Our approach to teaching children with SEN

At St Hild’s CE Primary School, we are proud to be inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need. All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.

To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum there are some actions we may take to achieve this:

• Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
• Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
• Ensure that teaching staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.
• Pupils to gain in confidence and improve their self-esteem.
• To work in partnership with parents/ carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
• To identify at the earliest opportunity, all children who need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional)
• To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
• Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
• To promote self-worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independence at all age and ability levels.
• To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
• To regularly review the policy, procedures and practice in order to achieve best practice.

To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum, St Hild’s CE Aided Primary School remain committed to:

• Using a range of teaching and learning styles.
• Differentiated learning materials
• Access to ICT and Technology.
• Additional in class support
• Additional out of class support
• Flexible groupings – including small group support work.
• An innovative and supportive curriculum.
• The appropriate use of rewards and sanctions.
• Mentoring and counselling
• A broad range of extra-curricular activities.
• Assessment procedures that emphasise pupils’ strengths and achievements.
• Applications during national testing at Key Stage 2 to obtain access arrangements as appropriate

If you have any questions about our curriculum or the work we do in school, please speak to your child’s class teacher or alternatively, contact our Head Teacher, Mrs Ryder, or Deputy Head Teacher and SENCO, Miss Luke, who will be happy to help.

Some examples of teaching styles used to support a child with SEND could include:

• Breaking longer sessions into smaller parts to aid concentration and attention
• Using visual resources to aid understanding of new concepts and key words
• Additional adult support in class to reinforce the key information given by the class teacher
• Home-school diaries to ensure parents know what has been taught each day
• Home-school diaries to ensure parents are aware of any behavioural difficulties or problems that have been encountered and to share positive experiences each day
• Using visual timetables so children with SEND know what to expect
• Using additional resources to overcome difficulties e.g. counting resources to use in maths lessons

Some examples of additional provision which could be suitable for a child with SEND could include:

• Some individual teaching, following dedicated programmes to address specific needs, e.g. reading and spelling difficulties
• Small group focus work to address shared issues, e.g. fine and gross motor skills groups
• Specialist interventions, e.g. Occupational Therapy or Talking Therapies
• Learning Support Assistant support within the classroom in order for the work to be further differentiated to meet exact needs
• Additional resources to enable better access to the curriculum suggested by professionals
• Thorough assessments undertaken by Educational Psychologists and/or the Learning Support Service in order to pinpoint exact areas of difficulty that are then addressed 

We aim to cater as best as we can for the needs of the children within our environment and with our experienced and proactive staff.

How we support SEN

Special Educational Needs and/or a disability can affect many children throughout their school career and beyond. Whilst disabilities generally affect children long term, not all SEND difficulties should be seen as life-long. SEND is seen by our school as the child requiring provision that is additional to or different from the rest of the class. At St Hild’s, we understand that every child is unique and a carefully planned approach is needed.

Our school recognises there are particular groups of children whose circumstances require additional consideration by those who work with them to support their SEN. Some children, at some time in their school life, might have additional or different needs and it may be that they will be on our SEN register for a short period or a long period of time. However, children’s needs will be reassessed regularly in order to ensure that the provision is suitable and supports every child’s development.

Our SENCO oversees the implementation of the SEN Policy and works alongside class teachers to coordinate provision for all children with SEN.  The class teacher will plan for the child and use regular assessment to ensure that progress in every area is made. This is Quality First Teaching and this is where the work in a lesson is highly differentiated and suits the needs of all children. It comes in the form of a lesson rather than an intervention programme.

Alongside Quality First Teaching that your child will receive in all lessons, our support staff may work with your child, either individually or as part of a group, if this is seen as necessary by the class teacher. Children may be taken out of the classroom for additional teaching sessions or intervention. 

Who will explain this to me?

All children who receive additional support are recorded on our Provision Map and parents will be informed of this by our SENCO. Children who have a SEN Support Plan receive a higher level of support and parents are invited into school to review and discuss support and progress with staff every term. The children also meet with their teacher or the SENCO to discuss their Support Plan. This allows the children to share their views and opinions and gives them ownership of their Support Plan.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact us to make an appointment.

How are the Governors involved and what is their responsibility?

Governors are kept up to date on the progress of SEN pupils regularly. The SENCO meets with the SEN Governor termly and both the SEN Governor and SENCO provide updates to the full Governing Body as required. Confidentiality is maintained and individual pupils are not named however, data is shared to support discussions around funding arrangements and the SEND Notional Budget. The Governors agree priorities for spending and evaluate the impact of previous funding allocations.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail, please contact us to make an appointment.