How does the school know if pupils need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?
SEND or Special Educational Needs is not a label, it is a term used within school to highlight children who need additional support in school and enables us to monitor and adapt to their needs. Great importance is given to identifying the needs of pupils with SEND as early as possible. This is effectively done by gathering information from parents, education, health and care services, or other settings prior to the child’s entry into the school, as well as observations(digitally or face to face), monitoring and work of the child.
We closely monitor the progress of all pupils in order to aid the identification of pupils with additional needs. Any pupils who are falling significantly outside of the range of expected academic achievement in line with predicted performance indicators will be monitored and added to our ‘SEND Aware Register’. The child’s class teacher will take steps to provide learning opportunities that will aid the pupil’s academic progression which enable the teacher to better understand the provision and teaching style that needs to be applied. The SENDCO (special educational needs and disabilities coordinator) will be consulted as needed for support and advice and may wish to observe the pupil in class for further advice. If a pupil is then identified as having SEND they will be closely monitored by staff and the school SENDCO, in order to gauge their level of learning and possible needs. Parents will be informed and involved during every stage of their child’s development and the circumstances under which they are being monitored. Children will be also be added to the ‘SEND Aware Register’ if they have been on the SEND register but no longer meet the criteria.
If any parent/carer has a concern about their child they should initially discuss this with the class teacher. All parental concerns will be listened to and looked at together with the school’s information about the child alongside our assessment data on how the pupil is progressing. The class teacher and SENDCO will liaise to discuss potential barriers to learning and, where required, ensure appropriate intervention is put into place.
Where it is determined that a pupil does have SEND, parents will be invited to discuss the child’s needs and the pupil will be added to the school’s SEND register. The aim of formally identifying a pupil with SEND is to help school ensure that effective provision is put in place and so remove barriers to learning.