SEND
At Cambridge Nursery school we aim to provide the opportunities for every child to reach their full potential.
The Local offer
From September 2014, new SEND legislation comes into place in schools. The Government’s new approach to SEND provision is published in The New Code of Practice 2014.
The governing bodies of schools have a legal duty to publish information on their websites about how the Government’s new approach to SEND provision will be implemented in school. This information forms the school’s local SEND offer of all services available to support disabled children and children with SEND and their families.
A fundamental part of the new approach to special educational needs and disabilities is parental choice and pupils rights. Cambridge welcomes this person-centred approach working alongside parents and enabling children to participate fully in the life of our setting and reach their full potential.
Expectations
All children at Cambridge have access to a broad and balanced curriculum where all Staff have high expectations for all pupils, working from their prior learning and personalising their targets accordingly. Learning opportunities take account of possible areas of difficulty so that any barriers to achievement can be overcome, through inclusive learning and teaching opportunities.
Definition of SEND
‘A pupil has SEND where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, that is provision that is different from or additional to that normally is available to pupils of the same age.’ The New Code of Practice 2014
Useful Terminology
SEND – Special Educational Needs or Disability
SENDCO – Special Educational Needs and/or Disability Co-ordinator
SLT – School Leadership Team
TA – Teaching Assistant CA - Childcare Assistant
HLTA – Higher Level Teaching Assistant
LA – Local Education Authority
Roles and Responsibilities
The Headteacher, SENDCO, teachers and Governing body work together to determine how additional support is provided for children with SEND and how SEND is developed within school.
Nursery teachers – Catherine Aland and Tamsin Hope
Early years teachers in the 2 year old provision-Victoria Collins
HLTA- Gail Conway
TA’s & Childcare Assistants - Danielle Calder, Gail Conway, Faye Crossley, Jenny Pimblett, Zoe Kennedy, Deborah Millican, Linda Nagle, Karen Warren, Teri Worswick
All teachers are responsible for the progress of pupils in the nursery classes. However we operate a Key worker system. Therefore the Key worker is the first point of contact for parents should they have any concerns about their child’s progress or well-being.
SENDCO- Gail Conway (HLTA)
If parents need further information and advice they should contact the SENDCO via the office – Miss Sam Roseburgh
The SENDCO is responsible for:
Co-ordinating provision for children with SEND and developing the school’s SEND policy.
Liaising with a range of agencies outside of school who can offer advice and support to help pupils overcome any difficulties.
Providing specialist advice and facilitating training to ensure that all staff is skilled and confident about meeting a range of needs.
Monitoring progress and effectiveness of provision.
Ensuring that parents are involved in supporting and reviewing their child’s learning.
Headteacher – Mrs Joy Snowdon
The Headteacher is responsible for the day to day management of all aspects of the school, including the provision made for pupils with SEND
SEND Governor – Mrs Julie Cliff
The SEND Governor is responsible for supporting the school to evaluate and develop the provision made for pupils with SEND across the school.
Types of Need
The New Code of Practice identifies four broad areas of special need, under which SEND can be classified.
Communication and interaction
Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
Sensory and / or physical needs
Cognition and learning
These categories help us to plan provision. Pupils can have needs across categories and this is recognised in our provision mapping. Identification of a specific type of need does not necessarily mean a plan of support is put into place. We put support in place only when we feel it would be beneficial to a child’s development. Our school priority is to provide early intervention in order to achieve targeted outcomes. This may be done through observations, Play Plans, SEND interventions, catch-up interventions or through advice from external agencies.
Quality Teaching
All children at Cambridge have access to at least good quality inclusive teaching and opportunities within the Nursery environment. Teachers and practitioners make reasonable adjustments to accommodate differences in learning styles and vary opportunities depending on the needs of their pupils to promote progress. Teaching is monitored through lesson observations. Planning and work is monitored on at least a termly basis to ensure there are high expectations and standards across the Nursery setting. Progress is carefully tracked on a termly basis by Keyworkers and Headteacher. Individual interventions are carried out by Keyworkers to reinforce a range of skills for pupils who would benefit from this support. As a specially resourced nursery school the children if in one of 4 resourced places will also receive onsite support from speech and Language therapy.
Identification of SEND
Teachers / keyworkers are continually assessing and monitoring pupils in their groups and this is reviewed termly with senior leaders within the school. Through this, the needs of children are seen to either be being met or not. If a pupil is not making the expected progress, staff consider if they have a full understanding of the pupil’s learning profile to identify whether any SEND is impacting on their learning. At this point, the setting may wish to consult with outside professionals to help gain a better understanding of a child’s profile, e.g. the school’s Inclusion Consultant or Educational Psychologist. All factors that may impact on learning, such as emotional issues, motivation, appropriateness of teaching and learning environment are considered to decide if the lack of progress is caused by SEND.
Parents are part of the whole identification process and if the setting decides that additional and different provision is necessary for the pupil to make progress, the child will be placed on the SEND register and SEND support will be put into place.
The Graduated Approach
The process for implementing SEND support is described in 'The Code of Practice' as the Graduated Approach and has four stages.
Assess
The setting will gather all information available concerning the identified child to gain an accurate picture of the child’s needs. This could include teacher, key carer, pupil, parents, SENDCO and outside agencies and will provide information such as attainment, learning styles and projected targets.
Plan
A support plan will be put into place to outline strategies that will be used in order to achieve specific outcomes. The plan will include:
Quality inclusive teaching approaches that are effective in enhancing the pupil’s learning.
Proven interventions to achieve specific targets – and how they will be delivered and monitored.
Any focused support from a teaching assistant / keyworker in class. This should be purposeful, with the ultimate aim to develop the pupil’s independence and maximise pupils contact with the practitioner.
Resources to ensure access to curriculum or environment.
Suggestions as to how the parent and / or pupil can contribute to the plan.
Do
Once pupils have a support plan, this becomes a working document which can be annotated on a regular basis to show progress towards outcomes and new targets set. Adjustments can be made as necessary. The teacher/ or key carer manages the plan and actions and is accountable for the outcomes. Any concerns the practitioner has over the plan will be discussed with the SENDCO.
Review
Termly reviews with teacher /Keyworker and / or SENDCO will take place with parents to review outcomes of support. Interventions will be evaluated along with views of the pupil and parents. The plan may be adapted or a new one devised to enable the pupil to achieve their next steps in learning.
At the review, further options may be put into place if a pupil is not making the expected progress or achieving outcomes on their support plan.
Advice or assessment may be requested from external agencies to help school put in place different / more appropriate support for the pupil.
Funding may be requested from the LA if additional support is required. This is accessed by the SENDCO completing a high level needs funding application showing an action plan for the pupil that is likely to succeed. If a child has a SEND resourced place additional funding is already available to the Nursery.
Parents and / or school can apply for an Educational Health Care Assessment if the pupil is still not making progress, despite school taking a graduated approach with relevant actions and SEND support over time. At this point school would demonstrate that we have made effective use of all the resources available to us.
Tracking Progress
We track progress of all pupils and record the level they are working at, at the end of each term. Parents are informed of their child’s progress. In the autumn and summer terms this is through meetings with the teacher /keyworker. Any child not making progress is highlighted and immediate catch up interventions are put into place.
Children with SEND are tracked in the same way. Individual support plans are reviewed termly and interventions are evaluated. Parents are given the opportunity to discuss their child’s progress termly with the SENDCO.
Transition
At Cambridge there are clear procedures for supporting children in moving into Reception.
The SENDCO arranges meetings with the receiving school to have enhanced transition arrangements and actions are drawn up within a timescale. Parents, teacher/keyworker, SENDCO, staff from the new school and any outside professionals working with the child are invited to this meeting.
Enhanced transition arrangements within school may include additional visits to the child’s new class; transition books with photos of new teacher, TA's, childcare assistants, classroom etc.; opportunities to work with their new TA, and additional meetings between staff in school and outside professionals to pass on information, support plans etc.
Transition between school and childcare would involve the current keyworker and new keyworker meeting to pass over information. The child would then have some supported visits.
Equal Opportunities
We ensure that children with SEND engage in school activities alongside pupils without SEN. We ensure that direct or indirect discrimination does not take place by following our Single Equality Policy and SEN Policy in school.
Social and Emotional Development
Children many experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour.
Social and emotional development is part of the school curriculum and children are given opportunities to discuss and explore their feelings and the feelings of others within a safe secure environment. There may be a need to include external professionals to offer the children more support.
If you require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact us, either by telephone 0151 282 5467 or email [email protected] or. We will always have a member of staff available to help you.
SEND Information report
What is meant by SEND Information Report?
All Sefton maintained schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and are supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. All schools are supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs/and or disabilities (SEND) being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible, where families want this to happen. This means that it is vital that those caring for children and young people with SEND know what provision they can reasonably expect from their school and Local Authority. Local authorities and other services including schools will set out a local offer of all services available to support children with SEND and their families. In accordance with the changes implemented by the 2014 SEN Code of Practice, children and young people with SEND and their families should be central to the identification, assessment and planning for provision. The offer will include provision from birth to 25 across education, health and social care.
This will mean that:
Parents will have a greater understanding of the processes involved and more confidence in those delivering provision
Earlier identification of children with SEND
A reduction in the need for assessments
Gaps in provision will be identified
There will be an evidence base for improving progress and securing better outcomes at school
Who is the best person to talk to about my child’s difficulties and how can I contact them?
Your child’s class teacher or key carer – they are responsible for:
Ensuring that all children have access to quality first teaching and that the curriculum is adapted to meet the individual needs of your child (also known as differentiation) Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning for and delivering any additional help your child may need. This could include targeted work,additional support, adapting resources etc
Creating and implementing Individual Provision Maps, sometimes called IEP’s or Learning and development plans and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once a term
Ensuring that all members of staff working with your child in school are aware of your child’s individual needs and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and to make progress
Ensuring that all staff who work with your child in school are supported in delivering the planned work for your child so they can achieve the best possible outcomes
This may involve the use of additional adults to work with your child, outside specialists and/or specially planned work and resources
Ensuring the school’s SEND policy is followed Your child’s class teacher can be contacted by telephoning the school or visiting to arrange an appointment
The SENDCO- Gail Conway – is responsible for:
Coordinating all the support for children with SEND and developing the school’s
SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
Miss Conway will ensuring that you are:
Involved in supporting your child’s learning
Kept informed about the support your child is getting involved in reviewing how they are doing
Part of planning ahead for them
Liaising with all the people who may be supporting your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc…
Updating the school’s SEND record of need (a system for ensuring all the special educational, physical and sensory needs of pupils in this school are known and understood) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs
To provide specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help your child’s class teacher to write Learning and Development Plans that specify the targets set out for your child to achieve
Organising training for staff so they are aware and confident about how to meet the needs of your child and others within the school
Mrs Snowdon can be contacted by: Telephoning, emailing or visiting the school to make an appointment. – Responsible for:
The day to day provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities
Line managing of staff
Meeting with outside agencies, parents and the Inclusion Manager to plan provision
Attending to pupil’s medical needs
Administration
Learning Support Assistant (LSA)
An LSA may be allocated to a pupil with exceptional Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Whilst they take a very valuable role in supporting your child’s education it is preferred that any questions you may have regarding your child’s learning and progress be directed to either your child’s teacher or the SENCO. We do of course encourage daily dialogue between parents and LSAs on how your child’s day has
been and actively encourage this communication.
Head Teacher – Mrs Snowdon – is responsible for:
The day to day management of all aspects of the school including the support for pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities. She will give responsibility for these pupils to the nursery teacher and early years teacher in the respective rooms, but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
She must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date with any issues in the school related to SEND Gail Conway can be contacted by: Telephoning, emailing or visiting the school
SEND Governor – Mrs. Julie Cliff – responsible for:
Making sure that the school has an up to date SEND Policy
Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all pupils in the school
Making sure that the necessary support is made for any pupil who attends the school who has SEND and/or disabilities
Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to pupils with SEND and/or disabilities in the school and being part of the process to ensure your child achieves his/her potential in school.
How could my child receive help at Cambridge Nursery School?
Class Teacher input through Quality First Teaching
This will mean that:
The teacher will have the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in our setting.
All teaching and learning is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
Putting in place different ways of teaching so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning or providing different resources adapted for your child.
Putting in place specific strategies (which may be suggested by the our staff or staff from outside agencies) to enable your child to access the learning task.
Specific small group work
It may be that a pupil may benefit from working in a small group to access specific learning. This group, often called an intervention group, may be run in the room or outside the room and led by a teacher or Teaching Assistant/practitioner under the guidance of the teacher. This will mean that:
Your child may take part in group sessions with specific targets to help them make progress
A teacher or Teaching Assistant (TA/CA) may run small group sessions
This level of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning. An example of this maybe ‘Leaping through Language’.
Specified individual support for your child
This was usually provided through High needs funding HNF or a Statement of Educational Need- now an Educational, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENDCO as needing a particularly high level of individual and small group teaching or other support which cannot be provided from the resources already delegated to the school.
Usually, if your child requires this high level of support they may also need specialist support from a professional outside the school. This may include:
Local Authority central services such as SSENIS (Sefton Special educational needs and inclusion service) as well as Speech and Language (SALT) Service, Occupational therapy service or Physiotherapy
For your child this would mean:
The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process and you can find more
details about this in the Local Authority (LA) website www.sefton.gov.uk .
After the school has submitted all the reports, including information from you, the Local Authority will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong and that they need more support in school to make good progress. If this is the case they will write an EHC plan. If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue to ensure a plan is in place so that your child makes as much progress as
possible
The EHC plan will outline the provision your child may need and strategies that must be put in place. It will also have long and short term goals for your
child
The additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups which include your child
This level of support is available for pupils whose learning needs are:
Severe, complex and lifelong
Requiring more than the school/setting can provide
How will the school support your child with identified special needs starting at school/childcare?
The setting will invite you to visit with your child to have a look round and speak to staff
If other professionals are involved, a meeting will be held to discuss your child’s needs, share strategies used and ensure provision is put in place before your child starts
The school may suggest adaptations to the settling in period to make the transition easier for your child
How do I let the school know if I have concerns about the progress my child is making?
If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher /key worker initially
If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress you should speak to the SENDCO or Head Teacher
If you are still not happy you can speak to the school SEND Governor
How will the school let me know if it has concerns about my child’s learning?
When a teacher or parent has raised concerns about your child’s progress and targeted teaching has not met their needs, the teacher will raise this with the SENDCO
School also has meetings at least every term between the each class teacher and a senior leader in the school to ensure all pupils are making good or better progress. This is another way your child may be identified as not making as much progress as expected
If your child is then identified as not making adequate progress the school will make a decision about whether to monitor this or set up an intervention group and will inform you of this If your child is still not making expected progress the school will discuss with you:
– Any concerns you may have
– Any further interventions or referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning
– How the school can work in partnership with you to support your child at home and in school
As one of Sefton’s resourced nursery schools we have 4 ‘resourced’ places in our school. What this means is that e have a higher ratio for these children to allow them to access intervention groups and individual support on occasion . This does not mean 1-1 support. If it is decided that a child will need 1-1 support a HNF (High needs funding application would be made, the decision to grant this funding is made by a panel of professionals made up of SEND personnel and head teachers from within the local authority. As a resourced nursery we have access to a wide range of professional support who visit the nursery.
What training or help is given to staff to help them support children with SEND?
The SENCO’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEND.
The school has a school development plan, including identified training needs for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those with SEND.
This may include whole school training on SEND issues or to support identified groups of learners in school, such as ASD, speech and language etc.
Whole staff training to disseminate knowledge, strategies and experience, to ensure consistency of the school’s approach for children with an SEND
Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class e.g. from the SSENIS or medical/health training to support staff in implementing care plans.
How will the teaching be adapted for my child with learning needs SEN/and or disabilities?
Class teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of pupils in their rooms and will ensure that learning tasks are adjusted in order to enable your child to access learning as independently as possible
Specially trained support staff can implement the teachers modified/adapted planning to support the needs of your child where necessary
Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups
Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed, to meet your child’s learning needs and increase your child’s access to what is on offer
Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her teacher
Progress is reviewed formally every term including attendance, engagement in learning and behaviour against age related expectations
An assessment tool is used which shows their level in more detail and will also if necessary we will use tools which will show smaller steps
What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with an SEND/and or Disabilities?
We would like you to talk to your child’s class teacher regularly so the school knows what they are doing at home and it can tell you about what it is doing to support them. This is to ensure that the school is doing similar things to support them and we can share what is working in both places
The SENCO (or Head Teacher) is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have
All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where that is not possible, in a report. The SENCO will also arrange to meet with you to discuss any new assessments and ideas suggested by outside agencies for your child
Individual education plans or learning and development plans will be reviewed with your involvement each term
A home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you, when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child
How has the school been made physically accessible to pupils with SEND?
The school is fully accessible and is all one floor only
We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs
The school has changing facilities with a remote controlled changing bed
How will the school support your child when they leave or move on to another class?
If your child is moving to another school:
We will contact the new school’s Inclusion Manager or SENCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that needs to be in place for your child
All records will be passed on as soon as possible
Extra transition visits if needed will be arranged
When moving rooms within the school:
Information will be passed on to the new class teacher IN ADVANCE and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher
All Personal learning and development plans will be shared with the new teacher
Handover meetings will be held
