Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School
What can Holy Trinity offer a child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities? (our local offer)
At Holy Trinity we strive to support all children to enable them to achieve at school. In order to do this many steps are taken to support them in their learning journey. Quality teaching is vital. However, for some children there are occasions when further additional support may be needed to help them achieve their targets.
Roles and Responsibilities At Holy Trinity the Special Educational Needs Coordinator is Mrs. K. Atkins. The SENDCo is responsible for the operation of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy and the coordination of specific provision made to support individual pupils with SEND. She liaises with staff to monitor pupils’ progress and to plan further interventions where progress is slower than expected. She has regular contact with outside agencies that are able to give more specialised advice.
If you have any concerns regarding SEND matters please do not hesitate to contact her. Your child’s learning journey. Some children start school with their special need already identified either by parents or health workers but, for others, their special need or disability may not be. How does Holy Trinity know if children need extra help? We know when a pupil needs help if: o Concerns are raised by parents/carers, teachers or the child. o Limited progress is being made through tracking of attainment. o Pupil observation indicates that they have additional needs in one of the 4 areas: - Communication & interaction - Cognition & learning - Social ,mental & emotional health - Sensory/physical o There is a change in the pupil’s behaviour or progress. o A pupil asks for help.
What should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs and disabilities?
o The class teacher is usually the initial point of contact for responding to parental concerns. o If required, the teacher will then raise your concerns with Mrs. Atkins. o Parents can, of course, contact Mrs. Atkins directly (via the school office) to discuss their concerns.
How will Holy Trinity support my child? ‘Quality first teaching’, differentiated to meet the diverse needs of all learners, is the initial response to a child’s special educational needs. We cater for all children through a variety of teaching styles and the use of a range of visual, auditory and hands on equipment to help your child learn. ‘Reasonable adjustments’ will be provided in order to increase their access to the taught curriculum. Your child does not have to be on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Register to access personalised learning as each class offers ‘booster groups’ that address the short term educational needs of many children.
If more action is needed we involve parents and follow these steps: A plan of action will be put in place that identifies targets for a child to achieve within the classroom and strategies that will help them reach them. Resources will be identified and a review date is identified so progress can be measured. Review impact – has the plan of action worked? If yes- brilliant! If not we will discuss what else can be done. This may involve work in a small group or ‘booster group’ or some 1:1 work with an adult. Once again a review date will be set to measure the impact of the plan. A discussion will take place putting your child on our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Register. This sounds quite scary but it isn’t – quite a few children receive some kind of support at this ‘school level’ stage. Officially, this stage is called ‘Early Response’. Review impact – targets are set and reviewed termly. These targets are meant to achievable and specific and will enable your child to move forwards with their learning. Sometimes it is necessary to ask the advice of other agencies such as ‘Speech and Language Therapy’, our Advisory Teacher, Family Support Workers, Occupational Health, Integrated Behaviour Support or our Educational Psychologist. These external agencies are very helpful and work alongside us to make targets specific to a child’s needs. Officially, this stage is called ‘SEN Support’. If we feel that your child is not making as much progress as we would have liked, in collaboration with the Educational Psychologist, we may have to apply for additional support in school. Under the old SEN Code of Practice this was called a ‘Statement of Special educational Need’ and under the new Code it will be an ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’. We support parents through this process and ‘Special Educational Needs & Disability Information Advice and Support Service’ (formerly known as Walsall Parent Partnership) can also give impartial advice and information – Tel: 01922 650330, email;
[email protected] Web site; http://www.walsallparentpartnership.org.uk/
Throughout each step your child is monitored and assessed to ensure that progress is being made and, most importantly, that your child is happy. We try to make work as practical and ‘hands-on’ as possible and tasks are broken down into short chunks of 10-15 mins to maintain the maximum concentration. Whilst we do not make your child complete lots of extra tests, we do test their reading and spelling and assess their progress through ‘P Scales’ and, through our ‘Learning Ladders’, which identify attainment, progress and next steps for individual children. How will I know how my child is doing? As always, your child’s teacher is the first point of call to discuss any problems that arise as it is always better to address problems as early as possible. Termly review meetings will take place to review targets that have been set and, if appropriate, set new targets. These are called ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycles. You may arrange a meeting with Mrs Atkins to discuss problems that have arisen or progress. Parents’ Evening discussions – where written termly reports are available.
How can you support your child? Please look at the school website. It can be found at holy-trinity.walsall.sch.uk and includes links to a number of websites and resources that we have found useful in supporting parents to help their child learn at home. • The class teacher may also suggest additional ways of supporting your child’s progress eg learning spellings, reading regularly, practising RWI sounds. • The school will also involve external agencies including health and social services, local authority support services and voluntary organisations in supporting it to better meet the needs of pupils and their families. • Mrs Atkins may offer you advice on how to help your child.
Pupils with medical needs If a pupil has a medical need then a Care Plan is compiled by the Health Body who is involved with that child. This should be done in consultation with parents and carers. Staff at Holy Trinity have received training in the use of epi-pens, administering insulin through injection and insulin pump and asthma awareness and are deemed, by the various health departments, to be competent. However, up to date training is given for each new pupil with a medical need as each child is different. All medicine administration procedures adhere to the LA policy and DfE guidelines included within ‘Supporting Pupils at school with Medical Conditions’ (DfE 2014)
How accessible is the school environment? As a school we are happy to discuss a child’s individual access requirements. Facilities we have at present include; 2 toilets adapted for wheelchair users A changing facility for intimate care. All classrooms on the same accessible level. Wide doors in some parts of the building.
Amongst other programmes, we can offer; Nessy (a reading and spelling program developed by the Bristol Dyslexia Centre). Nessy Fingers Toe by Toe A school ‘social communications group’ Circle of Friends Wishes and Feelings Healthy Thinking Group Behaviour Support Holy Trinity Staff are always trying to keep abreast of new training to help and support our pupils with special educational needs. This training helps all pupils at Holy Trinity and includes; o Dyslexia Friendly level 1 Status o Inclusion Development Programme – Supporting Pupils on the Autism Spectrum o Epi-pen, Asthmas and Diabetes training o Behaviour Management training o Team Teach o Makaton training o Working with children with Hearing Impairment
Our School Policy on Special Educational Needs & Disabilities is available for you to read on the school website in the ‘Parents’ section under ‘Special Educational Needs’. Information on Walsall’s Local Offer can be viewed at http://www.mywalsall.org/walsall-send-local-offer/
