SEND

We pride ourselves on being a fully inclusive school.

Taken from the 2015 SEND Code of Practice, a child has ‘Special Educational Needs’ if they have:

• A significantly greater difficulty in learning than most of others of the same age, or
• has a disability or health condition that prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities used by peers of the same age in mainstream schools. (SEND Code of Practice 2015 para. 6.15)

We provide support for children with a range of frequently occurring SEND within the four broad areas of need

• Communication & Interaction
  E.g., Autism Speech, Language, and Communication Needs, etc.
• Social Emotional & Mental Health
  E.g,. ADHD, Attachment and trauma-related needs, etc.
  
• Cognition & Learning
  E.g., Developmental Coordination Disorder, Dyslexia, Moderate Learning Difficulties etc.
• Physical and/or Sensory
  E.g., Visual impairment, Hearing impairment, Sensory Processing Disorder.
  

We also provide support for children who may have less frequently occurring SEND, which we are less familiar with. However, we will always endeavour to meet the
children’s needs and develop training and skills so that we can do this.

1. You should speak to your child’s class teacher -you can ask to make an appointment by…[icon name=”phone-square-alt” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 01743464570  [icon name=”mail-bulk” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] admin@greenacres.empowermat.co.uk
2. If you and your child’s teacher, then feel that the school’s SENDCo, Rachel Butterfield, needs to be involved, an appointment can be requested by…[icon name=”phone-square-alt” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 01743464570  [icon name=”mail-bulk” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] rachel.butterfield@empowermat.co.uk

We will always listen to your concerns and advise next steps following the graduated response.

We know that as a parent/carer, you know your child best

Most children’s needs can be met through our Universal Offer. This consists of High-Quality Teaching and reasonable adjustments across our school.

We have expanded our Universal Offer to make sure that more children have what they need, at the right time.

Some children may need time additional, time limited interventions to help them to make progress. This is called our Universal Plus + offer. Children who have support at Universal Plus + stage may not have SEND.

Some children may go on to need continued and personalised support at SEND Support stage.

Very few children may need bespoke support if they have more complex SEND through an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or a Graduated Support Plan (GSP).

This diagram helps to explain the different stages of support available to all children in our school following the graduated response.

We will listen to any concerns that you may have and/or that we may have identified and follow the graduated response to identifying SEND (as set out in the
SEND Code of Practice 2015.)

The following flowchart helps us to follow this process: Graduated Response Flowchart 2024.pdf.pdf

Careful monitoring of the impact of intervention and provision at Universal Plus + stage will be led by the class teacher but overseen by the SENDCo. This monitoring will inform whether your child may have SEND and whether they need support at SEND Support stage of the graduated response. If they need support at SEND Support stage, they will move from Universal Plus + stage to SEND Support stage and their name will be added to the school’s SEND Register.

We will use cycles of assess-plan-do-review to monitor your child’s progress at different stages. Before starting an intervention, a baseline assessment will be completed.

We do this to identify specific gaps, as well as to show us the impact of the intervention. We may use the following assessment tools to monitor progress (including but not limited to):

We welcome parents and carers into school and know the positive impact that close home and school relationships have on your child’s learning.

We aim to have discussions with you early on to ensure that your child has the right support, at the right time – these discussions will be arranged by the class teacher and with involvement from the SENDCo if necessary [see slide 6].

Parent-teacher meetings are held each term.

SEND Drop ins are held half termly and involve a visiting outside service.

Parent drop ins with the school’s Child and Family Support Worker are held 3 times per week. If your child is at SEND Support stage or has an EHCP you will have termly Person Centred Plan (PCP) meetings with class teachers.

Your child’s voice is very important to us and we know the importance of them feeling seen and heard.

If your child is at SEND Support stage or has an EHCP, they will be involved in termly Person Centred Plan(PCP) meetings with class teachers and yourself.

PCP outcomes are driven by your child’s aspirations. Your child’s voice is also captured on the first page of their PCP.

If your child has an EHCP, they will be involved in their annual review meeting. EHCP outcomes will be driven by your child’s aspirations.

Children are asked to give their views on SEND provision in school through Child’s Voice questionnaires and SENDCo monitoring. The results inform the SEND action plan and the school’s development plan.

Each class has an Inclusion Champion who gain thoughts and ideas from children across school about how to develop SEND provision to ensure it is the best that it can be and that we are a fully inclusive school. Here are their aims for our school…

Your child’s class teacher is responsible for ensuring that adaptions are made to meet your child’s needs, and they are supported by the SENDCo and Head of School.

High Quality Teaching through our Universal Offer is the first step to meeting your child’s needs. Our teachers and support staff have completed training in adaptive teaching through completion of the NPQTL and/or Trust collaboration days.

Adaptions to the curriculum, timetable or environment may also be implemented for your child, dependent on their needs.

Reasonable adjustments may also be needed to reduce barriers to learning for your child – again, these are provided through our Universal Offer.

Our Accessibility Plan ensures that we meet the needs of children who may have physical disabilities: Accessibility Plan 2022-2025.pdf

Your child may receive interventions in order to meet their needs. Interventions may include the following dependent on your child’s needs (included but not limited to):

Our school’s SEND provision is evaluated through the following processes:

• Trust SEND Review/Audits
• SENDCo monitoring
• Whole Education MAT SEND Improvement Programme
• Child’s voice
• Parent Voice
• SEND Governor termly reviews
• Collaboration with the Local Authority
• Advice from external services, e.g., Sensory Inclusion Service,

Mental Health Support Team, Speech and Language Therapy Service, etc.

All teachers are teachers of children with SEND.

Your child’s class teacher has knowledge, expertise and training in teaching children with a wide range of SEND.

They are supported by the school’s SENDCo, Rachel Butterfield. Rachel is also the Trust SENDCo. Rachel’s training and qualifications include:

National Award in Special Educational Needs Co-ordination
Postgraduate qualifications in SEND, including the Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (CCET)
Restorative and Relational Practice
Team Teach Level 2
ADHD Awareness
Supporting Children with Dyslexia
Autism Education Trust Leadership Training
Attachment and Trauma Level 2
Mental Health First Aid

Rachel has taught and been a SENDCo within mainstream and specialist settings. Rachel has also worked as a Specialist Advisory Teacher for an outreach service.

Teachers and LSAs in school have completed a wide range of training and qualifications relating to SEND, including (but not limited to):

ELKLAN
PRIDE
Attachment and Trauma Level 1
Cool Kids
ELSA
Nurture UK
Positive Behaviour and De-escalation
AET
Makaton
Supporting Children with Autism Level 1 and 2
Dyslexia Awareness
Braille Teaching
Sensory Inclusion Service – bespoke training
In-house SEND training through fortnightly Inclusion Update meetings delivered by SENDCo/collaboration days/staff meetings.

We work closely with a wide range of outside services and specialist professionals across education, health and social care in order to meet our children’s needs. They include but are not limited to:

All of our extra curricular activities and educational visits are available to all of ourchildren – including Breakfast Club and after school clubs.

All children are encouraged to participate in activities and we actively seek to reduce any potential barriers to participation by involving parents and external services where appropriate.

No child is ever excluded from taking part in these activities because of their SEN or disability.

We have an accessibility plan in place for the whole school environment: Accessibility Plan 2022-2025.pdf

Our Admissions Policy can be found on our website: Admissions Policy.

Children with an EHCP, which names our school, will be allocated places first, after which places are allocated according to an agreed set of criteria, in strict order of priority.

We actively encourage children with SEND to join a range of clubs to promote social and emotional development – including Breakfast Club and after school clubs.

Our Hive (Nurture) provision is open during break and lunchtimes each day so that children who need a higher level of support and structure during social times can be supported by adults.

Social and emotional development is weaved through our curriculum, as well as through PSHE teaching, SEMH Universal Offer across school, and curriculum adaptions such as ‘soft starts’ on Monday mornings.

Targeted interventions i.e. Play Therapy, ELSA, mentoring, Nurture, Mental Health Support Team involvement etc. are provided if needed.

The BEEU Mental Health Support Team practitioners frequently work in schools supporting children on a one-to-one basis and in groups.

We have 2 Nurture UK-trained members of staff in school, one of which is also ELSA-trained – JoelMay.

Our Child and Family Support Worker, Rebecca Sheridan, also offers support to families in relation to how they can support their own and their child’s mental health and emotional and social development.

Our SENDCo, Rachel Butterfield, is also the Mental Health Lead for the school.

Our Hive provision is our school’s internal Resource Base, which is used for Nurture sessions, social and emotional interventions, and adapted provision for children who may have more complex SEMH needs.

The Hive is being expanded and refurbished this term, enabling us to offer even more personalised learning opportunities for our children who need a different approach.

More information about our Hive provision can be found on our website: COMING SOON

We have 10 children trained by Youth Shoots as Resilience Reps who provide peer advice to children about mental health, wellbeing, resilience, coping strategies and internet safety.

Here are their aims for our school…

Joining EYFS

EYFS teachers and the SENDCo liaise with nursery settings before children transition into our school.
Setting and home visits help us to observe your child in an environment familiar to them.
Transition plans involve you as parents and carers, children, current settings and other professionals involved.
Before starting school fulltime, there will be a series of transition events and sessions.

Moving to KS2

When children move from KS1 to KS2, the SENDCo liaises closely with parents and teachers to ensure that all informationis shared.
Additional transition sessions will be organised to support individual children if needed, as well as transition meetings.
As we are a small sized primary school, all teachers become familiar with children across the school, which aids transition.

Transition to/from another school

Where a child moves to another school, all SEND records will be transferred to the new school and a discussion will take place between our SENDCo and the SENDCo of the receiving school.

Our SENDCo, Rachel Butterfield is also designated teacher for children who are looked after. Rachel will make sure that all teachers understand how a child who is looked after or previously looked-after’s lived experiences and their SEND might interact and how best to support them using trauma responsive approaches.

Children who are looked-after or previously looked-after will be supported much in the same way as any other child who has SEND. However, looked-after children will also have a personalized education plan (PEP).

We will make sure that the PEP and any PCPs or EHCPs are consistent and complement one another – working closely with parents, carers and the Virtual School.

Any complaints about SEND provision in our school should be made to your child’s class teacher/SENDCo/Head of School in the first instance.

If the complaint isn’t resolved at that stage, the school’s complaints policy will then be followed. The policy can be found on our website: Complaints Policy and Procedure.pdf

As parents of children with disabilities, you have the right to make disability discrimination claimsto the first-tier SEND tribunal if you believe that our school has discriminated against your child. To find out how to make such a claim, you should visit: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school/disability-discrimination

INSERT CHILD VOICE VIDEO CLIPS HIVE ELSA SISIDL etc

The SEND local offer is a single place for information, services, and resources for children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and / or disabilities, their families, and the practitioners who support them. It’s been designed with a family’s needs at the heart of the process.

You can find more information https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/the-send-local-offer 

Taken from the Shropshire Local Offer Website, 2022

Greenacres Primary School is committed to equality of opportunity and will ensure that every pupil on roll has equal access to all areas of school life. We believe that every child has the right to achieve his/her full potential. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive school.
Taken from the 2015 SEND Code of Practice, Greenacres Primary School accepts the definition that a child has ‘Special Educational Needs’ if they have:

• A significantly greater difficulty in learning than most others of the same age, or
• has a disability or health condition that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities used by peers of the same age in mainstream schools (SEND Code of Practice 2015 para 6.15)

At Greenacres Primary School, we make provision for every kind of frequently occurring special educational need with or without an Education, Health and Care Plan, for example dyslexia, dyspraxia, speech and language needs, visual/hearing impairments, autism, learning difficulties and social emotional, and mental health difficulties.  There are other kinds of special educational need, which do not occur as frequently and with which the school is less familiar, but we can access training and advice so that these kinds of needs can be met.    The school also currently meets the needs of a number of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan.  Decisions on the admission of pupils with an existing Education, Health and Care plan are made in conjunction with Shropshire Local Authority.

Further details on our overall philosophy and commitment to providing an inclusive education is detailed in our SEND Policy, which is also available on the website.

At Greenacres Primary School, we are committed to the early identification of SEND. We will assess each pupil’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, which will take into account information from parents and previous settings, where appropriate.

Each class teacher, subject leader and members of SLT closely track and monitor the progress of all of the children in our school every term, through a range of assessments, such as NFER assessments, observations, phonic screening tests and half-termly Read, Write Inc assessments to monitor early reading. Class teachers will also carry out daily assessments within each lesson as part of the assess, plan. do, review cycle of teaching and learning. As part of our normal teaching arrangements, all pupils will be provided with additional support and/or strategies to support them if the progress monitoring indicates that this is necessary; this will not imply that the pupil has a special educational need. The SEN code of practice specifies that high Quality First Teaching (QFT) with differentiation and personalised support, needs to be the first reaction to possible special education need (SEN). Strategies teachers may adopt to provide high quality first teaching is outlined in our Wave 1 Provision Offer (this can be found on the SEND section of the school website).

If a child is experiencing difficulties, despite receiving QFT strategies, a meeting will be held with the Class teacher and SENCO to discuss implementing strategies from our Wave 2 Provision Offer, and the child will be moved onto our monitoring register. The class teacher will inform the parents and offer strategies to support the child at home. At this tier, children will be supported and monitored through an in-class monitoring plan (CMP). These plans are reviewed regularly throughout the term by the class teacher, and monitored by the SENCO.  These plans follow the cycle of Assess > Plan > Do > Review. The principle of early identification and intervention underpins our approach to identifying those pupils who need extra support.

If a child is continuing to face difficulty, despite receiving enhanced support from our wave 2 provision offer, a formal meeting will be held with the SENCO, teacher and parents, and, if appropriate the child or young person, to discuss adding the child to the SEN register. Children at this tier need educational provision that is additional to our Wave 1 and 2 Provision offer. This is special educational provision. This is identified if progress of the child is:

• significantly lower than age expected standards on entry,
• slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline,
• fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress,
• shows a widening of the attainment gap,
• or negatively impacted due to social, emotional and mental health needs.

When a pupil has been identified as having special educational needs because special educational provision is being made for them, the pupil (or parent on a pupil’s behalf) will be consulted and involved in the arrangements made for them as part of child-centred planning. A child on the SEN register will have a Pupil Centred Plan (PCP) created, which will follow the cycle of Assess > Plan > Do > Review and will be closely monitored by the SENCO.

Where appropriate, the SENCO will access the support of external agencies for individual pupils. If progress is not being made after two cycles of plan do review, then either other interventions are implemented or a referral is made to an outside agency such as an LSAT from Telford and Wrekin, Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Sensory Inclusion, Bee U.  Parents can also request an assessment by visiting their GP.

The provision made for pupils with SEN is coordinated by our school SENCO, who closely monitors the progress of pupils to ensure such provision is effective. The SENCO will also liaise with class teachers and teaching assistants, observe children in their learning and meet regularly with the pupil, to discuss the impact of the SEN provision. The SENCO regularly meets with the Head teacher and SEN governor who oversee the provision of special educational needs.

We evaluate the effectiveness of provision for pupils with SEN by:

1. Reviewing pupils’ individual progress towards their targets outlined on their Person Centred Plan (PCP) at minimum each half term
2. Gaining the voice of the child when creating or reviewing a PCP
3. Gaining the voice of the parent/carer when creating or reviewing a PCP
4. Reviewing the impact of interventions each half term
5. SENCO, SLT and Governor monitoring through learning walks, book scrutiny and data analyst of school, local and national trends
6. Holding annual reviews for children with an EHCP

All young people in our school are treated with dignity and respect.  Children with additional needs receive a Person Centred Plan (PCP) to enable them to experience success and appropriate challenge throughout their school life. We share the PCP with the child, using language they will understand to ensure they are aware of the outcomes to work towards. We also include a section for pupil voice, where pupils are able to give their views. Children with a PCP are invited to meetings with the SENCO to review their progress and set new outcomes, if appropriate.

Regular ‘Pupil Voice’ activities are undertaken by the Senior Leadership Team, and include pupils from a range of abilities and groups, including those with special educational needs.

Pupils with an Education and Health Care Plan will contribute to their Annual Review, and the SENCO will ensure their views are listened to.

At Greenacres Primary School we strive to work in effective partnership with parents and carers as we recognise the importance this has on a pupil’s personal development, academic achievement and emotional wellbeing.

We operate an open door policy for communication, parents are welcomed to communicate with their child’s class teacher at the beginning or end of each day, or by appointment, in order to exchange any key messages. All parents of pupils at Greenacres Primary School are invited to discuss the progress of their child with the class teacher three times a year, and receive a written report once per year. In addition, we are happy to arrange additional meetings outside of these times, should a parent request one.

As part of our normal teaching arrangements, all pupils will be provided with additional support and/or strategies to help them catch-up if the progress monitoring indicates that this is necessary; this will not imply that the pupil has a special educational need. If a child is experiencing difficulties, despite receiving QFT strategies, the class teacher will inform parents the child is to be monitored, and offer strategies to support the child at home.

If a child is continuing to face difficulty, despite receiving enhanced support from our wave 2 provision offer, parents will be invited to an early discussion meeting with the SENCO. This meeting will take place when identifying whether the child needs special educational provision. If it is decided that a child will receive SEN support, a formal meeting will take place involving the SENCO, class teacher, parents, and child to ensure that:

• everyone develops a good understanding of the pupil’s areas of strengths, difficulties and barriers to learning,
• parents and childs views and wishes are to be recognised, and wherever possible, acted upon,
• everyone understands the agreed outcomes sought for the child,
• everyone is clear on what the next steps are.

It is at this point that a Pupil Centred Plan (PCP) will be drawn up in discussion with the parents and child. which will follow the cycle of Assess > Plan > Do > Review and will be closely monitored by the SENCO. A meeting between parents and the SENCO to discuss and review a child’s PCP will happen at least termly. Should outside agency support be appropriate, parents will be consulted and will usually meet with the professional carrying out an assessment on school site. Parents will be invited to meet with the SENCO and class teacher to discuss the findings of any report to review how provision can be adapted in school.

If a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), parents will be invited to annual review meetings, alongside other professionals involved and where possible, a member of Shropshire Local Authority.

In addition, should parents wish to raise any further queries or questions about the SEND provision for their child, parents are welcomed to email the school SENCO Mrs. A. Knight – knight.a1@greenacres.shropshire.sch.uk or arrange an appointment with the office.

All transitions are well-planned for, both when children are admitted to our school from other settings and when they move on to their Key Stage 3 setting. A Transition Plan may be drawn up with the family and all of the other agencies involved.  This identifies the key needs of the child and creates a clear action plan to ensure that the transition is smooth.  The action plan is different for every child in response to their needs and is considered to be a working document that can be adapted to meet changing requirements during the transition period.

For children entering our Nursery or Reception provision:

Home visits are offered by the SENCO and class teacher to meet with parents and the child in their familiar home setting. If applicable, visits are also carried out to the previous nursery setting, should the child of attended, for an exchange of information with the child’s key worker. Every child will be invited to a number of induction visits during the term before they begin, which can increase in frequency depending on the child’s need.

For children transitioning to a different class within school:

Current teachers will hold meetings with the child’s new class teacher to share progress and discuss the PCP, along with other reports or information. Children will have a ‘taster day’ in their new class. Additional teacher-pupil meetings will be put into place if appropriate, and parents are invited to attend ‘back to school’ nights, where they are able to meet with their child’s new teacher. Where needed, ‘social stories’ are also used to support transition and pictures of the classroom and visual timetables may be sent home over the summer.

For children transitioning to a different school:

The SENCO will work with the prospective school SENCO to create a smooth transition plan, discuss SEND pupils’ needs and hand over key information.

For children in Year 6 transitioning to Secondary School:

Greenacres Primary School works closely with our local secondary schools. Children will be visited in school by the Year 7 coordinators of their prospective secondary school to provide information about the new school and an insight as to what to expect. Meetings will be arranged between the SENCO, Year 6 class teacher and either the SENCO or Year 7 coordinator of the secondary school to discuss SEND pupils’ needs and hand over key information. Additional induction visits will be put into place if appropriate. We also work closely with the Mental Health Support Team who run transition workshops during the Summer term to help those children who may find the transition period particularly anxiety provoking. The Mental Health Support Team also work at our main feeder school, The Shrewsbury Academy, so are able to offer ongoing therapeutic mental health support to particular children, should they require it.

Our SENCO is an experienced teacher who has a good level of knowledge of working with external services in order to understand and meet the needs of our children and their families. She continues to attend courses arranged by the Local Authority and other external agencies, depending on need, in order to keep knowledge and skills up to date. Our SENCO is also the Mental Health Lead and works in partnership with the Mental Health Support team, who offer regular consultation sessions for individual children and offer therapeutic support based on need.

Our team of teachers are experienced and highly trained, and regularly attend training updates and continuing professional development, depending on the needs of the class.

Included in our staff are a team of ten teaching assistants who are able to attend courses to support individual children as necessary. Our teaching assistants have attended a range of courses to support an array of need, such as hearing impairment, visual impairment, speech and language, managing challenging behaviour, and cool kids.

At Greenacres Primary School, we are keen to work with any external agency that we feel is relevant to an individual child’s needs. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Behavioural support such as the Shropshire Local Authority Inclusion Team,
• Health including – GPs, school nurse, family support advisors, paediatricians, speech & language therapists; occupational therapists; Mental Health Support Team, Bee U
• Social services including – social workers;
• Education support, such as educational psychologists and Learning Support Advisory Team (LSAT)

Greenacres Primary School has a clear framework for responding to SEND, and recognises that early identification and effective provision improves long-term outcomes for pupils. We work to ensure that our curriculum and learning environment is of high quality and personalised in the first instance to meet the individual needs of the children within our setting.

A child may have needs in one or more of the following four categories: Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning, Social, Mental and Emotional Health and Sensory and Physical. Adaptions to the curriculum and learning environment are made according to individual need. At Greenacres Primary School, we have a clear graduated response which outlines our adaptions. This is known as our Waves of Provision.

Greenacres Primary School is fully accessible for wheelchair users, being largely on one level. Where necessary, access ramps are situated outside classrooms. We have a purpose-built changing area in our school and disabled toilet facilities. We work closely with other professionals to provide bespoke equipment to support children with additional needs when they are admitted to our school or when they are identified as part of our assessment process. We follow advice from outside agencies and purchase resources that are recommended, as well as following specific programmes.

Our SEND policy, Accessibility Plan and Disability & Equality Policy are also available to view on our website.

External support for children with SEND is coordinated by the SENCO and is responsive to the needs of the child. At Greenacres Primary School, we recognise the important role external services have in helping identify, assess and advising on provision to meet the needs of the individual child.

These are some of the agencies we work closely with:

• Learning Advisory Support Teacher (LSAT)
• Speech and Language Therapist (SALT)
• Mental Health Support Team (MHST)
• Bee U (BEAM, Kooth, Children and Families Mental Health service)
• Occupational Therapists (OT)
• Physiotherapists
• Sensory Inclusion Service working with children with visual impairment and hearing loss (SIS),
• Educational Psychology Service
• Habilitation Specialist
• Smash Life
• TMBSS
• School Nurse
• Strengthening Families
• Education Welfare Officer
• The Local Authority SEND Team
• Social Workers
• Family Support and Early Help Workers

Our trained family support worker is Jen Jones, who is able to carry out an Early Help Assessment to access further support from health care professionals and social services.

At Greenacres Primary School we strive to work closely with parents/carers when supporting their child with SEN, and therefore welcome any concerns regarding the SEND policy or provision made to be discussed as soon as possible.

In the first instance, please speak with the pupil’s class teacher or SENCO. After that, if parents/carers still feel their child’s needs aren’t being met, a discussion with Head teacher would be appropriate. If it was still felt that the complaint had not been addressed, it would then be appropriate to approach the Governing body. Greenacres Primary School is part of the Empower Trust, the complaints policy can be found on the school website, under the policies section.

If parents continue to have unresolved concerns, they may seek to access Shropshire Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS). Click here to find out more.