Inclusion
The class Teacher has responsibility for all children within her/his class, including those who may have special educational needs. This may include children with either physical or learning difficulties. If the class teacher or parents have any concerns re-learning or physical difficulties a child may be having, these will be discussed with parents, teachers and the SENCo, and further action taken if required. The school has access to many external support services and Mrs Wain is responsible for co-ordinating these. If additional support is required for a child an assessment for a statement will be sought. We will make every attempt where possible to support any child not statemented but in need of additional help.
Pupils with Disabilities
No discrimination is made against any child being admitted to school with a disability. Parents are requested to inform school of any disability known to them, which their child may experience, so appropriate facilities can be provided to assist access to the school and the curriculum.
Children with disabilities will participate in all everyday activities of which they are capable, and will not be treated less favourably than other pupils.
If you feel that your child may have a problem, please contact school where it can be discussed confidentially with an appropriate member of staff.
Equal Opportunities
The school is committed to a policy of equal opportunities for all regardless of gender, race or disability. We promote self-respect and an understanding of others in our multi-cultural society
The school offer for Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
The Children and Families act of 2014 requires that all local authorities publish information about all services in the area for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This can be found on the Leeds City Council website.
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages/Leeds-Local-Offer.aspx
In addition to this, schools must publish more detailed information about their arrangements for identifying, assessing and making provision for all children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Guiseley Primary School Offer - What we provide in addition to Leeds City Council Services
Guiseley Primary School is committed to inclusion and we always strive to cater for the needs of all children who wish to be in our school. Our mission statement says “…we ensure a safe environment for everyone to achieve their best and be happy and fulfilled.”
Guiseley Primary School inclusion team:
Mrs Wain SENCO and Pupil Premium and Lead for Children Looked After
Mrs Anna Bradbury: Designated Safeguarding Lead
Miss Chloe Adair: Deputy Head and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mr Joe Partridge - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and eSafety
Mrs Wharton: Head Teacher
Mrs Elizabeth Hewitt: Learning Mentor, Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mr Graham Jarvis: Governor responsible for Child Protection
Ethos:
Provide an environment where everyone is happy and fulfilled
Value every individual and enable them to enjoy their learning
Enable every pupil to make a positive contribution to their school and community
Identify and respond to pupils’ diverse and individual needs
Early identification of barriers to learning
Set suitable learning challenges for every pupil.
Leadership:
The SENCo will:
Monitor and evaluate the success of short and medium term targets.
Evaluate the impact of tailored provision and programmes of study.
Analyse progress data for pupils with SEN in termly pupil progress meetings.
Analyse attendance and exclusion data for pupils with SEN.
Monitor progress against SEN priorities in the School Improvement Plan.
Report to governors about progress of all vulnerable pupils including SEN.
Budget:
Support will be allocated through the use of available funding (FFI and whole school SEN budget) to meet the needs of individual and groups of pupils. This can include the allocation of additional staff support to particular children and year group cohorts where needed. The school aims to maintain and build up a bank of resources to enable a structured and multi-sensory approach to reading, writing and maths work, including the use of ICT. Resources can be purchased from the Inclusion budget. The budget can also be used to provide training for teaching and support staff either individually or whole school.
Policies:
The following policies may be useful and are available in school and some on the school website:
Inclusion (including SEN)
Admissions
Attendance
Behaviour
Care and Control
Charging and Remissions
Child Protection
E-Safety
Personal Social and Health Education
Race Equality
Curriculum, Teaching and Learning:
All the classroom environments are carefully planned learning environments that cater for all abilities and needs. They are bright, welcoming and accessible.
All children experience quality first teaching by class teacher
All children have group work appropriate to their ability with trained staff
1:1 sessions are available for children who have additional needs and this work is timetabled to ensure consistency and regularity. These can focus on literacy, maths, communication skills, PSE, motor skills etc.
We have a skilled reading specialist (teacher) who delivers catch-up reading sessions to children in Year 1. She also supports reading in Foundation Stage 2 and Year 2.
Children not at Age Related Expectations in reading may be priority readers – i.e. have sessions daily with trained staff supported by ECAR teacher.
Especially gifted children are targeted in special groups i.e. very high achieving writers/mathematicians
We provide Nurture provision in FS2 to support children who have difficulty with friendships, self-esteem, settling etc.
Our youngest children in Rainbow class have personalised support as necessary
Nurture provision in Year 1 as needed
We have a well-trained SENCo who provides support to children who have barriers to their learning.
Speech and language is supported by a trained specialist who works closely with the Speech and Language therapist to deliver programmes and provide assessments.
We have specially trained staff in Autism and Dyslexia
School has access to a TaMHS specialist for any mental health issues
Transition to next class or school are carefully planned and supported. More needy children are given extra support/ visits/photos etc.
Individual Education Plans, IBP’s are regularly reviewed and monitored by teaching staff and SENCO
Medical plans are written by Head teacher with support of parents. We seek training where needed.
Assessment
Children in our school have access to a wide-ranging, differentiated curriculum. The progress of children is closely monitored by the class teachers and the senior leadership team which includes the SENCo. Assessments take many forms and can include formative assessments done from a lesson-to-lesson basis, or summative assessments done in test situations. Children’s progress is recorded on the school’s electronic assessment system each term and is analysed in depth by teachers and members of the Senior Leadership Team at termly pupil progress meetings. Children identified in these meetings as making little or slow progress would be offered interventions in reading, writing or maths which would happen within a small group. These are called “Wave 2” interventions and are short and focused.
If the pupil fails to make adequate progress in response to this intervention, more focused personalised work will be offered on a 1:1 basis to help the child to fill any learning gaps. This is called “Wave 3” intervention.
If, after the Wave 3 work, the child fails to progress, they will be placed on the school’s SEN register. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be written in conjunction with pupils, parents and teachers, and support from an outside agency may be sought if appropriate. The IEP will be reviewed at parent’s evenings with the class teacher, parents and child.
Training
Teaching staff have opportunities to develop expertise in specific areas. Each teacher has their own curriculum area to lead. It is expected that they keep up to date with changes in their curriculum area and share this knowledge with other staff. They attend courses and network meetings, working alongside colleagues from other schools to do this.
Our TAs are very highly skilled. Many of our TAs have achieved the HTLA status (higher level teacher status). Out TAs attend all teacher training days and are sent on their own training to develop their skills in particular areas including phonics, effective maths intervention and other areas of SEN including Dyslexia, Autism and Makaton. TAs meet regularly in school to disseminate their knowledge to their colleagues, and opportunities are given to learn from each other, shadowing more experienced staff members to share good practice.
Key members of the Inclusion Team receive regular training in all aspects of SEN, Child Protection and Safeguarding.
Partnerships
The school works very closely with many teams from Leeds City Council Children’s Services in order to strengthen procedures. These include regular consultations with the School Improvement Adviser. In addition, consultants work regularly with subject leaders to improve outcomes for children.
We work closely with other schools in our Trust/Family to improve outcomes for children by sharing good practise.
Guiseley Primary School provide links to following teams:
Services available through the Complex Needs Service provided by Leeds City Council such as inclusion workers, educational psychologists and SEN support worker.
Speech and language therapists who can work with children on a range of issues such as developing their use of language, pronunciation and social and communication difficulties, setting targets and reviewing these termly if required.
Aireborough Extended Services which can offer a range of support for children and families in the local area which include advice for parents from Parent Support Workers and parenting courses, access to services and activities for children.
Access to a TaMHS (Targeted Mental Health in Schools) counsellor through Aireborough Extended Services, who can support children on a one-to-one basis through a referral process.
Good links to CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service) to access support for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Cluster-based attendance support.
Support from the school nurse who can offer advice regarding children’s health issues and help to write Health Care Plans for our pupils.
Strong links to Visual Impairment team who offer support to the school for students with sight deficiencies.
Support from the Occupational Therapy team who can offer support and advice regarding children’s physical development and acquisition of motor skills.
Work alongside the Area Inclusion Partnership to support children with complex needs.
Links to the STARs Team which support children with Autistic Spectrum Condition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?
If your child is already at school, you will be given chance to meet with their class teacher in the Autumn and Spring term. Initial concerns can be expressed in this meeting or make an appointment to see the teacher at a convenient time. If more specialised help is required, such as that offered by an outside agency, Miss Dryden-Jones will become involved. She is able to refer to agencies such as the Speech and Language service, the Complex Needs service or Occupational Therapists for further advice and strategies to help your child.
How will school support my child?
Educational targets for SEN children will be reviewed and next steps will be agreed by the class teacher and a copy sent to parents. Programmes of support will be delivered by SSA’s, Teaching Assistants, Higher Level Teaching Assistants or SENCo. The progression of children in intervention groups is closely monitored by all members of the senior leadership team which includes the Head teacher. The senior leadership teams work together to ensure that whole class teaching sessions, small group intervention and 1:1 work is the very best.
How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
Within lessons, the curriculum is differentiated using a wide range of strategies. Through planning, teachers cater for all abilities within the class including the lowest and highest. Groupings within the classroom might reflect ability groupings where necessary. Additional adults may be directed to support groups of children of varying abilities, not just the lowest ability. Activities in lessons are varied to cater for children’s different styles of learning.
How will I know how well my child is doing and how will you help me support my child’s learning?
There are 2x termly parent’s evenings with class teachers where parents will have the chance to discuss their child’s progress and next steps. If a child has SEN and has an IEP, parents can use this opportunity to review and plan for the next steps. Where necessary, guidance will be given about how best to support your child at home with additional activities to reinforce those done in class. There are opportunities throughout the year for parents to visit the school to find out more about children’s learning. Children should be able to tell you what their targets are.
What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?
Miss Wain Mrs Bradbury, Miss Adair and Mrs Hewitt make up the school inclusion team. Together they can signpost parents to where additional support can be gained for a child and their family including that which is available locally. A member of the Inclusion team will attend all meetings concerning children’s well-being, putting together the relevant action plans to meet the child’s needs, with support from professionals where appropriate.
What specialist services and expertise are available or accessed by the school?
Guiseley Primary School has good links to organisations which can offer specialist provision for our pupils. These include:
The Complex Needs Service provided by Leeds City Council such as inclusion workers, educational psychologists and SEN support workers
Speech and language therapists.
Aireborough Extended Services who offer parent support workers and activities outside school.
TaMHS (Targeted Mental Health in Schools) counsellor
CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) to support for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Support from the school nurse to help with writing Health Care Plans.
Visual Impairment team who offer support to the school for students with sight deficiencies.
Support from the Occupational Therapy Services.
STARs team to support children in school who have Autistic Spectrum Condition.
Children’s centre support team.
PDC – pupil development centre: work alongside school and children who have behavioural and motivational difficulties.
For information about school admissions, please contact the school office or the headteacher.
For specific information about your child, please contact the class teacher.
If you require information about support from outside agencies, please contact Mrs Wain, Mrs Bradbury, Mrs Buckton, Miss Adair or Mrs Hewitt.
