SEND

Our Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo) are Mrs Stephenson and Mrs Cullimore.

Shotley Primary School values the abilities and achievements of all of its pupils and is committed to providing each pupil the best possible environment for learning.

Most of our children on the SEND register will also have an SEN Support Plan which details SMART (specifc, measureable, achievable, realistic and time based) targets that the child is working towards each term. Your child’s teacher will send you a copy of the support plan to sign and keep at home.

In addition, Mrs Stephenson and Mrs Cullimore monitor and track every child on the SEND register and the impact their interventions are having by using provision maps. These simply identify the child’s SEND need, what intervention they are having, how often, for how long and with who. These provision maps also track the child’s progress detailing their start and end data so that the impact of the intervention can be measured and contribute towards the review process for that intervention and child. Ultimately we want to ensure the intervention is having a good impact on learning and is helping the child to progress and achieve their targets. If for whatever reason the intervention is not having a good enough impact then we will stop it and change it for something different that hopefully will.

Please also read our school SEND Information Report and our SEND policy (both below) for further information about how we support our children at Shotley with their SEND.

We are an inclusive school and may offer a range of the following provisions as set out below to support our children with communication and interaction, cognition and learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, sensory and/or physical needs or medical conditions. The range of support deployed will be tailored to individual need following assessment by internal or external agencies and discussions with staff, children and parents or carers.

• High quality teaching and differentiation.

• Whole class screening, assessment and data analysis to support identification of children needing more support and to closely monitor progress.

• Pupil progress meetings with each teacher to support identification of pupils needing additional support.

• Highly trained and skilled staff.

• Continuous professional development and training for all teachers, teaching assistants and learning mentors including Speech and Language training provided by SALT, precision teaching training, alphabet arc training, Zones of Regulation training and effective target setting and monitoring for SEN support plans led by Mrs Stephenson and Mrs Cullimore (SENCO) to name a few.

• Teaching Assistant (TA) support in class, in small group work or on a 1:1 basis.

• Specific targets set through a SEN Support Plans.

• Regular reviews of targets and provision.

• Interventions linked to classroom practise and in response to assessment in the classroom.

• Referrals to, and involvement from, an Educational Psychologist.

• Conversations with parents/ teachers/ SENDCo.

• Working closely with our local nurseries and High Schools to ease transition.

• Transition meetings between staff (teachers, SENDCo and Family Liaison Officer) to ease movement of children from one year group to the next.

• A range of resources e.g. writing slope, pencil grips, adapted equipment.

• Visual timetables / support used.

• Nurture Lunchtime Group run by our Family Liaison Officer, Louise Southgate.

• Supporting statements / letters written for referrals to outside agencies/ GPs/ Paediatricians.

  • Attendance and contributions to a range of multi-agencies meetings.

• WellComm Speech and Language screening tool and Language Link

• Assessment on the Renfrew Language Scales tests.

• Speech and Language therapy (NHS) and Speech Link trained staff in school.

• Makaton.

• Thrive intervention and individual targets set for these sessions.

• ‘Now and Next’ boards.

• 1:1 and small group support from specialist TAs trained in WellComm, Elklan etc.

• Involvement of County Specialist education Service (SES) to support children with ASD and social and emotional difficulties.

• Lego therapy.

• Drawing and talking trained staff.

• Involvement and support from Whole School Inclusion Team at SES.

• Involvement and support from Communication and Interaction Team at SES.

• Zones of Regulation trained staff – implemented in class and small groups.

• Dyslexia screening and intervention through dyslexia gold

• Irlen’s syndrome screening.

• Screening/ assessment on the British Picture Vocabulary Skills test (BPVS) and specific English/ maths assessments.

• English support – 1:1 additional Teacher and TA sessions, clicker writing software.

• Maths support- Plus One, Power of 2, 1:1 additional Teacher and TA sessions.

• Involvement and support from Whole School Inclusion Team at SES.

• Involvement and support from Cognition and Learning Team at SES.

• Support from SEMH team at SES.

• Thrive trained staff and whole class sessions.

• Referrals to mental health services for children and young people via the The Emotional Wellbeing Hub and/or Educational Primary mental Health Workers.

• Zones of Regulation trained staff – implemented in class and small groups.

• Nurture and wellbeing checks.

• Specialist equipment

• School nursing team involvement.

• Referrals to OT.

• Fine motor skills development through bespoke interventions.

• Involvement of Sensory and Communication team.

• Care plans.

• Wheelchair access to most areas of the school (via ramps).

• School nursing team involvement.

• Specialist trained staff to support specific conditions e.g. EB / diabetes training.