SEND Offer Q and A

Introduction

All Lambeth local authority maintained schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and are supported by the local authority to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school.

All schools are supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible.

The four broad ‘areas of need’ are communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health difficulties, and sensory and physical needs.

What is the local offer?

The Lambeth Local Offer

The intention of the local offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It will also be an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area.

The School SEND Information Report

This utilises the local authority local offer to meet the needs of SEND pupils as determined by school policy, and the provision that the school is able to meet.

Your child has special educational needs: What can we at Telferscot Primary School offer you?

At Telferscot Primary School we embrace the fact that every child is different, and, therefore, the educational needs of every child are different; this is certainly the case of children with special educational needs.

Please click on the 17 questions below for more information about the Local Offer from Telferscot Primary School and how we can support your child.

1. Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s difficulties/special educational needs or disability?

The class teacher

Responsible for:

Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

Personalised teaching and learning for certain children in their class as identified on the school’s provision map and child’s individual SEND Summary sheet
Writing individual Learning Plans and sharing and reviewing these with parents 3 times a year.
Identifying, planning and delivering the additional help individual children may need in liaison with the SENDCo.

The Inclusion Leader and SENDCo: David Cooper & Sarah Brogden

Responsible for:

Developing, reviewing and adhering to the school’s SEND policy.
Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
Ensuring that you are

i) involved in supporting your child’s learning

ii) kept informed about the support your child is getting

iii) involved in reviewing how they are doing.

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 Therapist, Educational Psychologist.
Updating the school’s SEND list (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.

The Head teacher: David Cooper

Responsible for:

The day-to-day management of all aspects of the school; this includes the support for children with SEND.
The Head teacher (Inclusion Leader) will give responsibility to the SENDCo and class teachers, but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
The Head teacher must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about issues relating to SEND.

The SEND Governors work as part of the Inclusion Committee are:

Sammi Burrows, Helen Hillyard, Aisha Jung, Stacey Mack and Donna Jackson.

Responsible for:

Making sure that the necessary support is given for any child with SEND who attends the school.
Helping to raise awareness of SEND issues at Governing Body meetings
Ensuring that the school's notional SEND budget is appropriately allocated to support pupils with SEND
Giving up-to-date information to the Governing Body on the quality and effectiveness of SEND and disability provision within the school
Helping to review the school's policy on provision for pupils with SEND
Assuring the Governing Body that the school website publishes the school’s SEND offer in accordance with the new Code of Practice

School contact telephone number: 02086737362 If you wish to contact our SEND Governors, please email the School Office .

2. What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our school?

Class teacher input, via excellent targeted classroom teaching (Quality First Teaching).

For your child this would mean:

That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
That all teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
That different ways of teaching are in place, so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning, giving longer processing times, the pre-teaching of Key Stage vocabulary and reading instructions aloud for example.
That specific strategies are in place to support your child to learn, this might include the provision of recommended aids such as laptops etc.
Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has a gap or gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

Specific group work

Intervention / Targeted support which may be;

Run in the classroom or a group room.
Run by a teacher, teaching assistant or a specialist (e.g. speech therapist)

Specified Individual support

This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are significantly different to their peers; often severe, complex and lifelong.

This is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). This means your child will have been identified by professionals as needing a particularly high level of individual or small-group teaching.
This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups.
Your child might also need more regular specialist support in school from a professional outside the school.

As a parent of a child with SEND, you will always be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to the appropriate specialist professional. Most commonly this might be:

Speech and Language therapist
Educational Psychologist
Paediatrician
CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services)
Occupational therapist
Specific Learning Difficulties (SPLD) Tutors

This will help the school and you to understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them more effectively in school. The specialist professional will meet with you and work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations as to the ways your child is given support.

3. I’ve heard about Education, Health and Care Plans. What would this mean for my child?

The school (or you) can request that Local Authority Services carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
After the request has been made to the ‘Panel of Professionals’ (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case, they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with the current support.
After the reports have all been sent in, the Panel of Professionals will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong. If this is the case, they will produce an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the current level of support.
The EHC Plan will outline the number of hours of individual/small group support your child will receive from the Local Authority and how the support should be used, and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have medium- and long-term outcomes for your child.
An additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child.

4. 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. We are committed to an open dialogue with families to ensure that:

Everyone develops a good understanding of the child’s areas of strength and difficulty
We take into account the parent’s and carer’s concerns
Everyone understands the agreed outcomes sought for the child
Everyone is clear on what the next steps are

If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress, please do not hesitate to speak to the SENDCo or Headteacher. The school SEND Governor, Stacey Mack can also be contacted for support via the School Office .

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

If your child is identified as not making progress, the school 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.

6. How will school measure the progress of my child?

Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by his/her class teacher.
His/her progress will be reviewed by the Headteacher (the Inclusion Leader) and the SENDCo every term.
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 ILP (Individual Learning Plans), outlining specific targets related to their needs. Targets will be designed to accelerate learning and close the gap. Progress against these targets will be reviewed regularly, evidence assessed and a future plan made.
The progress of children with an EHC Plan will be formally reviewed at an Annual Review with information and reports from all adults involved with the child’s education.
The SENDCo will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work and in any group that they take part in.
Regular book scrutinies and lesson observations will be carried out by the Headteacher, the Inclusion Leader and other members of the Senior Management Team to ensure that the needs of all children are met and that the quality of teaching and learning is high.

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

The school budget, received from Lambeth LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND.
The Head Teacher, the Inclusion Leader and SENDCo decide 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.
The Head Teacher, Inclusion Leader and the SENDCo discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including: -the children getting extra support already, -the children needing extra support, -the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected.

From this information, they decide what resources/training and support is needed.

The school identifies the needs of SEND pupils on a provision map. This identifies all support given within school and is reviewed regularly and changes made as needed, so that the needs of children are met, and resources are deployed as effectively as possible.

8. How do we measure the effectiveness of the provision made for pupils with SEND at Telferscot?

We use reports from teachers, any adults working with the child and parents alongside the data we collect in school to evaluate how effective the interventions and support for learning is.
We meet regularly as a SEND team to discuss pupil support and to make adjustments accordingly.
We report to governors on the progress and attainment of pupils with SEND so that we can be accountable for their achievements.
We liaise with parents to evaluate how the support is best impacting on the child.
Most importantly we use the pupil voice, listening to the child’s view of what is working and how we can best support their learning and emotional resilience.

9. Who are the people providing services to children with SEND at Telferscot?

Key SEND staff at Telferscot:

David Cooper (Headteacher and Inclusion Leader)
Sarah Brogden (SENDCo)
Aisha Jiagoo (Specific Learning Difficulties Tutor for English)
Sarah Gregory (Speech and Language Therapist)
Angela Giuliani (Behaviour and Learning consultant)
Susan Williams (Play Therapist)
Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA)

Local Authority Provision delivered in school:

Autism Outreach Service
The Lambeth Educational Psychologist (for statutory assessments only)

All staff employed by the school have training particular to their area of expertise. More information on this can be gathered by contacting the SENDCo, Sarah Brogden.

10. How are the teachers in school helped to work with children with SEND in our school, and what training do they have?

The SENDCo’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEND.

The school provides training and support to enable all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children, including those with SEND. This includes whole school training on SEND issues, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and speech and language difficulties.

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 Outreach Team.

11. What support do we offer for you as a parent of a child with SEND?

The class teacher is regularly available 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 Inclusion Leader and SENDCo are 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 with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.
Individual Learning Plans will be reviewed with your involvement every term.
Homework will be adjusted as needed to 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.

12. How do we accommodate children with disabilities?

Admissions for any disabled child will work in the same way as a child with an EHC Plan. The school can be contacted to discuss any specific needs that a child has in order to assess whether Telferscot is the right place for them. Please contact the SENDCo in the first instance.

The needs of all pupils are met in a fair and equitable way. Care is taken to ensure that we do not treat disabled pupils less favourably than others as we value everyone’s presence at the school and believe that a diverse school community is a strong one.

Wherever possible we will ensure that our facilities are accessible to all children and we will make local adjustments to accommodate specific needs. These could include changing classroom furniture and layout, providing alternate space for a child or adjusting timetables or teaching methods. These will all depend on the needs of an individual child.

All of this can be referenced in Question 13 below and in our Accessibility Policy and Access Plan.

13. How is Telferscot Primary School accessible to children with SEND and disabilities?

The school has carefully considered its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.
We endeavour to ensure that the school site is accessible to all children and adjustments are made where possible.
We ensure wherever possible that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
We endeavour to ensure that before and after-school provision is accessible to all children, including those with SEND and disabilities.
We actively encourage all children to participate in school trips, including residential trips, and no child is ever excluded from taking part in these activities

14. How will we support your child when they are joining this school? Leaving this school? Moving to another class?

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

If your child is joining us from another school:

All children joining Telferscot have an admissions meeting prior to starting. This gives parents the best opportunity to share information about their child’s additional needs.
The SENDCo or Inclusion Leader will liaise with your previous school.

If your child is moving to another school:

We will contact the school SENDCo and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child. Where possible, a planning meeting will take place with the SENDCo from the new school.
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 in most cases a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. A meeting will also take place between the SENDCo and new class teacher. ILP s will be shared with the new teacher.
Whenever possible new teachers meet their new classes prior to September.

In Year 6:

The SENDCo will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENDCo of the child’s secondary school. If your child has an EHC Plan there will be an annual review in the summer of Year 6 and an appropriate representative from their new school will be invited.
Your child will participate in focused learning relating to aspects of transition, to support their understanding of the changes ahead.
Where possible, your child will visit their new school on several occasions.

15. How will we support your child’s social and emotional development?

We recognise 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, anxiousness, and being uncommunicative.

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:

On-going support from Teachers and Teaching Assistants.
Lunchtime and playtime support (Shine Time sessions - informal drop-in sessions with a TA).
Trained ELSAs onsite.

If your child still needs extra support, with your permission the SENDCo will access further support from external agencies.

16. Concerns or Complaints

Complaints about SEND provision in our school should be made to the Headteacher or Deputy Head in the first instance. Responses to children’s behaviour within school is consistent, in line with our Behaviour Policy, although reasonable adjustments are made to accommodate individual needs. The school has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, especially towards children with SEND and disabilities, please refer to our Anti-Bullying Policy. We will actively investigate all allegations and, if there is a case, work with both the bully, the victim, parents and carers and staff to affect a change.

17. Contact details of support services for parents of pupils with SEND

Should you wish to liaise with external agencies, listed below are some additional services available in the local area. Should you require any further support, please contact the SENDCo, Sarah Brogden.

Adoption UK

Lambeth SEND Information for Parents & Carers

Advice and parenting information from the NHS in partnership with the Maudsley Charity