SEND

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SENCo details

Corina Antcliff – SENCo

Lauren Bennett  - SENCo/Teacher

Rebecca Molson – Early Years SENCo

0114 232 6603

senco@watercliffe.sheffield.sch.uk

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What kinds of special educational needs do we provide for?

We are a mainstream inclusive school and aim to meet the needs of all children and put provision in place to reduce their barriers to learning.

Currently these are some of the range of needs we are providing for:

1. Communication and Interaction – Speech and Language, ASD, Social Communication Difficulties
2. Cognition and Learning – General Learning Difficulties, Specific Learning Difficulties
3. Social, Emotional and Mental Health – Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, ADHD
4. Sensory and/or Physical – Physical Disabilities, Hearing Impairment, Visual Impairment, Medical needs

Provision for SEND is defined as support which is additional to or different from that which is available to all students (SEND Code of Practice 2015).

Our ‘Social Communication’ Hub is a bespoke learning area in school which caters for children with ASD and/or Social Communication Difficulties.

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How does the school identify children with special educational needs?

How do staff at Watercliffe Meadow know if pupils need extra help?

• In the course of their usual practice a class teacher might notice that a child is having difficulty with an aspect of learning. The class teacher will refer to the school’s provision maps to implement provision needed. If little or no progress is made then a discussion with the SENCo is the next step.
•  Information may already be known about the child through information passed on by their previous school
•   By using subject or skills-based assessments that all children take part in such as the Year 1 phonics check, the EYFS profile, reading assessments etc.
•   By using assessments on an individual basis, where we think there is the need to use them

 · A parent might raise a concern about learning difficulties

•  If your child is identified as having a Special Educational Need which requires additional support, this will be discussed with you and your child will be added to our school SEND Register. Concerns from parents are discussed and recorded and the child is then monitored further following the graduated response approach. All parental concerns are acted upon.

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What support do we provide for improving Emotional and Social development?

At Watercliffe Meadow we have a whole school understanding of SEMH and the impact that emotional and social difficulties can have on a child’s learning and wellbeing. 4 members of the Senior Leadership Team have completed a 10 day diploma programme run by Trauma informed schools UK. All staff at Watercliffe Meadow have had Trauma informed training for 1 day. 2 members of the Senior Leadership Team attended Nurturing schools programme and the school was presented with an award. 2 members of the Senior Leadership Team have completed Healthy Minds training. This training has been implemented into the classroom.

Every child in school has a Boxall profile completed twice a year. From these the Inclusion team identify individual and groups of children that would benefit from interventions. These interventions may include Zones of Regulation, Social skills, turn taking, Friendships, raising self-esteem. The Boxall profile is also used for identifying areas of work which needs covering in a whole class setting e.g. circle time. The whole school have also had training on Zones of Regulation and have implemented this into the setting.

We work alongside an Education Mental Health Practitioner for 1 day each week. We identify children who may benefit from low CBT and the Practitioner will work with them for 6 week blocks. The Practitioner may also work alongside parents.

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How do we know if your child is making progress towards their targets? How do we ensure that you and your child are involved in this?

All children with SEN have 3 reviews per year where staff discuss with parents the progress their child has made against previous targets and together set new targets.

For children who are on an APDR (Assess, Plan, Do Review) these discussions are held with class teachers during parents evenings.

For children who are on a Support Plan, My Plan, Extended Support Plan, EHC Plan these discussions are held with the SENCo, class teacher, parents and outside agencies if needed. Children’s views are collected prior to the meetings.

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How do we secure additional services and expertise to work with us?

We currently buy in extra speech and language services. Our speech and language therapist works in school every Wednesday. Working alongside our therapist is a speech and language therapy assistant who works half a day every Wednesday in the Early Years.
We access and work alongside outside agencies including FIS, Educational Psychology, Autism Team, Early Years Service, Vision impaired, Hearing impaired.
Where needed we offer to support families with Ryegate and other assessment appointments.
Watercliffe Meadow ensures that all staff have access to appropriate training. This training is planned around the changing needs of the children. In school, the annual Appraisal systems identify areas of training needs for any staff which is then accessed by outside agencies/ providers or staff with expertise in school.

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How will we ensure that your child has a successful transition from one school to another?

We recognise transition to Secondary School can be a very stressful time for our children and families so we work hard to ensure it is as smooth as possible. Our Learning Mentor Team have regular meetings with the Pastoral Support Teams at Secondary Schools and the Y6 team do a detailed handover of every child’s needs and levels with the Y7 Coordinator. Secondary school staff are invited to attend Year 6 SEN review meetings and arrangements are made for additional transition visits to secondary schools for the more vulnerable children.  If you have any questions around transition to Secondary School please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the team.
Children entering F1 or F2 receive a home visit from our F1/F2 staff or senior member of staff and a learning mentor.

  If appropriate the SENCo will attend any meetings and hold discussions with outside agencies that are involved with your child.
All children that transition to Watercliffe Meadow in year receive a home visit from a senior member of staff and a learning mentor.

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How do we evaluate the effectiveness of provision?

As well as the additional support that is on offer in all classrooms, Watercliffe Meadow also offers a range of interventions for Speech, Language and Communication, Numeracy provision, Literacy provision, Social and Emotional provision, Physical and Medical.

Data from the interventions is analysed including progress made from pre to post testing, as well as overall progress made in class as discussed during pupil progress meetings and SEND reviews.
Observations of interventions help to evaluate how effective they are. Children are assessed on RWI every 6 weeks and moved groups accordingly. We monitor feeling scores, loss of golden time, Boxall data, serious incidents and exclusions to see the impact of social and emotional interventions.

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What support do we give pupils in the classroom and how is the curriculum and learning environment adapted to meet their needs?

At Watercliffe Meadow all our staff are committed to doing all that we can to provide an inclusive, welcoming and flexible environment, curriculum and ethos that enables us to work together with families to ensure all children flourish.
Visual timetables and a range of visuals are used in every classroom. Each class teacher ensures that lessons are made accessible for SEN children and appropriate scaffolding/visuals/adaptations/support are used to meet the needs of every child in their class. From Year 3 to Year 6 children who are significantly below in their learning are identified on the Birmingham SEN Toolkit. This toolkit is used to monitor and plan for the children’s level of learning and next steps. The toolkit is also used for younger children who access out Beach provision on a regular basis (bespoke provision).
Each classroom has at least 1 experienced Teaching Assistant who helps to support children in their learning.
The SENCo, class teacher and parents work closely with outside agencies to implement any recommendations to help support the progress of the child.

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How do we ensure that your child is included in non-classroom based activities?

We ensure that activities are fully accessible to children with SEND. Close consultation with parents when planning trips and activities is sought. We assist children to access trips and activities in a variety of ways e.g. providing additional support when necessary.
Where necessary we will make physical adaptations to allow learners with SEND to be included.
We encourage all our children to take part in extra-curricular activities such as, Young Voices, gardening club, computer club. We work closely with individual children, their teachers and parents to ensure all needs are met.

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What are the arrangements for the admission for disabled pupils?

Watercliffe Meadow will ensure it meets its duties under the Schools Admissions Code of Practice by:

· Not refusing admission for a child that has named the school in their EHC plan.

 · Adopting fair practices and arrangements in accordance with the Schools Admission Code for the admission of children without an EHC plan.

 · Considering applications from parents of children who have SEN but do not have an EHC plan.

· Not refusing admission for a child who has SEN but does not have an EHC plan because the school does not feel able to cater for those needs.

 · Not refusing admission for a child on the grounds that they do not have an EHC plan. Where a disabled child is admitted, the school liaises with all external agencies and professionals to gather information and if necessary have a pre-admission meeting where the needs of the child, including any adjustments that need to be made, can be discussed.

Point 10 – ensure disabled pupils treated fairly

Children with a disability will not be refused admission into Watercliffe Meadow. We recognise that children with medical conditions should be supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. Some children with medical conditions may be disabled and where this is the case the school will comply with its duties under the Equality Act 2010. Some may also have special educational needs (SEN) and may have a statement, or Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan which brings together health and social care needs, as well as their special educational provision and the SEND Code of Practice (2015) is followed.

How accessible is the school environment? · As a school we are happy to discuss individual access requirements. ·. The school is a two storey building with several access points from outside. All entrances are either flat or ramped. The main school entrance has wide doors for accessibility of wheelchairs. There is a lift to gain access to the second floor. On-site parking includes two disabled bays for visitors. There are disabled toilet facilities available on both floors for staff, pupils and visitors. Internal signage is used with different languages and symbols.· Our school complies with the Equalities Act 2010, which stipulates that schools have in place an Accessibility Plan. This is available on the school website

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How do we ensure that disabled pupils are treated fairly?

Children with a disability will not be refused admission into Watercliffe Meadow. We recognise that children with medical conditions should be supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. Further information about the arrangements in place in school to support children with disabilities can be found in the Accessibility Plan.

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How does the school handle complaints from parents of children with SEND about the provision made at the school?

If a parent has a complaint the following procedure takes place:
1. An appointment is made to discuss this with the class teacher. A follow up appointment is made if necessary.
2. If not satisfied, an appointment to discuss the complaint with the SENCo/Headteacher will be made.
3. If still not satisfied, an appointment with the Inclusion governor and the chair of Governors will be made.
4. If the problem is unresolved, the parent may contact the Local Authority about the matter.
5. At any time the parent may seek help from SSENDIAS (Sheffield Special Educational Needs and Disability, information, Advice and Support) who provides impartial, confidential information, advice and support to children and young people with SEND and/or disabilities and their parents/carers.

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A link to the LA Local Offer

Our Local Authority’s Local Offer is published here:

https://www.sheffielddirectory.org.uk/localoffer

SEND children and young people may need support from a wide range of services and professionals within Education, Health and Social Care. Sheffield’s local offer will make it easier for families to find out what they need to know and help you find the nearest and most suitable services for families

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Our SEN, Disability and Inclusion policy and Accessibility Plan can be found at the bottom of this page.