SCHOOL BASED DATA/INFORMATION FROM THE LAST OFFICIAL NATIONAL ASSESSMENT POINT -  2018/19

How many students did we have at our school with EHC plans at the end of July 2019? - 4 students

How many students did we have at SEN Support at the end of July 2019 – 37 Students

What were the outcomes for children within our school with SEND for 2018/19?

SEND Standards across the School 2018/19

In reading, and maths, the progress made by our SEN Support students from KS1 to KS2 was above the national average. In writing the progress made by our SEN Support students was below the national average.

Our percentage of SEN Support students achieving the expected standard and the percentage achieving the higher standard in all core subjects at KS2 was well above the national average.

Whole School Progress Summary SEND – July 2019 - Average across a year – 5/6 Steps Target Tracker

What training did staff at our school have in SEND over the year 2018/19?

• Active Listening for Active Learning (SALT – March 2019)
• PIVATS training (STEPS – April 2019)
• PIVATS moderation meeting (March 2019)
• Social Skills / Play skills support for lunchtime TAs (SALT April 2019)
• Emotional coaching (Sally Kelly May 2019)
• SENCo attendance at Cluster Meetings every half-term.

What was in the Headteacher’s report to the Governors about SEND in 2018/19?

Please see data tables above as they were shared with GB Members

Have there been any other important changes in SEND over the year 2018/19?

• The school started a programme of parent workshops and SEND Coffee Mornings provided by CAMHS.
• The SEN Team had weekly meeting with the SENCo, Deputy SENCo, Psychotherapist, School counsellor and SEND Specialist TA.

People

Summary of Responsibilities

Class Teacher

The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO)

A Learning Support Assistant (LSA) may be allocated to some pupils with SEN and or disabilities

Headteacher

SEND Governor

He/ She is responsible for:

·         Ensuring that all children have access to good/outstanding teaching and that the curriculum is adapted to meet your child’s individual needs (also known as differentiation).

·          Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support, adapting resources etc..) and  discussing amendments with the SENCO as necessary.

·         Writing Personal Learning Plans (PLP), also sometimes called Individual Education Plans (IEP), and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least three times per year and planning for the next term.

·         Ensuring that all members of staff working with your child in School are aware of your child’s individual needs and/or conditions and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and make progress.

·         Ensuring that all staff working with your child in School are supported in delivering the planned work/programme for your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources.

·         Ensuring that the School’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

He/ She is responsible for:

·         Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs (SEN) and or disabilities, and developing the School’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in School.

·         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 other people who may be coming into School to help support 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 (and other pupils with SEN and/or disabilities in the School) to achieve their potential.

·         Supporting your child’s class teacher to write Personal Learning Plans (PLP), also sometimes called Individual Education Plans (IEP) that specify the targets set 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 our school.

A Learning Support Assistant (LSA) may be allocated to a pupil with exceptional special educational needs and/or disabilities and whilst they take a very valuable role in your child’s education we would prefer that questions regarding your child’s learning and progress are directed to the staff members named above.

Of course, as a School we welcome daily dialogue between parents and LSAs on how a child’s day has been and we do actively encourage this continued feedback.

He/She is responsible for:

·         The day to day management of all aspects of the School, this includes the support for children with SEN and/or disabilities.He/ She will give responsibility to the SENCO and class/subject teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.

·         He/ She must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

He/She is 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 children in the School

·         Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the School who has SEN and/or disabilities.

·         Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to children with SEND in the School and being part of the process to ensure your child achieves his/her potential in School.

Types of support provided also showing the stage of the Code of Practice (the document that schools use to plan their SEN and/or disabilities input) children will be at when receiving this input.

What would this mean for your child?

Who can get this kind of support?

Class teacher input via good/outstanding classroom teaching

·    The teacher will have the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.

·         All teaching 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 SENCO or staff from outside agencies) to enable your child to access the learning task.

All children in School receive this.

Specific small group work. This group may be

·         Run in the classroom or outside.

·         Run by a teacher or (most often) a teaching assistant who has had training to run these groups.

These are often called Intervention groups by schools.

·         Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has gap in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to close the gap between your child and their peers.

·         He/ She will plan group sessions for your child with targets to help your child to make more progress.

·         A Learning Support Assistant/teacher (or outside professional like a Speech and Language Therapist) will run these small group sessions using the teacher’s plans, or a recommended programme.

Any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning. 

Specialist groups run by outside agencies e.g Speech and Language therapy OR Occupational therapy groups

This may be from:

 Local Authority central services such as the ASD Outreach Team or Sensory Service (for students with a hearing or visual need)

·         Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service.

·         If your child has been identified as needing more specialist input instead of or in addition to good and outstanding class room teaching and intervention groups, referrals will be made to outside agencies to advise and support the school in enabling your child to make progress.

·         Before referrals are made you will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward.

·         If it is agreed that the support of an outside agency is a way forward, you will be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist. This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs better.

·         The specialist professional will work with your  child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:

o   Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better

o   Support to set targets which will include their specific professional expertise

o    Your child’s involvement in a group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g a social skills group or sensory circuit

o   A group or individual work with outside professional

• The school may suggest that your child needs some agreed individual support or group support in school. They will tell you how the support will be used and what strategies will be put in place.

Children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through whole class good/outstanding teaching and intervention groups.

Specified Individual support for your child of more than 21.5 hours in School.

This is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENCO as needing a particularly high level of individual and  small group teaching (more than 21.5 hours a week), 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 in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:

·          Local Authority central services such as the ASD Outreach Team or Sensory Service ( for students with a hearing or visual need)

·         Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service, Occupational therapy service, Physiotherapy and/or CAMHS

• 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) based Local Offer, on the Royal Greenwich web site:  www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

• After the School have sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with the support at School Action Plus.
• After the reports have all been sent in the Local Authority will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong and that they need more than 21.5 hours of 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 with the support at the level of SEND Support and also set up a meeting in school to ensure a plan is in place to ensure your child makes as much progress as possible.

• The EHC Plan will outline the number of hours of individual/small group support your child will receive from the LA and how the support should be used and what strategies 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 including your child.

Children whose  learning needs are:

·         Severe, complex and lifelong

·         Need more than 21.5 hours of support in school

·         We will first invite you to visit the school with your child to have a look around and speak to staff

·         If other professionals are involved, a team around the Child (TAC) meeting may be held to discuss your child’s needs, share strategies used, and ensure provision is put in place before your child starts

·         We may suggest adaptations to the settling in period to help your child to settle more easily

·         We may consult staff at your child’s current school or pre-school

• If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher 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 SENCO or Headteacher
• If you are still not happy you can speak to the School SEN Governor.

• When a teacher or a parent has raised concerns about your child’s progress, and targeted teaching has not met the child’s needs, the teacher will raise this with the SENCO.
• Schools also have meetings every term between each class teacher and a senior staff member in the school to ensure all children are making good 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 progress the School will make a decision about whether to monitor this or set up an intervention group and will inform you.
• 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 we could work together, to support your child at home/School.

• The school budget, received from Greenwich LA, includes some money for supporting children with SEN.
• The Head Teacher decides on the budget for Special Educational Needs in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of the needs of the children currently in the school.
• The Head Teacher and the SENCO discuss all the information they have about SEN in the school, including
• the  children getting extra support already
• the children needing extra support
• the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected.

And decide what resources/training and support is needed.

• All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed.

Who are the other people providing services to children with SEN in this school?

A.   Directly funded by

the school

·         Counselling

·         Psychotherapist

·         Additional Speech and Language Therapy input to provide a higher level of service to the school

·         Additional Educational Psychology input to provide a higher level of service to the school

·         A specialist dyslexia teacher and assessor

·         Beanstalk reading support

A Mindfulness leader

B.    Paid for centrally by the Local Authority but delivered in school

·         Autism Outreach Service

·         Educational Psychology Service

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services link worker

·         Sensory Service for children with  visual or hearing needs

·         STEPS (Assessment, advice and resources for children with literacy or numeracy difficulties including Dyslexia)

·         Speech and Language Therapy (provided by Health but paid for by the Local Authority).

·        

·         Waterside Behaviour advice service

·         Parent Partnership Service (to support families through the SEN processes and procedures).

C.   Provided and paid for by the Health Service (Oxleas NHS Trust)  but delivered in school

·         School Nurse

Occupational Therapy

·         Physiotherapy

·         Professional training for school staff to deliver medical interventions

D.   Voluntary agencies

·         National Autistic Society

·         MENCAP

How are the adults in school helped to work with children with a SEND and what training do they have?

• The SENCO’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEN.
• 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, dyslexia 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 ASD Outreach service, STEPS and Sensory service or medical /health training to support staff in implementing care plans.

Training takes place on a regular basis. If you would like to hear about the training which is currently taking place or has taken place by the staff members in the school, please speak to the Headteacher or SENCo.

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 children in their class, and will ensure that learning tasks are adjusted in order to enable your child to access their 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.

How will we measure the progress of your child in school? And how will I know about this?

·         Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher.

·         His/her progress is reviewed formally every term and a level given in reading, writing, numeracy as well as progress in other areas, as appropriate, such as attendance, engagement in learning and behaviour.

·         If your child is in Year 1 and above, but is not yet working at the level/standards expected of a child in Year 1, a more sensitive assessment tool is used which shows their level in more detail and will also show  smaller but significant steps of progress.  These levels are called ‘PIVATS’.

·         At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and are the results that are published nationally.

·         The progress of children with an EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education.

·         There will be two target setting meetings for you with the class teacher during the year and a written report at the end of the year.

·         A range of ways will be used to keep you informed, which may include:

o   Home/school book

o   Letters/certificates sent home

o   Additional meetings as required

o   Reports

What support do we have for you as a parent of child with an SEN/and or disabilities?

• We would like you to talk to your child’s class teacher regularly so we know what you are doing with your child at home and we can tell you about what we are doing in school.  This is to ensure that we are doing similar things to support them both at home and school and 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 shared with you and there is always the opportunity to discuss this information with a member of school staff or with the professional who wrote the report. The SENCO may also arrange to meet with you to discuss any new assessments and ideas suggested by outside agencies for your child.
• Homework will be adjusted as needed to your child’s individual needs
• 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.

In addition:

If your child is undergoing statutory assessment you will also be supported by the Children’s Services SEN Team.  They will ensure that you fully understand the process.

How have we made this school physically accessible to children with SEND?

• The school is accessible to children with physical disability via ramps and an internal lift.
• We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.

How children with SEND engage in activities available to those without SEND?

• This will depend very much on the specific needs of each individual child. 
• For most of the children in our school, there is no reason why their SEND would cause any barriers to participation in lessons or other activities linked to school life.
• Teachers are experienced at planning for all learners and they will always consider the needs of the children in their class when planning work.
• Where there is a barrier, school staff will work with the child and their parents/carers to find the best approach to overcoming those barriers. This might mean additional resources to enable a child to access an activity or it might mean additional adult support, for example to be able to access an after school club.
• Occasionally, parental support is agreed to be the best solution, for example to enable a child with complex SEND to attend a week-long residential trip that necessitates over-night stays.

How do we consult children with SEND about the support they need in school?

• Many children with SEND are able to make their thoughts and wishes very clear to the adults who work with them and their class teachers can have conversations with them about this to help decide if the support they are getting is working well.
• Other children find it difficult to communicate their thoughts and wishes for a variety of reasons. These children may communicate in a non-verbal way, such as using a pictures on a choice board. They may communicate through body language and reactions that can be observed by the adults who work with them. Their choices and wishes may need to be interpreted by parents or carers and those who know them well.

 What support is there for improving emotional and social development?

•  Christ Church is an inclusive school. The staff, children and families are very welcoming and understanding. Differences are celebrated and commonalities recognised.
• The school follows a programme called JIGSAW for weekly Personal Social Health Education lessons which includes work on Relationships and Sex Education.

How will we support your child when they are leaving this school? OR moving on to another class?

We recognise that ‘moving on’ can be difficult for a child with SEN/and or disabilities and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible. 

• If your child is moving to another school:
•  We will contact the new school’s SENCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.
•  We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.
• When moving classes in 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.
• If your child would be helped by a book to support them understand moving on that will be made for them.
• In Year 6: 

The SENCO and Year 6 teacher will attend the Primary Transition Day to discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENCO of their secondary school, and the specialist session for students with an ASD, as appropriate.

Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

IEP

Individual Education Plan

PLP

Personal Learning Plan

SEN

Special Educational Needs

SEN Code of Practice

The legal document that sets out the requirements for SEN

EHC plan

Education, Health, Care Plan

SEN

Special Educational Needs

SEND

Special Educational Needs and or disabilities

SALT

Speech and Language Therapist

CAMHS

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service

EP

Educational Psychologist

SENCO

Special Educational Needs Coordinator

ASD

Autistic Spectrum Disorder