SEND Team
Yattendon School
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
Information Report
The SEND Team – who are we?
- Kirsty Morgan – SEND Leader
- Karen Burgess – Home School Link Worker
- Chloe Beardwell - ELSA
Our School Offer
Yattendon School is a mainstream junior school and we comply with the requirements outlined in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2014. We recognise and celebrate each other’s differences including personal skills, academic achievement and beliefs. We recognise that children’s learning needs can be diverse and we aim to meet the needs of all our children through a broad and balanced, inclusive curriculum.
If a child has a special educational need we aim to identify this as soon as possible so that we can put in the appropriate support. This may take the form of a short term ‘catch-up’ programme, to address a difficulty with spelling, for example, or a longer term intervention to support with speech and language or fine motor skills difficulties. We encourage all our children to become fluent readers and provide individual and small group programmes to promote this. We work in partnership with parents and carers and try to meet with them regularly. We have an experienced and well-trained team of Learning Support Assistants (LSAs), who work one to one and with small groups of children and we invest in staff training so that programmes recommended by specialists can be carried out by our school-based staff. We have good accessibility for children with impaired mobility, including disabled toilet facilities, a lift and many of our classrooms are large enough to accommodate a child who uses a walking frame or wheelchair.
Please see also our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy which can be found on the policy section of the website.
SEND Register
Under the Children and Families Act 2014, the definition of ‘Special Education Needs’ or SEN is broader than before. Originally, a child had SEN if he or she had a learning difficulty which called for special educational provision (SEP) to be made for them.
Now, a child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. So young people and children and young people with disabilities (and not just learning difficulties) are all now included within the meaning of SEN. This also includes children with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.
The register is ‘fluid’ meaning that once a child has made adequate progress or no longer requires additional support, they can be removed from the register. All educational institutions that are subject to the SEND Code of Practice and are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that pupils are not disadvantaged by their SEN or disability.
We adopt a graduated approach to education, implementing an ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycle to monitor children's’ development. If it becomes apparent that an individual is not making the expected progress, then we may make educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, that for others of the same age.
Where necessary this can include bringing in external help, for example by having an outside therapist come into the school on particular days to work with an individual or assigning a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) to support a child in the classroom. All children on the SEND Register will have an individual support plan (ISP) created for them which enables the ‘APDR’ process to develop.
We work closely with a variety of outside agencies including the Educational Psychologist (EP) who offers advice for specific children in relation to their barriers to learning. She also carries out specific screening tests to further our understanding of a child's cognitive skills.
The STIP Team (Specialist Team for Inclusive Practice) and SALT (Speech and Language Team) are also regular visitors to the school and again provide specific guidance, targets and resources to further support the learners in the classroom.
If your child requires further support...
If a child or young person needs more support than can be provided within a school’s own resources and budgets, the school can request that the Local Authority (‘LA’) conduct an ‘EHC Needs Assessment’ of the child's SEND for the purpose of making an Education, Health and Care Plan (also referred to as an EHC plan or EHCP).
An EHC plan is a legal document that describes the child or young person's special educational needs and associated health and social care needs. It also sets out the provision and support they must receive and in some cases names a Specialist Provision or other placement. An EHC plan will also outline the child or young person's goals and ambitions in life and describe the outcomes sought for the child or young person.
Despite high quality teaching and purposeful intervention, through the school based core offer, a small number of children and young people may make inadequate progress towards their identified outcomes. Where pupils are making inadequate progress given their age, starting point and particular circumstances, it may be appropriate to consider whether an EHCP is needed.
This is likely to be the case for children who present with multiple special educational needs of an interrelated and enduring nature and who require more highly specialised and personalised arrangements accessed through an EHCP in order to achieve their outcomes. The arrangements required to be put in place in order for children/young people to progress would be beyond those available through the school based core offer - i.e. the cost of the necessary arrangements would exceed £6,000.
In summary an EHCP is likely to be beneficial in channelling support for children and young people with multiple special educational needs of an interrelated and enduring nature who require support over and above that available through the school based core offer in order to make adequate progress in relation to their age, starting point and particular circumstances.
An EHC plan is only issued if the child’s needs cannot be met within the resources normally available to mainstream schools in the area and if the school cannot reasonably be expected to provide the support. The vast majority of children with SEN will have their needs met at the school-based levels of support.
The Local Offer
The purpose of the Local Offer is to enable children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities and their parents to see more clearly what services are available in their area and how to access them. More importantly, it will provide a way for families and young people to more easily engage with services and information that can benefit them. The offer will include provision from birth to age 25, across education, health and social care and should be developed in conjunction with children and young people, parents and carers and local services, including schools, colleges, health and social care agencies.
Surrey Local Offer Website https://www.surreylocaloffer.org.uk/kb5/surrey/localoffer/home.page
Great website with lots of resources, support and information.
Questions and school responses |
How does the school know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?
We use termly assessment data and other forms of assessment to analyse progress and attainment relative to age related expectations. Termly Pupil Progress meetings are used to discuss the outcomes of these assessments and to consider the most appropriate steps to take in order to support our learners. Parents’ Consultation Evenings are held in the autumn and spring terms where progress and the overall development of our children are discussed with their parents and there is an opportunity in the summer term for parents to discuss the annual report with their child’s teacher.
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How will school staff support my child?
Our staff deliver intervention programmes to individuals and to groups of children. These change to meet the diverse needs of our children. We monitor the impact of interventions through observations, regular meetings, and tracking of pupil progress.
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How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
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How will I know how my child is doing and how will you help me to support my child’s learning?
Home learning is strongly encouraged in all year groups and our Reading Record Books are a very useful means of communication between home and school, and are a useful way to record reading done at home. This is also reinforced by generic updates on the curriculum which we share though our school website. We host curriculum evenings and SEND Forums to help families understand what learning is expected and how they can best support their child’s needs. Should more regular contact be required, our staff will make suitable arrangements to ensure that this is put in place. The weekly Friday Flyer sent to all parents and carers also includes links to learning being carried out in school.
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What support will there be for my child’s overall wellbeing?
Please see the Mental Health and Wellbeing section on our school website for more detail. https://www.yattendon.org/mental-health-and-wellbeing/ We have a zero tolerance approach to bullying in the school which addresses the causes of bullying as well as dealing with negative behaviours. Our PHSE programme also looks to develop emotional and social development. Relevant staff are trained to support medical needs and all staff receive First Aid training. We have a Medical policy in place. Our Behaviour Policy, which includes guidance on expectations, rewards and sanctions, is fully understood and in place by all staff and consists of 3 rules: “Be Ready, Be Respectful and Be Safe.” Pupil voice is central to our ethos and this is encouraged in a variety of ways, including our School Council and annual pupil questionnaires. |
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?
At times it may be necessary to consult with outside agencies to receive their more specialised expertise. All external partners we work with are vetted in terms of safeguarding and when buying in additional services we monitor the impact of any intervention against cost, to ensure a value for money service. We hold meetings where professionals from outside the school are invited to attend.
During these meetings we may discuss individual cases where it is felt support above and beyond what the school is able to offer is necessary. In these cases parents will be consulted and consent sought so that agencies are able to work in supporting the overall development of the young person. Information is shared with parents to ensure that we can all support the child as effectively as possible. Advice from outside agencies is incorporated into children’s SEND Support Arrangements document and intervention programmes.
We have a particular duty in ensuring that Looked After Children are given the appropriate support and care to help support their progress and engagement within the learning environment. Our Designated Teacher (Mrs Kirsty Morgan) will meet with Children’s Services and the Virtual School termly to ensure the child’s wider needs are met. An electronic Personal Education Plan (EPEP) is produced termly to help support the child to develop holistically. |
What training are the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had or are having?
We aim to ensure that all staff working with learners who have SEN possess a working knowledge of the difficulty to help them in supporting access to the curriculum and review our skills, knowledge and training needs regularly.
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How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?
Where there are concerns of safety and access, further thought and consideration is put in place to ensure needs are met; where applicable parents/carers are consulted and involved in planning. Risk assessments are in place for all day and residential visits, including individual risk assessments when applicable, which may specify one to one support. Registers are taken for all school activities, including after school clubs, and we actively monitor the engagement of learners across the school. |
How accessible is the school environment?
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How will the school prepare and support my child to join the school, transfer to a new school or the next stage of education and life?
A programme of visits is organised for children before they transfer and additional transition visits are arranged for more vulnerable children. We fully encourage our children to attend induction days at secondary school and where we know that there is likely to be a high level of anxiety we send staff along for parts of the induction day. Bespoke programmes are developed for our children with special needs for the transition process and include environment, resources and curriculum access. |
How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?
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How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?
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How are parents involved in the school? How can I be involved?
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Who can I contact for further information?
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