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SEND

SEND Information

Glade is an inclusive school and we always endeavour to do our best for all of our children. All of our teachers are teachers of children with special educational needs and disability (SEND). They all follow the school’s SEND policy and know about ways in which their classroom organisation and their teaching may need to be tweaked to accommodate children with a range of SEND.

Our school Inclusion Co-ordinator, sometimes known as a SENDCo (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) is Mrs. McCaghery. She can be contacted at senco@gla.eastern-mat.co.uk or via the school office.

It is a priority within the school to identify and assess the abilities of all children as soon as they enter school. Where a child’s performance at school is less than expected, extra support will be identified and interventions will start. This will consist of a detailed plan of how, as a partnership, school and parents are going to work to overcome the barriers to learning.

In cases where a further provision is required, other professionals (advisory teachers, educational psychologists etc.) are consulted with the approval of the parents. In certain cases, a statement of special educational needs is drawn up by the Local Authority. A statement is a more formalised document that is compiled on evidence.

You can download the Department for Education guide to SEN for parents from here.

The website https://ehcpjourneys.com/ has useful guidance for parents with children who have or may need an Education & Health Care Plan.

The full SEN policy can be downloaded from SEND.pdf (eastern-mat.co.uk) and you can download our SEN Local Offer: Suffolk InfoLink | Suffolk SEND Local Offer

The SEN Code of Practice (2015) is the legal document which describes how schools should support children with SEN. According to that document:

A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age

Some children may have a disability, a diagnosis of ASD, a sensory difficulty or a medical problem but these children are not included on the SEN register unless there is a learning difficulty.

Bullying of children with SEND

As a school, we have a policy of zero tolerance towards bullying of any nature. We recognise that bullying of children with SEND is particularly sensitive, especially when the children either are not aware, they are being bullied or they struggle to communicate their experiences. The playground and school are always supervised during playtimes and lunchtimes and members of staff are always available to listen and intervene where there is any suggestion of bullying. We also utilise this opportunity to support children with their play and social skills.

We teach children how to respond to situations where someone is being treated unkindly, including situations which might be bullying. We emphasise as part of our core values that supporting children in these situations is everyone’s responsibility and encourage them to come forwards if they think another child is being bullied. We will also investigate complaints of bullying from parents.

Identifying children with SEN and assessing their needs

Parents, class teachers and teaching assistants are all involved in identifying children’s learning needs. All teachers regularly talk to the parents of the children they teach and keep them informed about any concerns. Concerns may also be raised at termly pupil progress meetings when teachers and senior leaders sit together and identify children whose progress is disappointing.

Initially, the teacher will use their knowledge of the child to change something about the child’s learning opportunities in order to see whether the child begins to make better progress. Often, this will solve the problem.

Some children will need something which is ‘different from or additional to’ the opportunities offered to all children in the class. With their parents’ permission, these children are discussed with the SENCO. If the SENCO and teacher together think that there is an additional need, the parent is invited to a meeting and together it is agreed whether or not to put the child on the SEN register.

Once on the SEND register a child’s needs are assessed in more detail and additional support planned for. This may include assessments and advice from education or medical professionals outside of school. A parent’s permission is always asked for and parents are kept informed of the outcomes of these assessments.

Most children on the SEN register are accommodated at ‘SEN Support’ (SENS). These children have targets which they are supported in meeting. The support may take the form of an intervention, additional adult support, access to ICT or some change to their environment: the support is individual to the child in order to help them to meet their targets. There is a termly meeting to discuss progress with parents.

A very small number of children will be referred for assessment for an Educational, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). These have replaced statements. Most of these children are likely to need a special list school at some point. Children with EHCPs have a record of support and a termly meeting to discuss progress in the same ways as children on SENS. The EHCP is reviewed annually with the child, their parents, teachers and any other adults that work with the child. This is when changes can be made to the EHCP to reflect any changes in need.

More information on SENS and EHCPs can be found at the Schools’ Offer which answers over 300 questions put by parents.

Funding

Glade Academy receives funding from the Department for Education, some of which is intended to support children with SEND. For children who have particularly high levels of need and support, we apply for High Tariff Needs Funding from Suffolk which we can then use for some additional support.