St.George s C.E. First School. SEN Policy

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1 St.George s C.E. First School SEN Policy SEN Co-ordinator: Mrs T Koser Review date: Reviewed February 2014 Definition Pupils have Special Educational Needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. Children have a learning difficulty if they: a) have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age; or (b) have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority (c) are under compulsory school age and fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would so do if special educational provision was not made for them. Children must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught. Special educational provision means for children of two or over, educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age in schools maintained by the LA, other than special schools, in the area. At St. George's First School it is recognised that, because of the identification of low levels of vocabulary and experience on entry, the number of children with special needs may be greater than the national average. It is further recognised that within the context of groups with lower than average attainments, it may be the more able children (not necessarily gifted) who may, at times, have the special needs. Aims To identify children with special educational needs within school; To identify, and seek assistance from Access and Inclusion Service which includes the Learning and Behaviour Support Teams, Psychological Service, Chadsgrove Outreach, ISSS ( Integrated Service, Specialist Support) and CSSS (Sensory impairment) for the children who have more severe difficulties; To optimise the all round development of all pupils with special needs and to enable them to follow the National Curriculum at a level appropriate to their ability. Objectives To ensure that the school responds to the pupils' varying needs through differentiation and not through offering a different curriculum unless special approval has been sought. The links between key stages and chronological ages may not be realistic for all pupils and some may need to work at National Curriculum levels below those designated for the key stage, whilst still having access to age appropriate programmes of study; To create a range of Special Needs resources to respond to pupil needs throughout the school, and develop a bank of appropriate materials and specific tutoring ideas;

2 To follow the guidelines for a staged approach to meeting children's special educational needs as outlined in the SEN Code of Practice. Fundamental Principles a child with special educational needs should have their needs met the special educational needs of children will normally be met in mainstream schools the views of the child should be sought and taken into account when appropriate parents have a vital role to play in supporting their child s education children with special educational needs should be offered full access to a broad, balanced and relevant education, including an appropriate curriculum for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum.. The arrangements for coordinating educational provision for pupils with SEN The school will follow the SEN Code of Practice (DfES 2001) and the advice given by Worcestershire LEA Policy into Practice which is constantly under revision. Outline of the Provision Our School will: Adopt a graduated response in the provision for children who are identified as having SEN. Inform the child s parents/carers that SEN provision is being made for the child. Match provision for children with SEN with the nature of the child s need. Make full use of all available classroom and school resources before seeking outside resources. Regularly record the child s SEN, the action taken and the outcomes. Class Teachers will need to apply the Key Test for the Need for Action taking care to differentiate between difficulties in language and SEN. See p. 4 for more detail. Is the child making adequate progress? (It should not be assumed that all children progress at the same rate. A judgement needs to be made in each case as to what is reasonable to expect a particular child to achieve.) Where progress is not deemed to be adequate, some additional or different action should be taken to enable the pupil to learn more effectively. School Action: Provision by the class teacher of additional or different intervention from the school s usual curriculum. This will usually follow identification by the class teacher and SENCO that a child has SEN. The additional or different strategies adopted to support the child should be recorded within a Group or Individual Education Plan. Children at Early Years Action or School Action will generally be included on Group education plans, whilst those children at Early Years Action plus, School Action plus or those with a Statement of Special educational need will have an Individual Education Plan. Request for external services to assist in the provision of more specialist assessments, advice on strategies, etc. School Request for Statutory Assessment: Takes place when a child demonstrates significant cause for concern.

3 Detail of provision The Early Years Foundation Stage Admission arrangements These are outlined in the Nursery and LA Admissions Policy. The school will offer home/ school visits to ensure that discussion between the parent and the teacher will focus on the needs and progress of the child. The initial meeting is followed up with a parents evening. Graduated response Monitoring of individual children s progress throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage is essential. Children s progress is tracked and monitored using the Worcestershire Nursery Profile and Transfer Record, and monitoring is continued in Reception using the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. Children at School Action Plus or those with a Statement of Special Educational Need will also be monitored using Performance Indicators for Value Added Target Setting (P.I.V.A.T.S.) Where a child appears not to be making progress either generally or in a specific aspect of learning, then it may be necessary to present different opportunities or use alternative approaches to learning. Ongoing difficulties may indicate the need for a level of help above that which is normally available. Once we have identified that a child has special educational needs, we should intervene through Early Years Action. If the intervention does not enable the child to make satisfactory progress the SENCo may need to seek advice and support from external agencies. These forms of intervention are referred to below as Early Years Action Plus. As the nursery and reception units are in day-to-day contact with parents they are best placed to judge how to tell parents that their child is receiving special educational provision because their child has SEN. It should be done in a way that encourages parents to contribute their knowledge and understanding of their child, and raise any concerns they may have about their child s needs and the provision that is being made for them. The key test for action is evidence that the child s current rate of progress is inadequate. There should not be an assumption that all children will progress at the same rate. A judgment has to be made in each case as to what it is reasonable to expect that particular child to achieve. Where progress is not adequate, it will be necessary to take some additional or different action to enable the child to learn more effectively. Whatever the level of pupils difficulties, the key test of how far their learning needs are being met is whether they are making adequate progress. Adequate progress can be defined in a number of ways. It might, for instance, be progress that: closes the attainment gap between the child and the child s peers prevents the attainment gap growing wider is similar to that of peers starting from the same attainment baseline, but less than that of the majority of peers matches or betters the child s previous rate of progress ensures access to the full curriculum demonstrates an improvement in self-help, social or personal skills demonstrates improvements in the pupil s behaviour. Key Stage 1 and 2

4 Graduated response In order to help children who have special educational needs, St. George s will adopt a graduated response that encompasses an array of strategies. This approach recognizes that there is a continuum of special educational needs and, where necessary, brings increasing specialist expertise to bear on the difficulties that a child may be experiencing. However the school should, other than in exceptional cases, make full use of all available classroom and school resources before expecting to call upon outside resources. Teachers will regularly update intervention groups within their classes/key stage on the Provision Map and record their impact. School Action For pupils who have not made adequate progress within the differentiated curriculum, the SENCo and class teacher may decide to move the child to School Action. Class teachers are responsible for tracking children s progress using the WCC tracking and are responsible for advising the SENCo of children who are failing to make adequate progress. At the School Action stage, Class Teachers are responsible for generating and reviewing Group Education Plans, to address the specific needs identified. Additional appropriate support either from the SENCo, HLTA or trained TA may be offered to support the Group Education Plan. Pupils who have additional social and emotional needs may be supported by inclusion in the Nurture Group. School Action Plus Following a period of intervention at School Action it may be decided by the SENCo and class teacher that outside support may need to be accessed. The child will move to School Action Plus. At the School Action and Action Plus stages, the needs of the pupils will normally be met within the classroom. It may be necessary for the SENCo, HLTA and /or TA to work with the child as an individual or as part of a group outside the classroom in support of the Group or Individual Education Plan e.g. Precision teaching, speech & language skills, social skills etc. Requests for Statutory Assessment Following a period of School Action Plus the school, with the knowledge and advice of LA agencies, may decide to approach the LA agencies to request Statutory Assessment. Once a pupil has a statement of SEN it is the duty of the Head Teacher to ensure that all those who are likely to teach the pupil are told about the statement. Education Plans Group Education Plans will be written at Early Years Action or School Action and Individual Education Plans at Early Years Action Plus, School Action Plus or Statement to address group or individual need. The IEP must be reviewed at least termly. Parents of pupils on School Action Plus or Early Years Action Plus will be invited to discuss the review with the Class Teacher. P.I.V.A.T.S. indicators will be used to aid target setting on IEP s when appropriate. A PSP (Pastoral Support Plan) may have to be added for a child at the risk of exclusion (see Behaviour Policy). For children who have ongoing medical conditions an Individual Health Care Plan may have to be completed. At the beginning of each term, the SENCo and Headteacher will meet with named contacts from Education Psychology (currently not LA), Access and Inclusion Service and the Pupil Referral Unit. The meeting will be to discuss the progress of pupils who are Statemented, or at School Action Plus and to agree and plan LA intervention for individuals or groups.

5 The school will also take the opportunity to buy in support for individuals or groups of pupils at the School Action Plus stage if this is felt to be appropriate. Nurture Group Nurture Group placement is considered for children who are underachieving for social, emotional or behavioural reasons. Following assessment (Goodmans and/ or Boxall Profile), an IEP will be created. Nurture Group staff will periodically review progress in liaison with the Class teacher. The role of the SENCo in mainstream primary schools The SEN Coordinator (SENCo), in collaboration with the head teacher and governing body, plays a key role in determining the strategic development of the SEN policy and provision in the school in order to raise the achievement of children with SEN. The SENCo takes day-to-day responsibility for the operation of the SEN policy and co-ordination of the provision made for individual children with SEN, working closely with staff, parents and carers, and other agencies. The SENCo also provides related professional guidance to colleagues with the aim of securing high quality teaching for children with SEN. The SENCo, with the support of the head teacher and colleagues, seeks to develop effective ways of overcoming barriers to learning and sustaining effective teaching through the analysis and assessment of children s needs, by monitoring the standards of pupils achievements, and by setting targets for improvement, recorded on the IEP. The SENCo should collaborate with curriculum coordinators so that the learning for all children is given equal priority, and available resources are used to maximum effect. At St. George s the key responsibilities of the SENCO include: overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school s SEN policy coordinating provision for children with special educational needs arrangements liaising with and advising fellow teachers managing named learning support assistants working with the Class Teacher to support and guide the HLTA s and TA s appointed to support individual pupils, usually through a statement or interim funding arrangements overseeing the records of all children with special educational needs liaising with parents of children with special educational needs, particularly at School Action Plus contributing to the in-service training of staff liaising with external agencies including the LA s support and educational psychology services, health and social services, and voluntary bodies liaising with any feeder or receiving school overseeing the arrangements for reviews including School Action, School Action Plus and the Annual Review for a pupil with a Statement. Tracking SEN children by using the Provision Map and WCC tracking. Monitoring the Provision Map and ensuring that it is kept up to date. Keeping Parents informed At St. George s we work hard to promote partnership with parents and are committed to keeping parents informed. We have a parents evening each term at which the progress of the child is discussed with parents. The class teacher will initially discuss the SEN with the parent and inform them that the child will be School Action on the SEN register. If a child moves to School Action Plus the Class Teachers will arrange to meet and discuss the child s SEN and the proposed action with the parent. Parents of pupils at School Action Plus will be invited to school to discuss the review of progress at the appropriate time.

6 The Family Link worker may also be involved in liaising with parents, if appropriate. Record Keeping and assessment All pupils will undergo a range of assessments (see Assessment Policy) to monitor and record progress. The SENCo will track those children on the Code of Practice, using WCC tracking, to ensure that adequate progress is being maintained. Pupils identified with SEN will in addition have a Group or Individual Education Plan, which will be reviewed and annotated to record progress on objectives. This will be at least once a term. Group and Individual Education Plans are available in classrooms to be accessed by staff. Communications from LA agencies are stored in the record file. Other information is kept by the SENCo in a named file. The School Secretary will keep the SEN register on the schools main computer, a copy of which will be kept in a yellow folder in the Staff Room and is always available to all staff. Links with other mainstream schools and special schools, including arrangements when pupils change schools or leave school. The SENCo will ensure that discussions of SEN take place with any feeder or receiving school and that all relevant records relating to SEN provision are received from the previous school / forwarded to the new school. Links with health and social care services, education welfare services and any voluntary organisations. The SENCo should liaise with the Head Teacher if there are concerns with attendance. The Head Teacher will access the services of the EWO (see Attendance Policy). The SENCo should liaise with the Child Protection Coordinator if there are concerns with welfare/ safety/ child protection etc. or if the child is in the looked after sector.( see Safeguarding Policy). Resources A range of resources are available from the SEN/ EAL cupboard. Advice and suggestions may be sought from the SENCo. Computer software is available on the network and for use on stand alone machines. Arrangements for Training Courses are available through the Local Authority and other providers. In service training is also provided for teachers and teaching assistants by the SENCo often in association with LA agencies. Criteria for evaluating the success of the school's SEN policy The SENCo will review SEN as part of the co-ordinator review process. The SENCo will report to the Leadership Team in three areas: The quality of teaching and support Standards Resources The effectiveness of the policy will also be discussed in terms of: quality of support and advice for the teaching staff; quality and quantity of support from SENCo and TA s quality of training and support for TA s; effectiveness of policy and procedures in meeting the needs of the pupils quality of support for pupils. In addition the SEN governor will be invited to discuss and review the working and success of the SEN policy and practice with the SENCo and Head Teacher annually. This discussion will be fed back to the Governing Body. To ensure that the SEN Governor has appropriate information the Head Teacher will keep the SEN Governor informed about the numbers of SEN pupils at School Action and

7 School Action Plus in each year group. The Head Teacher will also keep the SEN Governor informed about the number of Statements actively sought or in place. Arrangements for considering complaints about special educational provision within the school Parents are encouraged to discuss any concerns initially with the class teacher and/or the SENCo. If their concerns have not been allayed they should discuss the matter with the Head Teacher. If there are still problems or if they wish to make a formal complaint, they may write to the Chair of the Governing Body. If they are still concerned they may write to the LA as part of the LA curriculum complaints procedure (See Complaints Procedure).