SENDCO

Pupils at Holly Meadows School with Special Needs and Disabilities

Our SENDCo

Mrs Wildsmith-Garton is our Special Educational Needs or Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo)

She can be contacted on 01485 600241 or by Email: head@hollymeadows.norfolk.sch.uk

This report was updated in September 2023 and will be reviewed again in September 2024

Holly Meadows School can offer you:

• Someone to talk to; you can always speak to your child’s class teacher or the SENDCo about any concerns you may have.
• A friendly, caring environment; we value social and emotional aspects of learning as much as academic aspects.
• Quality teaching; all our teachers work to a very high standard and are very aware of the need to ensure that all pupils, with or without special educational needs and disabilities achieve the most they can.
• Well trained teachers and support staff; all staff have access to up to date training to meet the needs of individual pupils through the Local Authority funding mechanism accessed by the school.
• Access to specialist services; we can refer children to a Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologist, Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) practitioners, Autism Support Assistant, School Health, Occupational Therapy, the Vision or Hearing Impaired Services, School to School Support and a Specialist Learning Support teacher, amongst other specialists.

Identifying and Supporting Children with SEN-D at Holly Meadows School

When children start in our Reception class, they join from a number of Nursery settings and the handover systems ensure that we receive any information on their development so far, including any special need or disability already identified by parents or health workers. Children who do not join from a Nursery setting can use the home visit as an opportunity to discuss any concerns or SEN-D. If this is the case, we meet with everyone involved before the child starts school to make sure their transition to school is as smooth as possible.

All children are unique, learn in a variety of ways and develop at different rates. Any special need may not be evident until they have been in school for some time.

Every classroom caters for all children.

Pupils have special education needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

Pupils with a disability have special educational needs if they have any difficulty in accessing education and if they need any special educational provision to be made for them, that is anything that is additional to or different from what is normally available in schools in the area.

Reasonable adjustments are made to cater for the needs of individual children and we have a variety of programmes to boost and support pupils if necessary. This support and the intervention programmes include:

• Thrive*
• Talk Boost
• Sound Discovery
• Wishes and Feelings
• Word Shark
• Colourful Semantics
• Precision Teaching for Reading
• Precision Teaching for Writing
• Power of Two and
• Power of One (Maths)
• Toe by toe
• Precision Teaching for Maths
• Circle of Friends
• Sensory Circuits
• Social Stories
• Play Therapy (via Sarah Drake Play Therapy).

*Thrive supports emotional health and wellbeing of all children. Thrive can also be used to work with vulnerable children, children who might find aspects of school challenging from making friends to concentrating on a task. It is all about working with the child to understand their behaviours and feelings. By addressing emotional development needs we can build resilience and prepare children for school life and any changes that may arise. Thrive supports children to be ready and willing to learn, to engage in school life as a whole including socialising, taking an active part in class discussions, enjoying and engaging in learning and feeling more confident to understand their own feelings and behaviours.

For some learners we may want to seek advice from specialist teams. In our school and cluster we have access to various specialist services.

These include:

• Speech and Language Therapist
• Educational Psychologist
• Autism Support Teacher
• School Health including the School Nurse, the Asthma Nurse and the Epilepsy Nurse and diabetic Nurse.
• Occupational therapy
• Vision or Hearing Impaired Services (sensory support)
• Access through technology

We make sure our staff are up to date with training to help and support all our pupils. This includes:

• Autism Awareness/Social Story Training
• Visual Stress Training
• Intimate Care Training
• Diabetic Training
• Bereavement Counselling
• Epilepsy Training
• Step-on Training (Norfolk STEPS)
• Attachment Awareness
• Team Teach Training
• Behaviour Management Training
• Epi-pen Training
• Manual Handling Training
• Speech therapy training
• First Aid Training

We are also equipped with a room with a toilet, basin and shower, for children with physical difficulties or who have intimate care requirements.

Support for Learners

Each learner identified as having SEN-D is entitled to support that is additional to or different from a normal curriculum. The type of support given is dependent on the individual learning needs, and is intended to enable access to learning and overcome the barrier to learning identified.  This support is described on a provision map which describes the interventions and actions that we undertake to support learners with SEN-D across the year groups. We modify the provision map regularly and it changes every year, as our learners and their needs change. Various strategies are used to adapt access to the curriculum including visual timetables, i-pads, computers, positive behaviour reward systems, writing frames and peer buddy systems. 

This support can come in a variety of ways in order to meet the needs of the child. The support for learners could look like:

• A special learning programme
• Extra help from a teacher or assistant
• To work in a smaller group at times
• Help to take part in class activities
• Extra encouragement in their learning e.g. to ask questions or to try something they find difficult
• Help communicating with other children
• Support with physical or personal care difficulties e.g. eating, getting around school or using the toilet
• Monitoring in class or break times

Funding

When a child’s needs are viewed as exceptional and their need cannot be fully met within our own school budget, an application for funding can be made to the Local Authority for Top Up Funding. These written applications are made by the Headteacher/SENDCO via the INDES framework: Identification of needs descriptors in educational settings (INDES) - Schools (norfolk.gov.uk).

If the local authority agrees to this funding then the money is released to our school to use in our proposed way. This may be in the form of equipment, resources, training for staff, specialist advice and support, or some direct adult support for a pair our group of children with the same need, or support for an individual child. Parents will be informed if applications are made and are successful. Further funding may be necessary and subsequent applications can be made following a review of the impact.

How we find out if this effective:

Our monitoring process is an integral part of teaching and leadership at our school. Parents, carers, pupils and staff are involved in reviewing the impact of interventions for learners with SEN-D.  Before any additional provision is selected to help a child, the SENDCo, Teacher, parent, carer and learner agree what they expect to be different following this intervention. The team around the child will agree the expected outcomes. A baseline will also be recorded, which can be used to compare the impact of the provision.

If a learner has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) the same termly review conversations take place but the EHC Plan will also be formally reviewed annually.

The SENDCo collates the impact data of interventions, to ensure that your child receives a high quality provision. Progress data of all learners is collated by the whole school and monitored by teachers, Senior Leaders and Governors. Our school data is also monitored by the Local Authority and Ofsted.

Equal Opportunities for all pupils

All staff at Holly Meadows School recognise the importance of the Equality Act 2010. This legislation places specific duties on schools, settings and providers including the duty not to discriminate, harass or victimise a child or adult linked to a protected characteristic defined in the Equality Act, and to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to ensure equal opportunities.

The Equality Act 210 definition of disability is:

“A person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if (s)he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on her/his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”                       

                                                                              Section 1 (1) Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Our whole school policies on equality and behaviour ensure that arrangements are made to support children with SEN-D and measures are in place to prevent bullying.

Our school is committed to making reasonable adjustments to ensure participation of all children, including those with SEN-D, within the curriculum and with extra-curricular activities. Please contact our school’s SENDCo for further advice and support for specific requirements.

Transitions

When your child is about to join the Reception class, the class teacher arranges visits to the pre-school where your child attends, prior to joining our school, in order to meet your child.  The setting staff will talk to the class teacher and share any information regarding any SEN-D or other issue. If your child does not attend a pre-school then we also offer a home visit.

Every new Reception child is also offered Home Visit which allows the class teacher to get to know your child in their own environment where they feel most confident. In addition to this your child will visit the Reception class prior to the start of the school year, to get used to the new adults in their life and the new surroundings.

Children are assessed from their first term in Reception although they will not be aware of this. If any child has particular issues or problems we put a plan in place to give any extra support that may be needed and the class teacher will talk with the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator to see if there is any additional support or any referrals that are necessary. In the Autumn term we have meetings with parents after school to give you information about their first year and to answer any questions you may have. These meetings are held at least twice each year.

For transfer to secondary school all children spend some time at their new school, and children with SEN-D will be given extra days to meet their particular needs and to meet support staff. Our teachers meet with the staff from each secondary school to discuss any particular issues. Children identified with SEND will have a review in the summer term before they leave where they can meet and talk to Secondary school staff. Children and their families will have the opportunity to discuss any concerns. Future plans for all SEN-D students will be made with the advice and support of trained and informed staff at their secondary school or educational setting.

Identifying children with a Special Educational Need or Disability

Assessing your child

Your child will be monitored, observed and assessed to get the whole picture of them. The assessments used depend on the child’s age and include:

• Foundation Stage Profile
• Sensory Processing Observations
• Thrive assessment
• Single Word Reading and Spelling
• British Picture Vocabulary Scale assessment
• Sandwell Maths test
• Talk Boost assessment tool
• PiXL assessments in English and Maths
• Norfolk Assessment Pathway

Complaints procedure

Hopefully we never reach this stage but we recognise you may need to make a formal complaint. Our complaints policy is on our school website.

Information on Norfolk’s Local Offer can be found on the Norfolk website:

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/children-and-families/send-local-offer

Holly Meadows School

Data for the Information Report & Useful Contacts

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Categories

The SEN-D Code of Practice (2015) requires the children to be identified as having SEN-D under one of the recently introduced four new category headings:

1) Communication and interaction needs

2) Cognition and Learning needs

3) Social, emotional and mental health needs 

4) Sensory and /or physical needs

Our Current SEN-D Profile

Holly Meadows School has 137 pupils. 40 pupils (29% of the whole cohort) are identified as SEN-D (accurate at time of reporting).

Additional needs are then identified in the following way:

1) Communication and Interaction : 40%

2) Cognition and Learning: 37.5%

3) Social, emotional and mental health difficulties: 20%

4) Sensory and /or physical need 2.5%

*Percentages reflect the primary need; however we acknowledge that children may have more than one area of need. 

13% of our SEN-D pupils have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). 2 more needs assessments are currently in process.

Useful Contacts relating to SEN-D

Gemma Whiley and Suzanne Nelson our school office administrators can be contacted by email at the address: office@hollymeadows.norfolk.sch.uk  or by phone on 01485 600241.They will be able to put you in contact with the following people:

Head Teacher/ SENDCo                   Jennie Wildsmith-Garton

Inclusion  Lead                                 Susie White

Thrive/ Mental Health Lead             Clare Riviere

Thrive practitioner                           Debra Dewing                       

Inclusion Governor                         Rebecca Littlewood