Mrs E Jones – SENCo

• Tel: 01782 881480
• Email: clar-office@coopacademies.co.uk

The school accommodates all SEND in line with Equality Act 2010 and provision is available for all four areas of need as outlined in the 2014 SEND Code of Practice:

• Cognition and Learning
• Communication and Interaction
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health
• Sensory and/or Physical

Some pupils may have needs in more than one area and needs may change over time.

When children are due to start our school in the nursery we carry out home visits to meet the children and their families. This helps to identify children with additional needs and allows for the planning of appropriate interventions or support before the
pupil starts at our school. If children join our school in another year group, we communicate with the child’s previous school to ensure the correct support is in place.

Once a part of Clarice Cliff the pupils are assessed regularly and routinely. Their progress is tracked every half term through pupil progress meetings held between class teachers, Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). If a pupil is highlighted during one of these meetings; an appropriate support is agreed and parents are consulted. Teachers are also able to raise concerns with the SENCo at any time by submitting a ‘Cause for Concern’ form.

If you are concerned about your child’s progress or think that they may need extra help with something, please speak to their class teacher in the first instance. If after discussion with the class teacher there are still concerns, please speak to the SENCo.

If your child is identified as needing extra support this will, in the first instance, be delivered by the class teacher and other staff within the classroom. It may take the form of small group work for a short period of time. If after this short period of time,
your child is not making expected progress they will be referred to the SENCo who will carry out observations and assessments in order to establish the most appropriate form of support for your child. The SENCo may also call upon expertise from outside agencies such as the Inclusive Learning Service, Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist and the Mental Health Support Team.

Your child will then be placed on the SEN register and have a plan of support through an Individual Support Plan (ISP). The ISP will contain Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (SMART) targets relating to the areas that they need support in. These targets will be communicated and agreed with you and your child early each term and progress will be reviewed at the end of the term with you and your child. Those pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan will receive additional support as stated in their plan and this will also be tracked half termly in pupil progress meetings, termly through ISP meetings and yearly through their annual reviews.

Our curriculum is planned and personalised to meet the needs of our children. When a pupil has been identified as having SEND their work will be differentiated to enable them to access the curriculum. Through on-going assessments and monitoring, staff can provide a well differentiated curriculum for your child. Work is set at the level appropriate to the child as are their targets for improvement. Those pupils with SEND are given additional support in line with their difficulties through interventions, these interventions may come as a result of consulting with external agencies.

Standardised assessments of pupils on the SEND register are carried out at the beginning and end of each academic year; this allows progress to be tracked accurately and also provides diagnostic information in order to ensure that their area/s of need are identified correctly. Further to this, termly progress reviews relating to SMART targets from ISPs helps to ensure that your child is receiving the most appropriate forms of intervention. Results of whole school assessments and tracking are updated termly and this tracks pupils progress based upon the National Curriculum Age Related Expectations (ARE).

We have termly parents’ evenings to share how your child is progressing in all areas of their development; however, should you wish to discuss your child’s progress at any time, we are happy to arrange this through whichever is the most convenient form of communication – face to face meetings, telephone conversations, email or notes home.

The progress of all pupils on the SEND register will be communicated termly through ISP meetings; this is also an opportunity to discuss how you can support their learning at home and strategies will be included on the ISP document. We are also able to support families as a whole, through the Early Help framework and are keen to meet regularly with you if there are any areas of support that you feel you and your child would benefit from.

All the staff at the school ensure that the health and well-being of the pupils is a priority. We have an inclusion team that is made up of the SENCo, Family Learning Lead, School Liaison Officer, Behaviour Support Co-ordinator, School Counsellor, and Speech and Language Therapist. Any member of staff or parents may also refer pupils to the Mental Health Support Team through the SENCo, who is also Mental Health Lead.

Our school is part of the ‘Trailblazers’ project working in partnership with the Department for Education, the NHS and other local mental health organisations in order to support the wellbeing of all our pupils.

The SENCo at Clarice Cliff Primary is a Specialist Specific Learning Difficulties Teacher (PgDipSpLD). She is able to assess for and diagnose specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia and is qualified in the planning and delivery of structured, cumulative
multi-sensory tuition. She also holds a Certificate in Education and Training and is able to provide staff with SEND training when required.

We also work closely with the local authority Inclusive Learning Service (ILS). This involves a lead SEND Advisor who is available to advise the school in what support is needed for pupils requiring more than class teacher support.

The school works closely with the Educational Psychology Service when needs are becoming more complex and require additional support. Our school counsellor is in school every Wednesday and provides a range of emotional and social support for a caseload of children across the school. She works closely with the families and staff in order to ensure a consistent approach and build relationships.

We also employ an independent speech therapist to assess and support our children with speech, language and communication difficulties, and to advise and train staff in delivering interventions for children. He comes into school every other Thursday
and will work closely with the parents ensuring consistency of approach.

Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy services are available to assess and/or support children with physical needs. By referral to a central hub we can also access a range of health services including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) and school nurses.

All of the staff at the school have regular training opportunities to support their work with pupils with Special Educational Needs. The training offered takes full account of the many and varied needs of the pupils we teach. In 2019, support staff have received training in Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Awareness. A number of support staff have also been trained in the administration of standardised assessments. As part of the Area Development Plan for SEND, the SENCo is planning to lead staff training in Neurodiversity, Multi-sensory Teaching Techniques and Developing Meta-cognition.

It is the aim of the school that all pupils will have opportunity to access a full range of activities both in and outside of school, including school trips. Where difficulties may arise the staff will liaise with parents to minimise issues and to reduce risks. We will
always aim to make reasonable adjustments to ensure all children can fully participate.

We have a disabled parking bay directly in front of the school. Within the building, there is disabled access to all of the ground floor classrooms and communal spaces.

There is a lift to the first floor and there are accessible toilets available on both floors.

In terms of the curriculum, reasonable adjustments are made to accommodate all SEND and the SENCo supports class teachers with this in terms of providing advice for inclusive teaching strategies and resources such as coloured exercise books, tinted
overlays, ear defenders and sloped writing boards.

Each classroom also has a ‘learning bay’ in with pupils with sensory sensitivities can work should they need to, a visual timetable and ‘feelings board’.

Parents and visitors can request information to be presented in a range of ways including larger print, different languages etc. and we use ‘Dyslexia-Friendly’ fonts in all written communication. When required to support families with English as an additional language or those who use BSL, interpreters may be invited to attend meetings.

We do as much as we can to make all transitions as smooth and comfortable an experience as we can. Home visits are carried out before your child starts in our nursery and a number of stay and play sessions are offered to all the children and  their parents to introduce your child to the staff and school during the Summer Term before their Autumn start.

Transition days take place each year for all of the children in the school during the Summer Term which enables all classes to move up to their next teacher and classroom.

For children for whom this move may be more of a concern, additional sessions are planned in to build relationships with key members of staff. All children will have a transition day at their chosen high school and any child who has additional needs or
may find the move more difficult will have specific additional sessions planned.

Discussions are held between key staff in our school and the high schools to share all the relevant information about your child to ensure their individual needs are met.

The first step in allocating resources correctly is ensuring that children’s needs are identified accurately through diagnostic and standardised assessments. Once needs are identified, appropriate resources and intervention can be put into place; the effectiveness of which is reviewed termly through the review of SMART targets set on ISPs. The SEND budget is allocated each financial year and the money is used to provide additional support and resources.

In cases where a pupil is not progressing with quality first teaching within the classroom, the class teacher will request advice from the SENCo who will observe the child and decide whether standardised and diagnostic assessments are necessary. These assessments allow a ‘learning profile’ to be built for pupils with SEND; they may be carried out ‘in-house’ by the SENCo or Speech and Language Therapist, or by specialists from outside agencies such as the ILS or CAMHS. The results of these assessments inform the planning of appropriate reasonable adjustments and an ISP.

For SEND pupils, there are opportunities at least termly to discuss their needs in ISP meetings. The ISP helps a child to identify what is working well for them and what is not.

For pupils who have a higher level of support through an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), their views are gathered at termly ISP meetings and will be fed into the statutory reviews at least annually.

In much the same way as pupils are involved throughout, parents are also involved. Parents are invited to attend informal and more formal meetings with class teachers throughout the year. There are regular opportunities to share ideas and strategies.
For SEND pupils, parents are invited to contribute to the ISP at least 3 times per year. Also, for pupils with an EHCP, parents have opportunities throughout the year to contribute to reviews and share their views on how their child can best be supported. The school welcomes the views of any pupil or parent about how outcomes can be best achieved.

All parents are invited to meet with the class teachers prior to starting a new class. Parents are also invited to our family learning sessions and class workshops and assemblies which give an insight into the kinds of things we do. All parents are encouraged to contribute to their child’s education; this may be through discussions with the class teacher throughout the year, taking part in ISP meetings for children with SEND, discussions at parents’ evenings and annual review meetings for children with an EHCP.

If there are any concerns, we encourage parents to approach the class teacher in the first instance; they are available either at the end of the day when a child is dismissed or via an appointment made with the school office. A response from the class teacher, SENCo or a member of the Senior Leadership Team (as appropriate) will be made as soon as possible. If concerns persist, a formal complaint may be made to the Head Teacher.

Support is available from:

Mrs E Jones – SENCo (Clarice Cliff Primary School)
Tel: 01782 881480
Email: office@claricecliffprimary.co.uk

Inclusive Learning Service
Tel: 01782 232538
Email: SEND@stoke.gov.uk

SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS)
Tel: 01782 234701
Email: iass@stoke.gov.uk
Website: www.sendiass-stoke@co.uk

Special Educational Needs Assessment and Monitoring Service (SENMAS)
Tel: 01782 231863
Email: SENMAS@stoke.gov.uk

Agency support can be located on the Stoke on Trent Local Offer website. The link is detailed below:

localoffer.stoke.gov.uk