SEND Information Report

At Leigh St Peter’s CE we are continually assessing and monitoring both the academic and social welfare of all children within our school to ensure that all children can access the curriculum and achieve their potential. School staff make continuous observations of all children in their care, both academically and in their wider school lives. These observations, along with various assessment data, may highlight issues or concerns for children. Where this is the case, in the first instance, teaching staff will have a conversation with parents/carers.

An Initial Concern form will be completed by the class teacher and given to SENCO (Mrs Dring). If after conversation and sharing of concerns, we agree that further investigation or intervention is required, then and only then will we proceed.

External referrals are made where necessary.

Through effective transition procedures with nursery and other settings we will be aware of a child’s needs at the earliest stage.

Class teachers make regular assessments of progress for all pupils and identify those whose progress:

Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline.

• Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress.

• Fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers.

• Widens the attainment gap.

Slow progress and low attainment will not automatically mean a pupil is recorded as having SEN. Pupils are identified for the SEND register according to criteria in the SEN Code of Practice. Other children who may be a cause for concern are kept on a Monitoring register which is reviewed each term at pupil progress meetings.

All children’s progress is monitored closely throughout the year through a variety of methods. At the end of each term, the children’s progress data is collected and analysed. Each class teacher meets with the Headteacher to discuss the progress of individuals in Pupil Progress meetings. The information that is collected is reported to parents at two parent’s evenings and an end of year report.

Alongside this, we follow a four-part cycle of assess, plan, do, review; this is the graduated approach to SEN needs.

School may feel the need to contact parents to arrange additional meetings to discuss a child’s progress, school will work in partnership with parents and/or carers to develop a plan to ensure children receive the right levels of support.

It can sometimes be thought necessary to involve outside agencies to support your child’s learning, this will only be done with informed parental consent.

Should a child be added to the SEND register, a letter of notification will be sent to the parents.

In collaboration with parents, outside agencies and school staff, we will assess the child’s special educational needs, we will set personalised targets and goals for the child, we will put a plan in place for the provision that is needed to achieve those targets. This may involve withdrawal from class for 1-1 or small group interventions which provide effective academic and/or social and emotional support, precision teaching programmes and/or early involvement of external agencies, including sometimes support, advice and staff training from Special school’s outreach service e.g. for strategies to support pupils diagnosed with autism or crisis behaviour management.

We will regularly review the effectiveness of the support and interventions, and their impact on the pupil’s progress, which in turn informs future provision planning. Parents remain informed throughout by means of parents’ evenings, formal meetings and Early Help reviews if applicable.

For more information on the Graduated Approach follow link: https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Business/Professionals/SEND/HEFA/Chap-4.aspx

Class Teacher

Responsible for:

• Checking on the progress of the child and identifying, planning, and delivering any additional help the child may need (this could include targeted work, additional support) and liaising with the SENDCo regarding progress.

• Contributing to programmes of work and sharing and reviewing these with parents/ SENDCo.

• Reading all reports and relevant information provided by outside support and agencies: TESS, EP, SALT to aid in the planning of work.

• Contributing to all EHC annual reviews.

• Ensuring that all staff working with the child in school are helped to deliver the planned work/programme, 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.

SENCO (Mrs Dring)

Responsible for:

• Coordinating all support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND policy to ensure all children receive a consistent, high-quality response to meeting their needs in school.

• Writing individual APDR’s for all children on the SEND record including those with an EHCP plan and supporting the teachers to ensure that parents are involved in supporting the child’s learning, kept informed about the support the child is getting, and involved in reviewing the child’s progress.

• Liaising with all professionals who may come into school to help support the child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc…

• Updating the school’s SEND record (a system for ensuring all SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are effective records of the child’s progress and needs.

• Providing support for teachers and support staff in the school – so they can help children with SEND in school achieve the best progress possible.

Headteacher

Responsible for:

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

• Overseeing provision for children with special educational needs.

• Keeping the governing body fully informed of any issues in school relating to SEND.  

• Working closely with the inclusion manager to coordinate provision.

• Holding teachers accountable for quality first teaching of children with Special Educational Needs.

The Governing Body

Responsible for:

• Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND and liaising with the school SENDCo to kept informed.

• Keeps up to date with current and new legislation for SEND.

• The dedicated Governor responsible for SEND, Mrs. Halliwell, is knowledgeable about the SEND provision, including how funding, equipment and personnel resources are deployed.

• Ensure that SEND is an integral part of the school improvement plan.

• Has regard to the SEND Code of Practice when carrying out duties towards all children with special educational needs.

If any parent has concerns about a child’s learning or development, please arrange to meet with firstly the child’s class teacher who will then liaise with the SENCO (Mrs. Dring).

Both the class teachers and the SENCO can be contacted via the school office or at 01942 671 442.

There are various different types of support at Leigh St Peter’s CE. These include outstanding quality first teaching:

Specific group work within a smaller group of children: (Target Groups)

This group, often called Intervention/target groups.

• Children will engage in group sessions with specific targets to help them to make more progress.
• A teaching assistant/teacher would run these small group sessions using specific plans.
• Planned, targeted support, delivered in the classroom or outside in the resource area, with work carefully planned by the teacher/ other professional to meet the needs of the children.
• Delivered by a teacher or a teaching assistant who has had training to run these groups.

If any outside expertise is needed, Mrs. Dring will arrange this.

SEND Support

A child will have been identified as needing further support the class teacher/SENCO (or parents / carers will have raised worries) as needing more specialist input in addition to quality first teaching and intervention groups.

• A parent / carer will be asked to come to a meeting (often at parents’ evening) to discuss their child’s progress and to help plan possible ways forward; an individual plan for the child will be written (APDR) with specific targets.
• A parent/ carer may be asked to give their permission for the school to refer a child to a specialist professional e.g. Educational Psychologist / TESS/ Sensory support etc. This will help the school to understand a child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better in school.
• The specialist professional may work with the child to understand their needs and to make recommendations. For example:
  • Making changes to the way the child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better, resources (essential provision) to meet their needs.
  • Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise.
  • A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group.
  • A group or individual work with an outside professional.

This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through quality first teaching and small intervention groups.

Specified Individual high-level support.

This level of need is assessed by the Local Authority and is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means the child will have been identified by the class teacher, SENCO, external professionals as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching, which cannot be wholly provided from the budget available to the school. Usually, the child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school e.g. Targeted Education Support Service or the Educational Psychologist. The professionals will firstly make recommendations that will be implemented, monitored, and evaluated. Then at a review meeting, if it is decided that support needs to continue and that the cost of support needed for the child goes beyond £6000, then the school or parents/carers can apply to the Local Authority for an Educational Health Care Assessment.

For a child this would mean:

• The school (or parent / carer) requests that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of a child’s needs. This is a legal process which sets out the provision for the child.
• After the school / parent carer has sent in the request to the Local Authority, the LA will decide whether they think the child’s needs, seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. All professionals involved with the child write a report as part of the assessment outlining the child’s needs. After the reports have all been collated, the Local Authority will decide if the child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong. If this is the case and is agreed at a Local Authority professional panel, they will write an EHC Plan. If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the support provided.
• The EHC Plan will outline the provision that the child will receive. It will also have long and short-term outcomes for the child. An additional adult may be used to support the child with whole class learning or provision may be made in small groups. The provision made is all dependent on the child’s complex needs and the outcomes written by the LA in the EHC Plan.

We firmly believe in the early identification of children with SEND and at Leigh St Peter’s CE we identify four broad areas of need: Communication and Interaction; Cognition and Learning; Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties; Sensory and Physical Needs. (as outlined in the Code of Practice); however, we give priority on assessing each child’s individual needs rather than placing them into specific categories.

The school has a training plan for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those with SEND. (teachers and teaching assistants) This includes whole school training on SEND issues such as ASD and Speech and language difficulties, and the categories of need outlined above.

Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class. Professionals may work closely with individual teachers and advise them on strategies to use.

The SENCO contacts and liaises with outside agencies where necessary to support a child’s individual needs.

Depending on the needs of the child, they may work with either or both an educational service or the health service. A child will have access to these services through school or through referral by the parents / carers. The following is a list of some of the agencies school works with.

School Pastoral Mentor: Miss Baron

At school we believe that support should be provided for all children to improve their emotional and social development. Within school, the Pastoral Mentor works with those children who have health, mental health or behavioural difficulties; her training enables her to offer opportunities for children to process their feelings and develop coping strategies. Miss Baron ensures the children who need specific well-being / mindfulness sessions are allocated this provision and she will liaise with the parents accordingly. Miss Baron also works closely and supports the parents, families and carers of children who may have specific barriers to learning and / or SEND. This is often through Early Help Meetings.

Targeted Education Support Service – Outside expertise from the Local authority that can provide specific support based on the child’s individual needs. Our school is allocated a TESS professional – Joanne Kennedy.

Educational Psychology Service – Referrals are made by the SENCo according to need. Our school is allocated an Educational Psychologist – Rachael Lowe.

Speech and Language Therapy – provided by the Health Care Service or More than Talk (A private Speech and Language Therapist that school have a service level agreement with)

Empathy Northwest Play Therapist – Nikita Walsh (Counselling sessions provided by school)

School Nurse / Health Visitor – provided by the Health Care Service they work closely with Mrs Dring & Miss Baron to support families / children. Our School Nurse is Gillian Hamlet

Specialist Nurses – for specific medical conditions

Mental Health Support Team. Our school is allocated a MHST worker – Omari Thomas

CAMHS – (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)

Outreach / Inreach – Professionals from specialist provision (Rowan Tree, Landgate, Willow Grove etc) supporting children and teachers with specific strategies.

Occupational Therapy – supporting children and teachers with strategies for physical / sensory needs.

Physiotherapy – supporting children and teachers with strategies for physical needs.

Three Towers Alternative Provision Academy.

Engagement Centre – offering targeted specialist educational support for young people who are having difficulties in school, including -Lack of engagement, students with additional needs that require extra support & behavioural issues.

WN7 Outreach CIC – provide support to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Asperger Syndrome, Moderate and Severe Learning Difficulties, Social, Emotional Mental Health and Complex Needs.

Social Care / Startwell – supporting children and families. Miss Baron is the school link for social care and Startwell.

We believe that quality first teaching is our first step in teaching pupils who have SEN. We have high expectations of all pupils, we are inclusive and we acknowledge that all teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the pupils in their class.

As a school we are action research driven in our approach; the Educational Endowment Fund has produced an evidence review which highlights five strategies that raise attainment among children with additional needs:

For further information: https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/guidance-reports/send/EEF_High_Quality_Teaching_for_Pupils_with_SEND.pdf

1.) Explicit instruction is linked with our adoption of Rosenshine’s principles; every lesson follows the ‘I do, we do, you do approach.’ By explicitly modelling we are supporting our children with SEN.

2.) Cognitive and metacognitive strategies: By understanding how children learn we are able to adapt our teaching effectively to ensure all children are included in the learning process. Chunking information, displaying information in a visual way and pre-teaching are examples of this method.

3.) Scaffolding: This means breaking up the lesson into chunks and providing the children with a scaffold to support them at every step, for example, this could be a modelled example in maths or a writing frame in writing.

4.) Flexible grouping: Children are not sat in ability groups; children it in flexible groupings which can change depending on the assessment for learning that the teacher has made through questioning and observing etc Some children will work in small groups or 1:1 but they will also join whole class flexible groupings as well.

5.) Using technology: We use technology to advance teaching for example we use interactive apps to practice key skills.

The use of adaptive teaching/ differentiated work, along with different and appropriate teaching styles to meet the needs of the children. Planning and teaching may be adapted if needed and reasonable adjustments made to meet your child’s learning needs; this is documented on the child’s agreed individual plan (APDR)

The encouragement of peer support through mixed ability grouping and paired and group reading and writing activities.

The development of pupils’ self- esteem through praise, rewards, Trackit Light points and a caring ethos in the class and throughout the school.

The use of teaching assistants to provide extra individual or small group attention. Specific resources and strategies (reasonable adjustments / essential provision) will be used to support a child individually and in groups, based on a child’s individual needs.

Liaison with parents to share in the child’s learning and to discuss the child’s work.

The use of target setting and individual planning: APDR, class teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class and will ensure that a child’s needs are met. Assessments will be made through B-squared to highlight small steps of progress and evidence-based interventions.

Before school provision and extra- curricular activities are accessible to children and best endeavours are made to enable all to access them safely. Occasionally some conditions can call for extra risk assessments on school trips, e.g. if a wheelchair is needed etc. If your child’s circumstances call for a teaching assistant or carer, then they may also attend most trips. The school endeavours to be as fully inclusive as is possible.

A child’s progress is continually monitored by the class teacher through ongoing formative assessments.

The child’s progress is reviewed formally every term and an outcome of: at the expected level or below / above the expected level for the year group given in the core subjects.

A child with additional needs may also be tracked using the schools B squared assessment alongside assessing the targets set on the APDR to provide more information of smaller steps of progress.

Children at SEN support level will have an individual plan with specific targets for the child – this is called an APDR – this will be reviewed with parental / pupil involvement.

The progress of children with an EHC Plan is formally reviewed on an annual basis with the child, parent/carers and all professionals involved with the child’s education.

The Head teacher (Mr. Robinson), Deputy Head teacher & SENDCo (Mrs. Dring), Assistant Headteacher (Miss. Taylor) will also check that a child is making good progress through monitoring the progress and attainment that children are working at and in discussion with the class teachers every half term (pupil progress meetings-one of which is specifically dedicated to the progress of children with additional needs)

SATS: At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and the results are published nationally. All other classes complete end of year assessments, these could be optional SATs, or other formal assessments, these are given to the senior leadership team and to the next class teacher so there is a continuous understanding of the child’s progress, attainment and areas of need. If the child is not yet working within National Curriculum age related expectations a more sensitive assessment tool may be used which shows smaller but significant steps of progress. Teachers ensure that they follow current advice from the DfE Statutory Guidance concerning formal assessments.

The Head Teacher decides on the budget for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of need in the school.

The Head Teacher and the SENCO, discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school. They then decide what resources/training and what support is needed alongside considering the budget required.

All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly, and changes made as needed.

The LA provides support for children and parents with SEND. This is called SENDIASS. They offer a free and impartial advice and support to families and young people 0-25 who have SEND. They can be contacted on 01942 233323.

The class teacher is available to discuss a child’s progress or any concerns and to share information about what is working well at school so similar strategies can be used at home. Planning for the child will be reviewed with parent / carers involvement (APDR) Homework may also be adjusted as needed to meet a child’s individual needs.

A regular home/school message through a diary may be used to support communication when this has been agreed to be useful. The SENCO and Headteacher are available to discuss a child’s progress or any concerns or worries. The Pastoral Mentor is also available to meet with parents and carers to discuss any concerns or worries. They can be contacted via the school office.

The building is accessible to children with a physical disability. All areas can be accessed without the use of stairs. There is a disabled toilet for those children with a physical disability. Risk assessments have been completed for areas in school ( for further information see Health and Safety Policy)

Equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their need. Reasonable adjustments and essential provision is made when needed as detailed on the children’s APDR. For those children with hearing needs / visual needs equipment is provided for support through the sensory service.

Before school provision is accessible to all children including those with SEND.

Extra- curricular activities are accessible for children with SEND.

For those parents whose first language is not English, every endeavour will be made to ensure all information is understood. This usually involves consultation with the EMAS team / school / parents carers/ pastoral mentor to consider how to communicate appropriately based on need.

Our school has a comprehensive pastoral system which aids the holistic approach of the school.

Nurture support is not limited to the nurture group, as all the school embed the nurturing principles and practice at a whole school level, providing appropriate support for all pupils attending This includes:

Pastoral Mentor support, focusing on social and emotional development, delivered 1:1, paired or in a group as appropriate, either in or out of class.

Tailored intervention programmes.

Intervention from Empathy Northwest Play Therapist for children on referral delivered in school.

Intervention from the Mental Health Support Team on referral delivered both in school and in the home.

Intervention from the LA for children and their parents/carers on referral, delivered both in school and in the home.

Intervention from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for children and their parents. Intervention from the School Well Being sessions / Mindfulness sessions, based on the child’s individual need.

Pre-school meetings are held in the summer term (May/June) prior to the child beginning school in the September – this enables staff to learn more about a child’s needs and for parents to provide any information they would like to share.

A home-school meeting may be organised with the parent / carer, child and the reception teacher, so that there is a further opportunity to discuss a child’s needs.

A transition meeting is held between the nursery staff and the reception teacher/ SENCo so that information can be passed on and discussed in detail before a child begins school.

A meeting is held between the Local Authority Early Years Leader and / or the SENCO and the reception teacher, prior to a child beginning school so that any SEND information can be shared.

As each child begins a new class, a pupil profile meeting is completed between the existing teacher and the next teacher so that SEND children can be discussed in detail, to ensure there is a smooth transition and that the child’s individual needs are shared.

As each child progresses to secondary school, the Year 6 teacher shares all relevant information with the Head of Year and the Pastoral Manager of the chosen secondary school so that there is a smooth transition between schools and to ensure the child’s individual needs are shared. The SENCo shares all the SEND information at planned transition meetings.

There are a number of occasions where the children visit their secondary school so that they are more confident when they begin the next stage of their education. The Pastoral Mentor also completes a number of activities with the children to prepare them for the next stage in their education.

Further visits to the child’s secondary school can be arranged if needed, and meetings with the parent / teachers/ Pastoral Mentor /SENCO can be made to share further relevant information as required and for parents to share any concerns/ worries they may have. For those children who join or leave school mid- year information will be shared via the transfer system and consultations with previous settings.

For any concerns about the provision or progress of a child please initially contact the child’s teacher who will be more than willing to discuss them.

The SENCO or the Headteacher can then be contacted.

If you are still not happy the SEND Governor can be contacted.

All the above can be contacted through the school office or on 01942 671442.

The ‘Virtual School Team’ work with every school that is educating a child looked after by Wigan Council. Every school has a designated teacher tasked with tracking, supporting and promoting the educational achievement of those children. The designated teacher is Mrs. Dring.

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Resident/Education/Educational-support/Virtual-School-Team.aspx

The needs of all the pupils who may have special educational needs either throughout, or at any time during, their time at Leigh St Peter’s CE will be met and provided for in the most suitable and appropriate way. Those children who are classed as ‘looked after’, because they are not living with their parents, will be monitored and tracked carefully. Their progress will be reported to the Head teacher, assessment lead and Governors.

A designated teacher (Mrs. Dring) attends Local authority meetings where further information is given on how best to provide for this group of children. Mrs. Dring monitors the provision and progress for looked after children including those with special educational needs.

All children who are’ Looked after’ with SEND working at SEN support or with an EHC, will have a Personal Education Plan, this is reviewed regularly supported by Mrs. Dring.

The Local authority have published further information (the Local Offer) as to the services they provide for families of children with SEND, these can be accessed here:

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Resident/Education/Special-Educational-Needs-and-Disability/Local-Offer/Parent/index.aspx

Leigh St Peter’s CE SEND Policy