Special Educational Needs

  • Mrs Cheryl Miller

    Inclusion Manager

    cheryl.miller@ntlp.org.uk

    My name is Cheryl Miller and my role within Wallsend Jubilee is the Special Educational Needs (and disabilities) Co-ordinator (SEN(D)Co).

    I have been doing this role for nearly 13 years and have taught for over 20 years at Wallsend Jubilee across all phases. I am member of the Senior Leadership Team and have gained the NASENCo national qualification.

    My day-to –day responsibilities are to ensure that children in our school have their needs catered for, regardless of ability. This is done by coordinating the specific provisions we have for SEND in our school, supporting staff and parents to address the needs of all children, and liaising with outside agencies. I also have up to date training on EHA (Early Help Assessments) and therefore can lead these when necessary. In addition to this I am a full time year three teacher and deputy designated safe guarder.

 

What are Special Educational Needs and Disabilities? (SEND)

The Government define a child as having a SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made or has a significant greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others the same age. The types of special educational needs and disabilities can include difficulties with:

  • Communication and Interaction
    This area of need includes children with Autism Spectrum Condition and those with Language and Communication Needs
  • Cognition and Learning
    General Learning Difficulties – children who need a longer time to succeed with learning  Specific Learning Difficulties – Dyslexia (difficulties with reading, writing and spelling), Dyscalculia (difficulties with maths)
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs
    This includes any pupils who have an emotional, social or mental health need that is impacting on their ability to learn. This might include: ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder – ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Anxiety and attachment related difficulties.
  • Sensory and/or Physical needs
    This area includes children with hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment and physical difficulties.

Our staff are committed to supporting all children, regardless of what their special educational need or disability might be.

 

 

SEN Support

 

Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.
This means that we will:

  • Assess a child’s special educational needs
  • Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
  • Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
  • Review the support and progress

As part of this approach, if it is deemed appropriate, a SEN Support Plan will be created for your child. This has 2 or 3 specific, measurable, achievable and realistic outcomes. These outcomes may be to help your child make progress in lessons. Outcomes may also help your child make progress with any life skills that are weaker than their academic skills (e.g. social skills)
A SEN Support Plan will outline what the appropriate support or intervention programmes (specific activities) will be and who will be the person carrying out the work. Interventions can be changed when required, to make sure your child succeeds.

The views of parents/carers and the child are integral when formulating a support plan. Any outcome agreed has to have a clear benefit for your child. It is important that parent/carers, the child and any adults working with the child, know what outcome a target may have for the child. Outcomes are looked at least every term with the child, their parents and class teacher/TA. This helps us see what is getting easier for the child and make sure we are all doing what we agreed.

A small percentage of children and young people with significant and/or complex needs may require an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) This is a very detailed assessment of a child’s needs. Parents or carers, the school and a range of professionals will all be asked to provide written reports to the Local Authority.

The Local Authority will read the reports, talk about the information and say whether an Education Health and Care Assessment is needed. 

When the Local Authority says an Education Health and Care Assessment is needed the Local Authority looks at all reports given to them about the child. This helps them decide whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for the child. The Local Authority has 20 weeks from first being asked do an Education Health and Care Assessment, to agreeing to a child having an Education Health Care Plan.

Parents/carers and other professionals also have the right to ask the Local Authority to carry out this assessment. It is usually best if you can do this with the support of the school.

 

Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN

 

If your child has a special educational need our SENCO, Mrs Miller will:

  • Ensure the right support is put in place for each child as part of the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle
  • Advise other teachers and teaching assistants on how to help each child
  • Training for staff so they understand each child’s needs
  • Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have
  • Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist /medical professional/ educational psychologist
  • Monitor progress in relation to individual outcomes as well as in relation to national measures

All teachers are aware that children learn in different ways. Some children need to work at a slower pace to ensure they fully understand one thing before they move onto something new.

Teachers  will:

  • Reflect the short term targets for the child which are linked to their needs as part of the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle
  • Give details of any extra support the child will get and who will give the child help
  • Give details of how often the child will get help
  • Review outcomes specific to the child

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support. Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process. We believe that the help of parents is particularly important in supporting the progress made by each child and we will consult with them when decisions need to be made.

There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:

    • Termly parents’/ carers evenings
    • Ongoing discussions with a class teacher and/Mrs Miller
    • An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have
    • Through a review of a child’s Special Educational Needs Support Plan (SSP) or the Annual Review of their Education, Health, Care Plan.

 

How children with SEN engage in all activities?

 

At Wallsend Jubilee Primary, we aim to offer excellence and choice to all our children, whatever their ability or needs. We want all our children to feel that they are a valued part of our community and we have high expectations for them all. We aim to achieve this through the removal of barriers to learning and participation by:

  • Providing a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions are considered and valued
  • Providing an appropriate curricular provision, that respects the fact that children:
    • -have different educational and behavioural needs and aspirations
    • -require different strategies for learning
    • -acquire, assimilate and communicate information at different rates
    • -need a range of different teaching approaches and experiences
  • Including and valuing the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity
  • Providing positive non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and disabled people
  • Improving our knowledge and understanding of issues of anti-discriminatory practice, promoting equality and valuing diversity
  • Making inclusion a thread that runs through all of our activities
  • Ensuring every child has the entitlement to a sense of achievement

 

We continuously ensure the provision has a positive impact on the outcomes for all of our children/young people. According to our school policy, children’s academic progress is monitored through summative assessments every term. The progress of children with SEND is monitored by both the class teacher and the SENCO using both summative assessments and the day to day informal assessments that are made during lessons. This information regarding progress is then used to evaluate the effectiveness of the support that is given. We will also gather information from the child, parents, carers as well as professionals from other agencies.

It is of the upmost importance to us that the provisions we provide are effective and therefore we regularly review their impact. Review meetings are held with the SENCo and class teacher every term, in addition to regular informal discussions with all staff. Other methods of our evaluation include:

  • Book scrutiny
  • Provision mapping
  • SENCO/SLT/Governor monitoring
  • Learning walks
  • Performance management targets

With the permission of parents, we may seek additional advice from outside specialists. This extra advice may come from health professionals, specialist teachers or educational psychologists.

They would:

  • Carry out further activities to show what the child finds easy and what they may need specific help with
  • Provide advice to schools on how to best support the child
  • Suggest resources (things) that would help the child make progress

If your child needs lots of help from a range of professionals to succeed in school and in life, we will talk with you. We may with your permission, ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care Assessment.

How do we respond to parental concerns:

We always encourage parents to come in and discuss any concerns with us face to face. Children who are working with a number of agencies will have termly reviews, even if they don’t have an EHCP, so that parents have a chance to discuss any concerns about the provision their child id receiving. 

 

Support for Emotional & Social Development

 

At Wallsend Jubilee Primary, the whole school works as a team in order to ensure each and every child’s needs are met effectively. We have a number of systems in place to support children who may have pastoral, medical or social needs. The support given is individualised to the child and could come in a variety of forms.  

Ways in which we can support these needs:

  • Working in partnership with a range of external agencies such as the emotional wellbeing and effective learning team and medical professionals.
  • Buddy System
  • The use of social stories
  • Talkabout
  • Socially Speaking programme
  • Time to Talk
  • Forest of feelings
  • Zippy’s friends
  • Bereavement
  • counselling
  • Confidence and Self esteem
  • Friendship and social skills
  • building resilience

Looked After Children with SEND

Our Pupil Premium Manager, Joanne Tappenden is also our Designated Teacher for Looked after children and her role is to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEN.

The designated LAC (looked after children) teacher will review the child’s progress through the PEP (personal, education plan)  process with the relevant Local Authority and carers. If the child also has SEND Support Plan/EHCP this can be reviewed at the same time.

 

 

SEN Transition

How we support children/young people with SEN starting at our school/ moving throughout our school/moving on from our school.

As children prepare to transition to different key stages, settings and schools, we recognise the importance of ensuring this is as smooth and seamless as possible.  Wallsend Jubilee organise transition visits for all children to help familiarise them with their new environment and potential new staff, this is regardless of whether they are transitioning between Nursery to Reception, Reception to year 1, Key stage 1 to key stage 2 or to a different setting. Transition may involve visits to a new settings with the child/Class teacher/SENCO/parents and may take place over several dates depending on the age and need of the child. In addition, we ensure that we share records and key information about the child’s needs, use of equipment, strategies for teaching, agencies involved to all 'new staff.   During any transition, especially when changing school settings, for example starting nursery or moving onto high school it is important that families and school staff plan together. Your views and hopes and dreams for your child are important to us in planning for success and achievement.  For further information please contact Cheryl Miller

How we support children/young people with SEN moving between classes in our school

We understand that any kind of transition can be challenging for children with SEND and we have several measures in place to ensure our children have a positive experience when moving between classes within school. At the end of each school year, the children all take part in a ‘Move-Up’ day, when they move into their new classroom and meet their new teacher. Children with SEND are supported by a teaching assistant they are familiar with during this process and if appropriate to the child’s needs, this assistant will move with them. Children may also have supplementary classroom visits and spend time getting to know their new teacher before the Summer break.

How we support children/young people with SEN leaving our school

At the end of Year 6, we work in partnership with our feeder secondary schools, to provide an enhanced level of transition for those who we feel would benefit from this. This may take the form of additional visits for children,  one to one / small group working with secondary school staff or pupil mentoring from secondary schools.

We are particularly keen to involve parents/carers as much as possible in their child’s transition to secondary school. School staff will take opportunities to work alongside parents/carers to visit secondary schools in advance of secondary placement applications being submitted to the Local Authority. This ensures parents/carers can make the most informed placement decision for their child. When a secondary school has been allocated to the child, parents are fully involved and consulted at all stages of the transition process.