A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provisions to be made for him or her.

Many children and young people who have SEN may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice 2014 define Special Educational Needs and Disabilities as:

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, mental and emotional health
• Sensory and/or physical

Many children and young people have difficulties that fit clearly into one of these areas; some have needs that span two or more areas; for others the precise nature of their need may not be clear at the outset. It is therefore important to carry out a detailed individual assessment of each child or young person and their situation at the earliest opportunity to make an accurate assessment of their needs.

You can speak to your doctor, Class teacher or the School's SENCo and explain your concerns and worries. They will be able to support you to find the right service for you and your child.

You can ask for a meeting with your child's class teacher and/or SENCo to discuss their educational needs, they will direct you to the most appropriate service and make a support plan.

After your first discussion with your child's class teacher and SENCo, the class teacher and SENCo will monitor your child's progress. They make some observations and complete some basic assessments. The aim is to identify their specific areas of strengths and weaknesses. This may include collecting information from a variety of sources: the school, the pre-school (if appropriate), the parent and if possible from the child themselves. They will also use any additional information already held from other services.

Where relevant (and with your agreement) the school will involve additional external specialists e.g. Primary Support Service Staff, Educational Psychologist, members of the hearing/visual impairment teams.

From this information an Individual Support Plan will be drawn up to match resources/programmes to pupil’s needs. The teacher and/or SENCO will then meet with you to discuss this. This will include targets that will be monitored and assessed on a termly basis (or more frequently if necessary) and you will be invited to discuss this with the teacher or SENCO each term.         

We will work with you as an equal partner. Together we will ASSESS needs, PLAN support, DO (implement) and REVIEW your child's progress. 

These actions form part of a cycle of a cycle through which earlier decisions are actions are revisited, refined and revised with the growing understanding or your child's needs and in what support your child in making good progress and securing good outcomes.

We will first ensure your child is receiving the QFT and learning experiences that they require on a day to day basis. If despite these being in place your child is not making progress we will invite you to work with us to carry out initial assessments and gather observations.

It is very important to us that your child is happy in school and is able to learn and achieve. We aim to ensure that all children receive Quality First Teaching within an inclusive environment. This ensures a positive experience for all children whether they have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities or not.

Quality First Teaching - key characteristics:

• highly focused lesson design with sharp objectives
• high demands of pupil involvement and engagement with their learning
• high levels of interaction for all pupils
• appropriate use of teacher questioning, modelling and explaining
• an emphasis on learning through dialogue, with regular opportunities for pupils to talk both individually and in groups
• an expectation that pupils will accept responsibility for their own learning and work independently
• regular use of encouragement and authentic praise to engage and motivate pupils.
• (DCSF, 2008) Personalised learning – a practical guide 00844-2008DOM-EN

Level 1 Catch up - via Quality First Teaching (QFT) through an inclusive classroom with differentiation and reasonable measures taken to cater for the pupil’s needs. Pupils may need a short catch up intervention completed by class teacher during non-teaching times for example; assemblies, registration or whole school activities.

Level 2 Catch up – Identified pupils who need a short term intervention to fill gaps in learning. This can be completed via Teaching Assistant, Class Teacher or outside services. This can include Speech and Language early support for lower Key Stage 1.

Level 3 Booster – Identified group of children requiring some extra support to boost their progress, taught by either the class teacher or specific specialist booster teacher whilst the remainder of the pupils of the class are taught by a specialist teacher for a particular subject.

Level 4 SEN Support – Identified children who pupil’s progress is not satisfactory after Level 1 and 2 has been implemented, the school will consider advising the LA that a Statutory Assessment might be necessary. There may be a need for Teaching Assistant or outside agencies or services to be involved to support in delivering one or more interventions to cater for the pupil’s needs. Pupils will have specific targets identified on a Support Plan.

Level 5 - Education Health and Care (EHC) plan. The LA Services or agencies will be involved to implement an individual education plan to meet the pupil’s needs.

With your agreement a Early Help Assessment (EHA) form will be completed. This is a form that can refer on to other services such as Early Years Specialist Teacher Teams, Educational Psychology Services, Locality Team or Speech and Language Therapists. More information about an EHA can be found here:

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/parenting-and-family-support/accessing-support-for-your-family/

You can find a list and contact information about the difference services in Cambridgeshire at:

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/local-offer/

Within our school there are staff with expertise in some areas of special education need who can advise and support. If we do not have the expertise or your child is making little or no progress over a sustained period then we may need to refer to other services for support. You will always be involved in any decision to involve specialist support.

We ensure we make reasonable adaptations for individual needs. This includes the strategies, resources and adaptations to the curriculum and environment that teaching and non-teaching staff utilise so as to remove barriers to learning for the children. We also have a Disability Equality Plan that aims to ensure that we are proactive in developing our provision.

Our staff make every endeavour to ensure the school is:

• Communication supportive
• Adapted for sensory and physical needs
• Caters for a range of learning styles
• Dyslexia friendly

The governors, will review allocated funds to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs. Budgets will be approved at trust level and these will be shared with the  governors  and they will be informed of the amounts delegated to the school by the LA under special needs headings in the Section 42 Statement and Standards Fund, and to the amounts allocated for special needs in the proposed school budget. 

The Head Teacher will manage the funds allocated by the governors to meet the differing needs of pupils in the school with special educational needs.

 If a child has an Education Health Care  (EHC) plan, additional funds will be allocated to the school to enable the meeting of that child's needs. The parents/ carers will be invited into school to discuss the planned spending of these funds and the expected impact of the provision.

As we are a small school, all of the staff know all of the children and vice versa. This enables all staff to provide emotional support and assistance. All of the children receive support for improving their emotional, mental and social development through our curriculum, and behaviour management systems. Additional strategies are used for children with SEND. Teaching Assistants can be available to support in a number of ways and these will be included as specific actions in the child’s Individual Support Plans. They include:

• Specific support as the child comes into school
• Small group support during lessons
• Small group Circle Time
• Support during play and lunch times
• 1:1 or small group 'play therapy' with a trained therapist. 

We ensure that all pupils are able to be included in all aspects of school life. This includes physical education and external trips and visits. This may be through additional adult support, through task differentiation or through specialist resources. If we are planning a trip or special event, inclusion of any pupils with SEND will be a specific focus in the risk assessment and the planning process.

Access to the full curriculum of the school, is achieved by the careful differentiation of class work by the class teacher. Through careful planning the teacher will define what the pupil is expected to learn and any additional resources (including Teaching Assitant time) that is needed.

The class teacher will inform all those who teach a pupil with special educational needs of the need. If there is essential information or a pupil requires treatment or management different from that normally given to the other pupils, the class teacher will ensure that all those who are likely to come into contact with the pupil are appropriately informed. 

“Children, who are capable of forming views, have a right to receive and make known information, to express opinion, and to have that opinion taken into account in any matters affecting them. The views of the child should be given due weight according to the age, maturity and capability of the child”

(United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child).

At Guilden Morden we actively encourage and support pupil participation in all areas of school life.

Pupils, if able to, will be involved in the setting and reviewing of additional provision  and discussing the progress they are making.

• You can support your child by logging any concerns or worries with the class teacher and/or SENCo as soon as possible.
• You can support your child by attending parents evening meetings and review meetings
• You can support your child by ensuring you take them to medical or professional appointments that might support their need.
• You can support your child by completing some revision, reading, homework or activities to be completed at home as agreed through discussion with the class teacher.
• You can support your child by accessing further services to support you and your family.
• You can support your child by informing the school, class teacher and GP of any changes which may affect your child.

Click on the link for information , advice, services and local groups.

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/

SENDIASS (formerly Parent Partnership Service or PPS) offers impartial information, advice and support to parents/carers of children and young people with special educational needs and/or a disability and children and young people themselves (up to the age of 25). Tel: 01223 699214.

Family Support Worker - Can visit the home and support the family with needs at home. Sackville House, Sackville Way, Great Cambourne, CB23 6HL. Tel: 01954 286012.

School Nurse - Contact the school office for our school nurse. Alternatively you can contact the Locality team on: Sackville House, Sackville Way, Great Cambourne, Cambridge, CB23 6HL. Tel: 01954 286 012.

GP Doctor - Find your local doctor and arrange an appointment.

A full list of local services, support groups and parent groups can be found at:

http://www5.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/site/custom_scripts/fid/fid_results.aspx?

Change schools

If your child leaves our school to go to a new school, once we know the details of the new school we can send all the information about their needs and services they may have used to them. You can then follow it up with their new school SENCo once your child has started.

Moving on

If your child is moving onto Secondary School or further education, once we know the details of the new school, we will contact them to arrange a transition to suit your child's needs and send all the information about their needs and services to them. You can then follow it up with their new school once SENCo or equivalent at their new school once your child has started.

SEND Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

SENCo Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator

EHC Education Health Care Plans

EHA Early Help Assessment

EHSC Education, Health and Social Care Plans

DEP Disability Equality Plan

IEP Individual Education Plan

PPS The Parent Partnership Service

QFT Quality First Teaching

SDQ Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

If you have any complaint about the special educational provision for your child , then please see the class teacher in the first instance.  If you feel that the matter has not been resolved, then speak to the SENCo. If your complaint has still not been resolved to your satisfaction, then please follow our complaints procedure as per our DEMAT Complaints Policy. You can find this under our trust wide policies.