Special Education Needs

WHITNASH PRIMARY SCHOOL SEND INFORMATION REPORT
 
Welcome to our SEND information report,

which is part of the Warwickshire Local Offer for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).  Details of which can be found using the above link.

All governing bodies of maintained school

and maintained nursery schools have a legal duty to publish information

on their website about the implementation

of the governing body’s or the proprietor’s

policy for pupils with SEND.

This information is updated annually.

At Whitnash Primary School all members

of our school community are valued.

Our report benefits from input from pupils,

parents and carers, governors,  and members of staff.  We welcome your comments on this, so please do contact us.

The best people to contact are:
 

Headteacher – Mrs Donna Ellison

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCO) / Inclusion Lead – Mrs Louise Hackett

Inclusion Assistant -

Mrs Rebecca Stevenson

SEND Governor – Helen West

All of our policies are stored, updated

and viewed on the main 'Policies' page.

Click either blue button to be redirected

to the alphabetical subheading

of each policy.

Our Approach To Teaching Learners With SEND

Intent: For all SEND learners, regardless of need, to make progress and fulfil their potential through a fully inclusive curriculum.

At Whitnash Primary School we ensure that

all pupils in our schools are equally valued

by having equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum, which is differentiated to meet individual needs and abilities.
 

• We have effective management systems and procedures for SEND, taking into account the current Code of Practice (2014) and school policies (Behaviour Policy, Inclusion Policy).

• We aim to have successful communication between teachers, children with SEND, parents of SEND children, intervention group leaders and outside agencies. Staff share knowledge during weekly briefings and are aware of SENCO responsibilities in school. SENCO liaises with external agencies and draws groups together to achieve the best for pupils.

• We acknowledge and draw on parents’ knowledge and expertise in relation to their own child by involving them in the assessment and planning of the provision for their child. Progress is shared with parents termly through the creation of Individual Education Plans and parent meetings.

• Through a mentoring approach the children are encouraged to take an increasingly active role in their review cycle, in line with their readiness to do so. Pupils are invited to take part in the decision making process in termly meetings with their teachers.

​​

• We are committed to developing the knowledge and skills of all staff to ensure that all support is of high quality, and to manage the challenges of the range of needs in the school.

• We continue to review the needs of our pupils and how staff are trained to meet these needs. Examples are training from STS, IDS, Thrive, Evergreen service and the Educational Psychology Service.

• We have an effective review cycle that allows us to monitor, review and plan for next steps of development through the cycle of Individual Education Plans, Provision Mapping for children and termly Pupil Progress meetings.

We ensure that consideration of SEND crosses all curriculum areas and all aspects of

teaching and learning.

Identifying the

Special Educational Needs

of Pupils

At different times in their school life, a child or young person may have a special

educational need.

The Code of Practice 2014

defines SEND as follows: “A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special education 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, orb) 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." Where pupils’ progress is significantly slower than that of their peers, or fails to match their previous rate of progress,

despite high quality teaching targeted at specific areas of difficulty,

it may be that the child has SEND.

Information will be gathered, including

seeking the views of parents and the pupil,

as well as from teachers and assessments. There can be a many reasons for learners 'falling behind'.

These may include absences,

attending lots of different schools,

difficulties with speaking English, or worries

that distract them from learning.

The school understands that children who experience these barriers to learning

are vulnerable.  This does not mean that all vulnerable learners have SEND.

Only those with a learning difficulty that

requires special educational provision will be identified as having SEND.

About

Whitnash Primary School

Whitnash Primary School is a single story,

fully accessible building for pupils and adults with disabilities including disabled toilets, accessible shower and First Aid Room. All areas of the school are accessible.
 
In 2023/24 our SEND profile shows that we have 21% of children identified as having SEN. This percentage is made up of the following groups :

• 50% are identified as having SEND linked to Communication and Interaction
• 25 % are identified as having SEND linked to Cognition and Learning
• 18% are identified as having SEND linked to Social , emotional and mental health (SEMH)
  
• 1 % are identified as having SEND linked to Sensory and/or physical
• 6% are identified as having SEND linked to other needs eg. medical.

​

Special Needs within the school is currently

lead by Mrs Louise Hackett, a fully qualified SENCO holding the National Award

for Special Needs Co-ordination.

The school also has other staff in school

with this qualification.
 
Staff have been trained in a wide variety of areas to support our pupils. These include:

• ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition)
• Attachment Disorder
• Trauma
• Speech and Language needs
• Shape coding
• Thrive
• Lego Therapy
• Down Syndrome
• RWI (Read Write Inc) 1:1
• Team Teach
• Therapeutic stories

Our school also has a trained therapy dog named 'Blue' to support pupils with SEND.

Whitnash Primary School has regular visits from the Educational Psychology Services and weekly whole day visits from a trained Counsellor. Other specialist visits may include, Evergreen, The Specialist Teaching Service (STS), The Integrated Disability Service (IDS), Speech and Language Therapists and/or Occupational Therapists, in line with the needs of the pupils.
 
Whitnash Primary School is committed to the continuous training of staff to meet the needs of our pupils.

What should I do if I think my child may have Special Educational Needs?

If you have any concerns regarding your

child’s progress or well-being, then please

speak to either your child’s class teacher

or Mrs Ellison or Mrs Hackett (SENCO)

to discuss your concerns.

Support for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities

If a learner 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, personalised teaching’ intended to overcome the barrier to their learning. This support is set out in the individual school’s whole school Provision Map and a child’s Individual Education Plan.
 
When providing support that is ‘additional to’ or ‘different from’ we engage in a four-stage process:

Assess, Plan, Do and Review.
 
Assess – this involves taking into

consideration all the information from

discussions with parents or carers, the child,

the class teacher and assessments. This takes the form of teacher and peer feedback (see marking policy).
 
Plan – this stage identifies the barriers to

learning, intended outcomes, and details what additional support will be provided to help overcome the barriers. Decisions will be recorded and will form the basis for termly review meetings with class teacher.
 
Do – providing the support – extra assistance for learning or learning aids – as set out in the plan.
 
Review – measuring the impact of support provided, and considering whether changesto that support need to be made.

All of those involved – learner, their parents or carer, teacher and SENCO - contribute to this review.This stage then informs the next cycle,if necessary. Meetings with Teachers and Teaching  Assistants (TA’s) to discuss

progress of learners are held weekly,

as well as termly Pupil Progress Meetings

with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
 
This additional support, ‘intervention’ will be

tailored to meet the child’s needs, and will

target the area of difficulty.

This support may be provided in class or in

another area of the school, on a 1:1 basis

or as part of a small group of learners

with similar needs. These ‘interventions’ may be run by a teacher or a teaching assistant. The support provided, and its impact in class, will be monitored closely and shared regularly with the child and with their parents or carers.
 
For a small number of learners, their needs

may require access to technology

e.g. Modified ICT equipment, recording devices etc.
 
While the majority of learners with SEND

will have their needs met in this way,

some may require an Education,

Health and Care needs assessment

to determine whether it is necessary

for the Local Authority to make provision in accordance with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Assessing the

Impact of Intervention

The interventions used will be those that are proven to make a difference for most learners.At Whitnash these interventions include:

• Pre-teach
• Precision teaching
• Thrive (1:1)
• Occupational Therapy
• Shape coding
• Read Write Inc (RWI)
• Lego Therapy
• Touch Type Read Spell (TTRS)
• Wellcomm
• Shape coding
• Therapeutic stories
• Daily reading/paired reading 

A baseline assessment will take place at the beginning of an intervention – this will provide the point of reference for measuring progress made by a child – and a target outcome set. Regular reviews will take place to ensure that the intervention is having the intended effect. Should progress be less than anticipated, consideration will be given to adapting the frequency and/or intensity. The termly reviews will involve children and their parents or carers, as well as class teachers, and a record kept of agreed actions.
 
Where difficulties persist despite high quality interventions and appropriate adjustments, advice and support may be requested from other professionals, with the parent’s consent.

This might involve : the STS service, IDS, Speech and Language Therapy services, Counsellor, Occupational Therapist, Educational Psychologist or a referral to Health Services such as CAMHS /RISE or Connect 4 Health. Where a child has an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) , there will be a multi-agency annual review held in addition to the termly review meetings, taking into account the views of the child, their parent or carer and all other professionals involved with the child.

Opportunities

for Enrichment

At Whitnash Primary School we believe all learners are entitled to the same access to extra-curricular activities and off site visits,

and are committed to making reasonable adjustments to ensure participation for all.

Please contact us if your child has any

specific requirements for extra-curricular

activities and off site visits.

20% of our SEND register currently attend an extra-curricular club after school hours.

Managing Change and Preparing for Next Steps

Transition is a part of life for all learners,

whether that involves

moving to a new class

or moving to a new school.

We recognise that transition is an important

time for all children, but especially so

for a child with SEND.

Consequently, we work closely with parents,

children and staff

to ensure these transitions

run as smoothly as possible.
 

Planning for transitions

is a continual process.

Preparations for new reception in take and

Year 6 pupils will take place

in the Summer Term;

arrangements for pupils with SEND

in transition to the school and those

leaving for Secondary School

will be planned according

to individual need.
 
During Year 6, information – previously

agreed with parents – will be shared

with the SENCO at their next school.

This information will outline needs and

support that has proven effective.

Where possible, children will visit their new

school on several occasions and,

in some cases,

staff from the new school

will visit him or her

at Whitnash Primary School

 or our staff will accompany the child

on visits to their next school.

Have Your Say

Whitnash Primary School

is a community school.

This report details our school offer

to learners with SEND.

To be effective it needs the views of all: Parents/carers, learners, governors and staff.

If you have any comments, please contact:

Mrs Louise Hackett (SENCO)

mccourt.l@welearn365.com

or

Mrs Donna Ellison (Headteacher)

ellison.d@welearn365.com
 
Complaints are handled in line with

the School Complaints policy.

For further information please contact

the Head Teacher

ellison.d@welearn365.com

or refer to the School Complaints Policy

which is on the website.

A copy on request can also be provided from the school office.