Special Educational Needs Policy including other Vulnerable Groups

Transcription

1 Special Educational Needs Policy including other Vulnerable Groups The Education Act 1996 says that a child has special educational needs (SEN) if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A learning difficulty means that the child either: a) has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age b) has a disability, which either prevents or hinders the child from making use of the educational facilities which are provided for children of the same age in a mainstream school Special educational provision means educational provision, which is additional to, or different from, the provision made generally for children of the same age in a mainstream school. Staff and governors at Castle Hill Infant School are committed to providing the conditions and opportunities to enable any child with SEN, or any other difficulty, to be included fully in all aspects of school life. Our Vision: For everyone to be confident lifelong learners to gain a wide understanding of ourselves and the world around us in order to make the best of any presented opportunities, which will help prepare us to become well-rounded citizens of the future. This is underpinned by our core values; self worth, integrity, caring, partnership and high expectation. Our Philosophy: Don t tell me I can t: tell me how I can.. At this school we believe that; Every child should be encouraged, valued and accepted whatever their individual need All children have entitlement and access to the full curriculum Every teacher is a teacher of children with Special Educational Needs Both children and their parents have a valuable contribution to make towards their own development and learning All children who, for a variety of reasons, may find learning more difficult should have additional support to help them achieve the best possible outcomes 1/11

2 Our Principles Our principles for children with Special Educational Needs are based on The Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Education Needs (DfES 2001). Hampshire County Guidelines for the stages of assessment will be followed. Children may be defined by the school as having a Special Educational Need if they have learning, behavioural or emotional difficulties, or a physical or sensory impairment. SEN children are the responsibility of the class teacher, supported by the SEN Coordinator (SENCo). The planned curriculum will take account of children s individual needs through Creating opportunities for success and praise Differentiation of task Adjusting classroom management Organisation of groups Provision of resources Policy objectives: In order to meet the special educational needs of our children we must identify those children who have SEN or any other vulnerabilities as soon as possible provide intervention at a suitable level when a child is identified as having SEN or other vulnerability use a variety of teaching styles, and cater for different learning styles to allow such identified children to access the National Curriculum use resources effectively to support SEN/vulnerable children assess and keep records of the progress of children with SEN/vulnerabilities work with outside agencies who provide specialist support and teaching for children with SEN inform and involve the parents of children with SEN/vulnerabilities so that we can work together to support children encourage active involvement by the children themselves in meeting their needs provide ongoing training for all staff working with vulnerable children and those with SEN Organisation The co-ordination of all SEN provision is the responsibility of the school s SEN Coordinator (SENCo). 2/11

3 Where appropriate, training for staff s individual SEN teaching needs and general aspects of SEN requirements will be given All Learning Support Assistants (LSA) will receive training when appropriate and will be encouraged to attend any County or school based courses of particular relevance Each teacher is responsible for children with SEN in their class and is supported by SENCo The SENCo attends appropriate meetings/training wherever possible. Feedback to all staff will be identified as an agenda item of staff meetings and available electronically in pupils records folders The SEN Register will be updated termly All curriculum documents to be cross-referenced with the schools SEN Policy The role of the SENCO: The SEN Coordinator (SENCO) is currently: Emma Fitzpatrick (Deputy Head Teacher) SENCO responsibilities include: overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school s SEN policy coordinating provision for children with special educational needs and other identified vulnerabilities liaising with and advising fellow teachers and learning support assistants overseeing the records and register of all children with special educational needs liaising with parents of vulnerable children and those with special educational needs contributing to the in-service training of staff liaising with external agencies including the LA s support and educational psychology services, health and social services, and voluntary bodies working closely with the nominated SEN governor The role of the SEN Support Team: The school employs LSA s to support the SENCo in delivering learning programmes to children with SEN throughout the school. These LSAs may work with individual children or with small groups on very specific intervention programmes. They may support children with statements of SEN and others requiring SEN Support. They meet with the SENCo/Class teacher each week to plan and review, and to adapt the learning programmes they are delivering, if necessary. They also plan and oversee short daily programmes of work for individual children which are delivered to the child in the classroom. 3/11

4 The SENCo liaises regularly with the Emotional Literacy Support Advisor (ELSA) who works one day a week in school with individuals and small groups to support their emotional and behavioural needs. The school s Parent Support Advisor (PSA) works closely with the ELSA and with the staff to support children and their families who are having difficulties. The SENCo leads a regular meeting with LSA s. The SENCo also ensures the well-being and monitoring of progress of other vulnerable children who may not have identified Special Educational Needs, including the following: Children eligible for Pupil Premium (PP) (and those who have received this in the last 6 years, the Ever 6 group) Children with known medical difficulties Children with Child Protection issues Children whose first language ( learning language ) is not English Children who have low attendance Children who are emotionally vulnerable Children receiving family support from the PSA or Social Services Children who are from Services or Traveller families or who are Looked After The role of the SEN Governor: There is a nominated Governor to oversee the SEN/Vulnerable Child provision within the school, who liaises with the Headteacher and SENCo and reports to the full governing body. Governor with specific responsibility for SEN and Vulnerable Children is currently: Jane Owen (Parent Governor) The SEN Governor will assist the Governing body to undertake the following responsibilities: To ensure that all pupils with any special educational needs and other vulnerabilities will receive full educational support, encouragement and provision That this will not detract from the education and support of other children in the school That appropriate resources will be made available for the education of all children in the school To ensure that the teacher and LSA of any pupil with SEN or other vulnerability understands fully the extent of those needs 4/11

5 To ensure that the entire teaching staff of the school are made aware of any special requirements of such pupils That the LA is contacted with regard to pupils with SEN to see if a statement might be appropriate to help with those needs That all children are given the best possible opportunities to learn, flourish and feel safe at school, particularly those who may find learning more difficult To ensure the school s SENCo is appropriately trained and supported The Governing Body will also ensure they are fully aware of the impact on the attainment of pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium, that the pupil premium and other resources are used effectively to overcome barriers to learning, including reading, writing and mathematics and that the following is clearly communicated to parents: the level of pupil premium funding received by the school in the current academic year and levels of funding received in previous academic years how the school has spent the pupil premium and why it has decided to spend it in the way it has any differences made to the learning and progress of pupils eligible for the pupil premium as shown by performance data and monitoring evidence Identification, assessment and provision of pupils with SEN Provision for children with special educational needs is a matter for the school as a whole. In addition to the governing body, the school s head teacher, the SENCo and all other members of staff have important day-to-day responsibilities. All teachers are teachers of children with special educational needs. Teaching such children is therefore a whole school responsibility. At the heart of the work of our school is a continuous cycle of planning, teaching and assessing which takes account of the wide range of abilities, aptitudes and interests of children. The majority of children will learn and progress within these arrangements. Those children whose overall attainments or attainment in specific subjects fall significantly outside the expected range may have special educational needs and may trigger intervention. Other triggers include evidence to show that the attainment gap between the child and his peers is getting wider, or that a previous rate of progress is not being maintained, that the child is having persisting emotional or behavioural difficulties, diagnosis of a previously unidentified medical condition, parental or other adult concerns regarding academic progress, behaviour, social adjustment and/or communication skills. Children who are new to the school or Looked After children would be rigorously assessed for any of these factors and previous school records would be reviewed. 5/11

6 The school will assess each child s current levels of attainment on entry in order to ensure that they build upon the pattern of learning and experience already established during the child s pre-school years. If the child already has an identified special educational need, this information may be transferred through discussions with the Early Years setting and the SENCo and the child s class teacher will use this information to: provide starting points for the development of an appropriate curriculum identify and focus attention on action to support the child within the class use the assessment processes to identify any learning difficulties ensure ongoing observation and assessment provide regular feedback about the child s achievements and experiences to form the basis for planning the next steps of the child s learning involve parents in implementing a joint learning approach at home The identification and assessment of the special educational needs of children whose first language is not English, requires particular care. Where there is uncertainty about an individual child teachers will look carefully at all aspects of a child s performance in different subjects to establish whether the problems they have in the classroom are due to limitations in their command of the language that is used there or arise from special educational needs. In order to help children who have special educational needs, the school will adopt a graduated response that recognises there is a continuum of special educational needs and brings increasing specialist expertise to bear on the difficulties that a child may be experiencing. The school will record the steps taken to meet the needs of individual children. The SENCo will have responsibility for ensuring that the records are kept and available as needed. If schools refer a child for a statutory assessment, they should provide the LA with a record of their work with the child including the arrangements they have already made. Monitoring children s progress The school s system for observing and assessing the progress of individual children will provide information about areas where a child is not progressing satisfactorily. Under these circumstances, teachers may need to consult the SENCo to consider what else might be done. This review may lead to the conclusion that the pupil requires help over and above that which is normally available within the particular class or subject. The key test of the need for action is evidence that current rates of progress are below expectations: this may be defined as progress which: widens or fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers is less than that of peers starting from the same attainment baseline, and significantly less than that of the majority of peers 6/11

7 is less than the child s previous rate of progress restricts access to the full curriculum demonstrates a worsening in self-help, social or personal skills, or in a child s behaviour or attendance SEN Support When a class teacher or the SENCo identifies a child with special educational needs, the class teacher will provide interventions that are additional to or different from those provided as part of the school s usual differentiated curriculum. This will be called SEN Support (see Hampshire Guidance). The triggers for intervention through SEN Support will be concern, underpinned by evidence, about a child who despite receiving differentiated learning opportunities: makes little or no progress even when teaching approaches are targeted particularly in a child s identified area of weakness shows signs of difficulty in developing literacy or mathematics skills which result in poor attainment in some curriculum areas presents persistent emotional or behavioural difficulties which are not ameliorated by the behaviour management techniques usually employed in the school has sensory or physical problems, and continues to make little or no progress despite the provision of specialist equipment has communication and/or interaction difficulties, and continues to make little or no progress despite the provision of a differentiated curriculum In some cases outside professionals from health or social services may already be involved with the child. Where these professionals have not already been working with the school staff, the SENCo may contact them if the parents agree. The SENCo will support the further assessment of the child, assisting in planning future support for them in discussion with colleagues and monitoring the action taken. The child s class teacher will remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis and for planning and delivering an individualised programme. Parents will always be consulted and kept informed of the action taken to help the child, and of the outcome of this action. Nature of intervention The SENCo and the child s class teacher will decide on the action needed to help the child to progress in the light of their earlier assessment. This may include: different learning materials or special equipment some group or individual support extra adult time to devise the nature of the planned intervention and to monitor its effectiveness 7/11

8 staff development and training to introduce more effective strategies access to LA support services for one-off or occasional advice on strategies or equipment Pupil s Learning Profile Strategies employed to enable the child to progress will be recorded within an Pupil s Learning Profile (PLP). The PLP will include information about: the short-term targets set for the child the teaching strategies to be used the provision to be put in place when the plan is to be reviewed outcomes (to be recorded when PLP is reviewed) success/exit criteria The PLP will only record that which is additional to, or different from, the differentiated curriculum and will focus upon three or four individual targets that match the child s needs and have been discussed with the child and the parents. The PLP will be reviewed at least twice a year and parents views on their child s progress will be sought. Wherever possible, the child will also take part in the review process and be involved in setting the targets. The PLP is an-on going document and will show the interventions needed over time. A request for support from external services is likely to follow a decision taken by the SENCo and colleagues, in consultation with parents, at a review of the child s PLP. External support services will usually see the child so that they can review the PLP and advise teachers on amending or enhancing targets and accompanying strategies, provide more specialist assessments to inform planning and the measurement of a pupil s progress, give advice on the use of new or specialist strategies or materials, and in some cases provide support for particular activities. External agencies may be called in if a pupil; continues to make little or no progress in specific areas over a long period continues working at National Curriculum levels substantially below that expected of children of a similar age continues to have difficulty in developing literacy and mathematics skills has emotional or behavioural difficulties which substantially and regularly interfere with the child s own learning or that of the class group, despite having an individualised behaviour management programme has sensory or physical needs, and requires additional specialist equipment or regular advice or visits by a specialist service has ongoing communication or interaction difficulties that impede the development of social relationships and cause substantial barriers to learning 8/11

9 When school seeks the help of external support services, those services will need to see the child s records in order to establish which strategies have already been employed and which targets have been set and achieved. The external specialist may act in an advisory capacity, or provide additional specialist assessment or be involved in teaching the child directly. The resulting PLP for the child will set out fresh strategies for supporting the child s progress. These will be implemented, at least in part, in the normal classroom setting. The delivery of the interventions recorded in the PLP continues to be the responsibility of the class teacher. Parental / Child Involvement Parental concerns and evidence will be recorded and acted upon, either formally or informally. Parents will be notified by letter if their child is placed on the school s SEN Register and given a copy of their child s PLP. Children are actively involved with their targets on their PLPs and understand why they need the targets and how they are successful. Monitoring of pupils low attendance, medical difficulties, or eligible for Pupil Premium Children with known medical difficulties and those whose first language is not English are identified in class registers so that all staff, including supply staff, are aware of these conditions and can take adaptive steps to facilitate learning if required. These children, along with children with low attendance (those whose attendance falls below 94%, see Attendance Policy) and children eligible for Pupil Premium funding are monitored closely for progress by the SENCo. Transient Vulnerabilities All staff should be aware of the potential for transient or short term vulnerabilities of children who encounter difficult periods and changes in their lives, such as bereavements, family difficulties and other emotional traumas, difficult school transitions (such as child not going to feeder schools with friends) all of which may cause temporary dips in progress and achievement in children and have a potential to result in poorer outcomes if the period is not well managed. Difficulties of this kind may be identified by the vigilance of staff and by good communications with children, parents and families and children identified thus may be referred for ELSA support. Performance Indicators The school s Special Needs Policy will be seen to be effective if; * The children are identified quickly then monitored and re-assessed regularly 9/11

10 * Transition from year to year is smooth, with programmes of work being upheld and children feeling secure * Children s literacy and numeracy shows steady improvement * Children s self-esteem will grow despite any problems they may be encountering * Children s specific difficulties show steady improvement and progress is identified * Progress is in line with expectations and will be demonstrated in LSA s records of individual target reports and in PLP s * Children s behaviour and attendance shows improvement Considering Complaints A copy of our complaints procedures is available from the school office. If parents have any worries at all we would urge them to come and speak to us at the earliest opportunity as we believe prompt resolution provides the best outcomes for the child. Facilities SEN resources are located throughout the school The building is all on one level There is wheelchair access to the building via the ramps in the main entrance and ramps leading to the hall doors via the patio There are disabled toilet facilities All accessibility information is available via the school website, details below Resources are used to; * provide LSA assistance, learning materials and SENCo time to meet the needs identified by the school of children for Early Intervention or SEN Support * meet the identified needs of statemented pupils by provision of LSA s learning materials and SENCo time and individual teacher time as necessary * meet the identified needs of any other children at risk of poor outcomes or who may find learning more difficult Admissions/Transfers Admission arrangements for children with SEN or other vulnerabilities are in line with County Guidelines. The educational records of children transferring to our school, either at the usual age of transfer or subsequently, are examined carefully with a view to determining the child s Special Educational Needs. We consider liaison important to ensure continuation of the child s progress. When SEN pupils leave/transfer to another school, the school sends all relevant documentation including PLP s and portfolios of children s work to the next school. 10/11

11 The SENCo liaises with the SENCo of relevant Junior school s to ensure a smooth transfer for SEN pupils leaving Year 2 and to ensure continued support from outside agencies or organisations, i.e. Special Schools, as appropriate. Outside agencies are informed of the date of transfer and address of the new school. Policy Review The Governing Body will respond to LA and National Policy initiatives and changes and ensure the SEN policy is implemented, regularly reviewed and assessed for impact. This policy will be reviewed every two years. Linked Policies This policy should be read in conjunction with the following: School Strategic Plan Staff development plan Equality and Inclusion Policy Curriculum policies Behaviour Management (incl. Anti Bullying and Physical Intervention Policies) Attendance Policy Child Protection Policy Teaching and Learning Policy This policy and all those above are available on-line at or on request via the Head teacher and are available in enlarged print version. 11/11