SEND Policy 2022

SEND POLICY 2022

“I will be to the people of Israel like rain in a dry land. They will blossom like flowers.” (Hos. 14: 5)  

This SEND Policy has been approved and adopted by the Governing Body on November 2022 and will be reviewed in November 2023.

SENCO: Mrs A Eggington

senco@st-john-andover.hants.sch.uk

Mrs Eggington is a member of the senior leadership team.

At St. John the Baptist we recognise and celebrate the uniqueness of every child, including those with SEND.  We know that every teacher is a teacher of SEND children. As such, St John the Baptist School adopts a 'whole school approach' to special educational needs which involves all the staff adhering to a model of good practice. The staff of the school are committed to identifying and providing for the needs of all children in a wholly inclusive environment. Inclusion is regarded as crucial to the policy, in line with that of the Local Authority.

The school operates an equal opportunities policy for children with special educational needs who are afforded the same rights as other children. This includes both those children with Education, Health and Care plans and those with additional needs..  As such, this policy should be read in consultation with the school Equality Policy.

We also recognise the importance of home-school links and recognise that parents are important co-educators of their children. We seek to work together for the best outcomes for all children.  Our SEND policy reflects the SEND Code of Practice.

“A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions “

(SEND Code of Practice Jan 2015)

AIMS

All children are entitled to an education that enables them to:

• become confident young children with a growing ability to communicate their own views and ready to make the transition into the next phase of education
• become confident individuals living fulfilling lives
• achieve their best (educational and other outcomes)

OBJECTIVES

• ensure decisions are informed by the insights of parents and those of children and young people themselves
• have high ambitions and set stretching targets for them
• track their progress towards these goals
• keep under review the additional or different provision that is made for them
• promote positive outcomes in the wider areas of personal and social development, and
• ensure that the approaches used are based on the best possible evidence and are having the required impact on progress

 THE LAW

As legislation is often amended and Regulations introduced, the references made in this Guide may be to legislation that has been superseded. For an up to date list of legislation applying to schools, please refer to the DFE Website https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education

• Special Education Needs and disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years 2015

MANAGING AND IMPLEMENTING

Educational provision for pupils with SEND is arranged by the SENCo in liaison with professional agencies, parents and staff. There is a named Inclusion governor who monitors all forms of inclusion, including SEND provision in school.

The SENCo is responsible for the day to day operation of the SEND policy and maintaining a register of children with SEND, which is reviewed regularly.

In-service training for teaching assistants on all SEND issues is on-going and this training is planned to develop expertise across the school.

ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS

Most children will enter into the Reception Year and have their needs assessed as part of our transition programme:

• Nursery visits by class teacher and SENCO
• Home visits by class teacher and learning support assistant
• Story time visits to the school in the summer term
• Information provided by previous setting (attainment, safeguarding, attendance, SEND)
• Information packs completed by parents
• Information provided by Hampshire SEND team
• SEND surgeries between class teacher and SENCO within the first month of school
• Observations made by class staff and SENCO – “A day in the life of…”
• . Formative and Summative Assessments  

When a child joins our school at other times of the year, their needs will be assessed by:

• Transfer of data from previous setting (attainment, statutory assessments, SEND, attendance)
• Transfer for safeguarding records (CPOMS)
• Professional discussion between SENCOs and class teachers
• SEND surgeries between class teacher and SENCO within the first month of school
• Observations made by class staff and SENCO – “A day in the life of…”
• Meeting between parents and SENCO/class teacher

TRANSITION ARRANGEMENTS

When a pupil on the SEND register moves to another primary or secondary school, a higher than normal level of contact with the receiving school is initiated by the SENCO to discuss:

• Current needs
• Provision in place to meet those needs
• Attainment and progress
• Emerging needs
• Safeguarding records and attendance

ASSESSMENT OF NEED

Teachers, with support of the SENCO and senior leadership team,  make regular assessments of progress for all pupils. These seek to identify pupils making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances. This can be characterised by progress which:

• is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
• fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
• fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers widens the attainment gap
• consistently requires additional support to make expected progress
• consistently requires additional support to have their needs met under the four broad areas of SEND.

Parents know their children best so it is important that all professionals listen to and understand when parents express concerns about their child’s development. It is equally important that we listen to and address any concerns raised by children and young people themselves.

If it is thought housing, family or other domestic circumstances may be contributing to the presenting behaviour a multi-agency approach, supported by an Early Help Assessment, may be appropriate.

Identifying and assessing SEN for children or young people whose first language is not English requires particular care. Staff observe all aspects of a child’s performance in different areas of learning and development or subjects to establish whether lack of progress is due to limitations in their command of English or if it arises from SEN or a disability. Difficulties related solely to limitations in English as an additional language are not SEN.

A detailed assessment of need ensures that the full range of an individual’s needs is identified, not simply the primary need. The support provided to an individual is be based on a full understanding of their particular strengths and needs and seek to address them all using well evidenced interventions targeted at their areas of difficulty.

Special educational needs and provision falls under four broad areas:

• Communication and Interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, mental and emotional health
• Sensory and/or physical

At St. John the Baptist we follow the graduated approach

• We use a cycle of Assess-Plan-Do-Review involving the class teacher, SENCO, child and parents.
• Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of pupils within their class, including where pupils access support from support staff or specialist staff.
• High quality inclusive teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to the needs of pupils with SEND.
• Beyond this, targeted interventions are introduced as needed.

Provision of SEN Support

Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.

High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN.  At St Johns, we regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered.

Assess

Despite high quality inclusive teaching and whole school systems for assessing planning, implementing and reviewing progress, a child is not making expected progress, information is gathered by:

1. Drawing of information from whole school systems

• Pupil Progress Meetings
• Triangulating attainment evidence – data, books, observations, professionals discussions
• SENCO surgeries
• Safeguarding review
• Parental voice
• Review of targets met/not met at My Support Plan Meetings (MSP)
• Review of screening tests or assessments (i.e. Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Language Link
• Meetings between SENCO and LSAs delivering interventions

2. View of the child and parent

• MSP meetings with parents, class teacher and SENCO each term
• MSP meetings with class teacher and SENCO each half term
• Annual ‘All About Me’ completed by parents and child at home
• Termly SEND drop-in meetings with SENCO to discuss emerging concerns

3. External services to asses against external criteria

• Educational Psychologists
• Primary Behaviour Support Team
• Early Help Hub
• Link Speech and Language therapists
• Link Occupational Therapists
• EMTAS
• Outreach SEND School Support (Norman Gate, Icknield, Wolverdene)
• Charities (Let’s Go, AndoverTwenty1, Autism Hampshire)

Plan

The teacher, SENCO, parent and child meet to agree interventions and support, including expected outcomes:

• MSP meetings with parents, class teacher and SENCO each term
• MSP meetings with class teacher and SENCO each half term
• Termly SEND drop-in meetings with SENCO to discuss emerging concerns
• Targets are set within MSP meetings and evaluated every six weeks.
• Parents complete pre-ELSA questionnaires to identify area of need and support the planning of a programme

Do

Class teacher remains responsible for working with the child on a daily basis and assessing the impact of the plan. Where the interventions involve group or one-to-one teaching away from the main class, the teacher retains responsibility for the pupil. They work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved, to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching.

The SENCO supports the class teacher in the further assessment of the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses, in problem solving and advising on the effective implementation of support.

This includes, but is not limited to:

Review

The impact of the plan, along with the views of the parent and child, are used to review the overall impact of support.  The plan is then revised in light of the outcomes and new targets are set.

• MSP meetings with parents, class teacher and SENCO each term
• MSP meetings with class teacher and SENCO each half term
• Termly SEND drop-in meetings with SENCO to discuss emerging concerns
• Targets are set within MSP meetings and evaluated every six weeks.
• Parents complete post-ELSA questionnaire

Statutory Assessment and Education, Health and Care Plans

Where, despite the school having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the needs of the child, the child has not made expected progress, an Education, Health and Care needs assessment can be requested by the school or the parents.

The LA will be given information about the child’s progress over time, and will also receive documentation in relation to the child’s special educational needs and any other action taken to meet those needs, including any resources or targeted and specialist provision in place. The evidence will include:

• Previous My Support Plans and targets for the pupil.
• Records of regular reviews and their outcomes.
• Records of the child’s health and medical history where appropriate.
• National Curriculum attainment in Reading, Writing and Maths.
• Education and other assessments, for example from an advisory specialist support teacher or educational psychologist.
• Views of the parents.
• Views of the child
• Early Help support, where applicable

The Local Authority may decide that the degree and nature of the child’s difficulties and the nature of provision necessary to meet the child’s special educational needs is of a level that requires provision through an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). This EHCP will include:

• A description of the child’s needs
• The main educational and developmental long-term objectives to be achieved by the special educational provision over the life of the EHCP
• The special educational provision that is appropriate for the child’s learning difficulties
• Identification of appropriate facilities and equipment as well as staffing arrangements and curriculum
• Appropriate modifications/exclusions to the application of the National Curriculum
• If residential accommodation is required
• Monitoring arrangements including an annual review date
• Parents are able to state a preference relating to placement which they feel can best meet the identified needs
• A school deemed appropriate for the child is named
• Any non-educational needs of the child and how these can be provided for.

THE ANNUAL REVIEW

All EHCPs must be reviewed at least annually. In Year R while a child is under 5 their EHCP must be reviewed on a 6-monthly basis. In practice this usually means that children with EHCPs in Year R have a review meeting twice in their first year of school.

The annual review meeting is held to assess the child’s progress against the objectives specified in the EHCP. Information is collated and recorded having being gathered from all involved with the child. Special provision is reviewed and new targets set.

The Headteacher delegates responsibility for convening the annual review meeting to the SENCo

The following will be invited to the meeting and to contribute a written report if appropriate

• Parents/carers
• LA representative
• Relevant school staff
• Relevant outside agencies
• School representative where a transfer to a new school is planned
• Following the meeting the annual review report will be submitted to the Local Authority; a copy is sent to all those invited to the meeting
• The Local Authority will review the EHCP in light of the review. Three subsequent outcomes are possible; they may choose to maintain, amend or cease to maintain the EHCP.
• An Annual Review meeting may be called early in certain circumstances. This can be initiated by the school or parents.

Personal Evacuation Plans The SENCO reviews Personal Evacuation Plans (PEEPS) annually.  These plans identify any child who requires additional support to leave the building safely in the event of an emergency.

Individual Behaviour Management Plans

Where a child requires an Individual Behaviour Management Plan (IBMP), these will be assessed, planned, implemented and reviewed following the same model as MSPs.

See the Behaviour Policy for further information.

Evaluation

We believe that successful implementation of this SEN Policy will ensure:

• Early identification of children with special educational needs
• Appropriate support for children with special educational needs
• Children with SEN will be included in all areas of school life
• Some children with SEN will make sufficient progress and will therefore be removed from SEN register
• Children with significant SEN will receive appropriate support from other agencies and the LA
• Support and information for the parents of children with SEN

Tracking and assessment procedures will be used efficiently to monitor and measure the progress of SEN children

 PARENT/CARER INVOLVEMENT

The school recognises the importance of good relationships with parents to support the child’s educational progress and effectiveness of school based SEND provision.

• Parents must be informed if special educational needs provision is being made for their child.  The SENCO will arrange a meeting with parents to discuss provision in place and next steps
• Parents are consulted and informed about their child’s progress in school:

• Autumn and Spring term parent consultations
• Half termly meetings with SENCO
• Drop-in meetings available termly

• Parents are invited to reviews and their views are sought.
• If appropriate, the child’s views are taken into account.
• It is essential that all professionals, school, LA and other agencies, actively seek to work with parents and value the contribution that they make.
• Parents can also access support from the LA’s Parent Partnership Service.
• The school’s SEN Policy is available for all parents to read on the website.

 MONITORING AND EVALUATING

• The SENCo monitors the attainment and progress of all SEND children and the effectiveness of any interventions.
• The SENCO reports to the SEND governor and the Standards and Pupil committee.
• Cause for Concern meetings held each month to discuss emerging needs,
• Staff meetings.
• Pupil conferencing.
• Parent Meetings.
• Monitoring of provision map, SJB Assessment Profile, SEN domain tracker, targets, books, planning.
• Learning walks focusing on the engagement of and differentiation provided for children with SEND.

THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNING BODY

The governing body challenges the school and its members to secure necessary provision for any pupil identified as having special educational needs. They ask probing questions to ensure all teachers are aware of the importance of providing for these children and ensure that funds and resources are used effectively.