Most children and young people in mainstream schools will have their special educational needs met through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.

Early Identification of Need

In deciding whether to make special educational provision to support educational, social, physical or emotional needs, we:

• Work in partnership with parents/carers, pupils
• Consult with relevant external agencies
• Use assessment tools & materials
• Use observations
• Seek other advice and support as appropriate

At St Hild's CE Primary School, ongoing assessment is carried out across school and staff work together to moderate children’s work. This moderation is supported by the Local Authority on a regular basis. The school uses a tracking system to analyse data and to identify gaps in children’s learning and to plan appropriate intervention when required. Different children require different levels of support to close the gaps in their learning and to achieve age related expectations.

School staff may initially identify a concern and the child will receive Early Intervention and additional monitoring in class. The class teacher and SENCO will discuss the child’s needs and a meeting with parents/carers would be arranged at the earliest opportunity.

SEN Support

Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need, we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.

We:

• Assess a child’s special educational needs;
• Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes;
• Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes;
• Review the support and progress.

Where additional needs are identified, we work together with parents/carers, children and education, health and social care professionals where appropriate to design an individualised SEN Support Plan that outlines the child’s needs, identifies outcomes and formalises provision that is needed to meet those needs.  The views of the parents/carers and the child are integral to this process and the plan is formally reviewed at least once a term.

The next steps may require the involvement of specialist support or advice for example, Educational Psychology, Learning Support or another education health and social care professional. It is important to understand that the involvement of professionals does not always seek to label or diagnose but seeks advice and strategies to enable a child/young person to reach their full potential.

Education, Health and Care Plan

A small percentage of children with significant and/or complex needs may require an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The purpose of an EHCP is to provide special educational provision to meet the special educational needs of the child or young person to secure the best possible outcomes for them across education (SEND Code of Practice p.142). It is a legal document that describes a child or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs. This document is formed with SEND Caseworkers from the Local Authority. It is reviewed in school at least termly and it is formally reviewed with the Local Authority once a year. Parents are expected to attend all review meetings, share their views and contribute to the plan.

Assessment of Special Educational Needs

If your child has SEND, it is important for us to carry out formal assessments to identify their strengths and identify their needs accurately. To do this, we will use a range of methods depending upon their needs. When your child enters our school, their current attainment is assessed to give us a ‘baseline’ from where they will progress. Depending upon their needs, other assessments may be needed. These could include:

• Speech Therapy Assessments – which may focus on sound production, articulation, language understanding, or other relevant language and communication assessments appropriate to your child’s needs

• Education Psychology Assessments – which may include memory, understanding, reasoning, logic, and general skills assessments

• Learning Support Assessments - which will focus on their specific difficulties in an identified area of learning

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact us to make an appointment.