STATEMENT FOR SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY POLICY

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1 STATEMENT FOR SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY POLICY Name of Chair:David Mann Name of Headteacher: Eileen Bissell Name of Person Responsible: Jane McNiven Adopted and Agreed on: October 2015 Date of Review: October 2016

2 POLICY STATEMENT FOR SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY Our school s vision is to enable our children to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. In accordance with the school s Mission Statement, the school will: provide an outstanding, personalised education ensure that each/every child achieves their full potential Oakdale Junior School provides a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils and recognises that some of the children will have Special Educational Needs and Disability sometime during their school careers. Inclusion: All pupils are valued in our school and we work hard to ensure that the needs of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) pupils are met under the Equalities Act We do not discriminate against disabled pupils and we continue to improve facilities within and around the school s premises to broaden our expertise in dealing with pupils with special physical needs. The school follows the National Curriculum and recognises that some children need additional facilities and teaching skills in order to be able to access the full range of opportunities available within the school. Aims and Objectives To ensure that pupils who may have Special Educational Needs and Disability have early identification, are assessed and provided for appropriately. To ensure that pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability have full access to the curriculum where possible, by using appropriate teaching and learning strategies to differentiate aspects of their work. To help children with Special Educational Needs and Disability to feel confident, build their self-esteem and to feel worthwhile when working with their peers. To keep pupils and parents fully informed. To ensure that teachers are able to meet the needs of the pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability within the classroom. To work with Special Educational Needs and Disability pupils with the intention of supporting them so that they can access the normal differentiated work in classrooms. To recognise that there may be more abled, gifted and talented pupils who require more challenging tasks to enable them to reach their full potential. To recognise that some pupils may need pastoral support in school. To work with external agencies when necessary, in order to support and educate pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability. To continue to broaden the facilities and accessibility for pupils with physical difficulties. Definitions of Special Educational Needs A child or young person has Special Educational Needs and Disability if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her (SEND Code of Practice 2014). A child has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she: has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of the facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools (SEND Code of Practice 2014)

3 Identification of Special Educational Needs and Disability: Pupils who are identified as having Special Educational Needs and Disability may need support for long or short periods of time. Long term needs could be due to permanent medical conditions or disabilities, while short term reasons might be due to lost schooling or emotional disturbances. Some pupils have learning difficulties that can be overcome by specific strategies while others are more complex. The four broad areas of need are: communication and interaction cognition and learning social, emotional and mental health difficulties sensory and/or physical needs All children are assessed in Year 3 on entry to the school but many have already been identified as having Special Educational Needs and Disability in their previous schools. In line with the SEND Code of Practice (2014), Oakdale Junior School follows the assess-plan-do-review cycle to try to remove the barriers to learning. Assess Assessment of the difficulties that a child experiences can be made as part of the monitoring of progress that occurs every half term within school. Children who do not make expected progress are identified within school and additional interventions may be provided. Despite this, some children need a more personalised intervention. Parents and/or school staff can raise concerns that a child is struggling within school, and needs additional support with social interactions. Professionals may contact the school explaining a child s difficulties or offering a medical diagnosis that requires additional support. Plan Once a child s needs are agreed and identified, they will have an individual education plan which identifies outcomes and outlines the provision that is provided to support the child. Parents and pupils will be informed of this plan, and wherever possible will have been involved in discussing the provision and outcomes with the teacher or SENCO. Plans will show ways that parents can reinforce and contribute to progress at home. All teachers who work with the child should have a copy of the Individual Education Plan and a copy will be stored centrally within the child s SEN records. Do The class and set teachers remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis. The interventions are usually delivered by highly experienced teaching assistants, overseen by the teachers or the SENCO. Every intervention session is planned and evaluated. Records are kept and used to inform the impact of interventions. Review Individual Education Plans are reviewed termly and outcomes are recorded. This information then allows teachers to decide whether a child needs to continue to receive additional support. Parents will be informed when a child no longer is placed on the SEN register. When a child continues to need additional support, a new Individual Education Plan will be written and implemented.

4 School Support The criteria for a child receiving School Support will be that despite receiving support in school, he or she: continues to make little or no progress in specific areas; continues working at levels substantially below that expected of pupils of a similar age; continues to have significant difficulty in developing basic skills in English and Mathematics; has emotional or learning difficulties which substantially and regularly interfere with the child s own learning or that of the class group, despite having an individual behaviour management programme; has sensory or physical needs and requires additional specialist equipment or regular visits and/or advice from a specialist service; has ongoing communication or interaction difficulties that impede the development of social relationships and cause substantial barriers to learning; in some cases there are outside agencies involved. These may include: Educational Psychologists Community Paediatrician School Nurse Speech Therapists Audiologists Physiotherapists Longspee Outreach Montacute Outreach Winchelsea Outreach Occupational Therapists Family Support Workers Statutory Assessments If a child s SEN is thought to be significant, long-lasting and their needs are beyond those that can reasonably be met within the resources normally available, then the school may ask the LEA Pupil and Parent Support Service to work with parents, school and other agencies to decide whether a statutory assessment should be made. This process will require the school to provide evidence of a lack of progress despite significant extra individual help having been provided and sustained involvement from outside agencies. As a result of this process an Education, Health and Care Plan may be issued. This outlines the Special Educational Needs required by the child. All EHCP s and Statements must be reviewed annually at a meeting involving parents, pupil, LEA, the school and other outside professionals. Role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) Oakdale Junior School has a designated SENCO. The SENCo is responsible for ensuring that the statutory responsibilities for SEN statements are met. The SENCo monitors progress of all children of the SEN register, and oversees intervention programmes which are delivered by year teams. The SENCo liaises with external agencies, parents and school staff to ensure that the SEN provision is appropriate. The SENCOs is responsible for the policies for: Special Educational Needs Travellers and EAL Disability, Access and Inclusion These policies are available on request. The SENCO oversees the work of the Teaching Assistants who are employed to support the SEN department although the deployment and daily line management is the responsibility of the Head of Year. The SENCo has other responsibilities which are outlined in a further document which also specifies the roles of the Teaching Assistants and the Governing Body and is available on request.

5 Complaints Procedure The school operates an open door policy and it is hoped that any complaints can be resolved before it is necessary to resort to official procedures. However, if there is an unresolved issue then a formal complaint can be made to the Governing Body and/or the LEA. It is now a legal requirement in England that all LEAs have a Special Educational Needs Disagreement Resolution Service. The aim of this service is to endeavour to solve disputes between parents and schools, or parents and LEAs through the process of impartial mediation. Poole SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service, formerly POPPS) also gives information, help and support to parents who have concerns associated with special needs. Pupil Participation The School encourages all pupils to make decisions and take responsibility in order to develop social and learning skills. Pupils are invited to make contributions to their provision. Rewards are in the form of praise and recognition, house points and certificates are awarded to children with special educational needs in the same way as they are awarded to all pupils in school. Some children may require additional individualised rewards and incentives. Staff Training The SENCO attends meetings, briefings and training courses and communicates back to the teaching staff and teaching assistants. Outside agencies, support staff and the SENCO provide in-service training at staff meetings. Each year new staff are supported through an induction programme which is coordinated by the Assistant Headteacher. Teaching Assistants are employed in a variety of roles within the school with some working with small groups and others working with specific children. Whatever role, the teaching assistants are carefully matched to the pupils and receive training to help them with the child s specific needs. This training is delivered by the SENCO or the LEA. References Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2001 Code of Practice for Schools Disability Discrimination Act 1995; part 4 SEN Policy Borough of Poole Ofsted Inspection Report for Oakdale South Road Middle School January 2007 Policy Statement for More Able, Gifted and Talented 2007 Policy Statement for Travellers 2007 Policy Statement for Disability, Access and Inclusion 2007 The Role of the Governing Body 2007 The Role of the SENCO Miss Jane McNiven (SENCO) October 2015