What will the school do next?

How will we know what my child's needs are?

Interventions and an Individual Education Plan (IEP) may immediately be put together or advice/assessment may be requested by an outside agency. If this is the case, you will receive correspondence directly from other professionals e.g. paediatrician.

Teachers and the SENCo will use both formal and informal assessments of your child (observations, monitoring data and pupil progress every half term). You may be asked to contribute your own observations. The school may ask for classroom observations from other professionals such as the educational psychologist or speech and language therapist (SALT).

What support will my child have in school?

Any support and interventions will be included in an IEP.  This is devised between the SENCO, teachers and teaching assistants.  Your child will be included on the school’s SEN register under ‘SEN Support’. An IEP is sent to you for your information and also for you to follow up interventions at home.  Information gained from conversations with you is included within the IEP and is incredibly valuable.  Older children are invited to contribute towards the development of their IEP.

Who will support my child and what does this look like?

We use a range of different strategies to help your child achieve their target/s. Additional support is known as ‘intervention’ and could include additional adult support in class, in a small group or 1:1.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
  • The Class Teacher is the first point of contact should you wish to raise a concern about your child. It is the Class Teacher’s responsibility to plan for teaching and learning and to make judgements based on your child’s progress.
  • The SENCO will monitor the progress of all the children on the SEN register and will monitor the effectiveness of intervention for children throughout the school. The SENCO will review IEPs, set up meetings and refer children to outside agencies.
  • There is a trained Teaching Assistant in every class in the school. The classroom TA will support your child on a daily basis with teaching and learning.
  • The Head of School is the line manager for all the staff in the school. The Head meets weekly with the SENCO and leads the half-termly pupil progress meetings to ensure that appropriate provision and support is available for all children.
  • The Midday Supervisors support the personal, social and emotional needs of your child during lunchtime and at lunchtime play. There is communication between teaching staff and Midday Supervisors which ensures that children are closely monitored during lunchtime and information is passed on if necessary.
OTHER AGENCIES ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
  • From time to time, the SENCO may request further support from other agencies including: Speech and Language Therapists (SALT), Specialist teachers, Educational Psychologists (EP), Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists (OT), Paediatricians, and Specialist Nurses. Their role is to provide more in depth information to support the SENCO with all aspects of SEND.
  • The EP will meet with parents and teachers to discuss concerns. During planning meetings, the EP and the SENCO discuss concerns.  The EP will talk to teaching staff and visit the classroom to observe, assess and assist in setting targets (if necessary).
  • A specialist teacher may be needed to assess your child’s learning needs in school. They may teach your child in a small group or through precision teaching. They also support the SENCO with target setting (if necessary).
  • A Speech and Language Therapist may visit the school to see your child or see you both in clinic to carry out an assessment of speech difficulties and language acquisition.
  • Paediatricians/School Nurses are specialists in the development of children.  They are able to provide support and advice to you and school. This may include specialist advice and support for medical needs such as diabetes.
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are based in community locations and are a multi-disciplinary team. Waiting times for counselling can be lengthy.
  • The Early Intervention Service works alongside children and young people with disabilities and their families
  • The governing body at Loders has a named governor whose responsibility it is to oversee the provision for SEND.
  • All staff supporting children with SEND have appropriate qualifications; they also attend training when available.
  • The Dorset Parent Carer Council newsletter is available http://www.dorsetparentcarercouncil.co.uk/information/

How will the school support my child's emotional, health and well-being needs?

At Loders we are proud of the relationships that are built up between the children and all staff to support children’s social and emotional needs. We work closely together to provide support for children such as:

  • Playground buddies support children at playtime with joining in with games and we have a friendship stop. At Loders we are proud of our older children who are always prepared and on hand to support younger children.
  • We run a Nurture Group for pupils who may need a quieter small group setting in which to gain confidence, discuss perosnal challenges and learn new skills. Teachers nominate pupils for this intervention and parents are informed before a child enters the group.
  • Any incidents are communicated to the relevant member of staff and if necessary (dependent on severity) recorded in the behaviour, bullying or racism log.
  • All child protection issues are reported to the designated safeguarding officers (Mr Beare or Mr Gawen).
  • A clear behaviour policy is adhered to by all staff (please refer to copy on school website).
  • Difficulties surrounding your child’s behaviour can be a symptom of something else and may be linked to emotional upset or medical issues. The class teacher may also organise a home/school link book, enabling the school and you to contribute comments; this two way process has proved to be highly effective, particularly if a child’s behaviour is challenging either at school or home, or in both settings. Your child may be observed in the classroom by the SENCo or the behaviour support service if deemed helpful in understanding the nature of the difficulty.
  • Targets to help your child with self-regulation will be put into place to support your child with coping strategies (parents and older pupils are involved in this process). All staff in contact with the child will have an understanding of the process.
  • We take every possible step to avoid an exclusion. However, if it is felt that your child’s behaviour may cause harm to themselves or others then you will be informed and asked to collect your child from school.
  • As part of our commitment towards supporting children’s social and emotional well-being, we monitor children’s attendance at school. If concerns arise regarding your child’s attendance, you will be notified by the Head of School. If attendance does not improve, the Early Intervention Service become involved, which may lead to further action.
  • If your child has medical needs then please ensure that the information is passed on to the office. Please contact the school office if your child requires medication as you will need to give us the details of the medicine and sign a consent form.  If required a ‘care plan’ can be put in to place for serious illnesses.

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's needs?

If your child has SEN then they will need support that is ‘additional to and different from’ other children. In addition to high quality teaching, their teacher/s will plan a range of appropriate strategies to support the child’s learning. These are listed below:

  • A differentiated curriculum ensures that all children in the class have their learning needs met. The class teacher will plan activities for your child to work in a small group to meet their learning objective.
  • If appropriate, your child may have sessions on a 1:1 basis with a teaching assistant or specialist teacher.
  • The SENCO or class teacher may develop visual timetables/prompts to help your child develop greater independence.  This also helps children to understand the school routine, particularly those who may be on the Autistic Spectrum.
  • Your child may need to use IT programs on laptops and computers, and other forms of technology to support their participation in lessons.
  • We plan interventions to enable children to meet their targets (Ruth Miskin Literacy, TRUGS, Addacus).
  • As a school, we use topic based learning which ensures that children develop skills through first-hand purposeful learning opportunities. Our curriculum has been planned to inspire pupils, enabling them to make links in their learning.
     

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What opportunities will there be to discuss my child's attainment and achievement?

Return to SEN and Disabilities