Special Educational Needs

Our School's Offer In Support Of Pupils With Special Educational Needs And Or Disability (SEND) Information Report

Responsibility for the coordination of SEND provision

The person responsible for overseeing the provision for children with SENDCo is Mrs S Nash snash@st-peters.hereford.sch.uk (based at St Peter's Primary)

Tel: 01885 483237

The person co-ordinating the day to day provision of education for pupils with SEND is the school SENDCo.

Our school DSL and SPOC is Mrs S. Nash  (DSL) 01885 483237

Our DDSL's are Mrs H. Yarnold and Mrs J. Drew

Local offer special educational needs and disabilities – Herefordshire Council

Statement of Intent

St Peter’s Primary School is an inclusive school. Our vision and values are at the core of everything we do. They underpin our teaching and learning and provide an environment which prepares all our pupils as confident, happy citizens, irrespective of their individual educational needs. We are a Values-based where we treat each other with mutual respect and work in a climate where openness and inclusion lay the foundations for our values to be built upon.

As a Values-based school, we seek to promote an educational philosophy based on valuing self, others and the environment through, the consideration of an ethical values vocabulary (principles that guide behaviour), as the basis of good educational practice.  It encourages adults to model values and to give time for reflective practices that empowers individuals to be effective learners and good citizens.

As part of the 'Children's and families Act 2014' every provider for additional needs is required to give a summary of what it can offer to help support and care for pupils that may require additional support in school. This is known as the 'SEN Information Report'. 

Please click and download the link below for details of what we offer as a school and further details about who best to contact if you have any further queries or questions. 

Physical Accessibility

St Peter's Primary School Physical Accessibility rating is linked below:

No pupil will be refused admission to school on the basis of his or her special educational need. In line with the Equality Act 2010 we will not discriminate against disabled children in respect of admissions for a reason related to their disability. We will use our best endeavours to provide effective educational provision. Reasonable adaptations are made to ensure all pupils are included.

High quality teaching is that which is differentiated to meet the needs of the majority of pupils. Some pupils will need something additional to and different from what is provided for the majority of pupils; this is special educational provision and we will use our best endeavours to ensure that provision is made for those who need it. St Peter's School will do its best to ensure that the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has special educational needs or disabilities. We will ensure that all staff in the school are able to identify and provide for those pupils who have special educational needs or disabilities to allow pupils with SEND to join in the activities of the school.

Our site is a ground level site to allow for full wheelchair access. Our classrooms all have wide, double door entrances and areas outside have ramps for easy access. We have an easy accessible toilet facility with a rise and lower nappy changing facility. Most staff are trained in manual handling with some having experience of using hoists for lifting pupils to support their physical needs. 

In accordance with the Equality Act 2010,  we make reasonable adaptations, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage. We work closely with other professionals, such as the hearing impairment team and physiotherapists, to ensure we are able to support the needs of all pupils. We have mobile hearing loop systems in classes where they are needed. We also have staff trained to support and manage pupils with specific medical conditions, such a diabetes.

We ensure we prevent discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity and adopt good relations.

School trips and residential opportunities are available to all pupils, regardless of Special Educational Need or Disability. We run parent information sessions ahead of trips and often have additional meetings for parents of children with SEND or medical needs. This is to ensure that they are aware of any additional provisions we have put in place to meet the needs of the child whilst on the trip and to voice any concerns they may have. We carry out a Health and Safety risk assessment for each activity and at least one First Aider attends each trip. 

St Peter’s Primary School
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information Report.

What is a Special Educational Need?
A child is defined as having SEND where ‘they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her, has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools.’ (SEND Code of practice June 2014.)

We consider children to have special educational needs if they have difficulties that are additional to, and different from the majority of their peers of the same age. We do not consider children as having a learning difficulty solely because they have English as an additional language (EAL), although we recognise that pupils with EAL may also have SEND. 

Who’s Who?
The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo) for the school is Mrs Samantha Nash (snash@st-peters.hereford.sch.uk) and the Inclusion Assistant for the Trust is Ms Laura Taylor (ltaylor@tcat.school). They are responsible for co-ordinating the support for all children with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities, staff training and developing the school’s SEND policy to make sure that all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school. They will ensure that you are fully involved and informed about your child’s support, learning and progress.

Mrs Kim Lane is the SEND line manager for the Three Counties Trust.

The SEND team are responsible for ensuring that the school makes appropriate provision for all pupils with SEND and that funding is appropriately allocated. They are also is responsible for monitoring the progress of pupils with SEND. 

The SENDCo is also responsible for planning all transitions for pupils with SEN.

  • Carefully planned transitions take place between year groups at the end of every school year.
  • For pupils with very specific needs, the SENDCo will arrange to meet with the parents, teachers and any support staff involved with the child.
  • Training will be arranged for staff who will be working with specific needs, especially medical ones.
  • The SENDCo will be involved with the transition process of SEN pupils to High School.
  • For in-year transitions, the SENDCo will be part of the transition discussions, and may assess the current ability of new pupils to the school.


How does the school know when a child has a Special Educational Need or learning difficulty?

We pride ourselves at St Peter’s in the early identification of and rapid response to pupils who have additional needs and work in partnership with parents to ensure that there is quality provision for pupils so that they make progress and achieve. When a child is identified as needing support of any kind, parents will always be consulted.

Our approach is underpinned by the importance of good communication with parents and carers about their child, the progress being made, and any provision needed.

St Peter’s Primary School is an inclusive school, and we aim to ensure that every child is offered the opportunity to achieve their full potential, no matter what their needs may be. 

We believe that all pupils are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum for an education that enables them to make progress so that they can achieve their best, and become confident individuals living fulfilled lives. 
Therefore, we ensure that each student: 

  • Receives the support that need to meet their educational needs; 
  • Engages in the activities of the school alongside other students. 

We aim to achieve this by: 

  • Setting high expectations and ambitious targets for all; 
  • Ensuring that there is high quality classroom teaching, differentiated to meet the needs of groups of students and individuals, enabling them to meet targets; 
  • Providing comprehensive training and guidance for teachers and teaching assistants; 
  • Regular and rigorous monitoring of achievement, which will identify those students not making expected progress; 
  • Intensive monitoring of the learning experience and classroom teaching quality, leading to targeted professional development and refined guidance on classroom strategies where appropriate; 
  • Effective identification of individual pupils’ barriers to learning, through observations, Pupil Progress Meetings and specific testing; 
  • Effective programs of intervention, aimed at overcoming barriers to learning and thereby restoring expected progress.

 

How do we adapt our curriculum and learning environment to include pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities?

At St Peter’s Primary School, we take a graduated approach to supporting all children.


The Graduated Approach
Stage 1 – Quality First Teaching: 

  • Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff. 
  • High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEND. 
  • If a concern is raised about a pupil’s progress, discussions should take place between the class teacher, parent and SENDCo. The pupil will be monitored, and possible support strategies put in place. 
  • Pupil Progress Meetings are used to monitor and assess the progress being made by all pupils. 

Stage 2: 

  • This recognises pupils who are identified as requiring additional and different help to that which has been provided at Stage 1. 
  • Pupils become Stage 2 if they have been assessed as being significantly behind their expected level for 2 consecutive Pupil Progress Meetings.
  • At this stage the SENDCo may seek consent from parents to assess a pupil, or refer to an external agency, to ascertain what the specific barriers to learning may be. 
  • Pupils will now be placed on the SEND Support Register, and an Individual Education Plan (ILP) will be drawn up which will detail the specific provision that will be made. 
  • The plan will detail all interventions that are being carried out.
  • It will be the responsibility of the SENDCo to monitor the Provision the pupil is having, the effectiveness of the provision and the progress of the pupils. 

Stage 3: 

  • When a pupil has been identified as having SEND, and steps have been taken for provision under Stages 1 and 2 but the pupil has not progressed as expected, the school will consider taking steps under Stage 3. 
  • This may involve further consultation with external agencies who will make their own assessments of the pupil and provide support in the planning of extended provision and continued support. 
  • The SENDCo will be responsible for monitoring that the advice of external agencies is being followed, and will liaise with the agencies when required. 


What if this support is not enough?
For pupils whose progress is still significantly behind that of their peers, then the school and parents may agree that a Multi-agency Assessment is necessary with a view to putting an EHCP (Education Health Care Plan – formerly a Statement of Educational Need) in place. This involves all agencies coming together, assessing the child’s difficulties and ensuring that the child has the support they need to make progress. The view of the child and parents is an important aspect of an EHCP. The plan must be reviewed annually or earlier if there is a requirement.

External specialist support 
The school will work closely with the Local Authority and other providers (see Local Offer) and may commission specialist services directly. Such specialist services include, but are not limited to: 
•    Educational psychologist; 
•    Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS); 
•    Specialist teachers with a specific SEND qualification for pupils with; impairments, such as visual or hearing; 
•    Therapists (physio, occupational and speech & language). 
•    Behaviour Support Team.

What provision does the school make for the range of SEND which may be identified?

As a school we have been committed to looking ahead to the range of needs which the school can and may be required to provide for so that all pupils have the same opportunities. While the school has provided a range of interventions and resources for pupils with SEND over the years, we recognise that every child is unique and that one strategy or resource does not necessarily have 
impact for all pupils. 

In respect of this, we will always gather the views of all stakeholders, implement advice received from external professionals and personalise the support for the pupil. This may involve the purchase of new resources or training for staff. There is provision within the school’s budget to ensure that this can happen. 

The provision response is divided in to 4 main areas: 

  1. Cognition and Learning difficulties including General/Moderate Learning Difficulties, Specific Learning Difficulty – Dyslexia, Specific Learning Difficulty - Dyscalculia, Down Syndrome.
  2. Communication and Interaction including Physical dyspraxia (DCD) Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) /Asperger Syndrome, speech language and communication needs.
  3. Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  4. Sensory Physical and/or Physical Needs including visual impairment, hearing impairment and physical and medical conditions.

(Please see additional information provided on our SEND provision pages.)

How we assess and evaluate the effectiveness of our SEND provision and how we involve parents, carers and pupils in this process?

  • Through the Annual review process.
  • Parental feedback from parent consultation meetings/SEND meetings.
  • Reviews of Education Plans leading to removal of pupil from SEND list as making expected progress.
  •  Pupil progress monitored in core subjects.
  • Internal SEND gap data analysis for English and maths and pupil progress meetings.
  • The SENDCo annual report to the Governors.
  • Parents and pupils can complete questionnaires.

Involving pupils, parents and other outside agencies in creating and reviewing pupil profiles. 
Where can I find more information to help my child?

 

The best people to talk to who are independent of school are the Herefordshire SENDIAS service -

Telephone: 01432 260955

Address - SENDIAS, Franklin House, 4 Commercial Road, Hereford HR1 2BB

Welcome to SENDIASS Herefordshire and Worcestershire | Worcestershire County Council

 

Leaflets with contact details can be found at the school reception.

Alternatively, information can be found via the Herefordshire local offer information website Local offer special educational needs and disabilities – Herefordshire Council

Concerns/Complaints
Should you have any concerns about any matter please do not hesitate to telephone the school and we will make sure that you see the appropriate person. We would hope that any concerns you have would be resolved but if not then we would direct you to the school’s complaints policy which is available on the website or alternatively in hard copy from the school. 
If you require further information regarding the SEND provision within the school please refer to the schools SEND policy which is available on the website.