SEND
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive school where a Specail Educational Need and/or disability is not viewed as a barrier to learning or thriving.There are a variety of Special Educational Need and Disability (SEND) at Widcombe Infant School. These needs can be academic, behavioural, social and/or physical. Specifically some of the needs we are making provision for and have recently made provision for are ADHD, ASD, Global Developmental Delay, Cerebral Palsy, severe Developmental Delay, Speech and Language difficulties and Mild/Moderate Learning difficulties.
Children with SEND are identified from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, results of assessments, Health or Social Services concerns, any other outside agency concerns, Class Teacher’s concerns, previous School/Nursery concerns and/or parent concerns. Any child causing concern is placed on the SEND Register at the appropriate stage; Specific Monitoring, SEND Single Support Plan, Education, Health and Care Plan.
Each child’s outcomes and progress are reviewed every term with the Class Teacher, Head Teacher, SEND Co-ordinator, parents and any outside agency involved.
The school evaluates the effectiveness of its provision for these pupils through:
• careful monitoring and frequent reviews to ensure that each child is working at the stage appropriate to their needs and is making progress
• early identification of any child’s difficulties or strengths
• a child who feels pleased and confident at the progress they are making
• each pupil achieving high quality outcomes.
At Widcombe Infant School our ethos is that every child is special and every child needs to achieve high quality outcomes. We aim to identify and provide appropriate support for all children who require additional help at school to enable them to thrive within an inclusive environment. The school has a consistent approach to teaching children with SEND. Termly reviews ensure each child is receiving the most appropriate level of support. Targets are set for each child to work on through their target folders and these are assessed before the next review meeting.
The school adapts the curriculum and learning environment in a variety of ways in order to give each child the best opportunity to have their needs met. These include adaptions by the Class Teacher within the classroom, intervention groups in English and Maths, individual support work in English and Maths, nurture group Forest School, Thrive programme, ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant), lunchtime SEND PE sessions, weekly Wave 3 Target folder support and one to one support from SEND Teaching Assistants for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan or with Transition/Nurture funding. Children’s abilities to access each subject area are taken into careful consideration when the class curriculum is being planned, delivered and assessed.
The physical environment of the school has also been adapted to be inclusive for all pupils and is set out in the School’s Accessibility Plan.
The school provides additional support for learning for pupils with Special Educational Needs. We have four SEND Teaching Assistants providing support for our two children with an Education, Health and Care Plan and our children with Transition Funding. The school has two trained Thrive Practitioners who support children with Social, Emotional and/or Behavioural difficulties. Every fortnight we have a Speech and Language Therapist who works with children with Speech and Communication difficulties. She provides targets and activities to help these children move forward in their learning.
The SEND Co-ordinator is Mrs Sophie Turner. She can be contacted at Widcombe Infant School, Archway Street, Bath. BA2 4JG. Telephone 01225 421998.
Our staff have undertaken training in a number of SEND areas. These include Thrive training, ASD training, Makaton training, children with unclear speech and attachment disorder. Training is undertaken when it is necessary. Advise and targets from outside experts are always incorporated into the child’s Targeted Outcomes Plan and reviewed every term. The outside agency will provide or suggest specific resources and strategies to help each child achieve their targets. They will contribute to planning and delivering a specialised programme of learning.
The parents of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan are invited each term to contribute to the review of the Targeted Outcomes Plan and to participate in the setting of new targets. Children with a Single Support Plan have their new targets shared with their parents by the Class Teacher.
Parents of children with Transition or Nurture funding are invited each term to participate in review meetings and contribute to new targets. In addition, parents are encouraged to approach appropriate staff with any concerns they may have.
Targets are shared with children on Single Support Plans. These are worked on weekly with a Teaching Assistant. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan contribute their own views and ideas ready for their Annual Review in the My Future, My Choice booklet.
If the parents of a child with SEND have a complaint, they should arrange a meeting with the Class Teacher and SEND Co-ordinator in order to resolve the issue. The parents or the SEND Co-ordinator may then feel they need to involve the Head Teacher, who then may involve the Local Governing Committee. Complaints can normally be resolved with informal discussions and all parties working together for the good of the child. If, however, more complex problems arise which cannot be resolved in this way parents will be referred to the SEND Partnership Service for Bath and North East Somerset. They can be contacted on 01225 394382.
For pupils with SEND transferring to Widcombe Infant School the SEND Co-ordinator will visit them at their pre-school, participate in transition meetings and a transition plan will be drawn up as appropriate. Arrangements for additional visits to their new class will be carried out as appropriate. For pupils with SEND transferring to Junior School the SEND Co-ordinator will liaise with appropriate staff at the new school. The new school will be invited to participate in transition meetings and a Transition Plan will be drawn up. The pupil will attend additional visits to their new school as appropriate. If beneficial a photograph book will be made for preparation over the summer before starting their new school.
The Local Offer from Bath and North East Somerset is published on their website.
The facilities provided to help disabled pupils to access the school are set out in the school’s Accessibility Plan.
Special Education Needs Policy
