Report to Governors on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Summer 2019 School Information Type of Support
Number of pupils
% of pupils (216)
SEN register - total SEN School Support SEN High Needs Funded Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan
49 47 6 2
23% 22% 2.7% 0.9%
EHCPs in process (agreed by panel) 8
National average % 14.4%
2.9% 1.5% (mainstream)
County average % 15.4% 11.7% 1.9% 1.8%
3.7%
Type of Difficulty
Number of pupils % of pupils with SEN National average %
Cognition and Learning Language and Communication Sensory, Physical or Medical Needs Social, Emotional or Mental Health Needs
24 6 1 18
49% 12% 2% 37%
Breakdown of groups
% on SEN register % of overall pupils
Female Male Pupil Premium EAL Mixed background Gypsy/Roma
33% 67% 51% 0% 4% 6%
39% 22.8% 2.6% 23.2%
50% 50% 35% 8.3% 2.8% 1.4%
Gifted and Talented Provision We don’t currently have a gifted and talented register, although teachers differentiate effectively in class and there are opportunities for the more able to be stretched. Moving onto 2019/20, I will be asking teachers to nominate the top 5-10% of their class in different curriculum areas as G&T, and creating a register to ensure these children are tracked.
Provision for Need Type of Need
Example of Provision
Cognition and Learning:
Quality first teaching, adult support for small groups; 1:1 support; maths interventions; Year 6 Booster groups, phonics groups, spelling groups, maths pre-teaching, Acceleread/Accelewrite
Language and Communication
Quality first teaching, small group work with specialist Teaching Assistant; total communication environments, measures within classroom to reduce stress for ASD pupils, including preparation for change and social stories about behaviour. Liaison with Autism Communication Service and Speech and Language therapy
Sensory, Physical or Medical Needs
Specialist equipment, e.g. hearing aids, noise cancelling headphones, sensory stimulation toys and portable sound field; wheelchair accessible routes and stairs.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs
Quality first teaching, nurture groups; Emotional Literacy support; individual sessions in the Beehive with Learning Mentor; sheltered provision as necessary – first thing in the morning, lunch, or at un-structured times of the school day, named adults in positions of trust and support, forest school, art therapy
Identification of SEN Identification of children with special needs occurs as a process between the class teacher and the SENDCo and in consultation with parents. This can be in-year or as a result of Pupil progress Meetings which occur termly and highlight children not making expected progress. Completing a SEN concern form is the first trigger for the graduated approach. If it is felt on further assessment that a child meets the criteria for SEN (their learning difficulty or disability calls for special education provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age) then the SENDCo and class teacher will meet with parents to discuss this, and complete a pupil profile to identify the child’s area of need and formalise the additional provision that will be put into place to support them. I liaise annually with the SENDCo at St John’s infant school as to the Year 2 cohort moving up in September. School Entry Plans are put into place to support any children with SEN to make a successful transfer. There will be an enhanced transition in place for these pupils to ensure they are confident and comfortable with their upcoming move.
Implementation of the graduated approach: The four stages of the graduated approach are:
Assess: carry out a clear analysis of the pupil's needs
Plan: decide the interventions and support to be put in place as well as the expected impact on progress and a clear date for review
Do: the class teacher should remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis, even where interventions involve group or one-to-one teaching
Review: evaluate the impact and quality of the support and interventions and listen to the views of the pupil and parents
Planning for children with special educational needs may take place within the classroom or in consultation with me; a key document for recording this is the child’s Pupil Profile, in which their likes, strengths, needs and learning preferences are recorded with some short-term targets. This Pupil Profile has been recently updated (see below) to allow teachers to track progress over time, set and review targets, and identify which external agencies and further documentation or assessment are involved with that child. If it is felt on review that further information about a child’s needs should be sought, we can conduct formal tests such as the Dyslexia Portfolio, Sandwell Maths assessment, LASS tests or verbal/nonverbal reasoning tests. The results will be used to make sure strengths are utilized as far as possible, and that strategies are taught to compensate for areas of difficulty. If progress is still not evident, then the advice of an outside agency may be sought e.g. speech and language therapy, educational psychology, or the Local Authority’s Learning Support Service. Changes to the referral process in Somerset mean an Early Help Assessment is required for any referral to an external agency. Exiting children from the SEN register Pupil Profiles and SEN targets are reviewed termly. If it is felt upon review that that child no longer meets the above criteria for SEN then this is discussed with the SENDCo and a decision is made to remove that child from the register. Education, Health and Care Plans: We currently still have two children on roll with EHC Plans. One is at Band 3 and one at Band 4. This academic year, Somerset County Council requested that all SENDCos apply for EHCPs for children who receive High Needs funding. Through this process, 6 children have had EHCPs applied for this year. All 6 have had their request for assessment accepted and are in the process of this assessment. In addition, two further children who were not in receipt of funding but meet the criteria for an EHCP have also had an EHCP applied for. There is a chronic back log in Somerset with EHCPs and the statutory deadlines of 20 weeks are not being adhered to.
SEN Funding There are six children who do not have EHC Plans but are banded as ‘High Needs’. There is in addition a child in Year 2 transferring over to us whose needs are classed as Band 5, who also has an EHCP which is going through at the moment. Year Group 6 6 6 5 4 4
Banding 4 4 4 4 (EHCP) 4 3 (EHCP)
3
3
TOTAL
Funding £4125 £4125 £4125 £4125 £4125 £2613 £2613 £25851
Status EHCP applied for EHCP applied for EHCP applied for EHCP EHCP applied for EHCP EHCP applied for
Furthermore we have two children on roll (EHCPs applied for) that receive no funding but require full time 1:1 TAs at an extremely high annual cost. Both these children are in Year 5. Changes to SEN funding have had a significant impact on the provision that we offer children with High Needs funded SEN. We have had to think tactically about how to use our budget for maximum impact. Communication with parents of children with Special Educational Needs In Summer term, I meet with any High Needs children coming up from year 2 and their parents, as part of transition. In Autumn, I will have a coffee morning/drop in session for parents to come and see me and raise any concerns or introduce themselves. Parents with any concerns about their child’s needs or progress are encouraged to contact their child’s class teacher in the first instance. Further meetings with me will be arranged if it is felt that the APDR process is needed to support this child. Children receiving High Needs Funding or who have an EHCP (or who we feel meet the criteria for an EHCP) have annual reviews to allow family and professionals to express their opinions, reflections and hopes for the future. These are an important part of the APDR process and help provide ongoing evidence of a child’s needs and the provision given by school.
Progress of Pupils with Special Educational Needs Data
Reading Writing Maths
% at ARE (SEN)
% below ARE
37 24 27
63 76 73
Expected progress (%)
23%
Progress of children with Special Educational Needs should be considered both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our largest category of SEN is cognition and learning; data is how we highlight and identify these children, so it is not unexpected that the majority of these children will be working below age related expectations. Similarly, children with SEMH difficulties experience significant difficulty in accessing the curriculum and this will have an impact on their educational outcomes. Each child is an individual and the school contends with a large number of external barriers to children’s learning which cannot be controlled within the school environment. That said, it is an area of significant concern that attainment and progress is so far behind the standards expected of other children. A growing difficulty that we have observed in the children we work with is an increase in deprivation and tightened family circumstances. We have a growing number of children whose families are known to social services, and multiple children arrive this academic year whose families are fleeing domestic violence. The number of children we are providing breakfast and lunches for is increasing, we have a range of children who arrive exhausted to school and fall asleep regularly, and children who are not in a fit state to learn. As a response to this and to the ever increasing cuts to services historically used to support children with SEMH, we have decided to provide therapeutic support within school for our children. We have had the opportunity this term to have an art therapy student work in the school 2 days a week, and have offered one of these slots to a very vulnerable Year 2 child, to prepare them for transition to St Benedict’s in September. Interventions Nurture Group continues to be an excellent way of supporting the large number of pupils on roll who have significant difficulties with their Social and Emotional Health. Evidence of its effectiveness is acquired through termly Boxall profiles, and further evidence is provided in the reduction of internal and external exclusions as children are supported in their emotional health and wellbeing. Read/Write Inc is used daily in Year 3 and children are streamed early in Autumn term. Movement through the stages of RWI is rapid and by Year 4 very few children need to continue the programme in terms of their reading. However, many children continue to require phonics to support their spelling in Year 4. In order for this intervention to be delivered effectively next year, staff training needs will need to be identified – teaching staff are not currently trained in its delivery. 123 Maths is providing children with improved fluency in essential basic maths skills. Pupil Voice feedback reports increased confidence. There is concern that teaching staff are not able to gain the full benefit of this intervention due to staff and time restrictions. Acceleread Accelewrite the advantage of this programme is that it can be delivered in small groups. It is most effective with pupils whose reading and spelling ages are mismatched, rather than those who
are behind with both. Good readers with poor spelling seem to improve the most. Currently groups are running in Year 3 and 5. Art Therapy This term we are working with Samantha Leckie, a 2nd year art therapist, supervised by local therapist Bridget Rees. Sam is supporting 4 children individually and working with two groups of children supporting their emotional needs. Meetings between the SENCO and SEND Governor My regular emails and meetings with Sue Wootton have continued this year. Sue has been so useful in terms of feeding back the training she attends, and ensuring that we are meeting all the legal requirements within the SEN department. Staff development This continues to be a key area of development for next academic year. Offering training sessions during the day continues to be difficult as the level of need for additional adults in the classroom has been very high. Moving forwards, I would like to use local schools much better and pool our training resources. An example where this was done successfully was with St John’s school in Spring term. We pooled educational psychology hours and trained teachers across both schools in emotional trauma. Moving forward, within our local ‘triangle’ of schools (Meare, Baltonsborough, Butleigh, St John’s and West Pennard), this is something to expand. Local special schools, such as the Mendip school, also offer a range of training. Work with external agencies The school has worked closely with Sian Biggs, Learning Support advisory teacher, who has run indepth assessments on 3 individual children. Her allocated hours are now finished and any further support will need to be bought in. Next year, these hours will be reduced further, so we need to think carefully about how to best use her specialism most effectively. Our educational psychologist is now Lucy Drage, who has worked with 3 individual children in the school in a variety of different formats. She is also assessing some of our children as part of her statutory work in assessing them for EHCPs. During the Autumn and Spring terms the Tor School supported 3 children who were at high risk of exclusion. However, despite these interventions these children remain at high risk of permanent exclusion. A total of 3 referrals have been made this year to the Autism and Social Communication service to seek their support with managing children with social communication difficulties. We have also had 3 reviews of children referred last year to ACS. These assessments have been very in depth and involved meetings with staff, parents and individual work with children. The reports have been detailed and very informative in terms of supporting staff managing children’s needs. Speech and language therapists and Occupational Therapists continue to come in to work with and assess a number of children on their caseload and provide staff with personalised care plans to deliver within school.
Traveller Educational support provide 4 children who are identified as gypsy/roma with funding of £300 a term each. This is used towards their nurture group provision, 1:1 time with our learning mentor and additional educational support (1:1 reading, maths and English interventions, small group support).
Changes to external agency support As of September 2019, our hours of educational psychology support are being drastically cut. Instead of an allocated amount of hours per school (ours this year was 12) schools have been merged into a ‘pyramid’ and given an amount of hours per school. Next year, our pyramid consists of Baltonsborough, St John’s, Butleigh, Meare, West Pennard and St Dunstan’s. The total amount of hours for all 6 schools is 12, or enough for 2 individual assessments. This will require a total rethink in how we use educational psychology support. In our ‘pyramid’ we have decided to meet termly as schools, discuss individual cases that concern us and pool our collective experience and resources to offer each other support in managing those children’s needs. Lucy Drage will be invited along to the end of these discussions, where we will present the most complex children across the schools, and she will offer different ways of supporting them that don’t necessarily include an individual assessment. Furthermore, we have decided to allocate funds from the SEN budget towards buying 12 additional hours for our school. This will be used to support high needs children who urgently need in depth assessment, or to provide specific staff training where appropriate. It is worth noting that these previously LEA-funded services are increasingly traded services. Our expectations regarding support offered by county have got to change.