SEND – Special Educational needs and disabilities

Kelvin Grove Primary School is a maintained mainstream school for students from the ages of 3 to 11.

Kelvin Grove caters for students with additional support if the child has an identified Special Educational Need. The term Special educational Need describes the needs of children who have difficulty or disability which makes learning harder for them than other children of the same age.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo) is Miss Glenda Holden, who can be contacted by phone on 0191 477 4186.

Please see below for more details of the provision in school. (To review Oct 2021)

Identifying Needs

All students follow a broad balanced curriculum that is appropriate to their age and stage of development, which is personalised to take into account their needs and abilities. In order to identify a student’s special educational needs we use all of the information about the student’s progress, including assessment grids and where appropriate, assessments from the school’s Educational Psychologist. We compare it with the progress of students in the school and against national performance information, such as Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 performance tables.

If a student is not making the progress that would be expected, their parent/carer will be involved as soon as possible. We will discuss our concerns with the parent/carer and student and get their views about:

the student’s strengths and areas of difficulty
concerns that the parent/carer and student has
agreed outcomes
agreed the next steps

Following discussions with parents/carers and the student, we will then agree outcomes that the student will be working towards and the support or programmes of study that are needed to meet these outcomes. From the records of progress and discussions with parents/carers, the school will then decide the support or programmes of study that are needed to meet these outcomes.

Concerns are not always based on academic progress but could also be linked to the social and emotional development of the student. Any concerns that school staff or parents raise in this area may lead to a further investigation by the SENDCo. In some instances, involvement from outside services may be necessary. These include Behaviour Support Services, Emotional Wellbeing, assessment from an Educational Psychologist or referrals to Speech and Language Therapy, High Incidence Needs Team (HINT), Low Incidence Needs Team (LINT), Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapists.

Involving Parents/Carers and Students

Parent/carers can contact school with any concerns about their child by telephoning, writing or coming into the office and requesting a meeting or speaking to staff at the start and end of the school day.

Parent/carers will be kept informed through, school reports, informal meetings and phone calls. Staff will contact parents/carers to discuss issues, concerns or progress of individual students as soon as additional needs are identified.

We hold 2 parent evenings for all parents/carers. If your child has special educational needs, parents/carers and the student are involved with regular review meetings to discuss progress towards current outcomes and setting outcomes for the future.

Annual Reviews are held for students with an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP). These reviews focus on achievements, the progress made towards the outcomes, support and future plans and is held with parents/carers, the student if appropriate and any other agencies involved.

Progress reports can be provided to parents/carers in alternative formats if required.

Students are encouraged to share their aspirations and views in review meetings especially letting school know how they prefer to be supported.

Staff

There are a number of people in school who are responsible for special educational needs:

The Head Teacher Mrs Thompson is responsible for:

The day to day management of all aspects of the school, including support for students with SEND.
Making sure that your child’s needs are met but they will give this responsibility to the SENDCo and class teachers.
Making sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo) Miss Holden is responsible for:

Coordinating all the support for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND Policy to make sure all students get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
Ensuring that parents/carers are:
involved in supporting their child’s learning
kept informed about the support their child is getting
involved in reviewing how they are doing
involved in planning for their future.
Contacting other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning for example, an Educational Psychologist.
Making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs.
Provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school, so they can help students with SEN in the school make the best possible progress.
Writing Learning Plans that specify the student’s targets.
Ensuring that all staff working with the student in school are helped to deliver the planned work/programme so the student can make the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources.

The Class Teacher is responsible for:

Making sure that all students have access to excellent classroom teaching (this is known as quality first teaching) and that the curriculum is adjusted to meet your child’s individual needs (this is called differentiation).
Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and providing any additional help your child may need and letting SENCo know if necessary. This could be things like targeted work, additional support.
Following the Learning Plans produced by the SENCo. These will be shared and reviewing with parents at least once each term.
Planning for the student’s next term based on their progress.
Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the students they teach with any SEND.

The Teaching Assistants work with the class teacher to identify areas of support for students with SEND. They:

Support students to access the curriculum
Help with implementation of differentiation and specialist support strategies in the classroom
Keep students focused on learning activities during lesson
Attend all training where appropriate for SEND.
Are mainly classroom based, however Teaching Assistants are able to deliver specific SEN programmes outside of the classroom. They may also provide support during social time and unstructured parts of the day
Help students to develop effective ways of becoming independent learners
Pass on any concerns regarding progress/emotional and social development to the Class Teacher and SENDCo

The SEN Governor, Ian Flynn, is responsible for:

Making sure that the school has an up to date SEN Policy
Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all students in the school.
Making sure that the necessary support is made for any student who attends the school, who has SEND.

Training

School staff are trained in specific areas where there is a current SEND. The Headteacher collects information on areas for development through appraisals and staff meetings and asks the appropriate professionals to deliver it as whole staff or individual training. Training is also provided for staff when students are admitted to school with a SEND that no-one in school has experience of. Members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) find appropriate specialist support training and enrol staff on courses.

Teaching Assistants in school have attended training to deliver specific interventions to support children in areas of Literacy and Numeracy and areas of children’s Social and Emotional development.

Staff within school have different levels of expertise in order to support students with special educational needs:

Awareness – this is basic awareness of a particular type of SEN. All staff who come into contact with the student will have this level of training and it will be carried out by the SENDCo, SENIT (Special Educational Needs Improvement Team, Educational Psychologist or other specialist service.

Enhanced – this level of training will be carried out by staff working with the student regularly, such as class teachers, and will focus on how teaching and learning can be adapted to meet the student’s needs. The training can be carried out by SENIT, Educational Psychologist, staff from special schools or other specialist services.

Specialist – this is in-depth training about a particular type of SEN for staff who will be advising staff who support students at an enhanced level. This could be a specialist SEN teacher or a SENDCo if they had appropriate qualifications.

Kelvin Grove Primary is proactive in seeking training when the need arises.

Accessibility

In School

The school is fully accessible to students with physical difficulties.

The following facilities are available for students and their parents/carers with physical difficulties:

Disabled parking bays
Ramped access to buildings
Lifts to all floors
Accessible toilets
Induction loop for hearing aid users
Contrast edging and dual height rails on stairs and steps
Accessible break areas
Accessible dining area

A risk assessment carried out and personal evacuation plan will be drawn up for all pupils with physical difficulties. All staff working with the student will be made aware of the plan.

We have an Accessibility Policy which is available at https://kelvingroveprimaryschool.org/policies/

Outside of School

The school has a number of after school clubs, including, dance, singing, basketball, kick boxing, gymnastics and gardening ran by school staff or outside coaches. All of the clubs are accessible to students with special educational needs.

Students take part in school visits throughout the year. A risk assessment is completed for all school visits. The Senior Leadership Team, overseen by the Headteacher, makes decisions based on whether it is safe for a student to leave the premises, taking into account the emotional needs of the students. Risk assessments are sent to the Local Authority for final approval.

Staff to children ratios for school visits:

Nursery – 1:4

Reception – 1:5

Year 1, 2 and 3 – 1:6

Years 4 and 5 – 1:12

Year 6 – 1:15

These ratios are regarded as starting points for consideration and are determined by the context of each visit taking into account the relevant risks and the neds of the children involved.

Assessment, Monitoring and Review

Each student’s progress is continually monitored by their class teacher and the SENDCo. The SENDCo oversees any additional support the student may need and at the beginning of the new academic year, data is analysed and tracked to get a clear indication of which students need support with their academic work.

Progress is discussed regularly in review meetings with staff and is reviewed formally every term and monitored against Age Related Expectations (ARE) in reading, writing and mathematics. This information is shared with parents/carers through the school reporting system. All children are required to be formally assessed at the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6) using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and the results are published nationally. Parents/carers are informed of their child’s attainment in these tests in Y6. In Y2 the tests are used to help teachers make an overall assessment. This information is also shared with parents. At the end of Reception, children are assessed within the Early Learning Goals and will be judged to be emerging, expected or exceeding. This information is shared with parents/carers at the end of the academic year through their child’s school report. At Kelvin Grove students are assessed using the Gateshead Assessment Profile (G.A.P.). This is used by staff to identify objectives met by children and where additional coverage/support is needed.

For some students, a more sensitive assessment tool may be used which shows their level in more detail and shows smaller but significant steps of progress. As well as teacher assessment the school may use other tests such as those which give a reading age. These tests and levels will also be discussed in detail, along with staff comments within the review meeting.

At Kelvin Grove there is a robust system of Intervention sessions in place. Children who have been identified as below expected levels are given extra support through intervention sessions. These interventions are tracked and monitored closely to ensure they are working for the children involved. If it is deemed to be having limited effect on the child, the intervention is changed.

The level of support given to each student depends on their additional needs and any other factors that may improve or hinder their progress. When a student has been assessed and is not making progress against their outcomes with the help that they have been given, we can refer students to a number of different services for more specialist assessment and advice.

Depending on the student’s needs, referrals can be made to the Special Educational Needs Improvement Team (SENIT), the Educational Psychology Service or Behaviour Support Service within Gateshead Council, health services such as speech and language therapy, school nursing service, occupational therapist, Emotional Wellbeing Team or Children and Young People’s Service or social care teams such as SEND social workers or the Family Intervention Team. We might suggest completing a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) form in order to get a team of professionals (Team around the Family (TAF)) together to work with the student and their family but this will only be done with the parent/carers agreement.

If the student does not make progress with support that has been suggested by specialist staff, we can make a referral to the Local Authority (LA), for an assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan (called a Single Plan in Gateshead). This is a legal process, which is carried out by the LA which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for the student.

Transition

Transitions can be difficult for a student with SEND and we take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible.

Students in Year 6 with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) will have a review in the summer term before they move to secondary school to discuss the transition. Where appropriate extra visits during the summer term will be arranged with their secondary school. You will be told by 15th February of the year that they transfer, which secondary school they will attend in September.
If you are transferring from another primary school, before your child moves to Kelvin Grove Primary, staff will have the opportunity to visit them at their previous school or setting (nursery) if possible. We will arrange for your child to visit us to meet their new teachers and classmates. They may be encouraged to spend time in lessons with their new classmates before starting Kelvin Grove Primary School full time.
If your child is transferring to another school we will contact the SENDCo at the new school, invite them to the summer term review and ensure they know about any special arrangements or support that needs to be made for your child. We will also make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible. Where possible your child will visit their new school before they start and in some specialist cases, staff from the new school will visit your child in this school. When your child moves to secondary school, staff will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENDCO.
When moving classes in school, information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. All Individual Pupil Plans will be shared with the new teacher.

Please note – if your child has an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) they must have an annual review before they move to a new school.

Support

Academic

All students receive excellent classroom teaching also known as Quality First Teaching. For your child this would mean:

That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all students 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 could involve things like using more practical learning.
Specific strategies are in place to support your child to learn.
If your child’s teacher has decided that your child has gaps in their understanding/learning after carefully checking on your child’s progress they could receive some extra support to help them make the best possible progress in the form of intervention sessions or focused differentiated work to close the gaps.

All students will get this level of support but other types of support are available for students with SEND:

Specific work with a small group of students is available for any student who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning and will be put in place if the SENDCo thinks that they need extra support in school. The group, sometimes called Intervention groups by schools, may be:

Run in the classroom or outside.
Planned and overseen by a teacher but they are often run by a Teaching Assistant.
Work with specific targets to help your child make more progress. The targets will be identified in advance and need to be achieved within a specific time period, normally a term.

The progress made with the intervention is tracked and monitored closely to decide whether any additional support is needed for your child.

Specialist groups run by outside agencies

This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups. This means they have been assessed as needing some extra specialist support in school. This may be from, Local Authority services such as the SENIT, and Educational Psychologist or Behaviour Support Service. Outside agencies such as Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Service, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy.

Individual support

This is usually provided through an Education Health and Care Plan (known as a Single Plan in Gateshead). This means your child will have been identified by a specialist professional as needing a higher level of support than the school can provide from their SEN budget. This is a legal process, which is carried out by the LA, which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child. School will discuss with you if they think that this is required.

Emotional and Social

As well as providing academic support, school can also provide emotional and social support for students. This can include:

Social skills/nurture group interventions – provided by both internal staff and external agencies
Opportunities to talk to trusted staff in school
Self-esteem interventions – such as Friendship groups, dealing with disagreements and upset
Anti-bullying policies. This can be taught within PSHE curriculum
Administration of medicines where necessary
Counselling support from outside agencies for those vulnerable children.

Complaints

Parent/carers should contact the SENDCo with any complaints about the provision that the student is receiving at school. If the complaint is not resolved, the school has a complaints policy which can be found at
https://kelvingroveprimaryschool.org/policies/
Parents/carers can contact the Special Educational Needs and Disability Information and Advice Service (SENDIAS) which is run by Barnardos in Gateshead (tel 0191 4784667). This is a free, confidential service for young people who have SEND and their parent/carers. The service is available whether or not the young person has an Education Health Care Plan.
Gateshead Council has developed a Local Offer which provides information about education, health and social care support for children and young people with SEND in Gateshead. The Local Offer can be found at www.gateshead.gov.uk/localoffer.

Please click the link for more information about Gateshead Council’s Local Offer

www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/2694/Gateshead-Local-Offer

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