Open and Honest Communication

At St Laurence Church Infant School if we think your child needs extra support we will always talk with you about this. We will make sure that all the information we need to share with you is clear and easy to understand. We have a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) who will explain everything to you and make sure you understand what is happening. The SENCO is happy to discuss any concerns you have. The SENCO will make sure all the necessary school staff are aware of your child’s needs. Your child’s progress will be reviewed regularly and you will be invited into school to discuss the outcomes and give your views. Your child will also be able to give their views in an age appropriate way.

A Partnership Approach

At St Laurence Church Infant School we have a commitment to working in partnership with you to identify your child’s needs. We will put in place the necessary support to meet these needs including family support if you need this. We will involve you in all decisions and listen to your views. There may be occasions when we will ask your permission to involve other qualified professionals to support your child. This will be done in discussion with you and we hope you will understand and support the decision. We will be happy to give you contact details for organisations who can give you advice and help to support you and your child.

Appropriate and Effective Teaching and Learning

At St Laurence Church Infant School we will provide at least good teaching for your child; when needed, we will provide extra support. Class teachers will regularly assess children to inform teaching, provide feedback to children and communicate children’s progress to parents. They will know where a child is currently working and what they need to learn next and differentiate the curriculum as necessary. All school staff will receive appropriate training so they have the skills, knowledge, understanding and confidence required to support children’s needs. A range of resources will be provided to support the learning of children with additional needs in all learning areas. St Laurence Church Infant School will provide children who need support managing their own behaviour and/or support building up skills and confidence in dealing with social situations with the help they need. We will make every effort to ensure that children with additional needs and their families are able to take part fully in every aspect of school life.

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The SENCO – Mrs Louise Evans

She is responsible for:

• Coordinating all the support for the children Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities and delivering the school’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get consistent and high quality provision to meet their needs in school.
• Ensuring that you are involved in supporting your child’s learning, kept informed about the support your child is getting and involved in reviewing the progress they are making.
• Liaising with all the other people who may come into school to support your child’s learning.
• Overseeing that all staff working with your child are aware of your child’s individual needs and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and make progress.
• Making sure there are records of your child’s progress and needs.
• Providing support for school staff so they can help all children with Special Educational Needs make the best possible progress in school.

Your child’s Class Teacher

He/She is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all children have access to teaching that is at least good and that the teaching is adapted to meet the needs of all the children in the class. This is also known as differentiation.
• Checking on your child’s progress and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need.
• Ensuring that all staff working with your child are aware of your child’s individual needs and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and make progress.
• Ensuring the delivery of all planned work for your child so they can achieve the best possible progress.
• Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom.
• Planning and overseeing the work undertaken by the class teaching assistant with children with Special Educational Needs.

The Headteacher – Mrs Catherine Smith

She is responsible for:

• The day to day management of all aspects of the school; this includes the support for children with SEND.
• Delegating responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers but retaining overall responsibility for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
• Making sure the school has an up-to-date SEND Policy.
• Making sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school that relate to SEND.

The SEND Governor – Mrs Sheena Rancins

She is responsible for:

• Making sure the school has an up-to-date SEND Policy.
• Making sure the school provides appropriately and makes necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all children in the school.
• Making sure the necessary support is provided for any child attending the school with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities.
• Making visits to understand and monitor SEND provision and being part of the management process that ensures your child achieves their potential in school.

There are 4 categories of SEND:

• Children with speech, language and communication needs. This category includes children with Autism Spectrum Disorder who are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction.
• Cognition and learning. This category includes moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties. It includes specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties. This category includes behaviours such as being withdrawn or isolated as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression. Other children may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or attachment disorder.
• Sensory and/or physical needs. This category includes vision impairment, hearing impairment, multisensory impairment, physical disability. These children will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning.

Children in school will get support that is specific to their individual needs. We refer to this individual support as their Personalised Support Programme. This programme of support may be provided solely by their class teacher. It may also involve other staff in school, staff who will visit the school from Local Authority agencies or other outside agencies.

We will speak to their current setting and visit it to meet you and your child. We will invite you to visit the school and meet key staff. If other professionals are involved we will share information.

If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially. If you are still concerned you should speak to the SENCO. If you are still not happy please speak to the Headteacher and if this does not resolve the situation to your satisfaction speak to the school SEND governor.

Mrs Evans, our SENCO, can be contacted through the school office.

Also see our Complaints Policy on our Policies page.

When a teacher or you has raised concerns about your child’s progress and Quality First Teaching has not met your child’s needs the SENCO should be made aware of this situation. Every term Pupil Progress Meetings take place between class teachers and members of the senior leadership team to ensure all children are making good progress. These meetings are another way your child may be identified as not making as much progress as they should. If your child is identified a meeting will be set up to discuss this with you in more detail and to listen to any concerns you may have, to plan any additional support your child may receive and to discuss with you any referrals to outside agencies to support your child’s learning.

The school budget includes money for supporting children with Special Educational Needs. The Headteacher and Governing Body decide on the allocation of resources for Special Educational Needs within the school. All information about SEND in the school and the children involved is taken into account. The Headteacher in consultation with the SENCO decides what training and resources are needs – these are reviewed regularly and changes made as necessary.

The Local Authority’s Access to Education Service provides a range of specialist support services:

• Pupil and School Support
• Educational Psychology
• Physical difficulties Support
• Sensory Support
• Communication and Autism Support
• Behaviour Support

We are also able to refer to Family Support, through Pathfinders, and Safeguarding Teams when this is in the child’s best interests.

• Speech and Language Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Community Paediatrican
• School Nurse
• ADHD Nurse
• CAMHS

The SENCO’s job is to support the class teachers in planning for children with SEND. Training takes place on a regular basis. This includes whole school training on SEND issues or individual training courses run by outside agencies.

Class teachers plan teaching according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class and will ensure that your child’s needs are met. Specific strategies and resources will used to support your child individually or in groups. Planning and teaching will be responsive to your child’s needs on a daily basis to meet their needs.

Your child’s progress is continually monitored by the class teacher. Progress is reviewed every term. If your child is in Year 1 or 2 an Individual Target Plan (ITP) will be used to track small steps of progress.

At the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception) all children are required to be assessed through their class teacher’s observations and professional judgements. The class teacher records each child’s development. The completed assessment is known as the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile.

At the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) all children are required to be formally assessed.

All children who have an identified Special Educational Need should have their progress reviewed every term and those with a Statement of Special Educational Need or an EHC Plan should also have their progress formally reviewed at an Annual Review.

The SENCO will check that your child is making progress.

We would like you to talk to your child’s class teacher regularly so we know what they are doing at home and we can keep you up to date with what we are doing to support them in school. The SENCO is available to meet you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns or worries you may have. All assessments from outside agencies and suggestions made by them will be discussed with you and you can meet with them if you feel that would be useful. A home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you when this would be useful for you and your child.

We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs. After school activities are extended to all children regardless of their needs.

We know that moving on can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transitions is as smooth as possible.

If your child is moving to another school we will contact the school SENCO and ensure that they know about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child. When moving to the Junior School there is a carefully planned programme of transition events plus additional resources and visits for children with SEND. We will also ensure that all records about your child are passed on. When moving classes in school we will ensure information is passed on to the new class teacher in advance and ensure that your child is familiar with their new classroom and class teacher.

Most children with Special Educational Needs can have their needs met within their local community. Birmingham Local Authority, in line with all other local authorities, has produced a local offer which is a web based resource with all the information about education, health and care services in one place (launched mid September 2014). It also includes information about leisure activities and support groups. It is clear, accessible and developed and reviewed by its service users. This local offer should help families and setting access all the available support and services in order to meet your child’s needs effectively. If your child’s needs are too complex or severe to be met within the school you can make the decision that special provision may be a better alternative and seek this outcome through the formal assessment process.

Birmingham Local Authority’s local offer detailing information and advice about services available to your family and giving quick access to the directory of services can be read here

St Laurence Church Infant School has a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy and makes reasonable adjustments in line with the Equality Act 2010 and as detailed in the school’s Accessibility Scheme.

The document below contains links to websites that will support your children at home.

• SEND Support Websites

Please note: External links are selected and reviewed when the page is published. However, the school is not responsible for the content of external websites.