SEND

The changes in the Children and Families Bill affect the way children with special educational needs (SEN) are supported in schools.

The new approach began in September 2014. The key principles of the new legislation are:

Young people and their families should be involved in discussions about the support they need.
Education, health and care plans (EHC) will replace statements of special educational needs. New assessments for additional educational needs will follow the EHC guidelines from September 2014. (Existing statements will remain in force until all children and young people have completed the transition, which will be within three years).
School Action and School Action Plus will cease and be replaced by a single school-based category for children.

As part of the changes, we have produced our school’s SEND information report which will hopefully provide families with easy to understand information that sets out what is available at school to help children with SEN. The information that we have included aims to respond to questions raised by parents.

AHPS SEND Policy

AHPS Single Equality Scheme

SEND Information report

At Allesley Hall Primary School we strive to inspire children through a rich creative curriculum combined with basic skills to produce positive, resilient and independent learners who achieve their potential. This can only be achieved through working collaboratively alongside parents and professionals using a flexible and personal approach.

This report is to inform you of the types of support available for your child at Allesley Hall. It will hopefully help you understand who can help and how this support can be accessed.

Whilst the report will give you a flavour of how we will endeavour to try and meet the needs of all children, it does not replace personal conversations. We would be pleased to speak to parents about SEN support or receive feedback via our email as to its clarity and usefulness.

Who are the best people to talk to in school about my child’s difficulties with learning/ Special Educational Needs or disability (SEND)?

SENCO - Mrs Rush

Responsible for:

Coordinating the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
Ensuring that you are:
- kept informed about the support your child is getting
- involved in reviewing how they are doing
Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc...
Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known)

Class teacher
Responsible for:

Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and letting the SENCO know as necessary.
Contributing to 'My Plans' and 'My Support Plans', and sharing and reviewing these with parents.
Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are helped to deliver the planned work/programme for your child.

Head teacher - Mrs. Potts
Responsible for:

The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.
Giving responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
Making sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

The class teacher is the initial point of contact for responding to parental concerns. If you have further concerns then contact the SENCO (Mrs Rush) or the Head teacher (Mrs Potts)

What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in Allesley Hall Primary School?

Class teacher input via targeted classroom teaching (Quality First Teaching)

For your child this would mean:

That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
That all teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning.
Specific strategies are in place to support your child to learn.

Specific group work within a smaller group of children.

These groups are often referred to as Intervention groups. They may be

Run in the classroom or outside.
Run by the SENCO or most often a Teaching Assistant who has had training to run these groups.

This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning. The length of time of the intervention will vary according to need.

At Allesley Hall School we use a range of in house support material along with elements of DfES publications and commercial schemes. Commercial schemes include: Project X Code Reading Scheme, Floppy’s Phonics, Plus 1, Power of 2, Numicon, and Memory Magic

Specialist groups & Individual support run by outside agencies

This support is available for children who have been identified by the class teacher/SENCO as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:

SEMH&L
Other outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service, Occupational Therapy, Sensory Support Service.

This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups.

Individual support

Targeted support is offered to individuals who may require intensive support in a specific area of the curriculum. Children may have 1:1 or 2:1 support for phonics, reading comprehension, or basic skills in Mathematics or Literacy.

Individual support is also offered via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).This means your child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENCO as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching, which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school.

The interventions will be reviewed regularly to ascertain the effectiveness of the provision and to inform future planning.

How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?

If your child is identified as not making progress, staff will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail and to:

listen to any concerns you may have too
plan any additional support your child may receive

If necessary the class teacher and SENCO will discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning.

How will you help me to support my child’s learning?

The class teacher is regularly available at the end of the school day to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have. You will be able to share information about what is working well at home and school so similar strategies can be used. Please telephone the school office if an appointment is required.
The SENCO (Mrs Rush) is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have.
All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.
Individual My Plans and My Support Plans will be reviewed with your involvement each term.

A home/school diary may be used to support communication with you, when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child.

How will you measure my child’s progress?

Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher.
His/her progress is reviewed formally every term during Inclusion and Pupil Progress Meetings. Children are assessed at ARE (age-related expectations), above or below in reading, writing, and mathematics. In Reception the children are assessed by using the Early Year Foundation Stage Profile (EYFS)
If your child is in Year 1 and above, but is not yet at National Curriculum levels, a more sensitive assessment tool is used which will show smaller but significant steps of progress. The levels are called ‘P levels’.
At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of Year 2 and Year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and the results are published nationally.
Children who require SEN support will have a My Plan or My Support Plan which will be reviewed with your involvement, every term and the plan for the next term made.
The progress of children with an EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education.

The teaching staff will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work and in any group that they take part in.

How will I be involved in discussions about and planning for my child’s education?

All parents are encouraged to contribute to their child’s education. This may be through:

discussions with the class teacher
during parents evenings
during discussions with Mrs Potts, Mrs Rush or other professionals.
parents are encouraged to comment on their child’s support plan with possible suggestions that could be incorporated.

What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by Allelsey Hall?

At times it may be necessary to consult with outside agencies to receive their more specialised expertise.

The agencies used by the school include:

SEMH&L
Complex Communication Team
Child Protection Advisors
Educational Psychology Service
CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service)
AAP (Attendance Advisory Practitioner previously known as Educational Welfare Officers)
Sensory Support Service to support pupils with hearing/visual Impairment
Social Services
Speech & Language Therapy Service
Occupational Therapy
School Nurse
Relate
Outreach support from specialist schools

An Educational Psychologist is allocated to each school. He/she would normally only work directly with pupils who needs are felt to be quite considerable and have not responded well to the interventions previously put in place for them. This involvement is generally planned at the SEN Planning meetings.

How will Allesley Hall Primary School prepare and support my child when joining school, moving on to another class or transferring to a new school?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible.

If your child is starting school:

The Reception Class teacher will endeavour to visit every pre school / nursery setting that children come from in the summer term before they start at Allesley Hall in the September
The Reception Class Teacher and Teaching Assistant will carry out a home visit prior to your child starting school. Children will also be invited to spend a morning in their new classroom and meet their new teacher.
Staff will use information provided by pre-schools, nurseries to help plan activities in the Reception classroom.
If your child has already been identified as having special needs, the SENCO and class teacher will, in most cases, arrange to visit your child at their pre-school/nursery setting to discuss needs with staff.

If your child is moving child to another school:

We will contact the school and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that needs to be made for your child.
We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.

When moving classes in school:

Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance. A planning meeting will take place with the current teacher and the new teacher. All SEN Support Plans will be shared with the new teacher.
If your child would be helped by a book to support them understand moving on then it will be made for them.
Towards the end of the Summer Term, the children attend their new class and meet their new teacher in a transition morning.

In Year 6:

The Year 6 teacher or SENCO will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENCO / Year Manager of their secondary school.
Your child will have focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead.
The Learning and Well being Support Service (LAWSS) provide additional transition support for small groups and when necessary individuals.

How accessible is Allelsey Hall Primary School for children will special educational needs and disabilities in and out of the classroom?

We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
The school is a single storey building. From inside the building there are wide doorways leading into the hall, Reception and the Key Stage 1 classroom. The Reception and Year 1 classrooms are on split levels with 4 stairs.
AHPS has a lift that enables access in the middle of the school
Entrances have been adapted to ensure they support wheelchair access
A lift in the reception classroom supports access between the split level classroom
There is one disabled toilet available. This is within a hygiene suite that has push door access to enable independence of use
Toilets and hand washing facilities for younger children (Reception and Key Stage 1) are located within the classrooms.
After school provision is accessible to all children including those with SEND. Extra-curricular activities run by ‘My Activities’ are accessible for children with SEND.

Activities and school trips are available to all. Risk assessments are carried out and procedures are put in place to enable all children to participate. However, if it is deemed that an intensive level of 1:1 support is required a parent or carer may be asked to accompany their child during the activity.

How does Allesley Hall Primary School support pupils’ well-being?

The well-being of all of our pupils is our primary concern at Allesley Hall Primary. They are supported with their social and emotional development throughout the school day, through the curriculum and extra-curricular activities. Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) are integral to our curriculum and are also taught explicitly on a weekly basis. We use a scheme called JIGSAW to ensure clear and progressive coverage from Reception to Year 6.
Our core values are integral to the well being of our children at Allesley Hall.
For children with specific emotional issues we access counselling from the time for you service at RELATE
Additional support from specialist staff is arranged as needed for individual pupils, both in and out of the classroom; a tailored personal plan may be put in place for pupils with the highest need
Our Behaviour Policy; which includes guidance on expectations, rewards and sanctions is fully understood and in place by all staff.
We have five qualified First Aiders and one Paediatric First Aider. All support staff have had basic first aid training.
Pupils’ views are sought through school council, pupil voice and questionnaires.

Coventry SEND Local Offer

The Local Offer gives children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities and their families information about what support services the local authority think will be available in their local area.

You can access Coventry's local offer by the link below

https://www.coventry.gov.uk/sendlocaloffer

Links to speech and language support - activities and games you can undertake with your child at home

http://www.coventrychildrensslt.co.uk/pages/attention---listening-2.html

Speech and Language Home Activities

https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/news-opinion/news/covid-19-support-and-guidance

Support for dyslexic children while home learning

Dyslexic children home learning

Gross and Fine Motor Skill Development

Fine Motor Skills Activities

Gross and Fine Motor Skill Activities