Special Educational Needs Policy
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS POLICY Any children may experience learning difficulties at some time during their school life. We work hard to help all our children release their potential. We are committed to providing an education that ensures equality of opportunity and high achievement for all our children. The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, (2001), plays an important role in delivering that commitment. Through following the Code of Practice, we have a consistent approach to meeting children’s special educational needs. Our focus is on preventative work to ensure that children’s special educational needs are identified as quickly as possible and early action is taken to meet those needs.
What is meant by a ‘learning difficulty'?
A pupil has a learning difficulty if – • He or she has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of pupils of his or her age • He or she has a disability that either prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for pupils of that age in schools in the LEA’s area. (Education Act 1996)
A pupil is not to be taken as having a learning difficulty solely because of the language, (or form of a language), spoken at home. The school adheres to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act, (2001), in that there is no discrimination against current and prospective pupils on account of their disabilities.
The Code of Practice Our school has a statutory duty to follow the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, (effective 1-1-2002). The Code of Practice identifies two levels of support: School Action – An expression of concern, regarding the pupil’s learning difficulties, is raised by the teacher, parent or another professional. The pupil’s learning difficulties are noted and monitored by the class/form teacher. Some curriculum differentiation is undertaken, and the pupil’s progress is monitored and reviewed by the class/form teacher. School Action Plus – The pupil continues to have learning difficulties which have not responded fully to help given within the school. Progress is not satisfactory and there is evidence that the pupil is falling progressively behind the majority of the children the same age in academic attainment in any of the National Curriculum core subjects. The school calls upon external specialist support such as SENSS, Educational Psychologist to help the pupil make progress and assess problems. The external specialist plays a key role in helping the school assess the information collected and the action needed to be taken. Certain children at school action plus receive regular specialist teaching from SENSS, with programmes of work supported by a designated teaching assistant on our staff. The Code of Practice also identifies two levels of support for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties: School Action – There is an awareness of some behavioural difficulty that is noted and monitored by the class/form teacher. Observation will focus on social and emotional maturity, motivation and self-esteem. These may exhibit themselves in anxious, depressed, non-compliant or withdrawn behaviour. School Action Plus – The pupil has difficulties which have persisted over time and have not responded to the 'within school' help from the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, teaching and support staff. Targets specified within the Individual Education Plan have not been met. Advice has been sought from external agencies including the County’s Behaviour Support Service, Educational Psychologist, Education Welfare Officer and Child Guidance to contribute to the assessment of the pupil’s needs. For further details, refer to the DFES Code of Practice document, Chapter 5 – Identification, Assessment and Provision in the Primary Phase.
Statements If the pupil’s learning difficulties continue to cause concern then a request to the LEA is made for a statutory assessment on the needs of the pupil. This referral would normally come from the pupil’s school but may come from another agency including the parent of the pupil. (Refer to page 56 in Code of Practice for statementing procedures). Annual review for children with statements takes place in the Spring/Summer terms each year.
Who supports Special Educational Needs in our school? Our school Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Judy Baker. The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, with the support of the governing body, takes responsibility for the day to day operation of provision made by the school for pupils with Special Educational Needs and provides professional guidance in the area of Special Educational Needs in order to secure high quality teaching and the effective use of resources to bring about improved standards of achievement for all pupils. However, all staff are actively involved in supporting children with Special Educational Needs. Teachers work alongside the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator to identify pupils of concern and help prepare Individual Education Plans. They monitor and review children’s progress setting realistic but challenging targets. Teachers also work alongside the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator to communicate effectively with parents and representatives from external agencies. We highly value our learning support assistants who work in collaboration with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, teachers and external agencies to support pupils and help them to maximise their levels of achievement and independence. We work hard to ensure parents feel fully involved as partners in the educational process. Regular communication ensures parents understand the targets set for their children, and their contribution to helping their children achieve them. The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator meets regularly with the Special Educational Needs Governor to monitor and evaluate the provision made for pupils with Special Educational Needs. Special Educational Needs provision is report in the Governor's Annual Report to Parents. Gifted and Talented children Please refer to the Gifted and Talented children for further information.
Behaviour We place a very strong emphasis on promoting a positive culture in our school. We encourage all children to support each other. Our school council takes a key role in promoting good behaviour, and our school peer mediators are trained to help children help each other to solve any conflicts that may arise. This approach clearly helps to support our children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties (see school Good Behaviour Policy). Policy reviewed: May 2007 Adopted by the Governing Body: Next Review date: May 2008