Highwoods Community Primary School

Learning Support Policy

Written by the SENCo - 2002 Reviewed 2006 Reviewed November 2008 Reviewed November 2010

Highwoods Learning Support Policy

INTRODUCTION Highwoods is an inclusive school. We seek through our practice to overcome barriers to learning, whether this is caused by physical disability, learning disability social, behavioural, emotional, gender culture or religious differences. We believe that all children have the right to access a broad and balanced curriculum, relevant and differentiated, which demonstrates progression and coherence. All children are expected to make progress. However, it should not be assumed that all children will progress at the same rate. The rate of progress may vary depending on individual attitude to learning and ability. Children with special educational needs require an enhanced level of resourcing and differentiation to meet their needs and the school considers that learning support for these children is their entitlement. AIMS & OBJECTIVES Through the implementation of this policy we aim to: Create an environment that meets the special educational needs of each child. Ensure that the special educational needs of children are identified, assessed and provided for. Develop confidence and self esteem by valuing and celebrating childrens contributions and achievements. Identify the roles and responsibilities of staff in providing for childrens special educational needs. Promote the early identification of children with special needs. Enable all children to have full access to all elements of the school curriculum. Ensure that where possible, reasonable adjustments are made to enable all children to participate to the best of their ability in all aspects of school life. ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES The whole staff will take responsibility to ensure that all children regardless of their special needs have access to a rich and varied curriculum which enables every individual to fulfil her or his potential to the highest possible standard. This aim will be achieved by all teaching staff taking responsibility for: Identifying children who may need learning support. Working with learning support staff in assessing their needs. Working in partnership with parents and learning support staff. Ensuring the curriculum is suitably differentiated to meet the needs of all children and that reasonable adjustments are made to enable all children to participate. Creating an inclusive environment in which children feel they will be listened to.

The Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) is responsible to the Headteacher for overseeing the day to day operation of the schools SEN policy. This is done through: Liaising with and advising classteachers and Learning Support Assistants. Coordinating provision for children with special educational needs. Attending SEN review meetings. Overseeing the records of all children with special educational needs. Liaising with parents of children with special educational needs. Contributing to the in-service training of staff. Maintaining resources and a range of teaching materials to enable appropriate provision to be made. Monitoring and evaluating the special educational needs provision and reporting to the governing body. Liaising with external agencies including the LEAs support and educational psychology services, health and social services, and voluntary bodies. Attending cluster support meetings and SENCo conferences. Working with the Headteacher to evaluate provision for children with Special Needs. Maintaining a Learning Support Register. Reviewing the Learning Support policy regularly. Evaluating the effectiveness of the Learning Support policy and preparing an SEN Action Plan annually. Liaising with the SEN Link Governor; (See Appendix) through regular termly meetings on current SEN issues. The role of the SEN Governor includes: Visiting the school at least termly to work and talk to the SENCo on current SEN issues. Work with the SENCo in evaluating the effectiveness of the SEN policy. Attending relevant Governor training courses. Having regard of the SEN code of Practice 2001. ADMISSION CRITERIA FOR PUPILS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Highwoods Community School admits pupils with Special Educational Needs within the normal admission arrangements, provided sufficient resources are made available to meet their needs. This may be from the L.A. (Local Authority) as in the case of a Statemented pupil or, from within the schools delegated SEN budget in the case of pupils on School Action Plus or School Action. Once a place at Highwoods has been confirmed, the parents/carers are asked for details of any Special Educational Needs their child may have. This is to ensure the SENCo has time to gather any further information from other agencies and plan any special educational provision. We have no specialist units at Highwoods. The school complies fully with disability regulations and has a disabled toilet and hygiene facilities. All children with SEN are given equal opportunity and access to the schools extra-curricular

activities. Participation of children with behavioural, social and emotional needs will be dealt with on an individual basis. IDENTIFICATION, ASSESSMENT, PROVISION AND RECORD KEEPING A child has special educational needs if they are making inadequate progress and / or they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. Inadequate progress is when a child shows little or no progress despite receiving differentiated learning opportunities, and also: Makes little or no progress even when teaching approaches are targeted in an identified area of weakness. Shows signs of difficulty in developing literacy or numeracy skills which result in poor attainment in some curriculum areas. Presents persistent emotional or behavioural difficulties which are not ameliorated by good behaviour management practice. Has sensory or physical problems, and continues to make little or no progress despite the provision of a differentiated curriculum. Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age. Has a disability which despite reasonable adjustments prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the LA. A child must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or medium of communication of the home is different from the language in which he or she will be taught. (SEN Code of Practice)

Identification Early identification of children with Special Educational Needs is essential. A child may be identified as giving cause for concern through one or more of the systems of information gathering and sharing, which operate within the school. For example: Classteacher referrals as a result of their own ongoing evaluation and assessment. Teacher progress dialogues As a result of an analysis of whole school assessment procedures, including: o EYFS Profile scores o Teacher assessment or end of key stage assessment tests o Periodic levelling of work on Assessing Pupil Progress sheets o Target Tracker data analysis o SATs o Standardised reading and spelling tests o Early Reading Project assessments. Parental contact with the school, raising concerns in person, or through the home/school reading diary.

Screening tests. Performance against National Curriculum level descriptors and Early Years Foundation Stage Stepping Stones. Progress against objectives specified in Primary Framework. Transfer from other schools. Prospective Parents Meetings, home visits and First Term Feedback sessions. Transfer from pre-school groups and agencies involved with the child prior to starting school.

Assessment Highwoods uses a staged assessment procedure as outlined in the Code of Practice 2001. We have retained the old Stage 1 assessment level now called Teacher Concern. Concerns of either the classteacher or parents are logged with the SENCo. The classteacher will ensure tasks are suitably differentiated for the childs needs and will monitor their progress. Parents are invited to informal meetings with the classteacher. School Action - The trigger for intervention through School Action will generally be that despite quality first teaching and differentiated learning opportunities, a pupil: Makes little or no progress Is working at national curriculum levels significantly designated for their chronological age. Struggles to develop basic literacy and numeracy skills Presents persistent emotional or behavioural difficulties Has sensory or physical problems which affect progress Has communication difficulties which affect progress below those

Assessments are made to identify the childs particular area of difficulty. The class teacher and SENCO will then decide on the action needed to help the pupil to progress. The interventions and strategies employed are recorded on an Individual Education Plan which will support the class teacher to plan and set targets appropriate to the childs needs. These are discussed with the parents and their views are sought. Progress against the IEP targets are monitored by the class teacher and SENCo and reviewed at least twice yearly. School Action Plus - The trigger for School Action Plus will generally be, that despite receiving an individual learning programme, a pupil: Is unable to achieve the targets set. Continues to make little or no progress over a long period. Continues working at NC levels substantially below expectations. Continues to have difficulty in developing basic literacy and numeracy skills. Has emotional or behavioural difficulties which substantially and regularly interfere with their own learning, or that of the group. Has sensory or physical needs requiring additional specialist support. Has ongoing communication difficulties which impede social relationships and cause substantial barriers to learning.

In these circumstances, the SENCO will continue to support the pupil and the class teacher similarly to School Action, but also by: Enlisting specialist support from outside agencies, such as the Educational Psychologist, the Speech and Language Therapist, or the Behaviour Management Team. Implementing specialist advice. Discussing arrangements with class teacher, teaching assistant, parents and pupil. Helping to draw up and distribute IEPs. Monitoring and reviewing progress. The day to day planning and delivery of the interventions recorded in the IEP continues to be the responsibility of the class teacher. Referral for statutory assessment - Stage 4 If a pupil fails to make progress through School Action Plus, the School, parents and specialist services, will consider asking the LEA to initiate a statutory assessment. This involves the collection of evidence by the LEA, on the nature of a childs Special Educational Need. Written reports are sought by the L.E.A. from the school and any other agencies involved with the child. Referral for statutory assessment - Stage 5 Once all of the evidence is submitted it is discussed by the Special Educational Needs panel and may result in the issuing of a Statement of Special Educational Need. This is a legal document, which details the strengths and weakness the child has, sets objectives which the child must work towards and the number of Teacher and Teaching Assistant hours granted to the child. It also gives details of school placement. The Statement is reviewed annually with two additional reviews throughout the year. Provision The SENCo, Senior Leadership Team and Headteacher are responsible for the operational management and resourcing for special needs provision within the school, including the provision for children with statements of special educational needs. At Highwoods we have Teaching Assistants supporting children in the classroom to access the National Curriculum. Learning Support provision is allocated according to a childs individual needs. Since the implementation of the revised numeracy and literacy frameworks, Learning Support Assistants have been involved supporting targeted groups of children. Support of children with special needs can take place within the classroom, but children may also be withdrawn from the class for individual or small group work. Teaching Assistants will support children through teaching intervention strategies to support children towards their IEP targets. They will monitor and evaluate progress to share with teachers and SENCo. The SEN room facilitates small group and individual work with children who need support or extension work outside the classroom. Children with statements of educational need have allocated funding, through the statement, to support them. Much of this funding is used to provide additional adult support in the classroom. There will be a review of Learning Support provision between the class teacher and a member of the Senior Leadership Team during the termly progress dialogues.

Record Keeping A central SEN Register is kept listing all children on Teacher Concern, School Action, School Action Plus and those with Statements. Copies of Review forms and attached Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are also kept in a secure place. Teachers and parents/carers also receive a copy of the review after the meeting. Teachers copies of SEN paperwork are kept in their own classroom assessment files. A provision map is compiled each year and amended on a termly basis to provide an overview of the variety and duration of interventions that take place. SEN children have been identified as one of our inclusion groups and their progress is tracked using Target Tracker. BEHAVIOUR Please refer to behaviour policy. PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS At Highwoods, we recognise the essential partnership between home and school in the education of children. Professional help for children with special educational needs is most effective when it builds upon parents knowledge and understanding of their child and takes into account the importance of their contribution to each stage of the childs learning. Parents have the right to be informed of any decision regarding Learning Support for their child as soon as identification (usually by the Classteacher) has been made. Parents are invited to respond after copies of the paperwork have been distributed. TRANSITION ARRANGEMENTS Children with SEN occasionally change schools to either a specialised unit or a special school. When they have finished Year 6, they will transfer to Secondary school. In order to prepare children for transition, where ever possible, we enable children go on pre visits to their new school. We will also ensure that there is appropriate liaison between the child, parents and professionals to ensure there is a good exchange of information. Children are prepared for in school transition points from Foundation Stage to Year 1 and Key Stage One to Key Stage Two through practical activities such as paired reading, class visits, making photographic diaries, pre-school visits and story times. PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER AGENCIES Highwoods belongs to a Cluster Group of local schools where Learning Support Staff meet termly to discuss ideas, share expertise and resources. The school recognises the importance of establishing and maintaining positive working relationships with specialist outside agencies. Many children with SEN have outside agencies involved, however the level and type of involvement varies with each individual. Effective partnership between all professionals concerned with a child is crucial in ensuring that the childs needs are met. COMPLAINTS PROCEEDURE In keeping with the Department for Education Guide to Parents, all complaints regarding Learning Support provision within the school should be addressed to the Headteacher or SEN Link Governor. If the situation cannot be satisfactorily resolved, Parents may wish to use the Formal Complaints Procedure. WHOLE SCHOOL PLANNING, MANAGEMENT AND REVIEW

The Governing Body will have responsibility for the allocation of Funds for Learning Support. The criteria are: The number of children on Essex Stages of Assessment at the beginning of the academic year. The number of children at each stage of assessment. The number of statemented children (stage 5) and those undergoing statementing (stage4) The cost of Learning Support Assistants. Cost of in-service training for Learning Support Staff, M.D.As A report will be submitted on Learning Support Provision and the effectiveness of the Learning Support Policy annually.

MONITORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS POLICY The success of this policy and the provision for children with Special Education Need is monitored in the following ways: SENCO monitors classroom provision and individual IEPs to ensure childrens needs are being met. Class teachers and TAs support children with their IEP targets, monitoring their progress and giving feedback to the SENCo. Class teachers provide appropriately differentiated work for all children so they can access a balanced and broadly based curriculum. SENCo regularly meets teachers and TAs in order to support them with the SEN provision in their class. SENCo meets regularly with the Headteacher to report on the progress of children and the effectiveness of the measures put in place. SENCo meets termly with the governor responsible for SEN. SENCo produces a written report for the Governing Body. The Senior Management Team carefully monitors progress and achievement of all pupils, including those with SEN. SEN is identified as an area on our rolling programme of subject monitoring. Indicators of success will include Early identification and assessment of children with learning difficulties by Classteachers and Learning Support Teachers. The % of SEN children reaching their IEP targets. The % of SEN children making two levels progress against their KS1 teacher assessment results. The % of parents responding to IEPs. Level of Governor involvement. The childs view of how they are progressing. Conducting an in house SEN Audit on a periodic basis.

COMMUNICATION Effective communication is enhanced by Class teachers\Learning Support Assistant attendance at review meetings with parents and Learning Support Staff Class teachers and Teaching Assistants working effectively together. Teaching assistants to be involved with class teachers planning and aware of individual lesson objectives. Regular liaison between SENCO and Teaching Assistants. Issues raised to be fed into Senior Leadership Team meetings. Parents making a contribution to their childrens education and feeling welcome to discuss their concerns with staff at any time. Half termly staff meetings focusing upon inclusion issues.

This policy was reviewed by staff at the Inclusion Team meeting 4th November, 2008. KT/JM 2008 This policy was reviewed by the INCo, SENCo, SLT and governor with responsibility for SEN November 2010