SEND

Special Educational Needs & Disability Information Report for Bakewell Methodist Junior School

August 2020

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCO): Mrs Owens

As SENDCO I am passionate about leading this area to ensure the needs of all children are met in a fully inclusive way, which encourages a love for learning with the support needed to succeed and prepare for the next steps in education and ultimately life.

As SENDCO I liaise with class teachers to monitor pupil's progress and identify children whose progress is slower than expected and may be displaying a range of needs that are causing barriers to learning. Furthermore, I co-ordinate all specific provision put in place, through a Provision Map, to support children with additional needs /disabilities.

I am responsible for writing and implementing the SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disability) policy and keeping abreast of new initiatives and information that is put forward.

Details about Derbyshire's local offer can be found here- Derbyshire Local Offer

SEND Code of Practice

The Children and Families Act 2014 came into force on September 1st 2014 and the Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs and Disability was issued in June 2014 (see links below).

The SEND Code of Practice describes the principles that should be observed by all professionals working with children and young people who have SEN / disabilities these include:

taking into account the views of children, young people and their families
enabling children, young people and their parents to participate in the decision making
collaborating with partners in education, health and social care to provide support
identifying the needs of children and young people
making high quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people
focusing on inclusive practices and removing barriers to learning
helping children and young people to prepare for adulthood

Derbyshire County Council has also produced a 'Derbyshire Local Offer' outlining their aims (www.derbyshiresendlocaloffer.org) and as a school we have set out our offer that we aim to adhere to.

At Bakewell Methodist Junior School we unequivocally are inclusive to all children and our aim is to meet the needs of those children, with high aspirations and expectations for all, who are with us. Some of these children may have been identified with additional needs that may affect their learning and participation and overall enjoyment of school. If needs have been highlighted we:

work closely with the parent/career to support and ascertain as much information as
possible
work closely with the child to support and reassure and gain further information
work closely with outside agencies to gain advice and guidance on the best way forward
work with a great emphasis on the participation of our children and parents in
decision making at individual and strategic levels through a ‘person centred approach’
have a strong focus on high aspirations and improving outcomes for all of our children

Children may have less severe needs that may need some kind of extra intervention that school can provide, for example, one to one tuition, extra reading time, maths and English interventions. Other children may have a specific need that affects their learning and extra support from outside agencies may be called upon, for example, Speech and Language Therapy, Support Service for Special Educational Needs, Behaviour Support, Educational Psychologist etc. Through a partnership with the child, parent, teacher and where appropriate outside agencies, an SEND Support Plan is drawn up, which fully puts the child at the centre, through a person-centred graduated approach to meet their needs and target the areas to enable them to make their optimum progress in a fulfilled and enjoyable way.

SEND Support Plans are reviewed at least termly with the child being at the centre and full parent involvement and participation. External agencies may be at the review if required and further targets then are agreed and set to ensure progress is made. A child with more severe needs may have been assessed and granted an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) under the Code of Practice and this will be reviewed annually through a person-centred approach, with support from outside agencies.

Teachers are professionally trained to make appropriate adaptations to the curriculum and learning environment to meet the differing needs of our children. Adaptations can include iPads, use of ICT resources, coloured overlays, use of some Makaton, visual timetables, personal space and timeout sessions, ‘preferred activities’ etc. to enable children with SEND to engage in activities and our curriculum.

Rigorous assessment, either in school through our assessment procedures or by an external agent, will be carried out or reported back to the child, parent, class teacher, SENDCO.

We evaluates our effectiveness in relation to SEND and strive to improve practice through briefings, conferences and continual professional development training. We endeavours to update practice and strategically develop through the School Improvement Plan to improve further.

Admissions

Admissions for children are the same for all other children. If the child has an EHCP a request is made to the school to ensure the needs of the child can be met. If more information os requires please speak to Mrs Owens or contact DCC SEND departments.

Contacts

If you have any concerns about any Special Educational Needs or Disability matter, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone 01629 812389, calling into school or by e-mail: info@bakewell-jun.derbyshire.sch.uk

If you have a complaint or concern, please do contact me at school and refer to the Complaints Policy on our website if appropriate.

Sarah Owens
SENDCO and Headteacher