Special Educational Needs and Disability School Information Report
Arrangements to Meet the Needs of Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
What is the local support offered by Croydon Council?
Our school is part of an exciting initiative by Croydon Council to improve support for children with special needs or disabilities (SEND) who live in Croydon. We are working with a cluster of local schools, who together have been given funding to provide early intervention and better targeted help to support children and young people with SEND. This work covers children from nursery to year 11 and will enable our special needs staff to work closely with our partner schools and nurseries to quickly get the necessary support and help for pupils who are beginning to demonstrate that they have additional needs which cannot be met through our own school SEND resources. This early help may be in the form of advice, school to school support, referral to specialist services, or additional resources, including early years special needs funding (SENIF). The support can be put in place rapidly without unnecessary delay. This is because our group of schools manage the funding between us, so we can direct this to the most suitable children in an efficient targeted way. If, despite this rapid support, it is thought that a child would still benefit from an Education and Health Care Plan, the local group will work together to ensure that the application to assess is appropriate, submitted promptly with all the relevant information including from outside professionals. The initiative is called “Croydon Locality SEND Support” and will continue throughout this academic year. We will of course monitor the outcomes closely and we will always involve parents and carers in any decisions made and review the support regularly. Presently the scheme is only for Croydon residents and will not impact on students who already have an Education & Health Care Plan or those in Enhanced Learning Provisions or special schools. If you want to learn more about this scheme, please contact our SENDCo and we will be happy to provide you with further details.
A detailed guide for parents and carers Information Letter for SEND parents
What support do we offer?
The Nurture Room
The school will endeavour to ensure the necessary provision is made for any pupil with SEN. In doing so we will fulfil the statutory duties and best practice guidelines set out in the Department for Education Draft Code of Practice for SEN.
At Forestdale we offer a range of different types of provision and intervention based on every child's unique needs and support requirements. These include:
Targeted work with a class teacher, known as quality first teaching-this is through:
- Teaching based on what your child already knows, can do and can understand
- Teaching in a variety of ways to maintain and support interest for different learning styles and abilities
- Using specific strategies that have been given by other professionals such as the SENCO, OT, Speech and Language Therapists etc
- Regular evaluation of your child’s progress in order to adapt or change an approach to learning to fully meet their needs
Specific Group Work and Individual Support
- In class additional support by a teacher or teaching assistant
- Additional literacy or maths activities working on a 1:1 basis or within a small group
- Regular additional 1:1 reading and phonics support
- Nessy - computer based personalised reading programme
- Precision teaching - working with a grown up repeatedly on one concept (e.g. number bonds of 10) until children can do this independently
- A fine motor skills development programme
- Nurture group - social skill development programme playtime and lunchtime
- Social and emotional development sessions with the school Learning Mentor
- Oracy - Speech, language and communication programme
- Speech and Language Therapy under advice from the Speech and Language Therapist
- Physiotherapy exercises under the advice of the Physiotherapist
- Occupational therapy exercises under the advice of the Occupational Therapist
Who should I contact to discuss the concerns or needs of my child?
Roles and Responsibilities
Class Teacher
He/she is responsible for:
- Adapting and refining lessons and learning activities to respond to strengths and needs of all pupils
- Checking on the progress of your child and identifying , planning and delivery of any additional support required to support progress within everyday teaching
- Ensuring that staff working with your child in school are helped to deliver the planned work/programme for your child, to help them achieve the best possible progress
- Ensuring the school’s SEN Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEN
- If it has been agreed that a child requires additional SEN support the class teacher will also contribute and oversee delivery of a Learning Passport.
Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo)
Miss Hosking
If you have concerns about your child you should initially speak to your child’s class teacher. Depending on the outcomes of these discussions you may have a follow up meeting with the SENDCo.
She is responsible for:
- Coordinating provision for children with SEN and developing the school’s SEN policy
- Ensuring that parents are:
- Involved in discussions to identify key strengths and areas of difficulty
- Involved in planning provision to overcome barriers to learning
- Regularly included in reviewing how well their child is doing
- Consulted about planning successful movement (transition) to a new class or school
- Liaising with a range of agencies outside of school who can offer advice and support to help pupils overcome any difficulties e.g. Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologist etc…
- Updating the school’s SEN register (this is a system for ensuring all the SEN needs of pupils in the school are known) and making sure that there are good records of children’s progress and needs
- Providing specialist advice and facilitating training to ensure that all staff are skilled and confident about meeting a range of SEN.
The Head Teacher
Mrs Aburrow
She is responsible for:
- The day to day management of all aspects of the school, including the provision made for pupils with SEN
- Performance management and ongoing professional development of all teachers
- Employment and allocation of all teaching and support staff throughout the school
- Ensuring the Governing Body is kept up to date on all inclusion issues within the school
SEN Governor
Mrs Archer
She is responsible for:
Supporting the school to evaluate and develop quality and impact of provision for pupils with SEN across the school.
How will the school decide if my child needs extra help?
SEN Support – The Graduated Response Assess, Plan, Do and Review
Meetings are held each term to look at the progress of all pupils.
Where there are concerns that a pupil is not making progress in key areas of learning further assessments will take place. As required there will be discussions with key staff to plan for additional support and the intended outcomes expected from the intervention.
You will be invited to contribute to these discussions and to help develop your child’s targets in their ‘Learning Passport’. Consideration of other circumstances will be taken into account to decide if difficulties are due to special needs or other factors.
We know how important it is to include the views of each pupil in seeking to review what is going well and how they can be supported. If appropriate your child will be invited to take part in reviews and their comments recorded on their ‘Learning Passport’. If this is not appropriate we will use other ways to share their successes and plan for future support.
Difficulties in relation to social and emotional wellbeing may also trigger a need for additional support. Targets and actions to help your child overcome any difficulties will be carefully recorded by the school in their individual Learning Passport. This will take into account your child’s strengths as well as areas of difficulty. It will identify ways in which you can contribute to support good progress.
How can I find out about how well my child is doing?
The impact of this additional support will be reviewed regularly, on at least a termly basis. You will be invited to meet with your child’s class teacher as part of this review.
In some cases, it may be necessary to increase or change the nature and level of support to help your child to make progress. This may involve seeking help and advice from a range of specialist agencies such as the Educational Psychologist Services or Speech and Language Services. A referral for support from an outside agency will only be made with your consent.
If, despite increased level and nature of support , it is evident that the severity and complexity of your child’s needs require provision beyond that can be offered by our own resources, a request for an Education Health Care Plan may be requested.
The SENCO will explain this process to you and show you how to find out more information about this. They will also share details of parent support organisations who can offer further support as required.
Tests and Examinations: Access Arrangements
For some pupils additional arrangements and adjustments can be made to enable them to fully access statutory tests. This might include additional time, rest breaks or use of a scribe.
The SENCO will talk to you if she feels that your child would benefit from these additional arrangements.
How will teaching be adapted to meet the needs of my child?
Curriculum and Teaching Methods (including groupings and interventions)
Our teachers are able to adapt teaching to meet the diverse range of needs in each class. Daily planning takes into account individual pupils needs and requirements. Differentiation is approached in a range of ways to support access and ensure that all pupils can experience success and challenge in their learning. Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.
Grouping arrangements are organised flexibly with opportunities for both ability and mixed setting to maximise learning opportunities for all.
Additional adults are used flexibly to help groups and individual pupils, with a long term goal of encouraging and developing independent learning skills.
If required more specific interventions are available to support groups and individuals to develop key areas of their learning and development. Details of the additional support offered to your child will be included in their Learning Passport.
Our SEN support room
Additional interventions are tailored to the needs of the child and focus on embedding and practising specific targets in speaking and listening, sentence structure, phonics, maths, motor skills, emotional and social skills. We also have a nurture provision, which can provide structured lunchtime support for children with specific social, communication and/or emotional needs.
The nature and range of interventions offered is reviewed regularly to ensure that it matches the needs of pupils at the school, including pupils who require support to develop their social interaction and resilience.
What arrangements are made to enable my child to benefit and take advantage of the full school curriculum and extra-curricular activities?
Access
We have an accessibility plan in place to ensure that pupils with SEN and Disability can take part in all aspects of school life.
The school's accessibility plan is updated annually and can be viewed on the school website.
The plan also outlines actions the school intends to take to further develop access and inclusion for pupils with disabilities.
Depending on specific needs of your child a more personalised access plan or individual health care plan will be drawn up in consultation with you. This will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.
We undertake additional planning and risk assessments to ensure that pupils with SEN can take part in the wide range of extracurricular activities the school offers, including school outings and residential trips.
We monitor attendance at morning, lunchtime after school clubs to make sure that pupils with SEND are able to access these enrichment activities.
How skilled are staff in meeting the needs of my child?
Staff Expertise
Provision for pupils with SEND is included in our regular monitoring of quality of teaching across the school. This helps to identify priorities for our ongoing programme of CPD to support whole school inclusive practice and to support new and less experienced staff.
Recent training has covered:
- Training in Autism from staff at Limpsfield Grange (a school for girls with communication and interaction difficulties)
- Using the classroom environment to support children with SEND
- The use of concrete objects and manipulatives to support learners, particularly in maths
- Writing effective ‘Learning Passports’
- Supporting children with transitions
Our SENCO actively engages in a range of opportunities to share best practice and keep abreast of current local and national initiatives and policy to support pupils with SEN. The school also seeks advice and guidance from local special schools and other relevant agencies to help school staff meet the needs of each child.
We have staff with specialised expertise and qualifications including:
- Specialist teachers speech and language training
- Teaching assistants with specialist experience for supporting pupils with autism and speech and language needs
- Teaching assistants with specialist experience and undertaking qualifications for running effective nurture provision.
What support from outside does the school use to help my child?
External Partnerships
The school works with a number of external agencies to seek advice and support to ensure that the needs of all children are fully understood and met. These include:
Agency / What they offer?
Educational Psychology Service
Our attached Educational Psychologist is:
Juliette Daniel
The Educational Psychologist visits Forestdale half termly. Children are referred to the EP if they are not making the expected progress given the amount of support that they are receiving. She observes and assesses the pupil and then, in consultation with the parent, helps the school decide next steps for the pupil.
Primary Behaviour Support Team
Outreach Support and training for staff around children’s behaviour and emotional needs.
Speech and Language Therapy
We are visited several times per term by a qualified speech therapist. Parents and staff can refer children to this service. The children are assessed and a care plan is written. This care plan has actions and targets for the individual. These actions are overseen by a teacher with speech and language training and carried out by the trained teaching assistants. On occasions the speech therapist themselves may work directly with the pupil.
Occupational Therapy
Parents and staff can refer a child to this service. The pupil is assessed and a care plan is written. The care plan has actions and targets for the individuals which are carried out both in lessons and in additional OT sessions e.g. Fine motor and Gross Motor Skill groups
SENDIAS – SEN Information and Advice.
SENDIAS provides independent information and advice and guidance for parents /carers of children and young people with SEND.
They also provide mediation services.
Virtual School for Children who are Looked After
This service oversees and monitors provision for children who are in care of the Local Authority.
The full range of local support available to support your child both within and outside of school can be found in the Croydon Local Offer for pupils with SEN.
How will the school help my child to move to a new class/year group or to a different school?
Transition
Children and young people with SEN can become particularly anxious about starting school or moving on to a new class or school. The school will seek to reduce any anxieties and ensure consistency of support by:
When joining the school in our Reception classes:
The SENDCo and or EYFS staff will contact the pre-school setting to seek information about the nature and level of needs for pupils identified with SEND. They will discuss the provision that has already been offered to overcome these barriers. If the pupil has more significant needs and/or has support from other agencies this may include more formal transition meetings where needs and the nature of provision are fully documented and more detailed arrangements may be required. EYFS staff will provide pre-school settings with transition books, to help familiarise the children with the new school setting and expectations.
When moving to another school:
We will contact the School SENDCo and share information about special arrangements and support that has been made to help your child achieve their learning goals
We will ensure that all records are passed on as soon as possible.
When moving between classes and phases:
An information sharing meeting will take place with the receiving teacher.
If appropriate there will be opportunities for your child to visit the new class and meet the teacher and other key staff.
Some children will be provided with a transition book to support their move, if this would help.
When moving to secondary school:
Our SENDCo will make contact with the Year 7 leader or SENDCo once a school has been named to start planning for transition.
Multi-agency meetings may be arranged to create a more detailed transition plan. Successful arrangements and interventions currently used to support your child can be shared with the receiving school and additional visits to the new setting may be planned to help you child become familiar with the new setting and to reduce any anxieties.
Your involvement in this process will be critical to supporting a successful move.
How does the school involve children and parents in decisions about provision and support?
Engagement with Pupils and Families
On an individual level, the school values the views of both parents and children in both identifying key strengths and areas of need as well as planning and reviewing provision.
We will ensure that parents and pupils (as appropriate) are included in regular review meetings to discuss progress and plan provision. Where this is not possible or where more regular updates are required we will agree with you the best way to share information.
We will use the Learning Passport to ensure that the views of all pupils are captured so that their achievements can be celebrated and needs fully understood.
For Year 5 and 6 pupils with SEND, including those with EHC plans, the SENDCo will encourage parents to visit a range of secondary schools, attending open days and finding out about how each school organises SEND report.
At whole school level the school are also keen to support parents with pupils with SEND and take their views on how we can continue to develop a positive experiences for SEND pupils at our school.
Activities include:
- Hosting workshops and advice clinics to develop parent knowledge and skills in various areas of SEN
- Availability of SENDCo at parent consultation evenings to discuss any issues.
- Inclusion of parent representatives to update policies relating to SEND provision.
Annual parental and pupil surveys to take views on current SEND practice and recommendations for further development.
What should I do if I am unhappy about the support my child is receiving?
Arrangements for managing complaints:
In the first instance you should speak to your child’s class teacher. To allow time to discuss the issues you should contact the school office to make an appointment, or arrange this via your child’s contact book.
Depending on the nature of the concern the SENDCo and other senior leaders may attend this meeting or subsequent meeting.
If you are still unhappy and feel matters are unresolved and we feel that we are fulfilling our duties in respect to your child, we will recommend you seek further advice from the local SENDIAS (SEN Information and Advice) and Mediation Services. This service is not linked to the school.
The school can also make arrangements for parents to discuss concerns with other key professionals such as the educational psychologist.
If your concerns are still unresolved we will advise you to make a formal complaint and direct you to the School Complaints Procedures on the website.
If your concern is directly related to decisions around an EHC plan assessment of needs or provision this will be managed directly by the Croydon SEN team. Parents will be contacted directly by the service to receive information about the mediation services and other action you may consider.
Support Available to Parents
This is a selection of the support available to parents in the London Borough of Croydon.
These are not attached to the school but may be able to support you and your child:
Croydon’s Local Offer of Special Educational Needs
Early Help and staged Information