Special Educational Needs (SEN)

“My name is Mrs McCaffrey and I am the Special Needs Coordinator. (SENCO)”

What is my role?

It is my responsibility to work closely with the teachers, support staff and families and Governors to ensure that every child with SEN gets the support they need, to access the curriculum and every part of the wider school life. Our school is inclusive by design, SEN is not a separate entity, our curriculum considers the needs of all our learners and our intention is to prepare our children for the wider world.

How do I do that?

Each term I meet with the class teachers to look at the progress and attainment of every child in their class and discuss any barriers to their learning. This is called a Pupil Progress Meeting. Where a child is making slow progress an audit tool called Mainstream Core Standards is used to ensure that every strategy possible is being used in the daily teaching of your child.

Any child highlighted as making progress which is significantly different from age appropriate expectations, has additional provision planned for them. A Provision Map is drawn up and shared with parents/carers and a letter is sent home to inform them of the details of the intervention. The intervention is carried out and usually lasts between 6-12 weeks. A review of the impact and next steps is discussed at the following Pupil Progress Meeting.

Once the children have built trusting relationships with the adults in their class, every child in the school is assessed through Boxall Profiling to measure their developmental progress in mental health and well-being. This ensures that no child’s developmental needs are missed.

Who will provide the interventions?

As well as the class teachers, our dedicated team of Teaching Assistants (T.A’s) run the majority of interventions that are suitable for the children in their class or key stage.  Each T.A has been trained to support children in specific areas according to their own strengths and interests or the children’s particular needs. They are responsible for baseline assessment, delivery, evaluating impact and reporting progress.

What happens next?

If your child has made rapid progress and reached age appropriate expectations, then they are removed from the Provision Map but monitored closely. If your child remains below age appropriate expectations then further interventions are considered.

What is an SEN Register?

Your child will be placed on a SEN Register if the provision is additional from or different to that normally available to pupils of the same age. With permission from parents, children needing further help from Outside Agencies will be referred to LIFT, (Local Inclusion Forum Team) where experts are on hand to offer advice, additional support and take on referrals. Children can move on and off the register and parents will be informed at each stage. Children who have an EHCP -Education, Health Care Plan or are in receipt of High Needs Funding are automatically placed on the SEN Register.