Special Educational Needs Policy

Special Educational Needs Policy Mission Statement Every child special, every child nurtured, achieving excellence together.

Schools have new obligations under the Children and Families Act (Clause 65) to ensure that parents are fully informed about the provision the school is making for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). Ladybridge will therefore have a clear view and narrative about how we are meeting the needs of pupils with SEND-the “School Offer� The SEND school offer and the special educational needs policy will be reviewed annually and shared with all stakeholders - Please see appendix.

Rationale: The Governing Body and staff at Ladybridge Primary School are committed to providing an appropriate and high quality education to all our children. We believe that all children, including those identified as having special educational needs have a common entitlement to a broad and balanced academic and social curriculum, which is accessible to them, and that they should be fully included in all aspects of school life. We pay particular attention to the provision for and the achievement of different groups of learners: -

girls and boys minority ethnic and faith groups learners who need support to learn English as an additional language (EAL) learners with special educational needs learners who are disabled or have long term illness those who are gifted and talented those who are looked after by the local authority any learners who are at risk of disaffection and exclusion

S.E.N. within the context of the School Ladybridge has a full range of pupils with special needs including children with learning difficulties, emotional, behavioural problems and physical and sensory problems. We provide for the full range of abilities both physically and academically.

The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is the responsibility of individual teachers working within the framework of support provided. The curriculum co-ordinators, through their curriculum responsibilities, take into account pupils with special educational needs when organising and resourcing their subject.

This policy describes the way we meet the needs of children who experience barriers to their learning, which may relate to sensory or physical impairment, learning difficulties or emotional or social development, or may relate to factors in their environment, including the learning environment they experience in school.

We recognise that pupils learn at different rates and that there are many factors affecting achievement, including ability, emotional state, age and maturity. We are particularly aware of the needs of our Key Stage 1 pupils, for whom maturity is a crucial factor in terms of readiness to learn. We believe in both early identification and early intervention.

We understand that many pupils, at some time in their school career, may experience difficulties which affect their learning, and we recognise that these may be long or short term.

Specific Objectives of SEN Policy The staff in school should aim to: - identify, assess and provide for a child’s difficulty in learning - support the family of the child experiencing difficulty - share information and expertise in order to improve future provision - Person centred planning ensures that everyone is involved in all aspects of planning and decision making. So that each child is receiving their entitlement to a relevant, broad and balanced curriculum - plan/budget for the maximum use of the school’s resources and additional resources The aim of our SEN provision is to ensure that children will have access to a curriculum and resources that will help them to progress at their own pace and level in order to achieve their maximum potential. SEN at Ladybridge is the shared responsibility of parents/carers, the school and local agencies.

Definitions of special educational needs (SEN) A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability, which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they: -

have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools

The four areas of special educational need: 1: Communication and Interaction This includes children with speech and language delay, impairments or disorders, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and dyspraxia, hearing impairment, and those who demonstrate features within the autistic spectrum.

2: Cognition and Learning This includes children who demonstrate features of moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia or dyspraxia.

3: Social, mental and Emotional Health.

This includes children who may be withdrawn or isolated, disruptive or disturbing, hyperactive or lack concentration.

4: Sensory and/or Physical Needs This includes children with sensory, multi-sensory and physical difficulties. Behavioural difficulties do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has a SEN and should not automatically lead to a pupil being registered as having SEN. The Governing Body Nicola Burgess and Christian DeGoede are the Governors responsible for Special Educational Needs at Ladybridge. The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator for the school and will liaise with the SEN Governors on a regular basis. SEN is an integral part of the School Improvement Plan. The School Governors will ensure that the provision specified in a statement is made and that the child's progress is monitored and parents and staff are informed. They will ensure that children participate as fully as possible in the life of the school and that it does not deter from the efficient education of other pupils.

Facilities At Ladybridge we ensure that our school is socially and academically inclusive, that all pupils have access to a full curriculum, and that all pupils are appropriately challenged.

The school allows easy access for all with ramps and rails appropriately positioned around the school. There is a purpose built disabled toilet for wheelchair users which also provides shower and changing facilities. Intervention rooms are available for staff and outside agencies to attend to other needs. We make reasonable adjustments for individual students who need extra provision than that which is already in place to make sure that all students are involved in every aspect of school life, and that all barriers to learning are removed.

These may fall under the following headings: The building and grounds: - audio-visual fire alarms - assistance with guiding.

Teaching and learning: - a piece of equipment - extra staff assistance - an electronic or manual note-taking service - readers for pupils with visual impairments.

Methods of communication: - a piece of equipment - the provision of a sign language interpreter, lip-speaker or deaf-blind communicator - induction loop or infrared broadcast system videophones - readers for pupils with visual impairments.

The accessibility plan will be evaluated every 3 years to monitor its effectiveness and ensure that it covers all areas of accessibility that are needed in the school Admission Arrangements Admission to the school for pupils with special educational needs, as for all pupils, is addressed in the school brochure. We welcome children with special educational needs and parents are invited to share information about their child before admission to enable the school to address their individual needs. Outside agencies involved are contacted to provide additional information so that the needs of the child can be met appropriately.

Ladybridge is well resourced to accommodate children with health and physical difficulties.

The role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) With one in five pupils identified as having a special or additional educational need, the role of the SENCO has never been so important to whole school development and improvement. The inclusion agenda, SENCO regulations and the National Award have led to significant changes in the role of the SENCO over the past decade. The new Teacher Standards, now in operation, place a greater emphasis on supporting pupils with SEN. Challenging professionals to adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils, the Standards also call on teachers to use and evaluate distinctive approaches to engage and support them. This has a clear impact on the role of the SENCO; diverse responsibilities for the role include staff training, working with external organisations, classroom observation, impacting on teaching and learning, data analysis and leading on school improvement. The specification for the National Award for SEN Co-ordination lays out very clearly the knowledge, skills and understanding that a twentyfirst century SENCO should have.

The SENCo’s responsibilities are: - The day to day operation of the school’s SEN policy - Co-ordinating provision for children with SEN - Liaising with and advising teachers - Managing learning and support assistants - Contributing to the in- service training of staff - Liaising with parents/carers of children with SEN

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Liaising with outside agencies Maintaining the schools SEN register and overseeing records such as provision maps and individual SEN records Information about school’s policies for identification, assessment and review of all pupils with SEN Organising and conducting annual reviews of statements Liaising with the Governor with responsibility for SEN and informing the Governors on SEN issues

Provision Provision for pupils identified as having special educational needs is according to the Code of Practice categories. Parents will be informed of their child’s inclusion on the SEN register and given the opportunity to discuss their child’s needs with the class teacher and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. The class teacher should have clear guidelines and individual programmes for the children.

Strategies Staff development will be identified as part of appraisal to accommodate training for teachers and support staff. All strategies will be with due regard to the ‘Code of Practice’.

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Regular liaison between the class teacher, SENCo and parents.

Advice drawn from external agencies.

Provision map provided by the class teacher.

Targets to be specific, sharp and achievable.

Planning and organisation to meet the needs of the child.

Children supported within class, small group or individually.

Consideration of teaching styles.

Differentiated curriculum to ensure access to the whole curriculum by task, additional support or expected outcomes.

SENCo to regularly monitor, assess and review arrangements to enhance children’s progress.

The IMPACT team are consulted regarding pupils who have autistic spectrum disorder.

School works closely with the Educational Psychology IMPACT team to liaise with the SENCo and carry out individual assessments.

Speech therapy support is given to some children.

Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy monitor and give therapy to children in school.

Ladywood Outreach share the knowledge and expertise that their specialist staff have developed, in order to support our pupils who have a range of learning and communication difficulties The school liaises with Social Services, Educational Social workers, Paediatricians and teachers of children with sensory impairment.

Arrangements for Identification and Assessment We operate a graduated response and the special needs register is in line with recommendations from both the Bolton LA and DfE. All staff have day to day responsibility for children with a special need. The school’s system of observing and assessing the progress of individual children, assessment on entry in foundation, SAT’s, QCA results and projections provides information about areas where a child is not progressing satisfactorily or is experiencing difficulties. Early identification is important and concerns made by people involved with the pupils are discussed and followed up by the SENCo. These include the class teacher, SENCo, parents, pupils and outside agencies.

Child is not making adequate progress (see Code of Practice) p72)

Maintain Universal provision Yes No

Implement targeted group interventions

Has progress improved?

Yes

Have progress improvements continued?

When judged to be appropriate, gradually withdraw extra support and monitor outcomes

No

Remove from SEN register Yes

Add to SEN register No

When judged to be appropriate, gradually withdraw individual support and monitor outcomes

Yes

Has progress improved?

Have progress improvements continued?

Yes

No No

Refer to relevant specialist(s) Implement interventions based on findings Continue to map and cost provision

Yes

Has progress improved?

Have progress improvements continued?

When/if judged to be appropriate, gradually withdraw specialist support and monitor outcomes

No Continue to work with LA and specialists to ascertain the nature of difficulty and provision needs No Has progress improved?

Yes

As soon as additional costs break the ÂŁ6000 mark in one three term period, apply to LA for High Needs Block Funding

Budget An annual allocation for special needs will be identified from within the schools spending plan.

The budget for special needs has two elements: - staffing and material resources.

Annually the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator provides information to the LA of pupils on the school’s special needs register, some of whom generate funds for supporting pupils with special needs.

The Special Needs audit is carried out using results from the QCA and SAT results, the school’s tracking system and liaison with the class teacher and support staff.

The Special Needs Co-ordinator is responsible for auditing resources and liaising with class teachers and subject co-ordinators. This ensures ensure provision of appropriate resources for special needs children to give them access to the curriculum in a manner suited to their difficulties. Funding will be allocated to the curriculum areas when necessary.

Record Keeping The school maintains a register of all children with SEN. Pupil’s progress and individual SEN record are reviewed termly. When a child on the SEN register moves to another school, records are passed on by the SENCo with other relevant information about the child. When Year 6 SEN pupils transfer to secondary school records are passed to the SENCo of the secondary school.

Parental Support Parents’ views and concerns are recognised and welcomed as valuable information when their child’s needs are being assessed. They are valued partners in the educational process, involved in the procedure of assessment and monitoring and they are invited to discuss their child’s progress on a regular basis.

Child Involvement The school endeavours to include children with special needs in all areas of the curriculum through appropriate differentiation, if necessary, and involve them in their own development as much as possible.

Arrangement for SEN in-service training All staff are kept up to date on current issues via staff meetings, training days and external courses offered by outside agencies.

Complaints procedures Arrangements for considering complaints about special educational provision within the school will be dealt with according to the Governing Body procedures. Complaints will be heard by the complaints committee (a parent governor, curriculum co-ordinator, and SEN Governor or nominees). Appeals against decisions concerning SEN complaints are heard by the remainder of the Governing Body not involved in the original decision.

Success Criteria The Head Teacher, SENCo, teachers, support staff and the Governing Body will monitor

the success of the SEN policy by:      

The SENCo reporting to the Head Teacher.

The SENCo reporting to the Governing Body.

Governors reporting annually to parents about the SEN policy, changes in the policy, LA consultations, funding and resources.

Appraising the effectiveness of identification, assessment, monitoring and record keeping.

Provision and use of external support services and agencies.

Involving parents in implementing procedures.

Using resources effectively.