Categories of SEND.

The SEND Code of Practice 2014 identifies 4 categories of SEND. Children identified within school as having SEND will be registered under one of the following categories:

Communication and interaction,
Cognition and learning,
Social, emotional and mental health difficulties,
Sensory and/or physical.

Identification and Assessment.

Children’s needs will be identified and met as early as possible through:

• The usual assessment and monitoring procedures we use for tracking the progress of all our children.
• Classroom- based assessment and observations.
• Liaison with feeder schools and pre-school settings.
• External agency involvement e.g. Educational Psychology assessment.

We recognise that early identification and intervention is key to improving the long term outcomes for all children.

Provision.

A graduated approach.

Quality First Teaching.

All of our children will have access to quality first teaching where all teachers take steps to provide differentiated learning opportunities that will meet the needs of the majority of the children. We understand that additional intervention and support cannot and should not compensate for a lack of high quality teaching.

At Crawley Green Infant School we have high aspirations for the achievement of all our children. We constantly strive as a school to improve the outcomes and progress of all our children through effective provision.

Examples of (wave 1 provision) quality first teaching may include;

• Read, Write, Inc groupings across the school.
• Increased visual aids – letter formation, number lines.
• Writing frames.
• Adapted worksheets.
• Individual work station.
• Time out facilities.
• Writing slopes.
• Pencil grips.

Creative classroom adaptation and/or interventions.

Where it has been identified that children are struggling with their learning, underachieving or needing to make accelerated progress, teachers will look to make creative adaptations to their classroom practice. This will enable children to learn inclusively and meaningfully alongside their peers. Children may be placed in intervention groups, providing targeted support. This is an extension of the usual differentiation of the school curriculum and these children will not necessarily be children with special educational needs. (Individual teachers maintain intervention group records for their class detailing the additional support the children are receiving. The focus groups of children may change throughout the year.) Intervention groups and assessment data are collated and added to our provision map which is overseen by the SENDCo to ensure interventions are impactful.

Examples of (wave 2 provision) interventions may include;

• Additional 1-1 reading with a focus group of children.
• Pre-teaching with a target group.
• Group intervention for literacy or maths.
• Read, Write, Inc intervention.
• Additional handwriting.
• Social skills focus learning and activities.
• Following advice and guidance from external specialists where a special educational need has not yet been identified.

Additional SEN Support.

Children will be given additional SEN support when it is clear that their needs require intervention that is “additional to” or “different from” the highly differentiated curriculum available to all of our children. Where it is determined that a child has SEND as defined by the 2014 SEN Code of Practice, parents will be (advised) informed and the child is added to our SEND (register) Profile Highly personalised provision that is different from or in addition to everyday classroom provision is recorded on a Support Plan. Our support plans are planning, teaching and reviewing tools which enable us to focus on particular areas of development for children with a special educational need. They are used as working documents that allow us to refine, amend and review provision. Support plan outcomes should address the underlying reasons why a child is having difficulty – they should not simply be “more literacy” or “more maths”. An ongoing cycle of assess-plan-do-review allows the provision to be refined and revised as the understanding of the needs of the child grows. The class teacher remains responsible for working with the child on a day-to-day basis.

Our Support Plans:

• Will include input from external specialist agencies when given.
• Will be written and implemented by the class teacher, with support from the SENCo.
• Will be time-limited, reviewed at least termly by the class teacher and will include agreed “next steps”.
• Will have a maximum of three SMART outcomes.
• Will state what the child is going to learn-not what the teacher is going to teach.
• Will be planned and reviewed in consultation with the parents.
• Will be regularly monitored by the SENDCo as part of the school’s monitoring procedures.

Once a child has been placed on SEN Support, a SEN file is opened for them, including an SEN profile which is an ongoing record of all additional support, external agency involvement and parental meetings. This record is maintained by the class teacher and is passed from year group to year group and cross phase.

The meeting with the school’s link educational psychologist at the beginning of the academic year allows for planning of school priorities over the year, but referrals are also accepted as and when they are deemed necessary. This multi-agency approach to our in-school support allows us to also discuss possible strategies to support children who have not yet been identified as having a special educational need as well as those with a recognised SEND. Contact with the appropriate support service is usually initiated by the SENDCo. Records of referrals and any external involvement are maintained in the child’s SEN file.

Referral for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

If children have a high level of need and are not making adequate progress in school, despite highly individualised interventions and external agency support, they may undergo a statutory assessment process which is usually initiated by the school, but can be requested by the parents. This will occur where the complexity of need of the child is such that a multi-agency approach to assessing that need, to planning provision and identifying resources, is required. The application for an education, health and care plan (EHCP) will combine information from a variety of sources including:

• Parents/carers.
• Teachers.
• SENDCo.
• Social care.
• Health professionals.
• Educational Support Agencies.

The local authority will decide on the most suitable provision to meet the child’s needs. If the outcome is that an EHCP will be provided then the local authority will set out the provision needed and this will be reviewed yearly.

Transition.

At Crawley Green Infant School we recognise that transition can be a difficult time for all children especially those with SEND. We try to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible and that the children are nurtured through the change. When moving year groups in school, information about individual children are passed onto the new teacher and support staff. Children spend time in their new classrooms with their new teachers/support staff to familiarise themselves before they move. During the summer term we invite SENCo’s from the receiving junior schools to attend a transition meeting. This allows for information to be shared about the children’s specific needs and additional transition visits can be arranged. When the children transfer to junior school the SENDCo takes the SEN files over to the receiving school in person and attends transition meetings.

Allocation of Resources.

We receive funding for SEN via the local authority. The Headteacher and Governors are responsible for allocation of funding for groups or individual children.

Admissions.

Our admissions policy is in line with guidance from the local authority.

Roles and Responsibilities.

The Headteachers, Mrs Shadbolt and Mr White are responsible for the day-to-day management of all aspects of the school’s work, including provision for special educational needs.
They are the “responsible person” whom the local authority should inform when they conclude that a child has SEND. They should endorse any requests by the school for statutory assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan. The SENDCo, Miss Perrins, is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEND Policy.

Partnership with Parents.

At Crawley Green Infant School we value the importance of working in partnership with our parents and believe that a collaboration is vital in order to ensure the best outcomes for all of our children. The class teacher/SENDCo will request to see the parents of any child who is presenting with a concern as soon as any concern is identified. Support plans are reviewed at least termly with the parents. During the meeting, the discussion will focus on what has worked well that term and the progress made. New or adapted outcomes will be written and planned for. Details of parental meetings/involvement are maintained in the child’s SEN file. The school Family Worker can offer support to parents and be a signpost to other agencies and benefits.