SEN Report

SEN INFORMATION REPORT –HOWARD PRIMARY SCHOOL OFFER

Support for your child at Howard Primary school

Our job is to help your child achieve the very best they can at school.  You know your child best and you may feel that they need some additional help or support for some or all of their time at school.

This SEN Information Report is to inform you of the types of support available for your child at Howard Primary School.  It will help you understand who can help and how this support can be accessed.

How do we achieve this:

We have an experienced team of staff who may be involved in supporting your child at Howard Primary.  These include:

Your child’s teacher, who will always make sure that tasks set are appropriate and accessible for your child. They are available to you at the start and end of each day (Please make contact via the school office)

Teaching Assistants who support all pupils in class. We have several additional TAs who help support groups and individual children with their learning with a long term goal of developing independent learning skills.

A counsellor Mrs Ruse-Whalley –who works with children who may be experiencing a particular period of trauma or emotional difficulty and including help with friendships. ELSA trained Teaching Assistants to support with PHSE

The Inclusion Support Co-Ordinator – Mrs Pollington who co-ordinates the provision of SEN in the school.

One of the School Governors – Mrs Burrell-Walker who works with the Inclusion Support Teacher in leading SEN in the school.

Sometimes we commission Specialist Support to work with identified children with a particular focus e.g. Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Behaviour Support specialist, CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) and Family Lives Parent Partnership Service.

From September 2014 we will have in school access to fortnightly half day visits from CAMHS and the Speech and Language Therapy Service.

To ensure our staff have the appropriate skills and knowledge to support children with SEN – there is a programme of on-going training both in school and through external courses. Our Inclusion Co-Ordinator and Pupil Development teacher actively engage in a range of opportunities and training to share best practice and keep abreast of current local and national initiatives and policy to support pupils with SEN.

Recent training has included:  Makaton, PIT (Partners in Talk), Supporting pupils working on “P” levels, Positive Behaviour Management and Boxall Profiling.

The school also seeks advice and guidance from local special schools to review, evaluate and develop provision for pupils who have the most complex needs.

We have staff with specialised expertise in:

  • Training for pupils with ASD
  • Emotional Literacy Support
  • Counselling
  • Drawing and Talking Therapy

Children with SEN have learning difficulties and/or physical disabilities which make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same age.  They will need extra support or different help e.g. modified tasks, extra time or breaks in formal assessments.

Schools and other agencies can help most children overcome their difficulties quickly and easily.  But a few children will need extra help for some or all of their time in school.

This means they may have difficulty with:

  • Some or all of the work in school
  • Reading, writing or mathematics
  • Understanding information
  • Expressing themselves
  • Organizing themselves
  • Sensory perception or physical mobility
  • Managing their behaviour
  • Making friends or relating to adults

Some pupils may need different access arrangements and adjustments for tests and examinations.  This may include additional time, rest breaks or use of a scribe. The Inclusion Co-Ordinator will inform you about eligibility and applications for these arrangements.

At Howard Primary every effort is taken to ensure transition times are successfully managed. The Inclusion Co-Ordinator will attend the Primary to Secondary Transition meeting to discuss specific needs of your child and the nature and level of support which has had the most impact. In some cases additional visits to the new school are also arranged to re-assure pupils and parents.

Class teachers will assess your child to identify their strengths, needs and the extra help they require. If a child continues to have difficulty after an intervention or has a high level of difficulty when they join us, they may be considered to have special educational needs (SEN) and be placed on the SEN register. Parents will be consulted if this needs to happen. A SEN Support plan outlining targets and outcomes will be drawn up in consultation with parents the young person, class teacher and any other professionals who may be offering support/advice. This Support Plan will be reviewed regularly at a Review Meeting. You will also be informed about your child’s general progress and targets through the twice yearly Parent’s Evenings and the annual report which is given out at the end of the Summer term.

From September 2014 the government is introducing a new category called “additional SEN support”, which will be a more simplified, rigorous approach that will focus the system on the impact of the support provided to that child, rather than how children access support according to the category they fit into.

If your child’s needs are complex or severe we may suggest that we ask the LA for extra support.

From September 2014, all children and young people from age 0 -25, who have significant special educational needs will undergo an Education Health and Care (EHC) Assessment. (unless their parents, carers or the young person opt out of the new system). This will lead to an EHC Plan instead of a Statement of SEN.  For children and young people who already have a Statement of SEN, the transfer of Statements into EHC Plans will be a gradual process.

If you would like to know what provision is in place for your child or if you have any concerns that your child has some additional needs please speak to your class teacher.

You are also very welcome to make an appointment with our Inclusion Support Co-Ordinator.

Appointments can be made through the school office (020 8688 4216)

Some children also need support at break/lunchtime and we are able to provide support for the small number of children who need different provision at these times.

Support can also be arranged for extra-curricular activities to ensure they are inclusive.

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 schools accessibility plan is updated annually and can be viewed on the school website: www.howard.croydon.sch.uk

At Howard Primary the progress and attainment of all children is reviewed regularly by Senior Leaders Team at which time provision may be adjusted to meet identified needs.

As part of our support for all children in school we have regular opportunities to consult with support services and health agencies through a multi-agency approach which sometimes includes completing the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) to support the family as well as the pupil.

We will discuss the needs of the individual/family in school and plan together the best use of advice and support from other agencies.

Professionals who might attend this meeting include:

  • Educational Psychologist who may give advice or complete an assessment for a few children
  • Behaviour Support Professionals who give advice and support if required
  • Family Support Worker who will support the family as required
  • Outreach support from specialist schools
  • Family Resilience Support (FRS) to support the family as part of the Early Intervention Support (CRISS) available through the LA.