer clubs to all ages in school throughout the week. We often link the sports clubs to local competitions taking place and so offer the children the opportunity to compete against other schools in sports such as netball, rugby, football, cross country and Boccia. All our after school clubs are inclusive and can be accessed by all children who wish to take part regardless of ability, additional needs or gender. We also offer our children with educational or medical needs the chance to take part in Paralympic and SEN/disability events. All our children have the opportunity to enjoy school trips and school visits. These are quite often linked to a particular aspects of the curriculum and are an opportunity to enhance their learning. 

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

This is a really key issue for some children and parents and so we place high value on transition. Before our children start in Reception class our staff will visit them in their nursery setting (if they have been attending a nursery) in order to introduce themselves and spend some time talking with nursery staff. There will be an induction evening for parents and guardians and a number of chances for the children to visit school in the term before they start so they can become familiar with the staff, classroom and meet some new friends. Parents and guardians are encouraged to visit school before submitting their choices to the LA in order to ask questions and see the school in action. For the other children,  when moving from class to class within school we have 'Moving Up' day at the end of every year so the children can meet their new teacher and spend some time in their new classroom. Children arriving in school mid year will be given a buddy to help them settle in. In year 6 we begin to prepare our children for moving on to high school. Many of the local schools will visit school at the start of the year and we encourage our children to visit as many high schools as they can in order to make an informed choice. Towards the end of the year, the children will visit their new school for at least a day and our Year 6 teacher liaises with all the high schools, passing on information about ability, attitude,well-being and behaviour to enable a smooth transition. Some children may need extra support to get them ready to move on to a new school. In this situation a member of staff may visit the new high school with a child and their family, we may allow them extra visit days and we will continue to work with the new school for a period of time after they have moved on. Throughout this process we will work closely with parents as well as their children and can signpost parents to the appropriate people within the local authority who will offer additional support if it is needed.

How are parents involved in the setting/school/college? How can I be involved?

Our staff are highly trained in delivering an engaging curriculum and use a wide variety of resources and equipment within lessons. They are skilled in matching resources or support to ability and need and they are able to adapt their teaching and resources within lessons if they need to. Some children will require specific equipment or services to support them in their learning. Where this is specialist equipment due to perhaps a hearing or visual impairment for example, we will work with external, specialist agencies to acquire the resources needed to support a child and make sure staff who use it are well trained. Parents will be kept informed through speaking with the class teacher and SENCO and are encouraged to make their views known. School will make every effort to ensure that resources and specialist equipment or services are made available as quickly as possible after their need is identified. It will also endeavor to ensure that general classroom resources, accessed by all learners will be kept as up to date and relevant as is possible.