SEND at Springwood Heath Primary School

At Springwood Heath we believe that every child should have access to an appropriate education, which ensures their chance to succeed, whatever their individual need may be.

Springwood Heath ensures all children have access to high quality first teaching. Our interventions are provided through our person-centered planning approach across the school. This ensures that we have regular opportunities to review what our children are offered and also what we offer additionally to those children who need it.

When children have an already identified SEND before joining Springwood Heath Primary School, we work closely with the agencies involved in supporting the child and with their parents or Carers to ensure a smooth transition.

A child may be identified as having an additional need at any point through the year. This could be highlighted in a variety of ways.

  • A child may experience difficulties in a specific area of their
  • From our regular assessments in school which can show the child is not making the level of progress we would expect. We track English and Maths progress
  • A parent concern, we hope that a parent or Carer would speak to the class teacher or fill in a parent consent form and share their thoughts so that we can address them and work together to support the child. A parent concern form can be found on our
  • Teacher concern, a Parent or Carer would be invited to come into school to speak about school concerns. A school cause for concern sheet will be completed and sent to the Assistant Head and SENCO to monitor for a term. During this time strategies and interventions will be suggested to support the child. The SENCO may meet with a Parent or Carer to discuss further.

Where children’s progress is significantly lower than that of their peers, or fails to match their previous rate of progress despite high quality first teaching and interventions, it may then be that the child requires SEND support and would be added to the SEND register.

How Do We Support Children at Springwood Heath With SEND?

If a child is identified as having SEND, we will provide support that is additional to or different from the differentiated approaches and learning arrangements normally provided as part of high quality first teaching.

We engage in a four- stage process called the Graduated Approach which underpins all of the SEND provision within school. All teachers are responsible for every child in their care, including those with SEND.

Assess– Teachers take into consideration information from discussions with Parents or Carers, the child’s views and assessments both daily class observations and termly English and Math assessments.

Plan-Class teachers are responsible for identifying the next steps in children’s learning and for planning differentiated lessons, activities and interventions to support children in making progress. Children on the SEND register have a Planning for progress Plan with identified targets and strategies personal to them. Parents or Carers are always invited to Planning for Progress meetings to discuss progress and set further targets termly with the class teacher and SENCO.

Do– Class teachers are responsible for ensuring the targets and strategies are carried out in the classroom. Class teachers ensure that all children receive quality first teaching and small group support from themselves within lessons. The teacher will also provide support, intervention and learning aids as prescribed in the plan.

Review– The Class teacher, along with the SENCO review the progress the child has met during a meeting with a parent or Carer. The child’s views are gathered and considered when setting new targets. The cycle then begins again.

SEN Needs

Children’s SEN is generally thought of in the following four broad areas of need and support.

Communication and Interaction

Understanding/Receptive skills: Difficulties in understanding what has been asked of them. Some children may find it more difficult to talk about their needs and wants. They may need visual support to understand the process of spoken language. Repetition of language and basic language, needs to be used to support understanding.

Speech/Expressive Language: A child may use simplified language. Ideas and conversations can be difficult to follow. There can be immaturities in the speech and sound system.

Grammar and phonological awareness can be fairly poor therefore affecting literacy skills and development. They may take longer to respond to questions and have difficulties making friends.

Attention/Interaction skills: They can find it difficult to stay focused and ignore distractions. They may need regular reminders to stay on task including individualised motivation in order to complete tasks. Children can find it difficult to attend in whole class situations and interactions may not always be appropriate. They may have difficulties with friendship groups and struggle to maintain conversations.

Springwood Heath works closely with the community SALT team and uses a school- based Speech and Language therapist to support Communication and interaction needs when appropriate. The SENCO is trained in the Speech and Language referral process. As a school we use a range of strategies to support Communication and Interaction needs including Socially Speaking groups, Social Stories, Lego Therapy, Sand Tray Therapy and the Wellcomm Speech and Language tool kit for screening and intervention support. At Springwood Heath we use visual timetables, Now and next boards, visual symbols and PECS.

Cognition and Learning

Children may have difficulties with the skills needed for effective learning, eg: Language, memory and reasoning skills.

Sequencing and organisational skills. An understanding of number.

Working memory skills (problem solving and development skills).

Fine and gross motor difficulties ie an action involved in using muscles. Gross motor skills are larger actions and fine motor skills are smaller actions for eg handwriting.

Independent learning skills. Personal choice, decision making Information processing.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Some children can have difficulties with Social and Emotional development which can stem from:

Social isolation, behaviour difficulties, ADHD, ASD, anxiety and depression, attachment disorders, low self-esteem and issues with self- image.

All of these can affect a child’s learning either for short or longer periods of time. Springwood Heath provides a warm and caring ethos where we treat all children as individuals, we respect the needs and wishes of all of our children and strive to provide a safe and caring environment for all.

We offer a Mindful Lunchtime for children who can sometimes struggle with the business of the playground.

We have a Seedlings Therapist who works with us for one afternoon each week. This will be to work with one child for a period of 8 weeks to deliver emotional support.

Our learning mentor offers 1:1 opportunity for children to talk in a safe and secure environment. The learning mentor also gives support with family involvement.

We have a TA trained to deliver Draw and talk therapy during the school day.

We offer a range of fiddle toys and options for sensory circuit opportunities throughout the day.

Our children get the opportunity to take part in a daily mile exercise each day at the pace they can meet personally giving time for a mental and physical break from the classroom.

Our children have personalised transition plans where appropriate.

Sensory/Physical Needs

Some children can have a physical or medical condition that can hinder or affect learning. These children can need extra support and equipment in order to access all opportunities that are available to them.

The support we can offer includes:

AAC and Assistive technology assessments.

Specialised equipment to access learning through liaison with OT and Physiotherapy

departments.

All staff are trained in Manual Handling and are able to assist with self- care needs.

All classes have their own Sensory Circuit packs to ensure that children are able to access sensory circuit breaks throughout the day within their own classrooms.

We work closely with Physiotherapist department, the OT department and SENISS to support the needs of our visual and hearing- impaired children).

Staff Development and Expertise

Our SENCO has been a teacher at Springwood Heath Primary School since 1998. She undertook the National Senco Award at John Moore’s University in the school year 2022- 23 The SENCO attends termly meetings with SENCO’s from schools within the Consortium.

We employ our own Speech and Language Therapist for four days each week. Part of her role is to carry out the Wellcomm speech and language toolkit for screening and intervention support throughout our school. This can support children within the classroom.

Springwood Heath has three Centaur trained manual handlers to support the specific manual handling needs of children, who are mainly part of the enhanced resource provision within school. All school staff receive regular training updates to ensure the safety of all children that they transfer.

Our Learning Mentor has a Behaviour Analysis and Intervention degree.

Springwood Heath is a member of the primary Consortium. Through this consortium outreach support can be accessed from SENISS Specialist Teacher support, the ADHD Foundation, Seedlings and OT support.

When multi agencies are involved with a family we offer the EHAT (Early help Assessment Tool) model in order to coordinate support for the child and their family.

We ensure that Looked After Children are given the appropriate support and care to help support their progress and engagement with learning. We attend review meetings with Children’s Services and maintain a personal Education Plan (PEP).

Training Opportunities 2022/2023

Throughout the last school year staff have undertaken training in: Autism in Early Years.

Updates from Physio and OT department.

ADHD friendly school training

SEND staff meeting to give updates on procedures. Lego therapy training.

Precision Teaching. Growth Mind Set.

Specific learning need Assessment training.

ASD/ADHD training inset Day.

Epilepsy rescue medication and recognition and management of seizures training updates.

Training updates on supporting the Care needs of identified children. SEND briefing meetings (termly)

NASENCO training days (6 times throughout the year)

Finance

The school budget received from Liverpool LA included money for supporting children with SEND. The Headteacher in full consultation with the governing body allocates the SEN budget to meet the needs of all children who have SEND. The progress of all children is tracked carefully and resources are allocated and purchased to ensure children reach their full potential. This may be through the use of specific equipment including ICT equipment, software, staff to implement intervention programs, staff to support the care, welfare and access needs of children, staff to provide emotional support, attendance and resources to develop independence skills eg: specialist cutlery. Staff are allocated according to their skill set and expertise. This is reviewed annually by the school Senior leadership team.

Co-producing with children and their families

Involving children and parents/carers is central to our approach. We do this by,

Conducting planning for progress meetings termly. Voice of the child opinions are gathered and shared with parents/carers, the class teacher and the SENCO. Targets are reviewed and set in line with the Graduated Approach cycle.

EHCP Annual reviews take place with invitations for parents/carers, class teachers and outside agencies where appropriate.

Early help Assessment reviews (EHAT)

Meetings with external support agencies eg, Educational psychologist, Seedlings

Therapist or the ADHD Foundation.

Transition meetings.

Informal meetings with the SENCO to discuss concerns highlighted by wither school staff or parents.

Transition at Springwood Heath

At Springwood Heath we take steps to ensure a smooth transition. Whenever possible the following will be arranged:

All of our enhanced resource EYFS children have a transition plan that has been discussed and agreed with the child’s parents/carers and external agencies. The transition plan will be monitored and extended or shortened with the agreement of all.

We encourage all new children with their parents/carers to visit our school before they begin. For some children this may take more than one visit. For our EYFS children families are encouraged to spend time with their child in their new classroom to help them settle into their new environment.

We liaise closely with all of our local secondary schools to ensure the transition from primary to secondary education is a smooth one. This may involve having a detailed transition plan and ensuring additional visits are planned where necessary. Our SENCO and the receiving SENCO meet to discuss the individual child and their needs.

The SENCO or Assistant Head of KS2 attend the LA transition Forum where they meet with SENCOs from local secondary schools to hand on information regarding the needs of individual children.

Members of the EYFS team attend the Reception transition meeting organised by the LA.

Information within school is passed on to the next class teacher including time given for class teachers to meet and discuss the individual needs of particular children. Individual enhanced profiles are updated to reflect individual children’s needs.

All children are involved in a school transition morning in early July. Children with additional SEND needs are able to have additional transition visits to support their move.

Complaints

If you are concerned or unhappy about the provision your child is receiving at school, then you can contact your child’s class teacher or the SENCO. We will attempt to resolve the concern. However, if you are still unhappy then you can contact the Headteacher to discuss further. A copy of the school’s complaints procedure is available upon request from the office and on the website.