Rift House Primary School

Special Educational Needs

Q1 Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s difficulties with learning/SEND?

Q2 What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our school?

Q3 How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

Q4 How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?

Q5 How is extra support allocated to children and how do they progress in their learning?

Q6 Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in this school?

Q7 How are the teachers in school helped to work with children with SEND and what training do they have?

Q8 How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?

Q9 How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

Q10 What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with a SEND?

Q11 How is Rift House Primary School accessible to children with SEND?

Q12 How will we support your child when they are moving to another class or leaving this school?

Q1 Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s difficulties with learning/SEND? The Class Teacher is responsible for:

checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and letting the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) know as necessary.
personalised teaching and learning for your child as identified in their SEN Support Plan.
sharing and reviewing your child’s SEN Support Plan at least once per term and planning for the next term.
ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

The SENCO (Miss Dunn) is responsible for:

developing and reviewing the school’s SEND Policy.
co-ordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
ensuring that you are fully involved in supporting your child’s learning; kept informed about the support your child is getting; and involved in the review of how your child is progressing.
liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child e.g Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.
updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring that all SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that records of your child’s progress and needs are kept.
providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so that they can help children with SEND in the school to achieve the best possible progress.

The Headteacher (Mr. Turner) is responsible for:

the day to day management of all aspects of the school; this includes the support for children with SEND.
the Headteacher will give responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers, but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
the Headteacher must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about issues relating to SEND.

The SEND Designated Governor is responsible for:

making sure that the necessary support is given for any child who attends the school who has SEND.

School contact telephone number 01429 275239

Q2 What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our school?

Support for children with SEND can be provided on a non statutory or statutory basis, depending complexity of need.

a) Class teacher via excellent targeted classroom teaching (Quality First Teaching)

For your child this would mean that:

the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class
all teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand
specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCO) are in place to support your child to learn
different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class – this may involve things like using more practical learning
your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and may decide that your child has a gap or gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress, outlined in a school SEND Support Plan

Specific group work – there may be times when it is appropriate to provide intervention which may be delivered:

in the classroom or in a designated area outside the classroom
by a teacher or teaching assistant

b) Specialist intervention by outside agencies

What could happen:

If your child has been identified by the SENCO as needing more specialist support, you may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer to a specialist professional e.g. a speech and language therapist or educational psychologist.

This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better in school. The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations as to the ways your child is given support.

Details of the support provided will be included in your child’s school SEND Support Plan which will be shared and regularly reviewed with you.

b) Statutary assessment

Statutary assessment is a possibility for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong. Statutary assessment usually results in a child being issued with an Education, Health and Care Plan. This means that your child will have been identified by professionals as needing particularly high level of individual or small group teaching.

This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through quality first teaching and additional support provided by school SEND Support.

For your child this would mean:

the school (or you) can request that the Local Authority Services carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs – this is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child
after the request has been made to the LA SEND Panel (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.
after the reports have been sent in, the SEND Panel will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong. If this is the case, they will write an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP plan). If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the current level of support and also set up a meeting in school to ensure that an appropriate SEN Support Plan is in place to ensure your child makes as much progress as possible.
The EHCP Plan will outline the support that must be in place for your child. It will also have short and long term goals for your child.
Adult support will be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child.

Q3 How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

If you have concerns about your child’s progress, you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially. If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress, you may:

speak to the SENCO (Miss Dunn)
contact the SEND Governor (Miss Amy Allen)

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Q4 How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning? If your child is identified as not making the expected progress, we will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail to:

listen to any concerns you may have. Your views are very inportant!
plan any additional support your child may need
discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to assess your child's learning and development.

Q5 How is extra support allocated to children and how do they progress in their learning?

The school budget, received from Hartlepool LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND. The Headteacher decides on the deployment of resources for SEND in consultation with school governors, on the basis of needs in the school. The Headteacher and SENCO then consider:

which children need support
how we can best use our resources to meet the needs of the identified children

Q6 Who provides support for children with SEND in school?

Suppoort Staff
Specialist Support Staff

Local Authority Provision

Parenting Support Service
Educational Psychology Service
Social Care Disability Team
Childrens Hub

Health Provision

Speech and Language Therapy Service
School Nurse
Occupational Therapy Service
CAMHS
Physiotherapy
Children's service for the Visually Impared

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Q7 Do the teachers in school receive specific training to support SEND children?

The SENCO’s job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEND

The school provides training and support to enable all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children, including those with SEND. This includes whole school training on SEND issues such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and speech and language difficulties.
Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class.

Q8 How does teaching meet the needs of children with SEND?

Class teachers plan lessons according to specific needs of all groups of children in their class and will ensure that your child’s needs are met. In addition:

Support staff, under the direction of the class teacher, can adapt planning to support the needs of your child where necessary
Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups
Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed to meet your child’s learning needs.

Q9 How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

Your child’s progress is continually monitored by the class teacher. In addition:

Progress is reviewed formally every term in reading, writing and numeracy
At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of Year 2 and Year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) – this is something the government requires all schools to do and the results are published nationally.
Children with SEND have a school SEND Support Plan which includes personal targets which are reviewed on a termly basis with parents
The progress of children with an EHCP is reviewed at an annually with parents and all adults involved with the child’s education, health and care.

The SENCO will also check on your child’s progress within any individual or group intervention programme that they take part in.

Q10 What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with SEND?

The class teacher is regularly available to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and school so similar strategies can be used. In addition:

The SENCO is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have
All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report
Personal progress targets in the SEND Support Plan will be reviewed with you
Homework will be adjusted as needed to your child’s individual needs
A home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you, when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child

Q11 How is Rift House Primary School accessible to children with SEND?

The school is fully compliant with Disabilty Discrimination ACT 1995 (DDA,) Equalty act 2010 and our Accesability Plan reflects this LINK

The school is comprised of 3 single storey buildings, all with easy access via double doors and ramps
The school has disabled parking and toilet facilities
Breakfast and After School Club provision is accessible to all children including those with SEND
Extra curricular activities are accessible for children with SEND

Q12 How will your child be supported through important transitions?

When moving classes in school:

All children move to their new classes and teacher during a ‘transition week’ prior to the end of the summer term
Detailed information is passed on to the new class teacher in the form of a Transition Report together with the child’s full SEND records – directed time is made available for staff to have transition discussions about all pupils to ensure that information shared and all support is in place.

If your child is moving to another school:

We will contact the school SENCO of the receiving school to ensure that they know about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child
We will make sure that all records and a transition report are passed on as soon as possible
Where appropriate, additional transition visits are arranged for individuals or groups
Where appropriate, staff from the new school will visit your child in school

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