SEND and Inclusion at St Peter's Infant School
St Peter’s Infant School adopts an inclusive approach. Whilst the curriculum offered at St. Peter’s is differentiated to take account of children’s differing abilities and experiences, there are still some children that have additional interventions in terms of learning, communication difficulties, physical restrictions, emotional and social difficulties. These children are identified according to LA guidelines and in compliance with the Government Code of Practice under the heading of 'Special Educational Needs and Disabilities' (SEND). We aim to identify these children as early on in their school life as we can in order to give them the appropriate support.
Mrs Collins, our SENDCO (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator), oversees all children with special educational needs and disabilities. Class teachers are responsible for providing support to children who are on our Special Needs and Disabilities Register, supported by our TAs (Teaching Assistants). Children with an Educational Health Care Plan are often given individual support. Please speak to your child’s Class Teacher if your child if you have any concerns or would like to speak further about any identified additional needs so that home and school work together to the benefit of your child.
There is a Governor with specific responsibility for SEND. The Governing Body are very proactive concerning the needs of our children, agreeing funding expenditure on resources and additional hours for support staff as appropriate.
ELSA time, ‘Draw and Talk’, Play Therapy and Lego Therapy are provided for children who may benefit from some additional social and/or emotional support. Outside agencies (e.g. Educational Psychologist, Behaviour Support, Speech and Language and Occupational Therapist) may be approached where children are thought to require more help than the school can provide or further investigation is being sought.
Arrangements for pupils with a disability
At times, a few children at St Peter’s Infant School may have disabilities and need additional resources or adaptations made. The school is committed to providing a learning environment that allows these children as full access as possible to all areas. Parents of children with disabilities are asked to provide the Headteacher with details of the disability as soon as a school place is offered. A meeting will then be arranged between the Headteacher, SENDCO and parents to discuss the difficulties the child’s disability might face within the life of the school and how these can be overcome. Advice and assistance from the Education Office or specialist agencies may be sought in assessing the necessary alterations / adaptations that may be required to accommodate the needs of the child and to support their access into and around the building where feasible. Arrangements and any reasonable adjustments necessary that can be made to enable the child to participate fully in all lessons and activities will then be made and implemented. This may include briefing staff, employing support staff, acquiring special equipment, rearranging furniture and making minor adaptations to the building and may take time to put into place ready for the child to begin at St Peter’s. The school’s accommodation has been improved - there is access to all classrooms via ramps from the outside and an adult toilet for the disabled has been installed which can also be accessed by children.
As a school we are happy to discuss individual cases.
Further information can be found in the Accessibility Plan under the 'Policies' section.
SEND Information Report and SEND Information
The aim at St Peter's Infant School is that all children will achieve their full potential both academically and socially.
Quality first teaching is paramount to ensure we fulfil this aim for our children. We have been judged as GOOD for the past 5 consecutive OFSTEDs.
For some children, however, it is necessary to provide additional support and/or resources to enable them to achieve their targets in school.
This information has been produced to answer questions you may have about the Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) support that is being provided to help your child in school.
The full SEND report to Governors is updated yearly and details the services and provision that St Peters Offers.
External Agency Support for Parents
There are a wide range of external agencies which can help to support St Peter's families.
Their websites are listed below. If you are unsure if an agency can support you, please contact Helen Collins (SENDCo) who would be happy to advise.
The Medway Local SEND offer
Medway council provides a Local Offer. This provides help and support to children and young people who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Click the link below for more information.
Independent advice for a child with SEND in Medway
NHS Services including Health and Paediatricians
MCH Snapdragons Children's Centre
For parents and families who are currently waiting diagnosis for a recognised need.
For parents and families who need advice on toileting , sleep and other health needs
Social Emotional Mental Health support
For support and advice for support for child and adult mental health referrals
MIND – Support for Mental Health and advice
For advice for support in positive mental health
Bereavement Support- Holding on, Letting Go
For respite and support for both bereaved children and adults
Wider Support for Families
Medway Small Steps Family Action
For parents and families who have children who present with Social Communication or Attention needs
Support network for families who have children who have Autism.
Support for young children who are living with others who have needs.
Medway Parent and Carers Forum
Parental support and impartial advice for parents
The SEND Team – Roles & Responsibilities:
Mrs Helen Collins – SENDCO (collh095@stpeters.medway.sch.uk)
I am responsible for the co-ordination of Special Educational Needs & Disabilities throughout the School. It is my job to ensure that, as a school, we are following the Code of Practice https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25 as well as ensuring all practice in school is in line with our Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Policy. I liaise regularly with staff to ensure that children are given the most appropriate support/resources for their individual needs as well as relevant parents to lsiten, support and advise them as they seek to support their child. A large part of my role is to work closely with external agencies (see section below) to gain specialist advice and support for individual children. I also ensure that any requests for information on individual children are passed onto the relevant agencies and that parents are kept fully informed of this.
Miss Keely Mason - Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (masok035@stpeters.medway.sch.uk)
Miss Mason works in a supportive role with families experiencing difficulties. This includes Child Protection issues, attendance issues, deprivation issues and parents who may wish to discuss personal family concerns confidentially/privately. Miss Mason also works to support children in school identified as benefitting from the support of 'Draw and Talk' and Lego Therapy for those children who may be facing difficult situations as well as providing emotional support to improve children's mental health.
Speech and Language Therapist The school buys the time of a Speech and Language Therapist to support children with specific needs in this area.
Occupational Health Therapist The school buys the time of an Occupational Health Therapist to support children who may have a sensory or physical need.
One of the biggest barriers to working together is how we communicate.
There are many SEND terms that are abbreviated which can lead to confusion (even for us!).
GLOSSARY OF MOST USED SEND TERMS |
|||
AAP |
Attendance Advisory Practitioner |
FSM |
Free School Meals |
ADD |
Attention Deficit Disorder |
HI |
Hearing Impairment |
ADHD |
Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder |
ICSS |
Individual Children’s Support Service (Pre-school) |
AOS |
Autism Outreach service |
ISR |
In School Review |
ASD |
Autistic Spectrum Disorder |
KS |
Key Stage |
BESD |
Behavioural Emotional & Social Difficulties |
LA |
Local Authority |
BSS |
Behaviour support |
MLD |
Moderate Learning Difficulty |
CAF |
Common Assessment Framework |
NC |
National Curriculum |
CAMHS |
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service |
OT |
Occupational Therapist |
CAST |
Child and Adolescent Support Team |
PSP |
Pastoral Support Programme |
CLA |
Child Looked After |
SLT |
Speech and Language Therapist |
COP |
Code of Practice |
SaLT |
Speech & Language Therapy |
CP |
Child Protection |
SEMH |
Social, Emotional and Mental Health |
DCD |
Developmental Co-ordination Disorder |
SEN |
Special Educational Needs |
EAL |
English as an Additional Language |
SEND |
Special Educational Needs & Disability |
EH |
Early Help |
SENCO |
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator |
EP |
Educational Psychologist |
SpLD |
Specific Learning Difficulty |
FS |
Foundation Stage |
VI |
Visual Impairment |
Children & Families Bill 2014
The Children & Families Act details commitments to improve services for vulnerable children and support families. It underpins wider reforms to ensure that all children and young people can succeed, no matter what their background. The Act reforms the systems for adoption, looked after children, family justice and special educational needs.
The Government has transformed the system for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), including those who are disabled, so that services consistently support the best outcomes for them. The Act extends the SEND system from birth to 25, giving children, young people and their parents/carers greater control and choice in decisions and ensuring needs are properly met.
It takes forward the reform programme set out in ‘Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability: Progress and next steps’ by:
- replacing statements and learning difficulty assessments with a new birth-to-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, extending rights and protections to young people in further education and training and offering families personal budgets so that they have more control over the support they need;
- improving cooperation between all the services that support children and their families and particularly requiring local authorities and health authorities to work together;
- requiring local authorities to involve children, young people and parents in reviewing and developing provision for those with special educational needs and to publish a ‘local offer’ of support.
How is the Code of Practice Implemented?
The Medway framework will allow the SEND Information Report to provide parents/carers with information about how to access services in their area, and what they can expect from those services. With regard to Education, it will let parents/carers and young people know how school and colleges will support them, and what they can expect across the local settings.
The link to Medway's Local Offer Website is
What Information does the school need to provide?
1.The kinds of special educational needs for which provision is made at the school.
2. Information, in relation to mainstream schools and maintained nursery schools, about the school’s policies for the identification and assessment of pupils with special educational needs.
3. Information about the school’s policies for making provision for pupils with special educational needs whether or not pupils have EHC Plans, including—
(a)how the school evaluates the effectiveness of its provision for such pupils;
(b)the school’s arrangements for assessing and reviewing the progress of pupils with special educational needs;
(c)the school’s approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs;
(d)how the school adapts the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with special educational needs;
(e)additional support for learning that is available to pupils with special educational needs;
(f)how the school enables pupils with special educational needs to engage in the activities of the school (including physical activities) together with children who do not have special educational needs; and
(g)support that is available for improving the emotional, mental and social development of pupils with special educational needs.
4. In relation to mainstream schools and maintained nursery schools, the name and contact details of the SEN co-ordinator.
5. Information about the expertise and training of staff in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and about how specialist expertise will be secured.
6. Information about how equipment and facilities to support children and young people with special educational needs will be secured.
7. The arrangements for consulting parents of children with special educational needs about, and involving such parents in, the education of their child.
8. The arrangements for consulting young people with special educational needs about, and involving them in, their education.
9. Any arrangements made by the governing body or the proprietor relating to the treatment of complaints from parents of pupils with special educational needs concerning the provision made at the school.
10. How the governing body involves other bodies, including health and social services bodies, local authority support services and voluntary organisations, in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and in supporting the families of such pupils
11. The contact details of support services for the parents of pupils with special educational needs, including those for arrangements made in accordance with section 32.
12. The school’s arrangements for supporting pupils with special educational needs in a transfer between phases of education or in preparation for adulthood and independent living.
13. Information on where the local authority’s local offer is published.
Full details of the above information is available in:
SEND report to Governors 2022-23
SEND Policy
School appreciates that parents may need a quick way of accessing this information and therefore has answered key questions.