Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

In the SEN Code of Practice there are four broad areas of need:

Communicating and Interacting: this relates to children who have speech, language and communication difficulties which makes it hard for them to make sense of language or communicate with others.
Cognition and Learning: this relates to children who learn at a slower pace to others their age, have difficulty understanding aspects of the curriculum, struggle with organisation and memory skills or have a specific barrier to learning which affects their progress in one aspect of their learning, such as English or Maths.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties: this relates to children who have difficulties in forming and managing relationships with others, children who are withdrawn or who display behaviour which has a negative impact on their learning or on their emotional health and wellbeing.
Sensory and/ or Physical needs: this relates to children who have visual or hearing impairments, or a physical need which means that they will require additional and ongoing support and resources to access the curriculum and the learning environment.
 

Our school currently provides additional and/or different provision for a range of needs, including:

Communication and interaction, for example, speech and language difficulties
Cognition and learning needs and Moderate Learning Difficulties
Social, emotional and mental health difficulties, for example, Autistic Spectrum Condition
Sensory and/or physical needs, for example, hearing impairments, processing difficulties, physiotherapy needs
Specific learning difficulties, such as Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Here at Swallownest Primary School, we aim to work together to identify children with SEND needs through:

• Regular communication with parents/carers
• Regular communication as a staff body; consisting of pro-active staff who will report any worries or concerns to the school SENDCo or another member of the leadership team
• Transition meetings with our feeder schools and secondary provision
• Termly pupil progress meetings
• Frequent consultation with parents/carers, as both SEND Review Meetings and Parent Consultation evenings.
• Termly data analysis
• Learning walks and work scrutiny
• Pupil, staff and parent questionnaires.
• Use of graduated response and guidance from external professionals

We also make the following adaptations as part of our 'Universal Offer' to ensure all pupils’ needs are met:

• Differentiating our curriculum to ensure all pupils are able to access it, for example by grouping pupils, 1:1 work, adapting teaching style, content of the lesson, etc.
• Adapting our resources and staffing to suit the needs of the class.
• Using recommended aids, such as laptops and ICT equipment, coloured overlays, visual timetables, larger font, etc.
• Differentiating our teaching, for example, giving longer processing time, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, reading instructions aloud, visual instructions and scaffolds
• Providing movement breaks, sensory breaks and calming spaces throughout the school day

First of all, talk to us! Please feel free contact your child’s class teacher about your concerns initially. We pride ourselves on building positive relationships with parents/carers. We always strive to be open and honest with yourselves and hope that you are able to do the same with us!

1. The Class Teacher:

In the first instance, your child’s Class Teacher is the first person to discuss your concerns with. The class teacher is responsible for monitoring your child’s progress, planning and delivering the curriculum and providing your child with any extra support they may need. The Class Teacher will set and then review support plan targets which will be shared with parents as part of the annual review cycle. As part of the Graduated Response it is the Class Teachers responsibility to keep parents informed and up to date with their child’s learning journey sharing success, concerns and offering advice on supporting learning at home.

2. The SENDCo: Mrs Leivers

The SENDCo has the responsibility of over seeing the SEND provision throughout school. This means offering advice and support to Class Teachers; holding review meetings, monitoring progress of the children and meeting with parents. The SENDCo will keep the Inclusion Register up to date and make referrals for children to external agencies such as the Child Development Centre (CDC), CAMHS, the Specialist Inclusion Team (SIT), Educational Psychology Services, Speech and Language Therapy services (SALT) and Occupational Therapy services among others.

3. The Head of School and Executive Headteacher

The Head Teacher/s have the responsibility for the management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND. He will ensure that the SENDCo and Class Teachers meet the needs of all children and keep the Governing Body up to date with any SEND issues/developments.

SENDCo Details:

Mrs S Leivers

Email: enquiries@swallownestprimary.org

What will happen if school is concerned about my child’s learning?

1. If your child is not making the expected progress the class teacher will put some additional support in place for your child and discuss this with you offering advice and guidance of what you could do at home to support their learning in school.

2. If your child is still not making the expected progress then the class teacher will put some targeted provision in place on a Support Plan. Your child may then access an intervention programme  as part of a small group or receive some additional input off one of the Teaching Assistants.

3. If after a targeted intervention your child is still not making progress it is at this point a referral to an outside agency will be considered.

This is called The Graduated Response.

At Swallownest we recognise that times of change can make children feel worried and anxious.

We endeavour to support your child as they start with us at school, when they are moving class and when they are leaving the school to start a new school.

How we do this:

• Members of the Foundation team make visits to pre-school settings and offer stay and play sessions in the Foundation unit prior to the children starting school.
• Foundation teachers also complete a home visit so we can meet the child/ren in their home surroundings and discuss any worries or concerns that you may have about your child starting school.
• In the Summer Term before your child moves classes time is spent with the new Class Teacher in their new classroom. Focused transition conversations are held before the end of the school year so all information is passed on to the next teacher. 
• Summer term SEN Review Meetings are a key opportunity to discuss the progress and areas of development from the year. The current class teacher will set the targets for each child to ensure a smooth transition into the next year group.
• As your child prepares to move onto secondary education, staff will visit the class and the children will have opportunity to visit their next school. Staff from the secondary schools are invited to attend the Summer term SEN Review Meetings.
• We are able to arrange support from Aspire Outreach to provide a small talking group of Y6 pupils to share their worries before the end of their time with us

To find out about resources, services, support, activities and events for Rotherham’s children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) by following this link to the Rotherham SEND Local Offer.

The Rotherham Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) can also offer impartial information, advice and support for parents of children with SEND. Click here to access their website and services.

Further support is also available through the Rotherham Parent Carers Forum.