How we support send

Our Lady and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School strives to be inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need.  All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.

We talk to parents/carers if they think their child has a special educational need and let them know what special help the school is giving

To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum there are some actions we may take to achieve this:

• Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
• Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
• Ensure that teaching staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.
• Pupils to gain in confidence and improve their self-esteem.
• To work in partnership with parents/ carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
• To identify at the earliest opportunity, all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional)
• To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
• Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
• To promote self-worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independence at all age and ability levels.
• To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
• To regularly review the policy and practice in order to achieve best practice.

Types of SEND

At our school we have experience of supporting children and young people with a wide range of needs.

Types of special educational needs can include:

• General Learning Difficulties – children whose learning progresses at a slower pace
• Speech and Language Difficulties
• Behavioural Difficulties
• Dyslexia (difficulties with reading, writing and spelling)
• Dyspraxia (problems with motor skills, organisation)
• Autism
• ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder – ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
• Other Physical or Medical Needs

The school provides data on the levels and types of need to the Local Authority.  This is collected through the school census.

Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum

At Our Lady and t Joseph’s Catholic School, we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development.

It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of additional opportunities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of our children. Our curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for life-long learning.

Pupils who require additional access to personal and social communication interventions receive these within the school day and these are delivered by trained school staff as well as a school counsellor, speech therapists, family workers etc. as appropriate.

Staffing and any Specialist Qualifications/Expertise

• Ms J Cruise  (NASENCO Qualification 2022 enrolment)
  • Attachment Disorders
  • ASD – Early Bird
  • Drawing and Talking Therapy
  • Lego therapy
• Mrs R Anderson (NASENCO Qualification pending)
• Ms J Hopper – An Introduction to Speech, Language & Communication
  • Attachment in the Early Years
  • Understanding Autism
• Mrs H Jarvis –  Safeguarding Children with Disabilities 28 April 2020
• Mrs H Jarvis – Introduction to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) & Early Trauma 01 June 2020
• Mrs H Jarvis -An Introduction to Attachment Disorder 4 June 2020
• Mrs H Jarvis – Linking Observations, Analysis and Reflection 18 June 2020
• Mrs H Jarvis – COVID-19 Psychological First Aid – PHE
• Mrs V Nichol – Understanding Dyslexia 28 April 2020
• Mrs V Nichol – Understanding Autism, Asperger’s & ADHD
• Mrs C Williamson – Introduction to Child Psychology Tips for ADHD Supporting in Classroom (NASEN SENDGATEWAY) 30 April 202
• Mrs C Williamson – Understanding Dyslexia 2 May 2020
• Mrs C Williamson – Exploring Books for Children; Words & Pictures 2 May 2020
• Mrs C Williamson -Understanding ADHD (FUTURELEARN Kings College London) 3 May 2020
• Mrs C Williamson – An Introduction to Speech, Language & Communication 4 May 2020
• Mrs C Williamson – Understanding Autism

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Finance

The budget allocation is agreed between our school and the Local Authority at the beginning of each financial year. Detail of how this money is used to support children and young people with SEND is shown below. This is monitored each term by the Governing Committee.

The SEND Local Offer sets out a range of additional services and provision across education, health, social care and across the public, voluntary and independent sectors. This will detail information about what is available to support families both with and without an EHC Plan. The SENCO of Our Lady and St Joseph’s is Mrs Anderson and will help parents/carers of pupils with SEN to identify appropriate provision that may be available through the Local Offer. School may also signpost parents to SENDiASS who may offer specific advice, guidance and support, where required.

At Our Lady and St Joseph School, we have an allocation of general support for SEND and allocation of funding for individuals who receive top up or have an EHCP.

This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:

COL Budget

The Community of Learning ( COL2) to which Our Lady and St Joseph  belongs, receives additional funding to meet the shared needs and priorities of partner schools. This funding has been used to support training for staff including Speech and Language Learning / Speech Link , Motor Skills training, preparation for Education, Health and Social care Planning. It has also been used to address Speech Therapy waiting lists for several years through direct employment of a Speech Therapist and assistant working with pupils in our schools. We also have access to a trained counsellor from Northernlights Counselling Service. She works in school one morning a fortnight and pupils can be referred into the service when appropriate.

Local Authority Budget

The LA currently allocates top up funding for pupils with complex needs. This money is allocated to individual support of pupils. Costed Provision Maps detailing the cost of interventions and support for individual pupils are produced to ensure the cost of provision, over and above the AWPU funding is provided in the future.

If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.

A Costed Provision Map will be developed in liaison with the child, young person, parent or carer.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Statement of Intent for Supporting Equality

At Our Lady and St Joseph’s Catholic School we are committed to equality. We aim for every pupil to fulfil their potential no matter what their needs. Our School is committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity and valuing diversity for all children and families.

At Our Lady and St Joseph’s  School we talk to parents/carers if they think their child has a Special Educational Need and let them know what special help the school will give.

We aim to:

• Provide a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions are considered and valued.
• Include and value the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity.
• Provide positive non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and disabled people.
• Improve our knowledge and understanding of issues of anti-discriminatory practice, promoting equality and valuing diversity.
• Make inclusion a thread that runs through all of the activities of the school.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Pastoral, Medical and Social Support

At Our Lady and St Joseph’s Catholic  School we actively seek the involvement of parents and carers and other bodies to educate and meet the needs of children with SEN including external agencies and initiatives. The professionals within these agencies offer a wealth of knowledge and expertise for us to draw upon and ensure we meet the needs of all SEND children, no matter how complex.

Each year children with a wide range of SEND attend our school and we continually strive to cater for their unique needs and ensure they develop a range of skills during their time with us. As a result, we have built relationships with a large network of external agencies to consult with and offer support to children and staff respectively. We have created a list of the different agencies we work with regularly. If you would like further details about any of these, please contact the school for further details.

Pupils are well supported in pastoral and social needs and this is a strength of our small school. Small cohorts and a ‘family ethos’ contribute to our pastoral and social care. Teaching Assistants deliver group and individual packages of support in social communication, Managing Feelings and Getting Along. CAMHS work regularly with children and families to support emotional needs. The school also refers pupils to the Emotional Wellbeing School Nursing Team.

Whole staff training is delivered for caring for pupils with medical needs such as allergies, asthma etc and this is seen as a whole staff responsibility. Pupils with additional needs have a medical care plan that is available and communicated to all staff.

Medication is administered by the school staff. Advice from medical professionals is adhered to. Parents must sign a consent form to allow staff to administer medication.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Consultation with Children and Young People with SEND

Teachers/SENCO and Support Staff will work with children and young people to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes.  The provision is planned and interventions are allocated to individual needs. The children take an active role with setting their targets, discussing them with the Class Teacher/SENCO.   The children have regular meetings with support staff to discuss their progress and support.

Ensuring that all children attending our school receive provision that maximises their enjoyment and achievement is central to all we offer.

Consultation with parents and carers of children and young people with SEND

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support.  Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process. Both the SENCO and Headteacher are recent appointments to the school and endeavour to improve consultation practices through:

• Termly parents/carers evenings;
• Ongoing discussions with a Class Teacher and/or SENCO;
• An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have;
• Through a review of a child’s SEN Support Plan or the Annual Review of their  EHC Plan.

Consultation with families is key to securing success in this area.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

SEN Transition

We recognize that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.

How we will support children with SEND when they are moving on to another class or leaving this school:

• In the summer term before children transfer to our school we organise transition visits with our nursery schools and settings.
• This involves the children coming with their parents, carers or a staff member to their new school and helping them to settle into the new environment and meet the staff. The organisation of transition for SEND children is an extension of this system.
• School staff will visit the pupils in their own nursery settings to collect information and meet the child in his/ her setting.
• School staff will attend any review meetings prior to transition, in partnership with the nursery setting.
• Additional visits by the pupil and parents can be arranged for pupils with SEND.
• In Year 6, pupils with an EHCP will take part in a Year 6 Review meeting with school staff, parents and a representative from receiving schools. In the year before children transfer to St Bede’s School/Consett Academy, Year 6 pupils attend transition events. School will organise transition visits with other secondary schools where appropriate.
• SEND pupils will be offered additional visits to secondary school. St Bede’s offer a well-established transition Programme for SEND pupils.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Agencies and Partnerships

The school enjoys good working relationships with a wide range of people who provide services to children with SEND and their families, particularly when a child is demonstrating further cause for concern or their learning need is more complex and persistent.

The external specialists may:

• Act in an advisory capacity
• Extend expertise of school staff
• Provide additional assessment
• Support a child directly
• Suggest statutory assessment is advisable
• Consult with all parties involved with the child

These include:

• Durham SEND Information,  Advice and Support Service
• ASD team
• Behaviour Support Services
• British Deaf Association
• Central Durham Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS)
• School Nurse Service
• Dieticians
• Special Educational Needs – Inclusion Team
• Emotional Wellbeing Team
• Occupations Health Service
• One Point Children’s Service
• Paediatric Team – Stanley Family Centre
• Parent Partnership
• Physiotherapy Service
• Portage Worker
• Durham Educational Psychology Service
• Speech and Language Therapists
• The Service for Hearing Impaired
• The Service for the Visually Impaired
• Tree Tops Occupational Therapy

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Compliments, Complaints & Feedback

We are always seeking to improve on the quality of education we provide for children with SEN and are keen to hear from parents about their child’s experience.

We would also like your views about the content of our SEN Information Report. If you would like to comment please complete the online form in the Contact us section of our website.

Compliments are always greatly received and can be passed on either directly to staff and the SENCO, or formally recorded via our regular questionnaires to parents or in the form of a letter to the Head Teacher.  These positive comments will be published on this area of our school website.

We hope that complaints about our SEND provision will be rare, however, if there should be a concern  the process outlined in the school Complaints Policy should be followed.

Further information can be found in the Complaints Policy in the School Policies section of our website.

Contact SENCO

The following are the main contacts for Special Educational Needs and Disability at our school:

• Mrs J Cruise is the Executive Head Teacher
• Our Designated Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Mrs B Jackman
• Mrs Wilks is our Designated SEN Governor

It is the SENCO’s job to:

1. Oversee the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEN Policy
2. Liaise with the relevant Designated Teacher where a looked after pupil has SEN
3. Advise teachers on using a graduated approach to providing SEN support
4. Advise on the deployment of the school’s delegated budget and other resources to meet the pupil’s needs effectively
5. Liaise with parents/carers of pupils with SEN
6. Liaise with and be a key point of contact for external agencies
7. Ensure that the school keeps the records of all SEN pupils up to date
8. Work with the Headteacher and School Governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements by phoning the school on 01207 503979 or sending an email to: ourladystjoseph@durhamlearning.net

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.