SEND

Next review June 2024

Rationale

Frenchwood Community Primary School is committed to providing an appropriate and high quality education to all the children living in our local area. We believe that all children, including those identified as having special educational needs have a common entitlement to a broad and balanced academic and social curriculum, which is accessible to them, and to be fully included in all aspects of school life. 

We believe that all children should be equally valued in school. We will strive to eliminate prejudice and discrimination, and to develop an environment where all children can flourish and feel safe. 

Inclusion Principles 

The National Curriculum Statutory Inclusion Statement (2000) states: 

"Schools have a responsibility to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils. The National Curriculum is the starting point for planning a school curriculum that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils." 

The Inclusion Statement sets out three principles that are essential to developing a more inclusive curriculum: 

• Setting suitable learning challenges; 
• Responding to pupils' diverse learning needs; 
• Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils. 

Frenchwood Community Primary School is committed to inclusion. Part of the schools strategic planning for improvement is to develop cultures, policies and a curriculum that include all learners. We aim to engender a sense of community and belonging, and to offer new opportunities to learners who may have experienced previous difficulties. 

This does not mean that we will treat all learners in the same way, but that we will respond to learners in ways which take account of their varied life experiences and needs. 

We believe that educational inclusion is about equal opportunities for all learners, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, impairment, attainment and background. We pay particular attention to the provision for and the achievement of different groups of learners: 

• girls and boys 
• minority ethnic and faith groups, Travellers, asylum seekers and refugees 

• learners who need support to learn English as an additional language (EAL) 
• learners with special educational needs 
• learners who are disabled 
• those who are gifted and talented 
• those who are looked after by the local authority 

This policy describes the way we meet the need of children who experience barriers to their learning, which may relate to sensory or physical impairment, learning difficulties or emotional or social development, or may relate to factors in their environment, including the learning environment they experience in school. 

At Frenchwood Community Primary School we aim to identify these needs as they arise and provide teaching and learning contexts which enable every child to achieve to his or her full potential. 

Frenchwood Community Primary School sees the inclusion of children identified as having special educational needs as an equal opportunities issue, and we will also aim to model inclusion in our staffing policies, relationships with parents/carers and the community. 

The SEND Coordinator is Mrs Susan Wilkinson. The SEND Governor is Mrs Alia Hamid. 

Legal Definition of SEND: 

•A child has SEND if he/she has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision ‘more than’ or ‘different to’ the majority 

•A child has a learning difficulty if he/she has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age 

Legal requirements of the Equality Act 

We must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled children and young people are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers. 

This duty is anticipatory: adjustments must be planned and put in place in advance, to prevent that disadvantage. 

Objectives of the SEND Policy 

• To follow the SEND Code of Practice 2014 and the Equality Act 2010, supporting Pupils at school with Medical conditions 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 
• To ensure equality of opportunity for and to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against children with special educational needs. 
• To continually monitor the progress of all pupils, to identify needs as they arise and to provide support as early as possible. 
• To provide full access to the curriculum through differentiated planning by class teachers, SENCO, and support staff as appropriate. 

• To provide specific input, matched to individual needs, in addition to differentiated class room provision, for those pupils who have been identified needing SEND support or on an Educational Health Care Plan. 
• To ensure that pupils with SEND are perceived positively by all members of the school community, and that SEND and inclusive provision is positively valued and accessed by staff and parents/carers. 
• To enable children to move on from us well equipped in the basic skills of literacy, numeracy and social independence to meet the demands of secondary school life and learning. 

• To purchase appropriate resources where possible to ensure the needs of the pupils are met. 

• To involve parents/carers at every stage in plans to meet their child’s additional needs. 
• To involve the children themselves in planning and in any decision making that affects them. 

Roles and responsibilities of SEND provision 

SENCo: 

• Contributing to the strategic development of SEND provision and policy with the Head teacher and governing body 
• Taking day to day responsibility for the operation of the SEND policy and provision. 
• Supporting the assessment and analysis of pupils’ needs 
• Monitoring pupil achievement 
• Working with class teachers and teaching assistants to ensure that provision is matched to the needs of the child 

• Supporting the establishment of individual targets in line with those identified through outside agency recommendations or pupil progress meetings 
• Supporting the delivery of targets on pupils’ Education, Health and Care plans 
• Preparing an SEND Register and up-dating it termly 
• Developing and maintaining working relationships with parents 
• Liaising with outside agencies 

• Preparing reports for the governing body 
• Maintaining a record of INSET relating to SEND and identifying CPD needs 
• Planning CPD as required with the Head teacher 
• Keeping up-to-date with developments and attending SEND courses and regular network meetings 
• Disseminating information to relevant staff 

• Supporting and managing teaching assistants supporting pupils with SEND 
• Applying for Statutory Assessment if needed 
• Liaising with other nurseries/schools to support SEND pupils during transition times 
• Facilitate specialist training for staff as need arises 
• Source appropriate specialist support when needed and monitor impact 

• Ensure that records are kept up-to-date for pupils with SEND (these records are kept in line with data protection policy) 

Governing Body: 

• Review the policy every two years and ensure its implementation 

• Appoint a governor with responsibility for SEND 
• Liaise with the SENCo 

Head Teacher: 

• Ensure all staff understand the policy 

• Ensure all pupils identified as having SEND are treated fairly and equitably in relation to the policy and that reasonable adjustment is made for them. 
• Ensure that the SENCo is a member of the Senior Leadership team 
• Provide suitable time for the SENCo to undertake their responsibilities 
• Support the SENCo in using ICT for SEND management 
• Support the SENCo in networking with local SENCos 

Class Teachers: 

• All teachers have responsibility for teaching and ensuring the progress of pupils with SEND 
• Identify pupils who make little or no progress in spite of differentiated learning opportunities being provided for them 
• Work with the SENCo and parents to collect and record information about their pupils in order to determine action to be taken 

• Hold termly review meetings with the parents of all SEND pupils to ensure collaborative working – eg. IPP review meetings 
• Assessing and monitoring progress 
• Consider the views of SEND pupils in relation to their provision 
• Planning and delivering agreed strategies and targets on an IPP if SEND support and EHCP 
• Effectively deploying teaching assistants to support pupils’ learning and targets 

• Planning, delivering or facilitating the delivery (through the effective deployment of support staff) of high quality intervention work 

Allocation of Resources to and amongst Pupils 

Each year a proportion of the budget is allocated to the provision of pupils with SEND. This is for resources including staff. The allocation of resources and staff are allocated on a priority basis informed by needs identified in school as well as professional advice and legal requirements (EHC plans). 

Identification and Assessment, Monitoring and Review

This procedure is in line with the SEND Code of Practice 2014. Procedures follow a graduated, Assess, Plan, Do and Review response. 

Assess 

The progress of all pupils is closely and regularly monitored and subsequently any pupils at risk of underachievement or whose progress is concerning will be discussed at pupil progress meetings with the class teacher. The discussion will focus on how to develop strategies to support and improve outcomes for the pupils and we use the following assessment tools: 

• Pre-school profiles. 
• Baseline assessment results. 
• Termly pupil tracking using Target Tracker. 
• End of key Stage SAT’s assessment combined with Teacher Assessment. 
• Use of NFER tests (at ability level) alongside Teacher Assessments. 

• Progress measured against the PIVATs descriptors 
• Standardised screening and assessment tools 
• Observations of behavioural, emotional and social development 
• EHC Plan targets and outcomes 
• Assessments by a specialist service, such as educational psychology, identifying additional needs 

Based on the schools observations and assessment data and following a discussion between the class teacher, SENCO and parent, information is gathered about the pupil’s needs. This may include learning styles, strengths, medical needs etc. This is then used to plan provision and set some targets. At this stage, identification should be made of the primary area of concern from the four areas of SEND. These are: 

• Communication and Interaction 
• Cognition and learning 
• Social. Mental and emotional health 
• Sensory and/or physical 

Do 

The class teacher remains responsible for working with the child on a daily basis. Alongside ‘Quality First’ teaching approaches, in order to make progress a child may only require differentiation of the plans for the whole class. The differentiation may involve modifying learning objectives, teaching styles and access strategies. Under these circumstances, a child’s needs will be provided for within the whole class planning frameworks and individual target setting. Differentiation will be recorded in the daily planning by the class teacher. 

Where intervention is needed this may involve group or one-to-one teaching away from the main class or subject teacher, the class teacher still retain responsibility for the pupil. They work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved, to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching. 

A child/children receiving this additional support will have an Individual Pupil Profile Plan, this will outline the barriers/needs of the child, strategies used to overcome these and targets for progress. 

A child working below National expectations will be put onto P.I.V.A.T.S. (Performance Indicators with Value Added Target setting) so that the small steps progress achieved by these children can be measured. 

Monitoring of progress will be carried out by the class teacher and used to inform future differentiation within whole class planning or intervention. 

The child’s progress will be reviewed regularly and a decision made about whether the child is making satisfactory progress at this level of intervention. It may be found that the child requires further assessment. 

The SENCO will support the class or subject teacher in the further assessment of the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses, in problem solving and advising on the effective implementation of support. 

There are 3 levels or ‘waves’ of support for children with SEND: 

• Wave 1 - Quality first teaching: 
• Class teachers are responsible for the good progress of all learners in their class, including children who access additional support/intervention from other adults (including support staff/specialist teachers). 
• Quality first teaching through carefully planned lesson with clear and focused objectives ensures clear differentiation of activities and teaching styles to meet the needs of groups and individual children. This includes clearly and carefully planned differentiation through task, resources, and adult support. 
• Class teaching is regularly and closely monitored through the school’s systems. Planning and children’s work are regularly scrutinised by school leaders and subject leaders. As part of this monitoring process, provision for, and the progress of children with SEND are explicitly observed. This is feedback to class teachers and support given where it is found to be needed. 
• If a class teacher is concerned about the progress of a child in a particular subject, they should ask advice from the subject leader, or from the SENCo. This advice will then be acted upon and the impact closely monitored. 

• Wave 2 - Intervention: 
• In addition to the quality first teaching being provided by the class teacher, a child may need some additional intervention in the form of small group work. The class teacher remains fully involved in the intervention, monitoring and providing instruction and support to the member of staff carrying out the intervention. 
• This is to ensure that progress and outcomes are closely monitored throughout the timescale of the intervention programme, thus making any necessary adaptations and ensuring the effectiveness of intervention programmes. 
• Intervention groups are closely monitored. The adult facilitating the intervention will plan and assess the group and write a SMART intervention plan. These are moniotored by the SENCo and evidenced at pupil progress meetings and used for the IPP reviews. 
• Here are some examples of interventions: 
• Catch up phonics programme for reading and spelling –Read Write Inc 1:1 in infants, Freshstart in Y5/6 
• Literacy and Numeracy box 

• Time to talk – speech and language programme 
• Wellcomm 
• IDL cloud – spelling intervention 
• IDL Maths  
• Flash Academy 

• Wave 3 - Individual support: 

The high quality first teaching within class and group interventions may still not be meeting the child’s needs, and the child may not be making progress at an expected level. The child may need more personalised curriculum and intervention, such as TEACCH approach or Attention Autism. 

Review 

The impact of planned work and support must be reviewed continuously with formal reviews held at least termly. These reviews will discuss the Individual Pupil Profile Plans, PIVATs progress and other provision. The Class teacher will take the lead in the review process. Parents/carers and wherever possible, their child, will be invited to contribute and will be consulted about any further action. The impact of the planned work, matched to the desired outcomes are then fed back into the assessment cycle. Support and provision is then revised depending on outcomes as well as the views of the parent and, when possible, the child. 

This will be done through: 

• Evaluation of lessons and intervention SMART plans 

• Ongoing assessments 
• Outcomes of pupil progress meetings 

It could well mean that a decision may be made to consult outside agencies to help contribute to the child’s Individual Pupil Profile Plan. A variety of support can be offered by these services, such as advice to the school about targets and strategies, specialised assessment or some direct work with the child. 

If a child has an EHCP, there will be an Annual Review meeting to review the outcomes on the EHCP. The school will arrange the annual review date and co-ordinate all relevant paper work. A review meeting will be held that will include the SENCo, Teachers, Parents, other agencies and if possible the child. Targets, support and provision are reviewed and updated. 

When a child moves into Year 6, an additional review will take place in the autumn term to focus on transition issues. We welcome the support of a county representative and the relevant high school representative in conjunction with the Parent Liaison Officer. 

SEND Register 

There is a single category of support for children who have been identified as having Special Educational Needs - SEND SUPPORT. 

Children who are receiving SEND support and are recorded on the school’s Special Educational Needs Register all have individual Pupil Profiles (IPP) and progress additionally monitored using PIVATs. 

IPPs are working documents which are used to assess, plan and deliver provision. The Learning Plan gives details of the specific needs of the pupil, and SMART targets which are to be achieved within a given time frame. Parents are invited to come into school to review outcomes termly and to be involved with their child and class teacher in identifying next steps for targets for the next IPP. 

Although, IPPs are evaluated every term, they are working documents and targets are added/amended as the children achieve throughout the term. 

EHC Plans (Education Healthcare Plans) 

An education, health and care (EHC) plan is for children who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. Where, despite the school having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the SEND of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress, the school or parents will consider requesting an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. They may go through the process of EHC needs assessment. 

At the end of that process, the local authority has to make a decision, either to issue an EHC Plan or not. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs; they are created by the Local Authority. There may be a personal budget for a child if they have an education, health and care (EHC) plan, which gives parents the opportunity to have a say in how to spend the money on support for the child. 

Once a child has an EHC Plan, school will ensure that provision is put in place to meet the needs identified in the plan. This will be done through the IPP/targeted learning plan which will reflect the targets of the EHC plan and will take into consideration the views of the parents. IPPs plans will be reviewed termly and parents invited to be part of this process. 

The EHC Plan will be formally reviewed once a year with all professionals involved, the parent and the child. 

The SENCO is responsible for monitoring provision for children on the SEND register. This monitoring includes: 

• Monitoring IPPs and providing advice and support on targets, resources and strategies; 

• Recording all additional provision of any Wave 2 or Wave 3 provision on the provision map. 
• Being involved in Pupil progress meetings to monitor the effectiveness of provision. 

There may be pupils whose needs we feel we cannot meet through ‘in house’ provision, so relevant external expertise will be sought to identify specific needs and strategies to support a child. 

The SENCO is responsible for accessing support of external professionals. Following assessments by external professionals, if it is felt that additional support is required, then formal LA procedures will be followed. Any referral documentation needs to be completed in line with LA guidance, and using LA forms and procedures. Pupils and parents will be kept fully involved in this process. Referrals for additional support should be made through The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) which provides a multi-agency approach. 

Parents and children are involved in this process at every step from initial concern to formal assessment of need, and parental permission is always sought prior to any involvement of other agencies. 

The SENCO liaises frequently with a number of other outside agencies, making use of the range of services available from the LEA and private providers as and when appropriate. 

Those included for consideration are: 

• Education – SEND (IDSS) 
• Educational Psychologists 

• School Advisor 
• Physiotherapist 
• Psychiatrist 
• Social Services 
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Services (SENDIASS) 

• Counsellors 
• CAMHS 
• Speech and Language Therapy 

Arrangements for partnership with parents/carers 

Staff and parents/carers will work together to support pupils identified as having additional needs. 

Parents/carers will be invited to be involved at all stages of the education planning process. An appointment will be made by the class teacher to meet all parents/ carers whose children are being recorded as having additional needs. The SENCO will attend this meeting if the school or the parent thinks this is appropriate. The SENCO will be available if help is required to complete forms or if queries arise. A bi-lingual assistant is always available to support parents who do not have English as their first language. 

We make sure that all parents/carers are aware of our local parent partnership organisation, as soon as a child has been identified as experiencing special educational needs. 

At review meetings with parents/carers we always make sure that the child’s strengths as well as weaknesses are discussed. Where we make suggestions as to how parents/carers can help at home, these are specific and achievable and that all parents/carers go away from the meeting clear about the action to be taken and the way in which outcomes will be monitored and reviewed. 

Parents/carers evenings provide regular opportunities to discuss concerns and progress. Parents/carers are able to make other appointments on request. 

Complaints 

Regular communication between school and home will ensure that concerns are promptly acted on. Should a parent or career have a concern about the special provision made for their child they should in the first instance discuss this with the class teacher. 

If the concern continues then the SENCO and class teacher will arrange a meeting with the parent to discuss the concern raised and provide a plan of action. 

If the concern cannot be satisfactorily dealt with at this stage it should be brought to the notice of the Head teacher. If the Head is unable to resolve the difficulty the parents’ concerns should be put in writing to the SEND Governor. 

The Chair of Governors, Mrs Sazida Desai will be involved after other avenues to resolve the situation have been exhausted. 

Provision will be made to inform parents about SENDIASS and how to make representations to Lancashire County Council 

The Schools Arrangements for SEND and Inclusion Training 

The SENCO attends regular cluster meetings and Forums to update and revise developments in Special Needs Education and Inclusion. 

Meeting additional needs and Inclusion issues are targeted each year through the schools long-term goals and the School Development Plan. In-Service training and individual professional development is arranged and matched to these targets. 

In-house additional needs and Inclusion training is provided through staff meetings by the SENCO/Head. 

All staff have access to professional development opportunities and are able to apply for additional needs or Inclusion training where a need is identified either at an individual pupil or whole class level. 

Support staff are encouraged to extend their own professional development and the management team will ensure tailor-made training where this is appropriate. 

Links with other schools/Transfer arrangements 

Early Years staff aim to meet with staff from other nursery schools in the area prior to pupils starting school. Concerns about particular needs will be brought to the attention of the SENCO after this meeting. Where necessary the SENCO will arrange a further meeting. 

Class teachers of children joining from other schools will receive information from the previous school; if there is an SEND issue the SENCO will telephone to further discuss the child’s needs. When children transfer from Frenchwood to new schools, we will ensure that all relevant information is passed to the new school. The SENCO will discuss these children with other schools. In Year 6, an annual review for children with EHCP will be held and a representative from the high school will be invited to attend. 

Access to the Environment (see also School Access Plan) 

An access audit of the school has recently been carried out and we will incorporate a number of recommendations into our repairs and maintenance programme. Children requiring equipment due to impairment will be assessed in order to gain the support that they require. 

Details of our plans and targets on improving environmental access are contained in the Access Plan. 

Disability equality and trips or out of school activities 

Frenchwood Primary School tries to make all trips inclusive by planning in advance and using accessible places. Risk assessments will be completed before any trips to ensure safety of all pupils. 

All children are welcome at our afterschool activities. 

Success Criteria 

The SEND policy will be reviewed every two years. To evaluate the policy it must be determined that: 

• Everyone knows the policy and is using it 
• Pupils with SEND are identified as early as possible and provision is matched to their needs 
• Parents are well informed and involved 
• There is close support from multi agencies 
• Pupils are well informed and involved