SEND Commonly Asked Questions

As a small school, every child is highly valued as an individual. We get to know our pupils and look at our pupils not just in terms of academic progress but social and emotional progress as well. Monitoring is completed formally at Pupil Progress Meetings which take place termly but regular informal assessment take place continuously. We are a small team and there is close communication between all the staff team, including the teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, the Headteacher and Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo). Please also see our SEND Policy for further details of how we identify children with special educational needs and/or disability.

If a teacher is concerned about a pupil’s progress, he or she will discuss this with you (the parents/carers) and put steps in place to support the child’s learning. The SENDCO and/or Headteacher will be involved in this monitoring.

We welcome parent collaboration; the importance of early identification, assessment and provision for any child who may have special educational needs cannot be over-emphasised.

If you are concerned:

  • Speak to the class teacher first. They will know how your child is doing in school and can offer additional support if necessary.
  • The teacher may discuss next steps with the SENDCO, Miss Emma Westall.
  • The SENDCo will organise a parent consultation, if appropriate, to discuss the child’s needs.
  • The SENDCo has an open door policy and it is not necessary to wait for a specific parents’ evening to see her. Parents simply email or phone and book an appointment.

Please see What happens if I am concerned about my child’s learning, behaviour, or social and emotional wellbeing?

As a mainstream primary school, we cater for all pupils who may have SEND, as identified using the criteria set out in the Code of Practice (2014):

  • Communication and interaction: difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication.
  • Cognition and learning: where children learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. A child may have difficulty in understanding parts of the curriculum; have difficulties with organisation and memory skills or have a specific difficulty affecting one particular part of their learning such as in literacy or numeracy
  • Social, emotional and mental health difficulties: children can experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming 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.
  • Sensory and/or physical needs: where children and young people have visual and/or hearing impairments, or a physical need that means they must have additional on-going support and equipment.

Although the terms SEN and SEND do often overlap, this does not mean that a child necessarily has a disability and vice versa. We also recognise that many children may experience needs in one or more area but one will always be the primary area.  

We are fully committed to the principle of inclusion and welcome all children to our school. We endeavour to ensure that appropriate provision is made to cater for their particular needs.

As a school we are happy to discuss individual access requirements. Facilities we have at present include:

  • ramps into school to make the building accessible to all
  • single storey building
  • toilet adapted for disabled users
  • wide doors in some parts of the building

Pupils with medical needs:

If a pupil has a medical need then a detailed Care Plan is compiled with support from the school nurse in consultation with parents/carers. These are discussed with all staff that are involved with the pupil:

  • All staff receive Epi‐pen training delivered by the school nurse.
  • All staff receive Asthma Training
  • Where necessary and in agreement with parents/carers medicines are administered in school but only where a signed Medicine consent form is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member.
  • All staff have basic first aid training and at least three members of staff are trained in paediatric first aid

We operate a ‘graduated approach’ to support with clear targets which are measured before moving to or back from one type of support to the next.

Download: Graduated Approach – North Road

If there is evidence that your child needs additional targeted support (SEN Support or an Education and Health Care Plan) some of the following strategies might take place:

These are dependent on the needs of your child; we are led by their needs and not the method of support, here are just some examples:

The SENDCo holds the postgraduate qualification for the National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination; another member of staff, Miss Tamara Hambly, is continuing her training towards the completion of the National Award in September 2021. Our Headteacher, Mrs Stillie, also holds the National Award and a Vulnerable Learners and Inclusion Qualification.

All staff attend weekly Continued Professional Development (CPD) sessions. Training is organised in line with the school improvement plan. External agencies such as an educational psychologist might also give staff-wide training, such as a recent session on Social Stories. Occasionally, specialised training will be necessary to support the needs of a particular student. This will be provided to those staff most directly involved with the student.  Staff who receive training will share their knowledge to others to benefit all working in SEND. As a school, we are part of the Domino Alliance and there is an established Teaching Assistant Directory, which details interventions run at each school, and will provide training opportunities for visiting staff members. The SENDCo attends termly Cluster meetings and shares ideas and good practice with teaching and support staff.

If we need further assessment and advice in order to provide appropriate support for your child, we can call upon a range of external services including:

We would always seek your permission to make these referrals.

We aim to place your child at the centre of their learning. We believe that all pupils should be involved in making decisions about their education where appropriate, and have their views listened to and valued. Every September, your child, will complete a Pupil Passport which asks them for their views on their learning, their learning style and the support they receive. Your child will also have regular informal conversations, and a formal conversation once a year with the SENDCo, where he/she can share their views.

At North Road we involve pupils to understand their difficulties, and provide them with strategies to overcome these needs as independently as possible.  We also encourage pupils with SEND to make choices about their targets through their My Plan, facilitated by an adult. Every term the class teachers, support staff and SENDCo meet to discuss individual children and to review their progress. Your child’s targets and progress is discussed with them and opinions shared at this meeting.

We believe that children need to be happy, safe and secure in order for high quality learning to take place. With this in mind, we offer a number of ways to help your child including PSHE (Personal, Social, Healthcare and Emotional) lessons; an ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant); Sandbox and Talking Mats Therapy and individualised interventions such as Social Stories and Social and Friendship groups. Our Pastoral lead is Miss Andrews.

Your child will be encouraged to take part in all aspects of school life and provision, where possible, will be put in place to encourage school trips and visits and their attendance in after school clubs.

All interventions are put onto a large spreadsheet called a Provision Map. Each intervention is carefully planned and has a starting and target end point. Every term, class teachers have dedicated time to discuss the how effective the interventions have been with the person who has carried them out, be that the SEN teaching assistant, a class teaching assistant, another class teacher or the SENDCo. They will also discuss the intervention with your child.

Following this, the class teacher and SENDCo meet every term to review the interventions, critically analyse how effective they have been and discuss next steps. These discussions form the basis of the My Plans which are shared, discussed and amended with you as the parent or carer and your child. The school encourages feedback from staff, parents and pupils throughout the year.

In addition to this, the SENDCo also attends, where possible, the termly Pupil Progress Meetings which take place between classroom staff and the Headteacher where progress is analysed. The SENDCo also receives all progress data from the Headteacher which is produced termly and enables her to track a child against the National Curriculum.

If your child has an Educational and Health Care Plan (EHCP), an Annual Review will also take place. This is a meeting where everyone involved in your child’s education will be invited and will assess the pupil’s progress in relation to the targets set at the last annual review. This is a further layer of assessment, tracking the effectiveness of provision for pupils with an EHCP.

The SEND School Governor, Kerry Holland, meets with the SENDCo regularly and discusses and challenges SEND policy and practice, providing checks and balances and monitoring the effectiveness of SEND provision. Once a year, the SENDCo also produces a report for the governors regarding the effectiveness of provision for pupils with SEND.

We believe that effective and continuous communication between staff, pupils and parents – having a common and known target – is the best way to help your child progress.

We strive to include parents in each part of the assess, plan, do, review cycle:

  • Assess: If a barrier to learning is found, we will talk to you to gather your views. This may be an informal conversation with the class teacher or SENDCo or you may, for instance, be asked to complete a questionnaire.
  • Plan: When the intervention is planned, we will produce a My Plan document which will then be shared with you by the class teacher. We welcome your input and feedback into this document.
  • Do: When the intervention is taking place, the TA or class teacher may give you informal feedback, commenting on successes and tips on things you could do at home.
  • Review: My Plans are reviewed termly and a new cycle begins. You will meet with the class teacher termly.

In addition to this, all parents will meet with the class teacher termly for Parents Evening. For some children, a home/school communication books might be used to pass on key information. You have access to all documentation held for their child upon request. 

We also invite you to termly Speech and Language ‘drop in’ sessions and specific training when it is appropriate. You will always be invited to feedback sessions from our Educational Psychologist about your child. For children with an EHCP, you provide a written report and are actively involved in the Annual Review meetings.

The SENDCo regularly meets with parents and is available on a Thursday. Please do book an appointment if you would like to see her.

Due to the ongoing Covid restrictions since March 2020 we have been unable to involve parents face-to-face and have missed the physical ease of talking and creating a community of parents of children with SEND. This is something that we will continue to work hard to foster over the coming year.

Transition to another class or school can be difficult for children with SEND, so we prioritise this challenging time.

Starting School

The class teacher will visit you in your home before your child starts school. The SENDCo will aim to meet with you within two weeks of your child starting school to discuss how we can support your child. Our Headteacher, Mrs Stillie, is also always willing to meet families before your child joins the school.

Sometimes, we may visit your child in their nursery setting and speak to the SEND staff there to gain further information. We may also support your child with additional visits to the school, when there are no children or with picture books of their new classroom for you to share with them before they start school.

Moving to another school

Secondary school staff will visit pupils prior to them joining their new school.  Miss Westall – the SENDCo – will talk with the SENCOs from the secondary schools to pass on important information. Where a pupil may have more specialised needs, a separate meeting may be arranged with Miss Westall, the secondary school SENCO, the parents/carers and where appropriate the pupil. If your child has an EHCP, a special and detailed Transitional Annual Review will take place, normally in October, before your child starts at secondary school the following year. 

When the child moves to a new school, all records about him/her are forwarded to the school as soon as requested.

Moving between classes and phases

Before the child starts another class within the school, your child’s current and next teacher will meet in advance of the new school year as part of the transition process. All pupils take part in transition days where they spend some time with their new class. The SENDCo also produces SEND handover notes for all class teachers which detail needs, important updates and things that need to take place, along with upcoming dates. Where the child has more complex needs, a meeting may be held at a key transition point with the parent, teacher, SENDCO and a professional from an outside service.

We know that when your child has additional needs there can be a lot going on and that sometimes you may not be happy with the provision in place for your child. Please do share any concerns. We will try our best to address any issues in the best interest of your child.

The first point of call is always the class teacher.  When meeting with the class teacher to raise your concerns, please be patient, the class teacher may need time to seek advice on your child’s needs or put corrective measures in place and then determine their effectiveness. If the issues remain then a meeting with the SENDCo should be arranged. Following this, then an appointment to discuss it with the Headteacher should be made. If the matter remains unresolved, a letter should be sent to the school’s Chair of Governors.

This is the link to the full Complaints Policy

The SENDCo at is Miss Emma Westall

Emma works one day a week (currently Thursday). She can be easily contacted on her email: emma.westall@sgmail.org.uk. In her absence, please speak to the Headteacher.

The full SEND policy can be found here.

Report published in March after consultation with school staff (after consultation), governors (at full governors meeting  25.02.2021) and parents (parents of children currently on SEND register TBC)