SEND and medical needs

Our school aims to be a fully inclusive school community and to involve all members of the community in decision-making and policy development.  We regard staff, parents and pupils as undertaking a joint enterprise to make learning exciting and positive for all of us.  We are all members of a team working co-operatively to this end.  The expertise of parents and carers is highly valued.

More details about our provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities, as well as children with special medical needs, including our approach, policies, what Devon offers and other useful information is available on the First Federation website at:

SEND and Medical Needs | First Federation

SEND PARENT INFORMATION

How does the school assess children and what will happen if my child is not meeting the expected age related expectations?

Each child, regardless of their need, will be assessed regularly to ascertain whether they are keeping up with our planned curriculum for their age and stage of development. If you have any concerns regarding your child, speak to the class teacher in first instance.

When a teacher or a parent has raised concerns about your child’s progress, and targeted teaching has not met the child’s needs, the teacher must raise this with the Unit Leader and our school SENDCO. If your child is then identified as not making progress the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more details:

• To listen to any concerns you may have too;
• To plan any additional support your child may receive in school and at home;
• To discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning and development.

This is how we scaffold our support for our pupils including educational, social/emotional, behavioural and communication needs.

• Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.
• She/He will plan personalised intervention sessions for your child with targets to help your child to make more progress.
• A Teaching Assistant/teacher or outside professional (like a Speech and Language Therapist) may run 1:1 or  small group sessions using the teacher’s plans, or a recommended programme- this can include eg Phonics, Lego Therapy, ELSA, Family Support Worker etc, depending on the child's needs.
• Provision of resources to enhance independent learning including sensory devices, sand timers, easy-grip scissors, and table top visuals, phonics sound mats and high frequency word lists, etc.
• An allocated learning space may be provided for some interventions or teaching approaches.
•  Assessment by, and intervention from, an outside agency (Speech and Language therapist, EP, CIT, to name a few), on referral.
• Programmes used for children with Learning,  Speech, Language and Communication Needs.
• If your child has been identified as needing more specialist input instead of or in addition to excellent class room teaching and intervention groups, referrals will be made to outside agencies to advise and support the school in enabling your child to make progress.
• Before referrals are made you will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward.
•  You may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist,  Educational Psychologist, the Communication Interaction Team. This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better in school and at home.
• The specialist professional will work with your  child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:
  • Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better.
  • Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise.
  • A group or individual work with outside professional.

The school may suggest that your child needs some agreed individual support in school. They will tell you how the support will be used and what strategies will be put in place.

• The school have access to a wide range of assessments and interventions to best support children with an identified SEND need. 
• Children will be monitored to establish if the interventions are helping them to make progress or they may be added to our SEND register, if progress in not happening at the rate we would expect and a personal learning plan would be put in place with targets that are reviewed to track their progression in identified areas.  
• The school or you can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process and you can find more details about this in the Local Authority (LA) based Local Offer.
• After the school have sent in the request to the Local Authority (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 support at the Action Stage. After the reports have all been sent in the Local Authority will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong and that they need support in school to make good progress. If this is the case they will write an Education Health Care Plan (EHC Plan).
• If an EHC Plan is agreed, it will outline recommendations 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 long and short term goals for your child.
• There may be some funding that is generated from this process and this may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child.
• The Head Teacher and the SENDCO discuss all the information they have about Special educational needs and disabilities (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.

How accessible is the school environment?

• The school site is fully accessible to children with any physical disability.
• We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
• Enrichment activities are extended to all pupils regardless of their needs.
• All children are welcome to all our Breakfast and After School Clubs regardless of needs/disabilities.
• Teachers take account of medical and physical needs of all children when planning learning and will make appropriate amendments to ensure all children are fully included in the curriculum. 

Who is the person responsible for children and young people with SEN?

The SENDCO, Mrs Claire Hosking and Mr Russell Pearson (Head of School) are responsible for coordinating all the support for children with Special  Educational and Disabilities (SEND). Mrs Hosking is supported by Mrs Hannah Evans, our Trust SEND Lead, Tracey Winn, our Trust Safeguarding Lead, and Ms Heather Slater our trust SEMH and inclusion lead. The SENDCO role includes:

• Developing and reviewing the school’s SEND policy;
• Involved in the support and the progress reviews of your child;
• Ensuring that you are informed about your child’s progress;
• Updating the school’s SEND register;
• Working alongside teachers and teaching assistants to help identify needs, create and implement  personal learning plans and EHCP short term targets and to review these to ensure progress is being made.
• Liaising with outside agencies who come to school to offer support and guidance for your child (e.g. Speech and Language Therapist, counsellor, Communication Interaction Team, Educational Psychologist, etc.);
• Providing and signposting to specialist support and training to all school staff to ensure that can provide the appropriate support to all children with SEND so they achieve their full potential as this is our priority.

The Headteacher, Mr Russell Pearson, is responsible for the day–to–day running of Blackpool School, including the support of SEND. He liaises with Trust SLT and reports on SEND to governors. 

How do I contact the person responsible for SEN or arrange to meet them?

Contact can be established either;

• via telephone on 01626 821316 ;
• by e-mail to: admin@blackpool.devon.sch.uk
• Alternatively, speak to a class teacher or come to our reception and see our receptionist to arrange an appointment.

How will my child be supported when he/she is moving to another class or is leaving Blackpool School?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible. Enhanced transitions will be carried out as appropriate for individual children where needed.

When moving classes in school:

• Information will be passed on to the new class teacher IN ADVANCE and a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. All Individual Education Plans will be shared with the new teacher.
• If your child would be helped by a booklet to support them understand moving on then it will be made for them.
• Your child will have various opportunities to visit her new classroom and teacher.

In Year 6:

• The SENCO will arrange and attend transition meetings with the SENCO of their secondary school.
• Your child will do focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead.
• Your child will visit their new school on several occasions and staff from the new school will visit your child in our school.
• All records of your child will be passed to the secondary school.

If your child is moving child to another school:

• We will contact the school SENCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.
• We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.