Frances Smith
SENDCO (Inclusion Lead)/Designated Teacher for Looked After Children
Our Commitment to you and your child
At Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all our children and we are committed to the principle of inclusive education. We strive for every child to receive an education that enables them to make progress so that they achieve their best, become confident individuals leading fulfilling lives and are able to make a successful transition into the next chapter in their education.
We work closely to the guidelines of the SEND Code of Practice 2014. Click here to download a copy.
What is a Special Education Need (SEN)?
For some children, SEN can be identified at an early age. However, for other children difficulties become evident only as they develop. Some children may need special educational provision to support them. This means educational provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age in a mainstream setting.
A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A learning difficulty or disability is a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age.
Learning difficulties may fall within the following four broad categories:
- Communication and interaction
- Cognition and learning
- Social, mental and emotional health (SEMH)
- Sensory and/or physical needs
Many children have needs in more than one area, and every child is different; often the area of need given for a particular child is their ‘prime’ area. We always look at the individual child when thinking about how best to support them.
How do we support children with SEN?
More detailed information about how we implement our school policy for pupils with SEND can be found in the SEND Information Report.
This includes information about:
- How we identify and assess SEN
- Our approaches to teaching children with SEN
- Ways in which we might adapt the curriculum and learning environment
- How we involve parents and children
- How we assess and review children’s progress towards outcomes
- Training for staff and how we use specialists to support pupils
SEN support
All teachers are responsible for planning a high quality curriculum, differentiated for individuals, that meets the needs of specific groups of children and responds to their diverse learning needs. We use our best endeavours to secure special educational provision for pupils for whom this is required. In such cases, extra support will be provided. This is called ‘SEN support’. We use a graduated approach, called the ‘Assess, Plan Do and Review cycle’ in which we:
Assess the child’s needs
Plan how to support the pupil and help overcome barriers to learning (for example, this may include interventions or flexible use of an additional adult in the classroom). We will seek children’s and parents/carers input during this planning stage
Do - we put the plan into action
Review progress against targets
This is part of a continuous cycle which is recorded on a ‘Pupil Passport’.
Where a child continues to make little or no progress, despite well-founded support that is matched to the child’s area of need, the school may consider involving specialists, including those from outside agencies, such as Speech and Language therapists.
The majority of children and young people with SEN or disabilities will have their needs met within school. Some children may require an Education and Health Care needs assessment. The purpose of an EHC plan is to make special educational provision to meet the special educational needs of the child to secure the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care and, as they get older, prepare them for adulthood.
Communication with parents
We recognise that you know your children best and welcome your input on their learning and development. Where a pupil is receiving SEN support, we will offer opportunities to meet with parents termly to set clear outcomes and review progress towards them, discuss the activities and support that will help achieve them, and identify the responsibilities of the parent, the pupil and the school. This will be built in to the Pupil Passport.
Your child’s views are crucial to the process. Wherever possible and age appropriate, children are invited to contribute towards their Pupil Passports. When targets are set, these are discussed and negotiated with the child as age appropriate.
If parents have any concerns regarding Special Educational Needs and Disabilities or inclusion, they are advised to arrange a meeting with the Class Teacher or SENCO. If you have any queries or would like to talk to our SENDCO, please do not hesitate to contact the school office, who will direct you accordingly.
The 'Local Offer'
The Isle of Wight Council is committed to giving all children and young people high quality education that enables them to make progress and achieve well. For children and young people aged 0 to 25 with special educational needs or a disability, additional or specialist support may be needed to enable this. To support the process of identifying the range of provision and advice that is available, the Isle of Wight Local Authority have published a local offer. For more information about the Local Offer please click here.