SEN Information report

Updated November 2020

 

Dear Parents, Carers and friends of the school,

We very much want this to be a 'living' document. If you find there is anything you would like to see in this report which is lacking at present, please contact the school Special Educational Needs co-ordinator at this address

j.whitehead@phillimore.sheffield.sch.uk or by ringing the school on 01142 494036

 

How does Phillimore School know if my child needs extra help?

 

Individual children’s needs are identified by the school in different ways. We know that pupils need help if:

 

• Concerns are raised by parents/carers, teachers or the child
• Limited progress is being made in accordance with age related expectations
• There is a change in the pupil’s behaviour or progress
• Concerns are raised by external agencies (e.g. GP or school nurse)
• Information is provided from the previous setting (e.g. Nursery)

 

 

Who can I talk to at Phillimore about any concerns I have about my child’s Special Educational Needs or Disability?

 

The class teacher, who is responsible for:

 

• Providing Quality First Teaching which is differentiated and adjusted in such a way as to be inclusive to all the pupils in their care.

• Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be targeted work or additional support).
• Liaising with the Special Education Needs/Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENCo) about any concerns or provision as necessary.
• Writing Pupil Progress targets and SEN Support Plans as appropriate, and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term leading to planning for the next term.
• Writing and maintaining One Page Profiles and MyPlans in liaison with the SENCo
• Personalised teaching and learning for your child as identified on the school’s Provision Grids.These grids are used to record all interventions available in school and are reviewed and updated in a ten week cycle.
• Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.
• Providing remote learning when required due to partial school closure or classes/individuals being required to isolate. Where necessary this may be in liaison with SENCo and/or external agencies.

 

The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), Mr J. Whitehead, who is responsible for:

 

• Maintaining the Assess-Plan-Do-Review cycle for pupils with Special Educational Needs

• Developing and reviewing the school’s SEN policy
• Co-ordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
• Ensuring that you, as parents and carers, are involved in supporting your child’s learning, kept informed of their progress and included in the reviewing process
• Liaising with all the other people who may be coming in to school to help support your child’s learning, e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology Service
• Updating the school’s SEN register (a system for ensuring that all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that records of your child’s progress and needs are kept
• Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school, so that they can help children with SEND in the school to achieve the best progress possible
• Supporting teachers to provide suitable remote or blended learning experiences when these are required.
• Maintaining regular contact with agencies, and co-ordinating the process of communication between these agencies, school staff and families at times when remote learning or working in ‘bubbles’ is required.

 

The Head Teacher, Mrs G. Briggs and the Inclusion Manager, Mrs A. Blakemore, who are responsible for:

 

• The deployment of staff to support children with SEND
• Delegating responsibilities to the SENCo and class teachers, whilst retaining overall responsibility for ensuring that children’s needs are met
• Ensuring that the Governing Body is kept up to date about issues relating to SEND
• The allocation of funding for SEND (through discussions with school governors)
• The day-to-day management of all aspects of the school; this includes the support for children with SEND

 

 

The SEN Governor,Mrs N Blackwood, who is responsible for ensuring that the necessary support is given to any child with SEND who attends the school, and that the school fulfils its legal obligations towards pupils with SEND.

 

School contact telephone number:  01142 494036

 

 

 

 

What different types of support are available for children with SEND at Phillimore?

 

Quality first teaching

 

Each child’s education will be planned for by the class teacher as part of quality first teaching. Teaching and learning will be differentiated, scaffolded or modelled accordingly to suit the needs of individual children. This may include additional general support by the teacher or teaching assistants in class. A number of additional classroom resources and strategies are made available to pupils including:

 

• Visual Support
• Personalised (sometimes visual) timetables
• Alternative planning formats
• Word and phonic mats
• Dyslexia Friendly Classrooms
• Personalised recording options so a pupil can show best what he or she can do
• Carefully planned groups or pairs within class
• Tablets, such as iPads, and appropriate applications
• Pre-teaching of vocabulary and concepts, and post-tutoring to reinforce and embed learning
• Ongoing precision assessment of needs
• Spaced repetition and retrieval practice to aid long-term retention
• Personalised resource boxes or trays

 

*Additional Needs

 

If a child’s needs relate to more specific areas of learning then the child may be included in an intervention group. This may be led by a teacher or teaching assistant. Interventions are generally run on a ten week cycle but this may vary according to need and subject to regular monitoring. Interventions are reviewed by the SENCo and/or Inclusion Manager to establish the effectiveness of the provision and to inform future planning. Ten-weekly personalised learning meetings are held for class teachers, SENCo, the Inclusion Manager and teaching assistants in order to best match provision with needs.

 

* Whilst every effort is made to provide interventions where required during Covid-19 restrictions, some groups that would previously have included pupils from different classes have been suspended. Wherever possible, the objectives of these interventions are met within the pupils’ own bubble.

Pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan have been allocated additional support every day in order to meet the requirements of their Plan, under the guidance of the SENCo and outside agencies.

 

SEN Support

 

 If a pupil has higher level needs this may result in them being identified as requiring SEN support and requiring an SEN Support Plan, One-page Profile or MyPlan. The formulation of these documents will involve the parents/carers, child and where applicable other relevant professionals. This process will identify outcomes for the child and describe how these may be achieved.

 

Complex Needs

 

If a pupil’s needs are more complex a formal assessment for an Educational, Health and Care (EHC) plan may be undertaken. This is a legal document, written to include the advice of all professionals involved with the child, which sets out the level and type of support a pupil will need throughout their educational career.

 

A child may move between the levels of support outlined above, depending on their individual need.

 

Levels of support provided by the school are highlighted on the Sheffield Support Grid which is moderated within the locality and city-wide each year, and determines the SEND funding provided to the locality.

 

 

 

How can I let the school know that I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

 

If you have concerns about your child’s progress, you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially. During Covid-19 restrictions, longer discussions might need to be arranged and conducted over the telephone or via video call.

 

If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress, you should speak to the Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), who is on the school playground at home time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Longer discussions can be arranged via the school office, and may take place over the telephone or via video call.

 

The SENCo may also be in touch with you if your child is experiencing issues around remote learning or for welfare checks during periods of extended school absence. Any concerns yo have may also be shared at these times.

 

The school SEND Governor can also be contacted for support.

 

 

How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning?

 

If your child is identified as not making progress, the SENCo will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail and to:

 

• Listen to any concerns you may have
• Plan any additional support your child may need
• Discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child

 

 

How is extra support allocated to children, and how do they progress in their learning?

 

The school budget is allocated by Sheffield Local Authority and includes money for supporting children with SEND.

 

The Head Teacher decides on the deployment of resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of needs in the school.

 

A full and clear picture of those pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) is formed through half-termly pupil progress meetings, **ten-weekly intervention meetings and termly reviews with parents and pupils.The school’s tracking system (Sheffield STAT) helps to inform these meetings by identifying pupils making less progress than normal against Age Related Expectations (ARE).

 

From this information, a decision is made concerning the type and level of support to provide.

 

Support provided for pupils with SEND is recorded Year Group by Year Group following Personalised Learning Meetings. These are reviewed regularly and changes are made as needed, so that the needs of children are met and resources are deployed as effectively as possible.**

 

**Personalised Learning Meetings leading to mixed-class interventions are suspended during Covid-19 restrictions. In-class interventions are informed by Pupil Progress Meetings or recommended by the SENCo or other agencies. These are collated by the SENCo.

 

Which other individuals or agencies provide services for children with SEND in Phillimore?

 

 

School provision includes:

 

• Level 2 and 3 Teaching Assistants delivering interventions or other support, usually with small groups of pupils or 1 to 1
• ICT support in the form of phonics, reading and maths programmes
• Teaching Assistants offering support for children with Social, Emotional or Mental Health needs through our ***Nurture Group
• Level 2 and 3 Teaching Assistants supporting children with Social Communication Difficulties and/or Autism Spectrum Condition in the ***‘Gruffalo Group’.

***Across class groups suspended whilst Covid-19 restrictions in place. Nurture and Social Communication needs met via intervention in class or ‘one bubble entry’ interventions.

 

 

Outside agencies employed by the school or Local Authority, including:

 

• Fusion S2S Support (Learning Support)
• Early Years Inclusion Service
• Educational Psychology Service (Local Authority)
• Services for children with visual or hearing needs
• Parent Partnership Service (SENDIAS)
• SALT (Speech and Language Therapy, NHS Provision)
• SALT (School bought additional time)
• Autism Service
• MAST workers

The school’s Fusion teacher has produced adapted reports and recommendations in order to make the best of any restrictions brought about as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Health Provision delivered in school, including:

 

• Additional Speech and Language Therapy input to provide a higher level of service to the school
• School Nurse
• CAMHs

 

 

How are teachers and other staff helped and trained in order to work successfully with children with SEND?

 

The SENCo’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEN. Mr Whitehead holds a diploma in Special Educational Needs Education at Masters level.

 

The school provides training and support to enable all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children, including those with SEN. This includes whole school training on SEN issues, such as Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC),Speech Language and Communication Needs and Social Emotional and Mental Health support.

 

Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class, e.g. from the Autism Team or Speech and Language services.

 

Whilst school was partially closed, and when required to isolate, staff have and continue to access a range of appropriate online training courses to increase their expertise in supporting pupils in their care.

 

 

How will teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?

 

Class teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class and will ensure that your child’s needs are met.

 

Support staff, under the direction of the class teacher, can adapt planning to support the needs of your child where necessary.

 

Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups. These will include pre-teach, scaffolding learning to make it more accessible, modelling, dual coding (representing information in two different ways), retrieval practice and repetition of learning at spaced intervals.

 

Planning and teaching will be adapted, on a daily basis if needed, to meet your child’s learning needs (see also Section 3).

 

 

How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

 

Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by his/her class teacher.

 

His/her progress will be reviewed formally with the Headteacher and SENCo every term in reading, writing, SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar)and Maths.

 

More sensitive assessment tools such as Locke and Beech, B-squared or the McSherry Readiness for Integration tool can be used where smaller measures of progress need to be measured.

 

At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6), all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and the results are published nationally.

 

Where necessary, children will have an SEN Support Plan, One-Page Profile or MyPlan based on targets set by outside agencies specific to their needs. Targets or outcomes will be set which are designed to accelerate learning and close the gap. Progress against these targets will be reviewed regularly, and a future plan made.

 

The progress of children with an EHC Plan will be formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education.

 

The SENCo will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work schedule or group intervention.

 

Regular book scrutiny, learning walks, drop ins and lesson observations will be carried out by the SENCo and/or other members of the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that the needs of all children are met and that the quality of teaching and learning is high.

 

 

What support can we offer you as a parent of a child with SEND?

 

Informal meetings with the class teacher can be arranged to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and school, so that similar strategies can be used.

The SENCo is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have.

 

All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you by the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.

 

You will be involved in the process of reviewing SEN Support Plans and MyPlans with your child (when appropriate), the SENCo, class teachers and others each term.

 

Home and remote learning will be adapted to meet your child’s individual requirements.

 

A home-school contact book may be used to support communication with you when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child.

 

 

How is Phillimore School accessible to children with SEND?

 

• The school is fully compliant with DDA requirements.
• The school is mainly on one level with ramps at entrances.
• The front desk has a wheel-chair height section and is DDA compliant.
• There is a disabled toilet, shower area and changing facilities.
• We ensure wherever possible that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
• After-school provision is accessible to all children, including those with SEN.
• Extra-curricular activities are accessible for children with SEN.

 

 

How will we support your child when they are joining the school, leaving the school or moving to another class?

 

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEN, and we take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.

 

If your child is joining us from another school:

 

• The SENCo will visit parents with the Foundation Stage Leader or teachers when appropriate, or attend information sessions for parents
• If your child would be helped by a communication passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them.
• Under normal circumstances your child will be able to visit our school and stay for shorter periods of time initially if this is appropriate, or be given a phased entry to school.

 

If your child is moving to another school:

 

• We will contact the school SENCo and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that needs to be made for your child.
• We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.

 

When moving classes in school:

 

• Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance and if appropriate a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. SEN Support documents will be shared with the new teacher.
• Teachers and Teaching Assistants will meet to share information and useful strategies.
• Over and above the school’s comprehensive transition systems, those pupils who need it are offered an enhanced transition with additional visits and activities if required.

 

Towards the end of Year 6:

 

• The SENCo will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENCo of the child’s secondary school. In many cases, a transition review meeting to which you will be invited will take place with the SENCo from the new school.
• Where possible, your child will visit their new school on several occasions, and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.
• Phillimore staff will help you to arrange appointments with prospective schools and may accompany your child on visits to their new school when appropriate.

 

 

 

How will we support the Emotional and Social development of your child?

 

We recognize that some children have extra emotional and social needs that need to be developed and nurtured. These needs can manifest themselves in a number of ways, including behavioural difficulties, anxiety, and a reluctance to communicate.

 

All classes follow a structured PSHE (Personal, Social, Health end Economic education) curriculum to support this development. However, for those children who find aspects of this difficult we offer a range of interventions and opportunities.

 

Under normal circumstances we have an in-school nurture provision, run by two highly trained teaching assistants. This follows the Nurture Principles and is run on a ten-week cycle.

 

During Covid-19 restrictions there is an emphasis on activities and discussions within class or via assemblies which focus on improving the mental health and wellbeing of pupils. Mindfulness applications are used in some classes where this is felt to be beneficial.

 

Inclusion Team staff are on hand throughout lunchtimes to help children who struggle with break times or other aspects of school life.

 

As required, other interventions take place within school in order to help pupils to develop socially and emotionally, including Friendship or Reflection groups.

 

Under normal conditions, our 'GruffaloGroup' provides a daily social interaction group for pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition, following advice and recommendations from the Autism service. At the present time, pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition have additional support in class with staff who liaise closely with professionals from the Autism Team or Speech and Language Services in order to provide for pupils’ Social Communication needs.

 

 

 How can I find information about the local authority's Local Offer of services and provision for children with SEND?

 

Sheffield Local Offer website:

 

http://www.sheffielddirectory.org.uk/kb5/sheffield/fsd/localoffer.page

 

 Who can I contact for more information?

 

Head Teacher: Mrs G. Briggs  0114 2494036

Inclusion Manager: Mrs A. Blakemore  01142 494036

 

SENCo: Mr J. Whitehead 0114 2494036

j.whitehead@phillimore.sheffield.sch.uk