Special Educational Needs Policy

Definitions of special educational needs (SEN) taken from section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provisions to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:

1. have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age;
   or
2. has 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 or mainstream post-16 institutions.

A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if they fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them.

Children must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught.

The coalition government is reforming the way in which provision and support is made for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities in England. New legislation (The Children and Families Act 2014) enacted on the 13th March comes into force from the 15t September 2014. A new SEN Code of Practice also accompanies this legislation.

More details about the reforms and the SEN Code of Practice can be found on the Department for Education's website:

www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/sen

One significant change arising from the reforms is that Statements of Special Educational Needs, for those children with the most complex needs, have now been replaced with a new Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. These plans are being supported by an Education, Health and Care Plan Pathway. You can view an animation describing this new pathway on Birmingham’s SEND Local Offer website:

www.mycareinbirmingham.org.uk

This information is also available by entering the above web address into the browser of a smart phone or tablet.

The SEND Local Offer is a resource which is designed to support children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their families. It describes the services and provision that are available both to those families in Birmingham that have an Education, Health and Care Plan and those who do not have a plan, but still experience some form of special educational need. The SEND Local Offer includes information about public services across education, health and social care, as well as those provided by the private, voluntary and community sectors.

Our Vision

Our school vision applies to all of the children who come to our school:
'Every child should have the right and the means to fulfil their dreams'
We believe that this should apply to all children and we know that this means some children may need extra support and help in order to achieve their best.

Aims and Principles

Our School Aims to create:

• Successful learners: who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.
• Responsible citizens: who are self aware and socially aware – who have pride in their own history and heritage and respect for that of others.
• Confident individuals: who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
   

Our Curriculum Principles
At St. Benedict’s Infant School we provide a curriculum that:

• encourages confidence, respect and pride
• enables learners to be creative thinkers who explore, embrace challenge, take risks and problem solve
• engages, excites and leaves young minds inspired
• creates resilient, resourceful and successful learners
   

Objectives:

Staff members seek to identify the needs of pupils with SEN as early as possible. This is most effectively done by gathering information from parents, education, health and care services (and feeding schools or early years settings) prior to the child's entry into the school. Where needs have not been previously identified, staff will report observations to the SENCo.

Progress of all pupils is monitored in order to aid the identification of pupils with SEN. Continuous monitoring of those pupils with SEN by their teachers will help to ensure that they are able to reach their full potential.

Appropriate provision is made to overcome all barriers to learning and ensure pupils with SEN have full access to the curriculum. This will be co-ordinated by the SENCo and will be carefully monitored and regularly reviewed in order to ensure that individual targets are being met and all pupils' needs are catered for.

Parents are involve in all stages of their child's education. They are supported in understanding SEN procedures and practices and are provided regular feedback on their child's progress.
We will work with and in support of outside agencies when the pupils' needs cannot be met by the school alone. St Benedict’s Infant School receives further support from City of Birmingham Schools (COBS), Communication and Autism Team (CAT), Physical Disability Service (PDSS) Educational Psychology Service (EPS), Pupil and School Support (PSS), Speech and Language Therapy Service (SALT and Chatterboxes) and Sensory Support Service (SSS).

2. Responsibility for the coordination of SEN provision

It is the School Governors responsibility to ensure that provision of SEN pupils is made and promotes high standards. This is delegated to Mrs. Armine Williams (Head teacher). The person co-ordinating the day to day provision of education for pupils with SEN is Mrs Clayton (NASENCo Award) SENCo/Assistant Headteacher.

3. Arrangements for coordinating SEN provision

The SENCo will hold details of all SEN Support records such as the SEN Register, provision maps and strategy sheets for individual pupils.

All teaching staff can access the following documents on the shared file:

• The School SEN Policy.
• A copy of the full SEN Register.
• Guidance on identification of SEN in the Code of Practice.
• Information on individual pupils' special educational needs including pupil profiles and strategy sheets where applicable.
• Practical advice, teaching resources, and information about types of special educational needs and disabilities.
• Information available through Birmingham SEND Local Offer.

By accessing the above, teaching staff member will have complete and up-to-date information about all pupils with special needs and their requirements; enabling them to provide for the individual needs of all pupils. This policy is made accessible to all staff and parents in order to aid the effective coordination of the school's SEN provision.

4. Admission arrangements

Please refer to the information contained in our school prospectus.

The admission arrangements for all pupils are in accordance with national legislation, including the Equality Act 2010. This includes children with any level of SEN; those with Education, Health and Care Plans and those without.

Where appropriate upon transition; children with identified needs will be supported through liaison meetings with parents, key staff from both settings and support agencies. An individual plan of action to aid transition will be offered.

5. Specialist SEN provision

St Benedict’s Infant School is an inclusive school. For more information on our provision for inclusion including our involvement in specialist programmes to aid inclusion, see Section 10.

In our school we support children with a wide range of needs. We are committed to whole school inclusion and will seek support and training from SEND services where appropriate.

6. Facilities for pupils with SEN

The school complies with all relevant accessibility requirements; please see the school accessibility plan for more details.

All children have access to our extra-curricular activities, trips and residential stays. Where appropriate and possible, adjustments will be made to ensure all children and young people with special educational needs are fully included in these activities. In addition, our school provides additional extra-curricular activities for children with special educational needs when needed.

7. Allocation of resources for pupils with SEN

All pupils with SEN will have access to Element 1 and 2 of the school's budget which equates to £6,000. Some pupils with SEN may access additional funding.

For those with the most complex needs, additional funding (HLN or High Level Needs) is retained by the local authority. This is accessed through individual applications to a multi-agency panel, which is administered by the Local Authority, who will determine whether the level and complexity of need meets the threshold for this funding.

It is the responsibility of the governors, senior leadership team and SENCo to agree how the allocation of resources is used.

8. Identification of pupils needs

Identification:
A graduated approach: 'Every Teacher is a Teacher of SEN'.

At St Benedict’s Infant School, to aid the Graduated Approach, SEN Support is classified into three categories:

• Universal Support where needs are catered through quality First Teaching
• Targeted SEN Support - If a child continues to make less than expected progress, move to SEN Support.
• Specialist SEN Support - Increased, targeted interventions with support from outside agencies, if appropriate.
   

Targeted support Quality First Teaching:
All children’s progress, including those children or young people with special educational needs, is tracked using the school’s assessment tracking system. Pupils are assessed regularly using teacher marking, observations and questioning as well as more formal assessments, such as curriculum tests and standardised test. In Birmingham, we also have access to the Birmingham Language and Literacy and Maths toolkits which support assessment when a child is making small steps of progress. In addition,for children or young people with special educational needs we also set individual targets that are reviewed three times a year. This helps the school to monitor how well interventions are working. The progress each child is making is discussed at termly pupil progress meetings.

Any pupil who is falling significantly outside of the range of expected academic achievement in line with predicted performance indicators and grade boundaries will be monitored.

Once a pupil has been identified as possibly having SEN, they will be closely monitored by staff in order to gauge their level of learning and possible difficulties.

The subject teacher will take steps to provide differentiated learning opportunities that will aid the pupils’ academic progression and enable the teacher to better understand the provision and teaching style that needs to be applied.

The SENCo will be consulted as needed for support and advice and may wish to observe the pupil in class.

Through the above actions it can be determined which level of provision the pupil will need.
If a pupil has recently been removed from the SEN register they may also fall into this category as continued monitoring will be necessary.

Parents will be informed fully of every stage of their child's development and the circumstances under which they are being monitored. Parents are encouraged to share information and queries with the school.

The pupil is monitored if concern is raised by parent or teacher but this does not automatically place the pupil on the school's SEN register. Concerns are discussed with parents/carers. It is recorded by the school as an aid to further progression and for future reference.

Pupil progress meetings and parents evenings are used to monitor and assess the progress being made by all students. The frequency of these meetings is dependent on individual progress.

Where it is determined that a pupil does have SEN, parents will be formally advised of this before inclusion of the individual on the School SEN Register. The aim of formally identifying a pupil with SEN is to help school ensure that effective provision is put in place and so remove barriers to learning. The support provided consists of a four part process indicated below:

• Assess
• Plan
• Do
• Review

This is an ongoing cycle to enable the provision to be refined and revised as the understanding of an individual grows. This cycle enables the identification of those interventions which are the most effective in supporting the pupil to achieve good progress and outcomes.
 

Assess
In identifying a child as needing SEN support the teacher, working with the SENCo should carry out a clear analysis of the pupil's needs. This should draw on subject assessments, teacher observations, and details of previous progress and attainment, comparisons with peers and national data, as well as the views and experience of parents. The opinion and feelings of the individual and advice from external support services will also be considered. Any parental concerns will be recorded and compared with the school's information and assessment data on how the pupil is progressing.

This analysis will require regular review to ensure that support and intervention is matched to need; barriers to learning are clearly identified and being challenged and that the interventions being used are developing and evolving as required. Where external support staff are already involved their work will help inform the assessment of need. Where they are not involved they may be contacted, if this is felt to be appropriate, following discussion and agreement from parents.

Plan
When it is decided to provide a pupil with SEN support, parents will be informed in writing. Planning will involve consultation between the teacher, SENCo and parents to agree the adjustments, interventions and support that are required; the impact on progress, development and or behaviour that is expected and a clear date for review. Parental involvement may be sought, where appropriate, to reinforce or contribute to progress at home.
All those working with the pupil, including support staff, will be informed of their individual needs, the support that is being provided, any particular teaching strategies/approaches that are being employed and the outcomes that are being sought.

Do
The class teacher remains responsible for working with the pupil on a daily basis. They will retain responsibility even where the interventions may involve group or 1:1 teaching away from the mainstream classes. They will work closely with teaching assistants and relevant specialist staff to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and links with classroom teaching. Support with further assessment of the pupil's strengths and weaknesses, problem solving and advising of the implementation of effective support will be provided by the SENCo.

Review
Reviewing pupil progress will be made at least termly. The review process will evaluate the impact and quality of the support and interventions. The SENCo will revise the support and in light of pupil progress and development; making any necessary amendments going forward, in consultation with parents and subject teachers.

Referral for an Education, Health and Care Plan:

If a pupil has lifelong or significant difficulties they may undergo a Statutory Assessment Process which is usually requested by the school but can be requested by a parent. This will occur where the complexity of need or a lack of clarity around the needs of the pupil are such that a multi-agency approach to assessing that need, to planning provision and identifying resources, is required.

The decision to make a referral for an Education, Health and Care Plan will be taken at a progress review involving parents, teacher, SENCo and external agencies if applicable.

Further information about EHC Plans can found via the SEND Local Offer:

www.mycareinbirmingham.org.uk

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHC Plan)

Following Statutory Assessment, an EHC Plan will be provided by Birmingham City Council, if it is decided that the needs of an individual are not being met by the support that is ordinarily available. Both staff in school and parents will be involved developing and producing the plan.

Parents have the right to appeal against the content of the EHC Plan. They may also appeal against the school named in the Plan if it differs from their preferred choice.

Once the EHC Plan has been completed and agreed, it will be kept as part of the pupil's formal record and reviewed at least annually by staff, parents and the pupil. The Annual Personal Review enables provision for the pupil to be evaluated and, where appropriate, for changes to be put in place.

 

9. Access to the curriculum

Pupils with SEN will be given access to the curriculum through the specialist SEN provision provided by the school taking into account the needs of the individual. Every effort will be made to educate pupils with SEN alongside their peers in a classroom setting.

Regular training and learning opportunities for staff on the subject of SEN and SEN teaching are provided both in school.

Staff members are kept up to date with teaching methods which will aid the progress of all pupils including those with SEN.

In class provision and support are deployed effectively to ensure the curriculum is differentiated where necessary.

We set appropriate individual targets that motivate pupils to do their best, and celebrating achievements at all levels.

The school curriculum is regularly reviewed by the Governors and Senior Leadership Team to ensure that it promotes the inclusion of all pupils. This includes learning outside the classroom and offsite provision.

The school will seek advice where appropriate around individual pupils from external support services.

10. Inclusion of pupils with medical needs

The school recognises that pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. Some children with medical conditions may be disabled and where this is the case the school will comply with its duties under the Equality Act 2010.

Some may also have special educational needs (SEN) and may have a statement, or Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan which brings together health and social care needs, as well as their special educational provision and the SEND Code of Practice (2014) is followed.

11. Evaluating the success of provision

Pupil progress will be monitored at least on a termly basis in line with the SEN Code of Practice.

SEN provision and interventions are recorded on an individual provision map and Phase SDPs, which are updated when the intervention is changed.

These interventions are monitored and evaluated termly by the SENCo and information is fed back to the staff, parents and governors. This helps to identify whether provision is effective.

12. Complaints procedure

If a parent or carer has any concerns regarding the progress of their child, an appointment can be made by them to speak to a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Where concerns persist, parents can refer to the Complaints Policy.

13. In service training (CPD)

We recognise the need to train all our staff on SEN issues and we have funding available to support this professional development.

We aim to keep all staff up to date with relevant training and developments in teaching practice in relation to the needs of pupils with SEN. The SENCo, with the Senior Leadership Team, ensures that training opportunities are matched to school development priorities.

14. Working in partnerships with parents

St. Benedict’s Primary School believes that a close working relationship with parents is vital in order to ensure:

• Early and accurate identification and assessment of SEN leading to the correct intervention and provision.

In cases where more frequent regular contact with parents is necessary, this will be arranged based on the individual pupil's needs. The SENCo may also signpost parents of pupils with SEN to the local authority Parent Partnership service where specific advice, guidance and support may be required.

If an assessment or referral indicates that a pupil has additional learning needs the parents and the pupil will always be consulted with regards to future provision. Parents are invited to attend meetings with external agencies regarding their child, and are kept up to date and consulted on any points of action drawn up in regards to the provision for their child. The school's SEN link governor may be contacted at any time in relation to SEN matters.

 

15. Transition

We aim to make times of transition as easy as possible for the children and young people in our school.

When a child with SEN is starting at our school we:

• Meet with the child and their parents to talk about their needs and answer any questions about our school
• Meet with staff of the child’s previous school or setting
• Provide the child with a transition book that has photographs of the key staff and areas around school
• Read reports from people who have worked with the child
• Arrange visits to our school so the child gets to see it before they start properly
• Give any adults working with the child a one page profile or pupil passport describing the things that help to support them in school

When a child with SEN moves to a new year group, we:

• Introduce the child to their new teacher individually
• Provide the child with an updated transition book that has photographs of the key staff and areas around school to look at during the school holidays.
• Talk to the child and their family so we can answer any questions they may have about the new year group
• Give any adults working with the child relevant information describing the things that help to support them in school

When a child with SEN moves to a new school, we:

• Hold a pupil centred review and invite key staff from the new school
• Talk to key staff at the new school about things that help the child to learn well and be happy at school
• Arrange extra visits to the new school with a member of staff from our school if that is what the child wants
• Talk to the child and their family so we can answer any questions they may have about the new school

 

16. Links with other agencies and voluntary organisations

Primary School invites and seeks advice and support from external agencies in the identification and assessment of, and provision for, SEN. The SENCo is the designated person responsible for liaising with the following:

• Communication and Autism Team (CAT)
• Physical Disability Service (PDSS)
• Educational Psychology Service (EPS)
• Pupil and School Support (PSS)
• Speech and Language Therapy Service (SALT and Chatterboxes)
• Sensory Support Service (SSS)

In cases where a child is under observation or a cause for concern, focused meetings will be arranged with the appropriate agency.

Reviewed By: Curriculum and Standards Committee
Date Reviewed: 12/05/2017
Next Review: 12/05/2017
Head Teacher: Armine Williams
Chair of Governors: Mohammed Zabar