Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Information Report
Southover Primary School
About this report
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The Children and Families Act 2014 says that all maintained schools must publish a Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) Information Report every year. This report explains how our school meets the needs of children with SEND. It will be shown on our school website and in the ‘local offer’ on www.eastsussex.gov.uk
In the report, we explain how we meet our duties towards pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. This report is also our SEND policy. For more information on the law and guidance, see www.eastsussex.gov.uk/localoffer
We will review this report every year and will involve pupils and parents by inviting comments and through IEP, Additional Needs Plan and Annual Reviews. If you want to give us your views about the report, please contact the school office or the Inclusion Manager - zshort@southover.e-sussex.sch.uk
Date: September 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Who do I contact about my child’s special educational needs? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you are thinking of applying for a place, contact the school office on 01273 473015
If your child is already at the school, your first point of contact at school is your child’s class teacher. The school phone number is 01273 473015
The Inclusion Manager is responsible for managing and co-ordinating the support for children with special educational needs, including those who have a Statement or Education Health and Care (EHC) plan. The Inclusion Manager also provides professional guidance to school staff and works closely with parents and other services that provide for children in the school.
Assistant Head & Inclusion Manager – Mrs Zoe Short
How to Contact: zshort@southover.e-sussex.sch.uk 01273 473015
Southover School website: www.southoverceprimary.co.uk
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Which children does the school provide for?
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We are a Primary School. We admit pupils from age 4 to 11 years. We are a voluntary controlled school.
We are an inclusive school. This means we provide for children with all types of special educational needs. If you want a place for a child who has an Education Health and Care plan, contact your Assessment and Planning Officer at East Sussex County Council. If you want a place for any other child with special educational needs, you should apply as normal and your application will be considered in the same way as applications for children without special educational needs.
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Summary of how the school meets the needs of children with SEN and disabilities
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Southover School is committed to ensuring all children make the best progress they possibly can. As a whole school, we aim to support children’s needs, whether speech/language/communication, cognition, social/emotional, sensory or physical through a diverse curriculum and range of support programmes. Both teaching and support staff are committed to supporting children and have a wide and varied knowledge of needs, and an in-depth skill set which ensures our children reach their potential. This combined ensures we meet our duties under the Children and Families Act 2014, and the Equalities Act 2010.
Using a continual process of Assess, Plan, Do and Review we are able to ensure the children in our school are continually monitored and reach their potential in all areas of the curriculum, including, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing.
We use the East Sussex Local offer as a basis for delivering our SEND support. See link below for information.
If the child is looked after by the local authority they will have an Additional Needs Plan, which will include a Personal Education Plan (PEP) and a Health plan. We will involve parents and carers as well as foster carers or social workers in discussions.
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How does the school identify children’s special educational needs
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We aim to identify children’s special educational needs (SEN) as early as possible, so that the child achieves the best possible outcomes A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision. That is provision which is different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age. Children may have one or more broad area of special educational need:
These are some of the ways in which Southover identifies children with SEN:
Following a concern being raised by the class teacher, parent or Inclusion Manager, an initial meeting is set up to discuss the concerns. From this, appropriate intervention or further assessment will be carried out, depending on the outcomes of the initial meeting. Every child is an individual and as such their support plan is individual.
We view all behaviour as communication. We quickly identify support required for children displaying behaviours which may be detrimental to their learning, including being withdrawn, aggressive or disruptive behaviours. By looking at the behaviours we can usually identify the child’s underlying needs and difficulties, ensuring we put in place a support plan which targets not just the behaviours but the reasons why.
We assess each pupil’s skills and level of attainment when they start at the school. We continually assess each child’s progress. If a child is making less than the progress we would expect for their age or individual circumstances, we will consider whether they have special educational needs. The Inclusion Manager will work with the class teacher and parents in identifying support which may be appropriate, putting in place this support with immediate effect, even when the information and evidence is still being gathered.
A range of assessments may be carried out by the class teacher, Inclusion Manager or teaching assistant to quickly identify what support, including dyslexia screening assessments, Thrive assessments, reading, writing, maths, spelling and phonics assessments, speech and language assessments and continuum of need assessments. In addition to this we ask the child for their views about their learning using pupil voice or pupil views questionnaires. All teachers and teaching assistants are familiar with these assessments.
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How does the school teach and support children with SEN?
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The following questions may support you in understanding how Southover support children with SEND:
How will school staff support my child?
How will both you and I know how my child is doing and how will you help me to support my child’s learning?
What specialist services and expertise are available at, or accessed by, the school?
How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?
How are parents involved in the school? How can I be involved?
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How will the curriculum and learning environment be matched to my child’s/young person’s needs?
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All pupils will have access to a broad and balanced curriculum which is suitable for all. We have high expectations for all pupils. Our behaviour policy is based on the Empowerment Approach - all behaviour is communication.
We adjust the curriculum for each child with SEND to make sure that they can access the subjects at their own level and make progress. This is called ‘differentiation’.
We will look at the child’s level of achievement and see what support they need to make good progress and reach their potential. We will use our Assessment policy to do this. We will talk with children and parents as part of the SEN support cycle (assess, plan, do, review) (This is from the SEND Code of Practice 6.12).
In addition:
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How are parents and carers involved in reviewing children’s progress and planning support?
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Children who do not have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) but are identified as having SEND have an APDR (Assess, Plan, Do, Review) written in collaboration by the Inclusion Manager and class teacher. These are reviewed three times a year, when parents and children are invited to contribute to the review process. These plans ensure coverage of all 5 key areas of focus as identified by the code of practice and are outcome driven.
In addition to this, children with an EHC plan or an Additional Needs Plan (ANP) will have three times a year review meetings, one of which is the statutory annual review for those with EHC plans.
Support is planned in order to help children and young people reach the agreed outcomes. Reviews will have a focus on children and young people’s progress towards these outcomes.
Parents may wish to refer to Code of Practice 6.64 – 6.71 when thinking about supporting their child.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How are children involved in reviewing their progress and planning support?
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This chart may support you in understanding how your child is involved in reviewing their progress:
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How will the school prepare and support my child to transfer to a new school/ college or the next stage of education and life?
- Transitional sessions with secondary schools
- Good links with range of secondary schools
- Meetings with all secondary schools for children with SEN Support and EHC plans – extra visits in addition to the day visit as appropriate
- Visits by class teacher and Inclusion Manager to nurseries
- Meetings with parents
- Additional visits to school for nursery children
- Keyworker meetings for nursery aged children
- Transition booklet completed for those going to secondary school
- Transition sessions and transition booklet within school and between year groups
- Weekly afternoon sessions for children transitioning from Reception to Key Stage 1 (during summer term)
- Taster to school for new Reception children.
- Transition information sheets sent to all nursery and preschool carers.
- Additional transition sessions throughout the school as needed – these may be for any year group or individual child as necessary.
What training do school staff have?
When we plan support for a child, we think about the knowledge and skills their teachers and support staff will need. If necessary, we plan training for the staff member or arrange an INSET training day. The whole school development plan ensures coverage of the various training needs across the school.
Teachers and teaching assistants have performance management reviews. These meetings support the identification of training needs across the school.
Teaching assistants meet monthly and have training sessions with the Inclusion Manager or outside support agencies as appropriate. A training programme for the new year is decided upon based on needs identified in the yearly appraisal process and the School Development and Improvement Plan (SDIP).
The Continuing Professional Development profile is available from the school office.
We have a wide range of training available to us:
East Sussex County Council training for schools- https://eastsussexlearning.org.uk
Inclusion Development Programme- idponline.org.uk
Advanced training materials- advanced-training.org.uk
How does the school measure how well it teaches and supports children with SEND?
We regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils to try and make sure no-one under achieves. We look at whether our teaching and programmes of support have made a difference. We use information systems to monitor the progress and development of all pupils. This helps us to develop the use of interventions that are effective and to remove those that are less so.
We complete an annual self-evaluation of our SEND provision and use this to develop an action plan to further improve our SEND provision. This is reviewed by the Inclusion Manager and SEND governor on a yearly basis.
We send home a parent questionnaire every year then summarise the results and feedback to parents. This information helps to inform the school improvement plan.
We also invite parents to provide feedback at meetings, through attending parent forums, parent questionnaires, SEND questionnaires and through the Ofsted parent view website. https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/
How does the school know that the provision for pupils with SEND is effective? What is the impact on outcomes for pupils with SEND?
- APDR and Additional Needs Plan outcomes are regularly met
- Reviews on a three times a year basis, or more often as necessary.
- All children’s progress is tracked on a regular basis, including SEND, Pupil Premium etc.
How accessible is the school and how does the school arrange equipment or facilities children need?
- All of the ground floor in the main building is wheelchair accessible
- Classrooms and year groups are changed round to suit age ranges and needs
- Ground floor disabled toilet
- Gym and ICT suite currently has limited access and upstairs classroom and staffroom
- Buzzer system to gain access to school during school day
- Office open from 8.30am – 4.30pm
- Equalities and Accessibility plan
- Disability Discrimination Act legislation
- We are subject to the Equalities Act
- Visual & Hearing Impairment equipment available from Sensory Needs Service
https://czone.eastsussex.gov.uk/supportingchildren/equality/Pages/theequalityduty.aspx
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3
How will my child/young person be included in activities with other children, including school trips?
Through careful planning and reasonable adjustments, pupils with SEND engage in the activities of the school together with those who do not have SEND and are encouraged to participate fully in the life of the school and in any wider community activity.
We work with parents and pupils to listen to their views, feelings and wishes to ensure pupils with SEND engage fully in the life of the school and in any wider community activity.
- All children attend trips irrelevant of cost/payment
- Additional adults as necessary – parents invited
- Risk assessments
- Discussions with parents well in advance – concerns can be raised from either school or parents.
- Playground friends/buddies/helpers
- Medication, dietary and allergies catered for
- Pupil Premium funding – see Pupil Premium report.
- See link to Equalities and Accessibility Policies, above
What support will there be for my child’s/young person’s overall well-being and their emotional, mental and social development?
- PSHE lessons
- Empowerment Approach Behaviour Policy
- Social skills sessions in small groups
- Class teacher has regular meetings with parents
- Pupil Voice – children’s questionnaire on their learning/feelings
- Counselling services through Play Therapy, Art Therapy and Fegans
- Nurture groups and a Nurture Class (Robin Class)
- Medicines kept in the office and administered by appropriately trained staff
- Behaviour plans
- Personal and social plans
- Regular reviews of attendance
- ESBAS (Education Support for Behaviour and Attendance Service)
- Staff trained in personal care
- School nurse available
- Access to a range of outside agencies
- Anti-Bullying Weeks
- E-safety lessons
- Buddies/play leaders
- Staff training in understanding of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), communication difficulties and dyslexia
- Positive ethos
- Zones of Regulation
- Reward schemes – personalised to children.
- Online THRIVE assessments for whole school and individuals
- Boxall assessments
- Self Esteem programmes
- Varied assemblies using a range of outside agencies, e.g. NSPCC
- SCSM – Social, Cultural, Moral and Spiritual development
We will monitor and review progress, with the child and parent. We will do this as part of the SEND support planning cycle of assess, plan, do review.
We use a variety of outside agencies to support children and staff alike:
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
- Play Therapy - counselling services
- Early Help Keyworker support
- School nurse
- Children’s services (Social Services)
- Occupational Therapy (OT)
- Speech and language therapy (SaLT)
- Physiotherapy
- Continence Service
- Educational Psychology Service
- CLASS – Communication, Language and Autism Support Service
- Sensory Needs Service
- Gypsy, Romany and Traveller Services
- English as an Additional Language Service (EALs)
- Dyslexia screening tests
- Oncology
- ESBAS – Behaviour and attendance service
- Teaching and Learning Provision
- Early Years’ Service
- Dyslexia trained TA
- Dyslexia approved Inclusion Manager
- Paediatricians (Scott Unit – Eastbourne)
- GP services
Link to policies for Behaviour and anti-bullying, Safeguarding and Supporting pupils with medical conditions.
www.southoverceprimaryschool.co.uk
What specialist services does the school use to support children and their families?
As part of the cycle of SEND support, (assess, plan, do, review) we will consider whether we need to involve other services to make sure the child’s specific needs are met. Parents are always involved in any decision to involve specialists.
See list of services above.
https://new.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/specialneeds/search-for-services/
https://new.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/specialneeds/health-services/
Where can I get information, advice and support?
Key contacts at Southover School are:
- Your child’s class teacher – (via office)
- Assistant Head & Inclusion Manager – Mrs Zoe Short senco@southover.e-sussex.sch.uk/zshort@southover.e-ssusex.sch.uk
- Headteacher – Mr Noel Fadden (via office)
- Deputy headteacher – Mrs Lisa Walker (via office)
- Chairs of Governors – Mr Andrew Barnard & Mr Edward Smith
- SEND governor – Ms Susanne Pollard
- Services – as listed
- School office (01273 473015)
- Parent Information Coordinator – School office
The ‘local offer’ on the internet
www.eastsussex.gov.uk/localoffer
Amaze amazesussex.org.uk
SEND information, advice and support service
https://new.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/familysupport/parent-information-contacts/about/)
0345 60 80 192 informationforfamilies@eastsussex.gov.uk
www.eastsussex.gov.uk/sendadvice
What do I do if I am not happy or if I want to complain?
Contact the school office 01273 473015 / office@southover.e-sussex.sch.uk or ccc@southover.e-sussex.sch.uk