SEND

SEND Provision and Inclusion

Who is responsible for SEND Provision at The Priory?

SENCo – Ms J Symonds – jsymonds@pri.srscmat.co.uk

Family Liaison/Assistant SENCo – Mrs H Smith – hsmith@pri.srscmat.co.uk

SEND Governor – Mr C Bradford

Family SENCo – Mrs H Snelling

At the core of our school, The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy’s mission statement is:

‘A place to learn: have fun, grow and develop, in the light and love of Christ. Jesus said: “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5)

Our religious beliefs coined within Catholic social teaching are central to the provision throughout the whole school; and the foundation on which the ethos of the school is built.

We seek to fulfil our mission in genuine partnership with pupils, parents, governors, parish and community.

Our Aim

We aim to ensure all children receive a broad and balanced curriculum, one which is ambitious, well sequenced and which builds upon previous knowledge and skills. It is essential, that all children are given the opportunity to access this curriculum, which require staff members make adaptations for individual children. All children are fully included within whole-class planning, ensuring those children with SEND receive quality first teaching and have every opportunity to enjoy, achieve and succeed.

Our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Learning Policy is underpinned by the principles of the SEND Code of Practice 2015.

The Graduated Approach

At The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy, the early identification of pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) is key to our setting.

As a school we follow a Graduated Approach in identifying children with SEND. This includes:

Using assessment over time to give a clear and structured approach for providing help at every level for children and young people.

Ensuring that access to support is equitable and based upon a cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review, as set out in SEND Code of Practice (2015).
Taking into account the child or young person’s voice throughout.
Gathering information from a range of individuals involved in supporting children and young people, including parent/carer and child.
Following the ‘Local Offer’ with support determined by the graduated intervention levels.
Universal Level – High Quality Teaching for all children and young people including adaptive teaching and reasonable adjustments. This includes universal support services to meet all learner’s needs. e.g., GP, Sensory Team, Visual Impairment Team.
Universal + Level – In addition to High Quality Teaching at Universal Level, some children and young people may require time-limited intervention programmes and additional support in order to secure effective learning and increase the rate of progress. This includes universal support services to meet all SEND learner’s needs.
Targeted Level (SEND Support Plan) – In addition to inclusive High Quality Teaching and provision at Universal + Level, some children and young people may require additional to and different from support in order to secure effective learning and increase the rate of progress. This includes targeted support services to improve individual outcomes. eg Educational Psychology Service, Speech and Language Therapy.
Targeted Level + (SEND Support Plan) – In addition to inclusive High Quality Teaching and provision at Targeted Level, some children and young people may require significant amounts of additional to and different from support in order to secure effective learning and increase the rate of progress. In some cases this may require additional funding via the Nottinghamshire AFN/HLN application route.
Specialist Level (SEND Support Plan/Education Health Care Plan- EHCP)– In addition to the above provision, a small number of children and young people may require significant amounts of additional to and different from provision across multiple areas of need in order to secure effective learning and increase the rate of progress. It is important to note that the Specialist Level of the Graduated Approach does not mean that all children with needs identified at this level will require an EHCP.
Some children and young people may have needs identified at a Specialist Level for one or more areas of need. It may be unclear whether these needs are likely to be long lasting and, in such cases, a child or young person’s needs are likely to be adequately met with provision and cycles of Assess, Plan, Do, Review outlined in a SEND Support Plan. Specialist levels of funding can be accessed without an EHCP.
There are a small number of children that will require an EHCP to meet their needs. Children and young people in this cohort are likely to have needs identified across multiple broad areas of need. These needs are likely to be complex and long lasting/ lifelong with multiple professionals involved in the child or young person’s care and learning. As such a comprehensive EHCP is required to ensure effective multi-agency working to meet the child or young person’s needs.

How do we know a child might need help?

Parents/ carers may inform the school prior to or during admission to our school that their child has Special Educational Needs and/or Disablities.
Outside agencies involved with the child may contact the school prior to / during admission or whilst the child is a pupil at the school to communicate information.
The class teaching team may identify concerns re progress, attainment, behaviours and the SENCO, SLT, Teaching Assistants may become involved in a school based programme or introduction of resources to support,
Our in-school recording systems (CPOMS) may highlight ongoing social, emotional and mental health concerns.
We may seek additional information or assessments from a range of agencies including the Educational Psychology Service (EPS), Schools and Families Support Services (SFSS), SEMH Team (SBAP), Family SENCo, Mental Health, Support Team (MHST), CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), School Health, Paediatricians, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Community Nursing Team.

At different times in their school life, a child or young person may have a Special Educational Need.

The Code of Practice 2014 defines SEN as follows:

‘A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special education provision to be made for him or her.’

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty if he or she:

Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others the same age, or
Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided.

SEN Local Offer

The Local Offer is a description of all the services available to support disabled children and children with SEN and their families. This information should set out what is normally available in schools to help children with SEN as well as highlighting what support is available for families who need additional help to support children with more complex needs.

Derbyshire Local Offer

Nottinghamshire Local Offer