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St Benedicts's Primary School

SEND Information Report

Special Provision for Children Needing Extra Help at St Benedict’s Primary School
 

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.

We hope the following information will answer most of your questions; please contact us should you require any further advice or information.

If you have a concern about your child’s needs or if you think you child may require extra help, who do you need to talk to?
 

  1. What are ‘Special Needs’?

    The law states that a child has special educational needs if he or she has:
  • a learning difficulty that is seen as a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age, or a disability which makes it difficult to use the educational facilities generally provided locally

The difficulty may mean that your child requires extra or additional provision to other children of the same age in school.

All Birmingham maintained schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and are supported by the Local Authority.

Under the new Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (September 2014) our school would like to give you the following information about our approach for children with SEN or a disability.

We have tried to answer the questions we are asked most below. Should you have another query, please don’t hesitate to ask us for further information.

Head Teacher

Mrs Williams is responsible for the day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND. She must make sure the Governing Body is kept up to date about any of the issues in the school relating to SEND.

If you wish to speak to her in regard to an issue concerning SEND, please contact the school office and an appointment can be made for you.
 


  1. If you have a concern about your child’s needs or if you think you child may require extra help, who do you need to talk to?

    Class Teacher:

    Your child’s class teacher should be the first person you approach. They are responsible for the progress of your child and will be able to tell you how well your child is doing in school.

    We hold Parental Meetings three times a year, when the teacher will explain your child’s

    achievement and progress with you. Should the teacher have any concerns about your child not achieving as well as they should, they may ask you to meet with the 'Senco' who is a member of school staff who specialises in supporting children and families with Special Needs or disabilities.

    If you have a concern at any time, you can speak to the class teacher when you collect your child and they will be able to arrange to meet with you to discuss your concerns.

    SENCo

    Our Special Needs Coordinator (SENCo) and Inclusion Manager is Mrs Patricia Clayton. Your child’s class teacher may ask you if she can be invited to your initial meeting, or you can see her separately if you prefer.

    A SENCo is responsible for coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.

    The Senco will be able to talk to you about your concerns or the concerns of the class teacher. She will be able to take the steps needed to provide your child with any extra support or resources that may be appropriate. If assessments and monitoring shows your child needs more support than we can provide, she will be able to arrange for other agencies to help us.

    She will liaise with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning such as Pupil School Support, the Educational Psychologist or the Physiotherapist and provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND achieve the best progress possible.

    The Senco will keep you informed of everything that is being provided for your child and will review what progress is being made. You will be invited to attend regular meetings to discuss your child’s needs and progress, when you will be able to tell us about your wishes for the future and to tell us about any concerns you may have.

    Please note:

    Should your child already have a diagnosis of a special need before they attend our school, please ask to speak to the Senco as soon as possible so we can make sure we talk to you about meeting your child’s needs in our school.

    Please ring 0121 464 6420 or come to the main office if you would like to speak
    to the Senco.

    SEN Governor

    Our SEN Governor is Mr Mohammed Zabar. He makes sure that the school has an up to date SEND policy and that school has provided appropriate provision and support to meet the needs of all children in the school.

    If you would like to contact him about any issues concerning SEND, please write to him via the school and we will pass on your correspondence for his attention.


     

  2. What kinds of different Special Educational Needs and Disabilities does our school provide for?

    There are many types of Special Needs, including learning or behavioural difficulties, a physical need such as hearing or vision impairment, a social need to support a child to interact with other people or a mobility difficulty which means a child needs support in moving around the environment.

    Children are carefully assessed to see which areas they may need support with.

    Cognition and Learning
    Children who find learning, thinking and understanding harder than most other pupils.

    Communication and Interaction
    Children who find it difficult to interact with the people and world around them.

    Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
    Children who find it difficult to manage their emotions and behaviour in a way that affects their daily life.

    Sensory and/or physical needs
    Children who have a disability that may make it difficult for them to manage their everyday life without changes to the environment or support. This may be because of hearing or visual difficulties, physical disabilities or other medical needs.

    Whilst the school is able to recognise and support these needs, we will always take outside agency support and help if necessary. This particularly applies to medical conditions where we will liaise with the appropriate professionals to ensure your child is being provided with the best possible support.


     

  • What are the different types of support available for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities?

    Initially, your child’s class teacher will adapt their teaching to help your child progress. This may mean:

  • If the school feels your child needs more support for a particular area, such as reading or phonics, they may work in a small group with an adult who can provide specific tasks to help.

  • If your child has a diagnosis, the school liaises closely with these professionals. They offer us advice and make recommendations which may for instance include:

    • Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better.
      Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise
    • A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g a social skills group
      A group or individual work with outside professionals
    • Support and advice for you and other members of your family
  • If school feels your child would benefit from being referred to one of these agencies you will always be asked to give your permission. This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through whole class teaching or intervention groups.

    For some children, these approaches do not work and they may have a higher level of need. If this is the case, the school will talk to outside agencies about assessing your child for a high focus Provision Plan or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).This means your child will have been identified by the SENCo as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching. 

    For you child this may mean:
    • The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
    • After the school have sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with the current support.
    • The EHC Plan will outline the individual/small group support your child should receive, how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short term outcomes for your child.
    • An additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child for some of the day.

  1. What type of support can the school offer my child?
  • Teachers can change what they are teaching or the way they are teaching to help the child learn more with the rest of the class.
  • Extra support can be given in a small group by an adult to help the child learn the things they are finding difficult.
  • Extra support can be given to the child by an adult for short times during the day to support them to learn specific skills.
  • Individual targets set to show what the child needs help with.
  • Advice from a specialist support teacher or other professional will be called upon if required.
  • Support can be tailored to a child with particular needs upon consultation with the class teacher and SENCo.​
  • Regular meetings with class teacher, (support staff where relevant) and the SENCo.
  • Target setting including Individual Education Plans (IEP’s) so parents can see what their child is working on next.
  • Home/school books for some children to inform parents of about the child’s day.
  • Information on the school website.
  • Parental Meetings at least once a term.
  • Parent workshops.
  • Curriculum parental workshops around reading, writing, phonics and maths.

  1. How does the school specifically involve parents? 
  • Parents’ views on IEP/Annual Review documents.
  • If your child is assessed as needing an Education and Health Care Plan, you will be invited to all meetings and will be asked for your views, aspirations and needs for your child.
  • Regular meetings with class teacher, (support staff where relevant) and the SENCo.
  • Target setting so parents can see what their child is working on next.
  • Home/school books for some children to inform parents of about the child’s day, if appropriate.
  • Curriculum overview published termly on our school website.
  • Information on the school website.
  • Parents’ evenings
  • Parents’ workshops
  • Signposting to parent groups. The school holds regular meetings for all parents in the local area whose children may have a diagnosis of autism. This is a very supportive group who can give practical advice.

  1. Who might be involved with my child should the need arise?

    We work with a number of specialists to ensure we are helping your child in the best possible way. Some of the agencies we have regular contact with are: 
  • Pupil and school Support: we have an allocated worker who visits our school on a regular basis. They will support and guide us and may observe your child to see how they work in class if teachers feel they are not making expected progress.
  • Behaviour Support Service: if a child is finding school routine difficult and is not responding to our normal procedures, the BSS team will come and support us in helping your child to remain in a school setting
  • Speech and Language Support: the school employs its own specialist to support with diagnosis and strategies to help children who have difficulties with speech
  • Hearing / Sight teams: the school will seek specialist medical support from these teams if a child is diagnosed with a specific difficulty
  • Communication and Autism Team: the school will consult this team once a child is identified as possibly showing signs of difficulty. They will support us and parents in moving towards diagnosis and will also help the school and the child’s family to find the best possible method of support.
  • Educational Psychology Service: an Educational Psychologist will always be involved if a child is recognised as having needs complex enough to move towards an Educational and Health Care Plan. Parental permission will always be sought for their involvement. 

  1. What else do we do?
  • The school will always seek specialist advice where we feel it is necessary. We will always inform you if an agency is directly involved with your child and you will be given the opportunity to discuss their findings wherever possible.
  • Many of the above agencies provide training for our staff, particularly if they are supporting a child with complex needs in class, when they will receive direct training tailor made for your child.
  • Many of our teachers and Teaching Assistants have had specialist training in a number of support programmes. For example, Every Child a Reader, Numbers Count, Makaton, Communication in Print. They also receive target training as necessary: for example, in supporting a child with physical disabilities
  • All of our staff receive annual training in medical needs for asthma, epilepsy and allergies. They will receive other training if necessary for children with other conditions such as diabetes.

  1. What happens when a child transfers from St Benedict’s?

    When a child transfers to a new school at the end of Year Two, we will spend lots of time with the receiving school to ensure they are fully aware of your child’s needs. If necessary, we will put a programme in place to help your child adjust to their new school, such as visits, making books about their new teacher and ensuring their new teacher comes to see them here. Occasionally, a child may need to transfer before the end of Year Two in order to meet their more complex needs. We will involve parents at every step of the way, including providing a member of staff to go with you to visit a proposed new school, should you require that. 

  1. ​Where can you go for further information?

    Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you need any further information. Your child’s class teacher will always be willing to discuss any concerns or worries you have, or they will be able to arrange for you to speak to the appropriate person who can help you.

    In addition, the Local Authority have a website detailing all services available in Birmingham for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. This can be found at: 

    www.localofferbirmingham.co.uk
0121 4646420

enquiry@stbendic.bham.sch.uk