Our Approach to SEND

At Grundisburgh Primary School we ensure that all pupils in our school are equally valued by having equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum which is differentiated to meet individual needs and abilities.

All teachers are responsible for every child in their care, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. Every child should be taught through quality-first teaching and, where necessary, additional support and / or interventions put in place. We ensure that consideration of SEND crosses all curriculum areas and all aspects of learning, teaching and involvement in extra-curricular activities.

Grundisburgh School prides itself in having effective communication between teachers, children, parents and outside agencies. We acknowledge and draw on parents’ knowledge and expertise in relation to their own child and children are also encouraged to take an active role in decisions about their own learning and working towards their targets.

We are committed to developing the knowledge and skills of all staff to manage the challenges of the range of needs within our school: to ensure that all our support is of high quality. We endeavour to welcome children with all types of needs – including Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH); Learning Disability; Physical Disability or impairment.

We have an experienced SENDCO and Pastoral Lead – ensuring that we adhere to the statutory SEND Code of Practice 2015.

Admission Arrangements and Transition

If a child is entering our Reception class, we will have a meeting beforehand with parents and any professionals that have been involved to date. We take time for you to share your knowledge of your child with us so that we can plan the way forward together.

Once your child has started school we will continue to meet and review how their transition into primary school has progressed.

If your child has SEND and is arriving from a different school, it would be fantastic if you could arrange a meeting with Adam Wilson (Headteacher) or Nicola Mason (SENDCO) so that we can discuss the most appropriate transition for your child and ensure that it is smooth and effective. You can share your in-depth knowledge with us and it would be beneficial if you could bring any paperwork from a previous setting you have with you please.

Intra-school transitions (when children move up to the net year) take place during the summer term. Teachers meet to pass on information to your child’s next teacher and, where needed, your child may be provided with extra time to meet their new teacher. We may create a transitional pack for your child – with photos and information that they can take home for the summer holidays.

When children are moving on to their next school e.g. high school, we liaise with the high school regularly and will arrange extra visits for children where appropriate. Our SENDCO meets with the high school SENDCO and Pastoral staff to pass up information. They, also, may create a transition package for your child. All parents and children are invited to go for an evening to meet their form tutor – this is also an opportunity for you to make them aware of any concerns you have.

Accessibility

We want to ensure that the physical environment in and around our school is accessible to all children including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Although there are stairs and different levels to our school, there are specially built ramps for wheelchair access. We have accessible toilets to all of our classrooms and there is also a larger disabled toilet for wheelchair access. The classrooms are spacious and are able to house specialist desks and chairs, standing frames, computer stations etc. with ease. Where there is a need, each SEND child has a risk assessment of their access needs carried out by our SENDCO and we purchase or borrow any equipment needed to remove any access barrier. Pupils may for instance need specialist IT equipment or furniture.

All classroom resources are made accessible by making personalised modifications as necessary such as the use of coloured overlays, proximity to the whiteboard or access to dyslexia friendly dictionaries.

School trip sites are risk assessed beforehand to ensure any barriers are removed or alternate provision is put in place e.g., suitable travel arrangements, road crossing safety measures, keys for accessible toilets and extra support staff if needed.

Similarly, we ensure equal access to extra-curricular provision for all children; with individual additional arrangements put in place where support is needed.

We ensure that our school and curriculum are accessible to all (See Grundisburgh School’s Accessibility Plan)

What are Special Educational Needs and Disabilities?

At different times in their school life, a child may have a special educational need or disability. The Code of Practice (2015) defines SEND as follows; ‘‘A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others the same age, or

b) 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 or mainstream post-16 institutions.

Please see our SEND Policy for further information.

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 identifies four different areas of SEND:

1.     Communication and interaction

Children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating their needs to others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand the social rules of communication. The profile of each child is different and is likely to change over time.

Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction and may experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination.

2.    Cognition and Learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children learn at a slower pace or are significantly behind their peers in terms of achievement even with appropriately differentiated work in class. These difficulties can be defined as Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) or Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD).

Children with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) are likely to have severe / complex learning difficulties as well as physical disability or impairment. 

Children with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) may have a difficulty which affects more specific areas of learning and encompasses dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. 

3.    Social, Emotional and Mental health Difficulties

Children may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which may manifest themselves in a variety of ways: withdrawn or isolated; challenging behaviour; disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, substance misuse, eating disorders or unexplained physical symptoms.

4.    Sensory and/or Physical Needs

Some children require special provision because they have a disability which hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties may be a vision or hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment or physical disabilities both of which require special equipment or may be sensitively to certain stimuli (often associated with children with ASD).

 

What should I do if I feel that my child may have SEND?

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s progress or well-being, then please speak to your child’s teacher first. Alternatively, you can contact Nicola Mason (SENDCO) or Emma Redgwell (Pastoral Lead) to discuss your concerns.

Identifying the Special Educational Needs of Pupils

Children could be assessed as having SEND through a variety of routes:

- A parent / carer may raise concerns

- Teachers may raise concerns about ability, focus, behavioural issues, mental health

- Pupils may talk about experiencing difficulties in a certain area

- A child may already have a specialist report before coming the school

We will ALWAYS talk to parents / carers if we have any concerns about a child possibly having a Special Educational Need or Disability. We will discuss the next steps; this could be:

- Implementing support or interventions that we feel would be beneficial to the child

- deciding to seek the help of a specialist such as a Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist or Educational Psychologist

- seeking a diagnosis

- suggestions of things to try at home

When parents / carers and teacher or SENDCO both decide that a child needs extra support, they will be added to the SEND register. This is not a permanent record – some children may have a Special Educational Need or Disability for a short time; others may remain on the register right through school.

Most children will have what is known as ‘School Support’ where most of their needs can be met using existing staff expertise and resources. If your child has more complex needs, parents or the school can apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

An EHCP is a legal document stating the provision that the school MUST make for the child.

What happens when my child is on the SEND register?

Once it has been agreed to add your child to the SEND register, you will be invited in to discuss your child’s Pupil Passport (sometimes known as an Individual Education / Support Plan). This is a document outlining your child’s agreed support and with targets set to meet desired outcomes. Your child’s teacher will suggest targets, but this can be part of the discussion as you may have things you would like your child to be working on.

An EHCP also has targets towards meeting outcomes – these may be broken down into smaller targets on a Pupil Passport.

Your child will then begin with the extra support agreed.

Extra support available at Grundisburgh school

If a child is identified as having SEND, we will provide support that is ‘additional to’ or ‘different from’ the differentiated approaches and learning arrangements normally provided as part of high – quality first teaching.

We have a flexible approach to supporting our SEND children – tailoring intervention to meet needs that arise and have clear systems to manage disruptive behaviour so that other children are not adversely affected.

Sometimes children will be supported in class by differentiated work and support from a Teaching Assistant; sometimes they work in small groups, supported by a teacher or Teaching Assistant, and sometimes support may be 1:1 where needed. Your child may receive support with the work happening in class or they may participate in one of our many specialist provisions – such as Lego Therapy, Nessy Reading and Spelling or Plus 1 Maths. See SEND policy for details of our Early Help provision.

Where difficulties persist, despite high quality interventions, advice may be sought from further professionals with the parent’s consent - Speech and Language Team, Physiotherapists, Educational Psychologists or Paediatricians.

Pastoral Support

At Grundisburgh, we place high priority on the emotional well-being of our children and have a very active Pastoral Lead. We aim to identify needs early and react quickly to offer support. We have staff trained to deliver Thrive (counselling which promotes positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in children and young people), Draw and Talk therapy, bereavement counselling, and other programmes to help with anxiety.

We take a strong stance on bullying and would act immediately if we felt that a SEND child was suffering this abuse. We teach about inclusion and acceptance in our PSHE using the Jigsaw scheme of work (see Anti-bullying policy for details).

If you (or your child) have any concerns about your child’s mental well-being, do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher, Emma Redgwell (Pastoral Lead) or Nicola Mason (SENDCO).

Monitoring and reporting procedures

We carry out whole-school teacher assessments termly and regularly measure children’s spelling, maths and reading ability.

We have further, effective, monitoring system which we use to help build a picture of a child with SEND. These include:

- observation

- discussion with parents / carers

- targeted mini assessments (such as phonics or spelling)

- conversations with the child

- discussion with outside agencies / specialists involved with the child

- use of computerised interventions with build in assessment.

The Code of Practice (2015) states that provision for children with SEND should be built around the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review, model: we use information from all of these sources to build a complete picture of your child and use this to plan the next steps for learning and development. We regularly monitor the impact of interventions to check that they are having a positive effect.

You will be invited to meet your child’s teacher (and SENDCO if you wish) termly to review and update targets and discuss the progress of interventions. This will also be shared with your child (in a way that they will understand) and their views will also be taken into account and recorded on their Pupil Passport.

Where a child has an EHC Plan, there will be an annual review held in addition to termly review meetings. These meetings will take into account the views of the child, parent and all others involved with the child.

Staff Training and Expertise

We are committed to developing the ongoing expertise of our staff. We currently hold the following training and expertise:

- ELKLAN trained Teaching Assistants,

- All staff trained in teaching children with Dyslexia, (having completed a project alongside the Dyslexia Trust),

- Lots of experience teaching children with ASD (we have had whole staff training annually and regular liaisons with County Inclusive Support Services (CISS) who are experts in helping children with ASD).

- Draw and Talk therapy

- Thrive counselling

- Bereavement counselling

- Lego Therapy

Where a child presents with specific needs, we would source any training needed to effectively support that child.

How resources and specialist support are secured for your child

We ensure that children who have SEND have their needs met to the best of our ability with the funds available. We currently have 7 Teaching Assistants and other support staff when needed. Our TAs and budget are distributed on a needs basis and there are extra funds available form the Local Authority for children with more complex needs – known as Higher Tariff Needs funding. Children with more complex needs may also qualify for support from the Local Authority under their ‘Core Offer’ – referral for this would be made by the SENDCO.

Have your say

Should you wish to talk to somebody further about SEND within Grundisburgh Primary School please contact, Adam Wilson (Headteacher), Nicola Mason (SENDCO - send@grundisburgh.suffolk.sch.uk), Emma Redgwell (Pastoral Lead) or Clive Willetts (SEND Governor) to arrange a meeting. We always value your thoughts and opinions.

Where else can I get support and information?

SENDIASS – they provide confidential support and advice

Telephone: 01473 265210 (office hours Monday to Friday) 

Email: enquiries@suffolksendiass.co.uk

Access Unlimited – providing educational and related services for children with disabilities and additional needs in Suffolk 

Telephone: 01473 260026

Email: info@activities-unlimited.co.uk

Autism Anglia – provides support and information for local families

Telephone: 01206577678

Email: info@autism-anglia.org.uk

The British Dyslexia Association

Telephone: 0333 405 4555  (Switchboard)

The Local Offer – Suffolk County Council’s Offer

In preparing this report, we have taken into account the views of staff, parents and children. Thank you to those involved.

Relevant policies underpinning this SEND Information Report include:

SEND Policy

School Early Help Offer

SEND Offer

SEND Intent, Implementation and Impact

Accessibility Policy (in accordance with paragraph 3 of schedule 10 to the Equality Act 2010)

Anti-bullying Policy

Further detailed information can be found on our document entitled ‘ SEND Intent, Implementation and Impact’ also found on the school website.

Legislative Acts taken into account when compiling this report include:

Children and Families Act, 2014

SEND Code of Practice, 2015

Equality Act, 2010

Mental Capacity Act, 2005

Your first port of call should you have a complaint would be your child’s teacher. If the issue is not resolved, please contact Nicola Mason (SENDCO) or Emma Redgwell (Pastoral Lead) and if it is still not sorted to your satisfaction, please contact Gemma Oakley (Assistant Headteacher) or Adam Wilson (Headteacher). If a more formal complaint needs to be raised then you should contact the Chair of Governors, Clive Willetts. If you were to need contact details for Mr Willetts please speak to the school office.

Reviewed 2024