How we identify if a child/young person has special educational needs?

During the summer term before children start at the school, we write to all the parents/carers to ask them to let us know if their child has a disability or if they feel they may have any special educational needs. The Inclusion Leader meets with these families and any specialists that have been working with their children so that we have a clear understanding of the child’s strengths, abilities and needs and can put in place the right support.

If a child has special educational needs, it is important that they get the support they need as soon as possible. In order to make sure any special needs not known about before starting school are identified early, we work at getting to know all the pupils really well during the first month of school, by observing them carefully, interacting with them closely in small groups and setting up a series of assessment activities for them to participate in. The classteacher meets with all the families during the first half term and any concerns can be shared at this meeting and support planned.

Children’s needs can and often do change over time as they grow and develop or the needs of the curriculum change. We have termly assessment and monitoring procedures throughout the children’s time at Eden which are designed to identify any children who develop special educational needs during the primary school years. Children often struggle with a particular area of school life or learning and may require additional support; this does not mean they have special educational needs. If the additional support does not resolve their difficulties, this may mean they do have a special educational need. The classteacher will discuss any concerns we might have with parents/carers. If parents or carers are concerned about their child’s development, they are always welcome to make an appointment with their child’s class teacher to talk.

What we do to help children with special educational needs.

At Eden we have developed a wide range of ways in which we support children with different special educational needs or disabilities, which we implement using the following procedure.

1. We identify what the particular problem is and the class teacher and Inclusion Leader meet with the parents/carers to discuss their child’s needs.
2. We agree a programme of support that is carefully targeted on the particular area(s) of difficulty. This describes what we will do to support the child and what we hope the support will achieve. To see whether the support is working we set a time frame and review how things are going. This is written down in an Individual Support Plan (ISP). The programme of support may include specialist equipment, special ways of working with the child in class or additional group or individual work with a teaching assistant or teacher. It will also include ways that the family can support the child out of school.
3. We create a personal profile for the child which is a clear accessible form of sharing the important information with all the relevant staff.
4. We review the Personal Support Plan at least every term with the parents or carers and child if this is appropriate.

How we adapt our teaching for children/young people with special educational needs

Children with special educational needs are taught alongside the other children in the class and lessons are designed to be inclusive so that all the children in the class learn and make progress. We do this by planning what are called ‘differentiated’ lessons. This means that different children may have different learning goals, different resources or different support in the same lesson.  The teacher uses a combination of different ways to group the children depending on the lessons.  These may be ability groups, mixed ability groups or groups based on other criteria (such as friendships). The curriculum is varied and teaching is planned to provide all children with opportunities to develop their strengths and shine as well as to support their weaknesses.

Every class teacher is responsible for the planning, monitoring and teaching of all the children in their class, including those with special educational needs. Where children have particular needs, teachers and teaching assistants receive training and support to meet these needs from our experienced Inclusion Leader or other specialists.

How we decide what resources we can give to a child/young person with special educational needs? 

Part of the school’s budget is for support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. This is a fixed amount and we use the money as cost effectively as possible, making sure that we can give help to all the children who require it. We keep records as to the cost effectiveness of the different programmes we use and use these records – as well as national data in order to ensure we get value for money.

We have clear criteria for the support we can provide for children based on their level of need. We provide additional support for children who are over a year behind the expected level for their age in literacy and mathematics or where they have language, physical or social and emotional difficulties which are impacting their ability to access the curriculum or school life. Decisions about whether a child will receive additional support are made based on the thresholds similar to those used in other local schools.

Decisions about which intervention programmes are best for a child with special education needs are made by the Inclusion Leader in consultation with the child’s class teacher, any specialists working with the child and their parents/carers. These are approved by the Head Teacher. All interventions are short term and reviewed at least termly. Parents/carers are encouraged to participate in this decision making progress at the child’s termly review meeting or by phone/email. The whole child is considered when making these decisions and support may need to be balanced to ensure the child receives an effective programme.

In exceptional circumstances, when a child has complex special educational needs, we may not be able to meet a child’s needs from our own funds. In those cases we will request they be considered for an Education Health Care Plan from the local authority in order to provide additional funds to support them. Parents can do this too. The Inclusion Leader is happy to discuss this in more detail if parents wish.

How we check that a child/young person is making progress and how we keep parents informed?

In addition to the whole school assessment programme where teachers assess children’s attainment and progress against national expectations in literacy and mathematics, we undertake a number of additional measures to ensure pupils with special educational needs are making progress.

Expectations of each individual’s progress are agreed at the beginning of an intervention or in a pupil support review meeting each term. Staff working with the children, are aware of these targets and are continually evaluating the children’s progress and whether they feel the child is likely to achieve them. Where they do not feel this is likely – they seek advice from the inclusion leader to identify possible barriers to learning and measures that can be taken to address these.

At the end of a period of support, the child’s attainment will be assessed and compared to where they were before the interventions so that progress can be evaluated. This assessment may be in the form of measures such as counting behavioural incidents, assessing standardised reading ages, identifying maths skills achieved or considering performance in class – with the parents/carers at the termly pupil support meeting if the pupil is on the SEND register or via email/letter/phone call if the child is not. The staff member providing additional support will also liaise more frequently with the parents/carers during an intervention if this is helpful.

Support we offer for children’s/young people’s health and general wellbeing

Children need to be happy and able to behave appropriately to learn well. All of our teaching staff work with children in their classes on social skills, behaviour and well-being. We have a strong social, moral, spiritual and cultural ethos which is embedded across our entire curriculum and is used to support pupil’s emotional well-being. If a child has a particular difficulty, their class teacher will have help from colleagues such as the Head teacher, Inclusion Leader, School Child Psychotherapist or teaching assistants to help support the child.

Eden Primary has clear anti-bullying, behaviour and diversity policies in place. If a child has particular behaviour difficulties an Individual Behaviour Plan for the child will be designed to identify the cause of the problem and support the child to avoid him/her disrupting his/her own – or others, learning and prevent exclusion. Parents/carers and the child (if they are able) are encouraged to contribute to this plan. This plan is shared with all staff to ensure the child’s behaviour is managed consistently.

If a child has a medical need, the parents and Inclusion Leader, in consultation with the school nurse, (if necessary) complete a medical care plan to ensure the child’s medical or personal needs are met in school. Staff regularly receive training to ensure they are able to confidently manage pupils’ medical and personal needs.

Children do not make good progress if their attendance is poor. All children’s attendance is monitored half termly. The Head Teacher meets with the parents/carers of any child whose attendance is causing concern and a plan is put in place identifying the cause of the problem and supporting the family to ensure the child’s attendance improves.

At Eden, we encourage children to have a voice in decision making about their school. Groups of children are regularly consulted about what they enjoy and would like to see improved in school. Children are also involved in decision making processes regarding improving issues such as playtime behaviour, lunchtimes etc.

Specialist external services we use when we think extra help is needed

Sometimes a child will have needs that will benefit from additional help from a specialist outside the school. Depending on the child’s needs we draw on support from:

• Speech and Language Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Child Psychology
• Child Psychotherapy
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
• Hearing Impaired Service
• Visual Impaired Service
• School Nurse
• Social Services

We will always communicate with parents if we think additional support is needed before we contact other services. Referrals are made to outside specialists using the local authority referral thresholds.

At Eden, we have a specialist inclusion hub which consists of small team of specialists (occupational therapist, speech therapist, physiotherapist, child psychotherapist) who work in school as part of a multi-disciplinary team with children who do not qualify for local authority support. We will discuss with parents if a referral to one of these specialists might be beneficial. Parents or carers can decide whether to refer although there may be a cost associated with this referral if individual assessment or intervention is required.

The training our staff receive

At Eden Primary we have a minimum of 3 hours per year of whole staff training focused on special educational needs. The training takes place on INSET days or as part of our weekly continuous professional development. This training is focused on ensuring that all staff:

• Understand different special educational needs
• Know how to plan their lessons in such a way that is appropriate for children with special educational needs
• Know how to support the emotional needs of all children (including those with special educational needs)
• Understand the importance of and develop the skills for working with parents and carers

In addition to this individual staff receive training that is relevant to the children they are working with or the subject that they are teaching. This training may be from the Inclusion Leader, more experienced colleagues, outside specialists or via local authority or other training courses. In the last three years, staff have received training on inclusive practice at Eden, children’s physical development and ways to support children with difficulties in this area, personalised learning, supporting children with medical difficulties and supporting children with behavioural difficulties.

Specific staff have received training on assessing and supporting pupils with dyslexia, supporting pupils with Downs Syndrome, teaching phonic interventions, using Numicon to support pupils who struggle with mathematics. Governors have also received training with regard to special needs and the law.

How we include children/young people in activities and school trips

All trips, outings and extra-curricular activities that we plan are suitable for children with special educational needs and or disabilities. As part of the planning process for a school trip or special activity, teachers carry out a detailed risk assessment, children’s individual needs are considered and the appropriate steps are taken to ensure all children will be safe and can access the learning from the activity.

Parents or carers may be consulted as part of this process before arrangements are finalised. If parents are concerned about any aspect of an activity they are encouraged to talk with the teacher concerned so that appropriate adjustments can be made.

Our school environment

At Eden we are committed to creating inclusive physical environments in which all children are comfortable and have their needs met. Our school was built in 2012 and is fully accessible for children with mobility issues. There are disabled toilets available close to the school office and changing facilities can be provided if needed. There is a disabled parking space on site for visitors with mobility issues.

We currently have a space within our school which is equipped for use by the school occupational therapist and physiotherapist with specialist sensory integration equipment. In school we have a range of equipment designed to support the development of children’s co-ordination and motor skills in class. However, if a child requires additional equipment we are able to get this through specialist services such as Occupational Therapy or as part of the child’s personal support plan.

How we prepare for children/young people joining our school and leaving our school

Children joining our school in Reception are visited at home by their teacher and teaching assistant. During this home school visit, staff begin to form a relationship with the child and parents. They complete a questionnaire designed to provide valuable information for staff regarding the child’s development.

The children come to school with their parents or carers initially in small groups for short periods of time. As they become settled and form relationships with the adults and children in their class, they stay for longer periods on their own in bigger groups. The speed at which this happens will be dependent on the individual needs of the child.

In addition to this, where children have a known special educational need or disability, the Inclusion Leader or Class Teacher will visit them in their existing setting in the summer term of their Nursery year. They will try wherever possible to attend a meeting with the nursery staff, parents and any specialists to plan the support the child will need in Reception. At this meeting, it may be recommended that the child visits Eden before starting in Reception as part of a transition programme.

If your child is moving to another school or is in Year 6, the school will arrange to meet with the SENCo, or where that is not possible, speak to the school on the telephone. Relevant records will be passed on.

If a child with special educational needs were to leave us to move to another school for personal reasons, we would liaise with the new school regarding the pupil’s needs and forward all relevant paperwork to ensure the work started at Eden would be continued in the next.

How parents are involved in school life

Community is a central part of our ethos at Eden Primary and parents are invited to be very involved in school life. We work hard to communicate effectively with parents. Each class has a daily newsletter or Eeton, informing parents about what has happened in the class that day. There is also a weekly newsletter from the Head Teacher with general news and information about the school.

We have termly Curriculum Evenings in which we explain to parents the focus for learning for the class over the coming term including ways that parents can support their children at home. We also hold regular parent workshops on other curriculum areas. We hold at least two Parent/Carer consultations with parents each year and there is a written report at the end of the year. Parents or teachers will also have informal face to face or telephone meetings to discuss any issues which may arise during the course of the year.

The Head Teacher holds regular feedback sessions for parents to meet with her over coffee and biscuits and share information about what is going well and areas for improvement or of concern. We ask parents for written feedback at each of the termly Curriculum Evenings as well as conducting an annual survey. The information gained from these results is carefully analysed by the school management team and policy or practice adapted as a result where necessary. Parents are kept informed of this process through the Head teacher’s weekly newsletter.

There is an active parents group supporting the community and fund raising life of the school and parents and carers are encouraged to volunteer providing support in the school on a regular or occasional basis. There are parent representatives on the school’s Governing Body.

We are always ready to talk to parents about any concerns they may have about their child. Parents are encouraged to talk with their child’s class teacher in the first instance, but are also welcome to make appointments with the Head Teacher or Deputy Head Teacher/ Inclusion Leader if they are still concerned.

For parents whose first language is not English, we have a number of members of staff who are able to act as interpreters or translators. If we do not have a suitable member of staff available we will hire the appropriate service from the local authority’s translation unit. For other parents who find it difficult to attend meetings or access school information, we work hard to identify the difficulty and put in place appropriate support to ensure their children are not disadvantaged.

Who to contact for more information or to discuss a concern

• Your child’s class teacher
• The Inclusion Leader: Kate Caplan
• The Head Teacher: Helen Graff
• SEND Trustee: Celia Newman

If you are not sure who to ask please contact the school administrator on 020 8883 9527 or yeliz@edenprimary.org.uk

We always encourage parents / carers to approach the school with any concern or complaint they may have. However, if you are unhappy with the way a concern or complaint has been managed by the school, you can contact SENDIASS who can provide you with SEND information, advice and support.