A child or young person has a special educational need if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child or young person is considered to have a learning difficulty or disability if they:

• Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age or
• Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age

(Code of Practice 2014)

Teachers are responsible for the progress that all children make in their class. All members of staff contribute to identifying SEND and supporting those with SEND. The SENCo, Mrs Jane Rawson, has the responsibility of the day to day management of SEND. The SENCo assists class teachers and parents in developing inclusive practice, designing further adaptations and accessing specialist resources if they are needed. The school also has a Link Governor who has responsibility for SEND.

Identifying SEND needs early is crucial and parents know their children best so we have regular meetings with parents and rely on the information they provide us in helping us to identify if a child or young person has SEND. In our school we believe that inclusive and adaptive teaching is the first step in responding to any possible special educational need.  The SENCo, as part of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), meets with the Head Teacher and each class teacher on a termly basis to review progress data for all children in the class. During these meetings the possibility of a child having SEND may be discussed.  For example, lesson observations by the SENCo and a review of interventions the child has been part of so far. We will also consider whether a further, more specialist, assessment for SEND is needed e.g. from an Educational Psychologist or a Specialist Advisory Teacher.

Understanding if my child has SEND | Oxfordshire County Council

If a child is falling behind, or not responding to inclusive teaching, we will bring together all the information we have about the child’s needs and difficulties and share this with parents. The school uses the Local Authority's SEND Indicators Tool as way of identifying if there is a Special Educational Need and what levels of support should be offered. OCC's Ordinarily Available SEND Provision toolkit helps us to make sure we are offering the provision expected from all schools in Oxfordshire. There are four broad areas of SEND:

• Communication and Interaction needs
• Cognition and Learning needs
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs
• Sensory and/or Physical needs

Following further consultation with parents, and if a child meets the descriptors in the guidance, and after all the checks on teaching and learning have been carried out, then the child will be placed on the schools SEN register. This is shared with the Local Authority.

The guidance from OCC can be found here:

https://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/special-educational-needs/key-documents

https://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/send-framework/sendco-framework-assess

Once a child is identified as having a special educational need, then appropriate plans are put in place to support them.  Every child with SEN has an ISP (Individual Support Plan) which describes the child's strengths, barriers to learning, provisions and tracks progress.  You will be invited to collaborate with the ISP three times a year as part of the assess, plan, do, review process (also known as the graduated approach).

All children are unique, regardless of the category of SEND they have, so it is important that we respond to their individual need. Some children will respond well to seemingly minor adaptations to our inclusive teaching offer, others will need more specialist support and input. We work closely with outside agencies to help us to design the most appropriate package of support for children on our register. Adaptations can include;

• Use of individual, pair or small group teaching
• Individualised or small group interventions for specific skills and learning needs
• Visual aids and multisensory resources to support understanding and participation
• Adaptations to the physical environment to help with accessing learning

Please see the SEN Information Report for Parents for additional information.

A range of support is available; here are some examples:

Cognition and Learning:

• RWInc - Phonics, reading and writing programme
• RWInc Fresh Start for children in KS2 who have not embedded phonics learning
• Write from the Start - individual fine motor skills programme
• Targeted Maths and English interventions
• Pre-Teaching Vocabulary – individual vocabulary, speaking and listening focus
• Over-learning
• 1:1 reading
• Numicon - class small group and individual work
• Plus 1 and Power of 2
• Colourful Semantics

Communication and Interaction

• Visual Support – timetables and ‘now and next’ cards to help structure the day
• Social Stories and Comic Strip conversations
• Photo books – to help plan for change and transition times
• Pre-Teach - to reduce anxiety in new situations or teach vocabulary to aid participation
• Social Stories – individually written personalised stories to help social understanding and eliminate unwanted behaviour
• Outdoor Learning – whole class and group sessions
• Movements Breaks and Safe Spaces

Social, Emotional and Mental Health:

• Play Therapy
• ELSA
• Draw It Out
• Calm spaces within classrooms
• Nurture groups
• Support from the Mental Health Support Team
• Trusted adults

Sensory and Physical Including Access Around the Site

• Corefulness programme
• Alternatives to written formats – ICT and Scribe
• Individual support for pupils with complex medical needs, appropriate training is given based on need
• Wrist weights and lap weights; chairs that are adapted; writing slopes; pencil grips
• Quiet, safe spaces
• Advice from Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists
• Activities to help develop fine and gross motor skills (threading or manipulating objects)
• Pupils who use wheelchairs can move around the school without experiencing barriers to access such as those caused by doorways, steps and stairs; disabled access ramps are available for children and staff to move safely around the school. Toilet facilities have adequate room to accommodate a hoist and changing beds if needed. Showers are available and accessible.

A SENCo who has gained the National Award for SENCo. A team of teachers and teaching assistants (many have specific areas of expertise and with further qualifications).  The school also has access to external specialist support services:

• Educational Psychology Service- https://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/special-educational-needs/educational-psychology-service
• Kez Black - Play Therapist - https://clear-sky.org.uk/people/kez-black/
• Speech and Language therapists  -https://oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/cit/speech-language-therapy/
• Special Educational Needs Support Service (SENSS); Physical Disability Team, Visual, Hearing Impairment Team, Communication and Interaction Team - https://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/special-educational-needs/special-educational-needs-support-service-senss
• School Health Nurse - https://oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/school-health-nurses/
• CAMHS consultation and referral - https://oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/
• the Mental Health Support Team (MHST), who are part of CAMHS - https://oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/camhs/oxon/mhst/
• Early Help and the LCSS - https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/children-and-families/childrens-services/early-help-childrens-services/early-help-and-lcss

Further services can be accessed through Oxfordshire County Council’s Local Offer, accessible to parents via the website.

https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/children-and-families/oxfordshire-send-local-offer

We monitor our provision through reviews with parents, data analysis, book looks and lesson observations. We monitor pupil progress through pupil progress review meetings and measure the success of interventions through careful tracking. The school is committed to providing high quality professional development for staff and this is the best way of making sure our teachers can offer inclusive practice. We access a lot of our training through support services (such as OXSIT - https://educationservices.oxfordshire.gov.uk/OXSIT).

There are lots of ways you can help. The best way to help is to talk to the teachers and ask questions if you have them. Don’t be afraid to share information that might be useful to the school. For example, share any worries your child may have. If you need to, ask your child’s teacher for their advice and support. They can help you with lots of ideas and tips.

Having a child with SEND can be worrying and exhausting. The school recognises this and we want to help parents by working closely together.  We also have access to other specialists. There are also lots of local and national support groups listed under ‘Useful Contacts’ (below) who have parent groups and networks and lots of useful tips. The SENCo is always happy to talk to you to help you identify which direction to go in to access more help.

A parent's first point of contact is always the class teacher; most concerns are easily addressed this way. If you prefer, you can talk to the SENCo or the Head Teacher. The school encourages parents to share their concerns quickly. If you need more support in meetings at school, we can put you in touch with SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Independent Advice and Support Services) who will be happy to help.

https://www.sendiass-oxfordshire.org.uk/

We offer extra transition visits to help children cope with changes like moving class or school. Children spend time in new classes before the end of the year, and we can provide photo books to help them get to know new staff or new rooms. We have strong links with The Warriner school and The Marlborough School and have well-established transfer arrangements for secondary. Where parents choose a different secondary school, we can still arrange additional visits for pupils.

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are for children and young people with the most complex needs. The creation and delivery of these Plans is led by the Local Authority and delegated to schools, which develop and review these with parents on an annual basis. This annual review is in addition to the three Individual Support Plan meetings held each year with the class teacher and/or SENCo.