SENCo: Mrs Marlor
SEND Team: Miss Jackson & Mrs Ramsden (Miss Maddison support)
office11@sirjohnsherbrooke.notts.sch.uk
SEND Local Offer https://www.nottshelpyourself.org.uk/kb5/nottinghamshire/directory/localoffer.page?newdirectorychannel=9
1. What kinds of special educational needs does the school/setting make provision for?
Sir John Sherbrooke Junior School is a mainstream school which has a strong ethos of inclusion; it is not a specialist in any area of Special Educational Needs. We aim to provide every child with access to a broad and balanced education.
Our aims are:
In order to make consistent continuous progress in relation to SEND provision the school encourages feedback from staff, parents and pupils throughout the year. This takes place in half termly Pupil Progress Meetings, review meetings and parents’ evenings. Intervention programmes are monitored at least every 12 weeks, but usually every 6 weeks; the outcomes are used to inform next steps. Scholarpack may be used to monitor progress and to record interventions.
Pupil progress will be monitored on a termly basis in line with the SEND Code of Practice.
There is an annual formal evaluation of the effectiveness of the school SEND provision and policy. The evaluation is carried out by the SENCO, Head Teacher and SEND governor and information is gathered from different sources such as child and parent surveys/ teacher and staff surveys/parents evenings. This will be collated and published by the governing body of a maintained school (or the proprietors of Academy schools) on an annual basis in accordance with section 69 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
We continually review and report on the effectiveness of the policy.
This includes:
Evidence collected will help inform school development and improvement planning.
3.c) What is the school's approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs?
The class teacher remains responsible for working with pupils on a daily basis. Their primary aim is for all pupils to achieve the best they possibly can. To achieve this, work will be differentiated in several ways:
- Task; by providing different tasks to match ability and need as appropriate.
- Resources; by providing different resources to support pupils in their tasks as appropriate to their ability and needs.
- Outcome; through the expectation of the end result of the task.
- Support; through an adult working with an individual or group of children as appropriate to their ability and need. This could be support by the teacher or a teaching assistant.
Teaching may also be supported by focussed interventions which may be arranged to support pupils further with specific areas of need, e.g. phonics, writing, numeracy.
3.d) How will the curriculum and learning be matched to my child/young person's needs?
The school is expected to, and responsible for, making reasonable adjustments to support pupils with a range of special educational needs. This can involve adapting the physical environment through placement, resources or changes to the classroom and through adapting the taught curriculum. When planning for lessons, teachers consider any special educational needs within the class and make amendments or adaptations as required. These are included in the teacher’s planning. Differentiation for all pupils is detailed on the planning and this is also the same for differentiating for special educational needs.
3.e) How are decisions made about the type and amount of support my child/young person will receive?
Resources allocated to pupils with additional needs come from three different sources.
Place Funding: Resources directly placed into the school budget to support the majority of pupils who face moderate barriers to their learning. This funding is used for curriculum support and some small group teaching and support.
AFN: Additional Family Needs: Resources devolved to the Family of Schools by the LA. (The Family of Schools comprises of a secondary school and its feeder primary schools). These resources are intended to support individual pupils with more complex needs. Decisions on the allocations of these resources are made by the Family of Schools and are based on the level of individual pupils’ needs.
HLN: High Level Needs. Resources allocated to named pupils with exceptionally complex and enduring SEND by the LA, to meet the needs of individual pupils in a mainstream school. This is accessed through the Family of Schools. The Family SENCo will refer individual applications to a multi-agency panel, which is administered by the Local Authority, who will determine whether the level and complexity of need meets the threshold for this funding.
The resources are allocated by the SENCo and SLT to provide appropriate provision across the school to meet the needs of pupils with SEND and specific support for those with AFN and HLN funding. Outcomes from Pupil Progress Meetings are also used to inform provision.
Other funding sources which will also be allocated by the SENCo and SLT could be Pupil Premium and resources from Inclusive Technology Services.
When planning for activities outside the classroom, teachers will give due thought to the needs of SEND pupils. Venues for school visits are carefully chosen to ensure that all pupils, including those with physical disabilities, can attend. A risk assessment will be undertaken and reasonable adjustments made in relation to transport arrangements, toileting facilities, medical/sensory needs and other access arrangements. Often, there will be a pre-visit made by teaching staff/SENCo to ensure arrangements will meet the needs of the young person and parent/carers will be consulted.
3.g) What support will there be for my child/young person's overall well-being?
Pastoral, Medical and Social Support: We provide support for pupils with a range of pastoral, medical and social needs. Our teaching assistants are familiar with a range of support programs for pastoral/social needs and medical support with the guidance of an appropriate professional. Children may be offered sessions with our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA), Nicky Smith, or counselling sessions with our Emotional Well-being Teacher, Ruth Cumberland.
Medicines: The school is willing to administer medicines as detailed in the school Medicine Policy.
Personal Care: This is dealt with on an individual basis through the collaboration of the school, parents, the child and any Health Care Professionals involved with the child.
Behaviour, Exclusions and Attendance: The school has in place clear Behaviour and Attendance Policies in place. Pupils for whom these policies are not sufficient are dealt with on an individual basis according to the needs of the children concerned.
Children’s Safety: The school has a clear Health and Safety Policy which is reviewed on an annual basis by the Head Teacher and the Governors.
Specialist support for emotional and behavioural development of pupils is provided by Ruth Cumberland (emotional well-being teacher)
The people co-ordinating the day to day provision of education for pupils with SEND are Sarah Blundy (SENco) Laura Smith (On Maternity leave SENCo), Brogan Bowler (On maternity leave Deputy SENCo), Catherine Jackson (medical needs) and Paula Ramsden (enrichment). Sally Maddison (headteacher).
All the above can be contacted on the school number: 0115 9652291
5. a) What training have staff supporting special educational needs had and what is planned?
We aim to keep all school staff up to date with relevant training and developments in teaching practice in relation to the needs of pupils with SEND.
The SENCo attends relevant SEND courses, Family SEND meetings and facilitates/signposts relevant SEND focused external training opportunities for all staff.
We recognise the need to train all our staff on SEND issues and we have funding available to support this professional development. The SENCo, with the senior leadership team, ensures that training opportunities are matched to school development priorities and those identified through the use of provision management.
All staff are trained in ‘Coping with Risky Behaviours (CRB)’ which was previously known as ‘Management of Actual or Potential Aggression (MAPA).’ Staff also receive an annual refresher on this training.
5.b) What specialist services and expertise are available or accessed by the setting/school?
Sir John Sherbrooke Junior invites and seeks advice and support from external agencies in the identification and assessment of, and provision for, SEND. The SENCo is the designated person responsible for liaising with the following:
Representatives from voluntary organisations and other external agencies are invited to liaison meetings when appropriate throughout the year to discuss SEND provision and progress and keep staff up to date with legislation.
In cases where a child is under observation or a cause for concern, focused meetings will be arranged with the appropriate agency. Parents will normally be invited to and informed about any meetings held concerning their child unless there are over-riding safeguarding issues.
The school has some specialist SEND facilities in place. These are:
Sir John Sherbrooke believes that a close working relationship with parents is vital in order to ensure:
In cases where more frequent regular contact with parents is necessary, this will be arranged based on the individual pupil’s needs. The SENCo may also signpost parents of pupils with SEND to the local authority Parent Partnership service where specific advice, guidance and support may be required.
If an assessment or referral indicates that a pupil has additional learning needs the parents and the pupil will always be consulted with regards to future provision. Parents are invited to attend meetings with external agencies regarding their child, and are kept up to date and consulted on any points of action drawn up in regards to the provision for their child. The school’s SEND governor may be contacted at any time in relation to SEND matters.
All children are able to contribute their views either through discussion with a member of staff or through the medium of the school council representatives. For SEND pupils, opinions and views are always sought at review points on a termly basis. This can be through verbal, written or drawn communication and can involve a range of resources to help pupils to communicate their feelings.
9. What do I do if I have a concern or complaint about the SEN provision made by the school/setting?
If a parent or carer has any concerns or complaints regarding the care or welfare of their child, an appointment can be made by them to speak to the SEND Team, who will be able to advise on formal procedures for complaint.
The school regularly consults other professionals. Concerns are initially brought to the attention of the SEND Team and referrals will be made as appropriate.
The school continues to build strong working relationships and links with external support services in order to fully support our SEND pupils and aid school inclusion.
Sharing knowledge and information with our support services is key to the effective and successful SEND provision within our school. Any one of the support services may raise concerns about a pupil. This will then be brought to the attention of the SEND Team who will then inform the child’s parents.
Termly Springboard meetings are held where requests for involvement with pupils from the Educational Psychologist Service (EPS) and Schools and Family Specialist Services (SFSS) including the Communication and Interaction Team, the Cognition and Learning Team and the Sensory Impairment team can be made. Following referrals and discussion, if the request for support is successful, the appropriate specialist will come into school and work with staff and pupils to ensure that strategies are in place to meet the pupil’s needs.
The following services will be involved as and when is necessary:
Parents/carers are part of the discussion around referring for additional support from other agencies and are kept informed about the outcomes of that involvement.
12. How will the school/setting prepare my child/young person to: i) Join the school/setting?
The school is a member of Colonel Frank Seely Family of Schools; our SEND Team works closely with the family SENCo and the other SENCos in the family. This enables the schools to build a bank of joint resources and to share advice, training and development activities and expertise.
From Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2:
ii) Transfer between phases of education (e.g. early years to primary, primary to secondary etc)?
From Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3:
13. Where can I access further information?
Further information can be accessed from the SEND Policy on the school website.
Information about the services and provision available across the county is also available via Nottinghamshire’s SEND Local Offer:
www.nottinghamshire.sendlocaloffer.org.uk
https://www.nottshelpyourself.org.uk/kb5/nottinghamshire/directory/localoffer.page?newdirectorychannel=9