Mersea Island School - School
Information Report for SEND Provision
2019-20
(Updated September 2019)
Consortium statement
“As part of Tiptree and Stanway Consortium of
24 schools we have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with SEND
and are supported by the local authority to ensure that all pupils regardless
of their specific needs make the best possible progress in school. We make a
school offer based on our collective resources, as well as the individual ethos
specific to our individual schools”
This
school information report has been written in line with the 2015 SEND Code of
Practice.
Mersea Island School is committed to providing an
appropriate and high quality education to all the children living in our local
area. We believe that all children,
including those identified as having special educational needs have a common
entitlement to a broad and balanced academic and social curriculum, which is
accessible to them, and to be fully included in all aspects of school life.
We
believe that all children should be equally valued in school. We will strive to eliminate prejudice and
discrimination and to develop an environment where all children can flourish
and feel safe.
Mersea Island School is committed to inclusion. Part of the school’s strategic planning for
improvement is to develop cultures, policies and practices that include all
learners. We aim to engender a sense of
community and belonging, and to offer new opportunities to learners who may
have experienced previous difficulties.
This
does not mean that we will treat all learners in the same way, but that we will
respond to learners in ways which take account of their varied life experiences
and needs.
We
believe that educational inclusion is about equal opportunities for all
learners, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, impairment, attainment and
background. We pay particular attention
to the provision for and the achievement of different groups of learners:
·
girls and boys
·
minority ethnic and
faith groups, travellers, asylum seekers and refugees
·
learners who need
support to learn English as an additional language (EAL)
·
learners with special
educational needs
·
learners who are
disabled
·
those who are gifted
and talented and very able
·
those who are looked
after by the local authority
·
others such as those
who are sick; those who are young carers; those who are in families under
stress;
·
any learners who are at
risk of disaffection and exclusion
The questions
below will support you in understanding the SEND provision offered by Mersea Island School.
How does Mersea Island School know if my child needs extra help?
|
The school
regularly observes, assesses and records the progress of all children to
identify those who are not progressing satisfactorily or who may have
additional needs. This information is collected from:
·
Baseline assessment results
·
Progress measured against the objectives in the
National Curriculum
·
National Curriculum descriptors for the end of a
key stage
· Use of the descriptors in the Autism Education Trust document called the Autism Progression Framework Tool
·
Progress against Age Related Expectations
·
Standardised screening and assessment tools which include Assertive Mentoring Assessments
·
Concerns raised by parents
·
Observations of behavioural, emotional and
social development
·
An EHCP
·
Assessments by a specialist service, such as
educational psychology.
·
Another educational setting or LA which has
identified or has provided for additional needs
|
Who
are the best people to talk to if I think my child may have special
educational needs?
|
·
The class teacher is the initial point of
contact for responding to parental concerns.
·
Where appropriate the concern will then be
shared with the Inclusion Manager – Mrs Williamson or the SENCO of the nursery, Rosemary Ward,further discussions may then take
place between all the relevant parties to determine the best way forward for
your child.
·
All parents will be listened to. Their views and
their aspirations for their child will be central to the assessment and
provision that is provided by the school
|
What
is the process for identifying my child’s needs?
|
There
are four broad areas of SEND, these are:
Communication
and Interaction
This
area of need includes children with Autism Spectrum Condition and those with
Speech, Language and Communication Needs
Cognition
and Learning
This
includes children with Specific Learning Difficulties, Moderate Learning
Difficulties, Severe Learning Difficulties and Profound and Multiple Learning
Difficulties
Social,
Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
This
includes any pupils who have an emotional, social or mental health need that
is impacting on their ability to learn
Sensory
and/or Physical Difficulties
This
area includes children with hearing impairment, visual impairment,
multi-sensory impairment and physical difficulties.
At
Mersea Island School, we follow a graduated support approach
which is called “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.
This means that we
will:
- Assess a child’s
special educational needs
- Plan the
provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
- Do put the
provision in place to meet those outcomes
- Review the
support and progress
Each pupil’s education
will be planned for by the class teacher as part of high quality teaching. It
will be differentiated accordingly to suit the pupil’s individual needs. This
may include additional general support by the teacher or learning support
assistants in class.
If a pupil’s needs
relate to more specific areas of their education such as spelling,
handwriting, mathematics or literacy skills then the pupil may be placed in a
small focus group. This may be run by the teacher or learning support
assistant. The length of time of the intervention may vary according to need
but will be monitored regularly. Interventions will be reviewed by the SENCOs
to ascertain the effectiveness of the provision and to inform future
planning.
If a pupil’s needs are
additional this may result in the creation of a ‘One Plan’.
The ‘one planning
process’ involves the family, the child and other relevant professionals.
This process will identify outcomes for the child and how they may be
achieved.
When a pupil’s needs are
more complex an assessment of education, health and care needs may be
undertaken by the authority and an EHCP plan developed. This is developed in
collaboration with the family, child, and as appropriate, other relevant
professionals.
|
How will Mersea Island School support my child and match the curriculum to my child’s needs?
|
The
school is committed to “High Quality Teaching” and ensuring that lessons meet
the ‘needs of’ and ‘challenge’ all pupils. Our teachers are trained to
differentiate lessons and break down any barriers to learning that may be
causing difficulties for the child. Teachers use a variety of different
approaches including visual, aural, kinaesthetic methods as well as ‘peer to
peer’ collaboration and effective questioning. Lessons are rigorously planned
to encourage all types of learners to participate and reach their expected
outcomes. Teachers and teaching assistants work with children with SEND
regularly each week. As well as encouraging all learners to work
independently and take responsibility for their learning.Pupil progress meetings
are carried out at strategic points in the year to assess and review pupil
progress and to ensure needs are being met effectively and strategies
reviewed.
Appropriate specialist
equipment may be given to your child e.g. writing slopes, pencil grips,
coloured overlays.We use targeted intervention in
small groups or 1:1
E.g. following specialist
advice such as when a child is on a speech and language programme.
Intervention
may include:
- Reading Club
- Regular Reading
- Catch Up
- Toe by Toe phonic support
- Read Write Inc
- Talk Boost
- Precision Teaching
- Phonological Awareness Training
- Cued spelling
- Memory Games
- Socially Speaking Programme
- Social Skills groups working on specific scenarios
- Social Stories
- Smart Thinking Programme
- Working Together with Lego
- Handwriting and Fine Motor skills
- Speech and Language support
- Physiotherapy support on an individual basis
- Occupational Therapy support on an individual basis
- Numicon support
- Multisensory spelling programmes
- Visual timetables and resource banks
- Consistent Management Plans
- Fine Motor Skills groups
- Working
with Lego
-
Sensory
sessions and sensory diet
- Sound
Foundation Dancing Bears phonic support
All children are
encouraged to take part in all areas of school life including events and
visits off site arranged by the school. Where necessary, support for
individual children will be agreed in collaboration with parents/carers and
school staff prior to the event.
|
How
will my child and I be involved in making decisions about my child’s
education?
|
We believe in a child
centered approach whereby when children have additional needs the thoughts
and feelings of the child and their parents/carers together with the views
of the school staff and relevant professionals are taken into account when
making decisions about their education e.g. when writing a One Page Profile
or Annual Review.
Other opportunities for
involvement maybe:
·
Informal discussions with staff
·
Teacher and Child Consultations
·
Teacher and Parent Consultations
·
Pupil surveys and feedback forms
·
Review meetings including outside agencies where
appropriate
·
Parent surveys and feedback forms where
appropriate
|
What training have staff
supporting children and young people with SEND had?
|
The Inclusion Manager, Mrs Williamson
holds the qualification ‘National Award for Special Educational Needs
Co-ordination’ . Mrs Williamson has completed the 'MAZE' professionals course to support children with autism. Mrs Ward is the SENCO of the Nursery and holds the University of Cambridge Certificate of Further Professional Study
Different staff members
have received training related to the following areas of SEND:
- How to
support pupils on the autistic spectrum
- How to
support pupils with social and emotional needs
- How to
support pupils with speech and language difficulties
- How to
support pupils with attachment difficulties
- How to
support pupils with dyslexia
- How to
support pupils with working memory difficulties
- How to
support pupils who require a sensory diet
Staff received additional training last year on supporting children with Speech and Language Needs and using an alphabet arc to aid spelling, The nursery and school staff also piloted the Attention Autism intervention and this is now being used in the EYFS. A group of teaching assistants have been trained in supporting parents and promoting positive behaviour strategies. Four members of staff have been trained in Talk Boost which is a speech and language intervention. Staff have attended training on Attachment Needs that was organized through the Educational Psychology Service. A learning support assistant has a foundation degree in Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisations.A nursery practitioner is trained in the Elklan scheme for children with speech and language difficulties. Staff also attended training from the Specialist teacher team to receive their AET Teir One training in Autism which is nationally recognised training.
As part of The Tiptree
and Stanway Consortium all members have access to, up to date and relevant
training on all matters related to SEND in order to support the needs of our pupils.
|
What specialist services
and expertise can be accessed by the school?
|
We
can refer to:
·
Children’s Therapy Team (Speech and
Language/Occupational Therapy/physiotherapy)
·
School Nurse/Doctor and Health visitor (Integrated Review for 2 year olds)
·
Social Services
·
Specialist Teacher Team and Early Years Specialist Teacher Team
·
Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health service (NELFT)
·
Educational Welfare Service
·
MIND
·
The Junction counseling service
·
Family Solutions
·
Educational Psychology Service
And
other agencies as appropriate
Parents
may also be able to access some of these services through their family GP.
|
How will I know how my
child is doing?
|
We
support and involve parents in their child’s learning both formally and
informally, this may include:
·
We have an open door policy which provides
parents with the opportunity for discussions face to face or on the
telephone.
·
Celebration assemblies and class assemblies/Parents stay and play (in the nursery)
·
School Website on the Class pages
·
Parents Evenings/phone consultations
·
Termly Review Meetings (One Planning) for children at Additional and Assertive Mentoring Meetings – to
discuss progress towards specific outcomes
·
Annual Reports
·
Parental surveys
·
Newsletters
·
Home school liaison books
Additional
appointments can be made with the class teacher or Inclusion Manager /Nursery SENCO through the school
office.
|
How will you help me to
support my child’s learning?
|
- The class teacher may suggest ways of how
you can support your child alongside set homework activities.
- The Inclusion Manager (Mrs. Williamson) or Mrs Ward, SENCO of the nursery, may meet with you
to discuss how to support your child with strategies specific to your
child’s needs.
- If outside agencies or the Educational
Psychologist have been involved then suggestions and programmes of study
can be used at home.
- The school website can be used to access
resources, curriculum policies and links that will provide further
support.
- Workshops such as phonics and mathematics.
- Meet the teacher sessions at the beginning
of the year.
- Open class sessions.
|
What
support is available for my child’s overall well-being?
|
Members of staff are
available for pupils who wish to discuss issues and concerns. Where it is
deemed appropriate parents/carers will be invited in to school to discuss
concerns and plan for further support.
Other provision may
include:
·
Lunchtime and Morning Booster clubs
· Social skills groups
· quiet areas around the
school available to all children and the Sanctuary Club at lunchtime
·
Sensory room
Where it is
felt that pupils are encountering significant emotional difficulties the
support of outside agencies will be considered, such as the Emotional Wellbeing
and Mental Health service, The Junction, Mind and the School Nurse.
The school
follows the advice set out in the Department for Education document: Mental
Health and Behaviour in Schools updated in November 2018.
The school’s
PSHE curriculum promotes good mental health. Mrs Williamson has attended the Youth Mental Health First Aid one day course.
|
How
will my child’s medical needs be met?
|
If a pupil has a medical
need then a Care Plan is compiled with support from parents/carers and in
consultation with medical practitioners where appropriate. These are shared
with all staff who work with the child.
·
A proportion of the staff have basic first aid
training
·
EYFS staff have Pediatric First Aid Training in
line with national requirements.
·
EpiPen training is undertaken by
staff on a yearly basis
·
Where a child has specific medical needs
additional staff training will be arranged in consultation with the relevant
professionals.
All medicine
administration procedures adhere to the LA policy and Department of Education
(DfE) guidelines included within Supporting
Pupils at school with medical conditions (DfE) 2015 and identified in the
School Medicine Administration Policy.
|
How
accessible is the school environment?
|
As a school we are happy
to discuss individual access requirements. The facilities we have at present
include:
·
The school site, which is accessible to all
users.
·
A purpose built accessible toilet
·
Coloured overlays and sensory equipment
·
Consideration during tests for learners with
additional needs
·
Laptops, I-Pads and an ICT
suite
·
Disabled parking spots in school car park
For further information
see the Accessibility Policy/Plan – this describes the actions the school has
taken to increase access to the environment, the curriculum and printed
information is available via the school website.
|
How
will the school prepare and support my child when joining Mersea Island or transferring to a new school?
|
Strategies are in place
to enable your child’s transition to be as smooth as possible.
These may include:
·
Transition meetings between settings and at each
Key Stage
·
Additional visits may also be arranged for
children/parents/carers
·
The Inclusion Manager and class teachers will liaise between settings and with
relevant staff
·
Transition resources are available
for children who may benefit
·
Social stories and One Page Profiles will be
used where appropriate
|
How are the school’s
resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?
|
The budget allocation is
agreed between our school and the Local Authority at the beginning of each
financial year. Detail of how this money is used to support children and
young people with SEND is shown below. This is monitored each term by the
Governing Body.
This is used to
support children and young people with SEND through:
·
Improved pupil: teacher ratio
·
Purchase of additional resources to support specific
outcomes for pupils
·
Tracking and monitoring of achievement
·
Targeted intervention and support programmes
·
Specialist Teaching Assistants to provide effective
support
·
Early identification and assessment
·
Improved ICT resources – iPads/ New Model Interactive
Whiteboards in all classrooms/ Laptops
·
Continuous professional development for all staff
·
Purchase of Service Level Agreements to provide
additional specialist and targeted support
·
Educational Visits
If a child has
complex/severe special educational needs, we could also receive additional
funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
|
Who can I contact for
further information?
|
Key
Contacts
Head Teacher – Mrs T Wright 01206 382736
Inclusion Manager – Mrs Williamson
01206 382736 (ext SENCo) SENCO for Nursery - Mrs R Ward 01206 382736 (ext Nursery)
Chair of Governors -
Mr P Martin 01206 382736
Governor responsible for
Special Educational Needs – Mrs T Gibbons 01206 382736
School Nursing Team –
01206 747135
Educational Psychologist
helpline – 01245 433293
Parent Partnership -
01245 436036
Statutory Assessment
Service - 0300 0034127
Essex Local Offer – www.essexlocaloffer.org.uk
The
Local Offer
The purpose of the local
offer is to enable parents and young people to see more clearly what services
are available in their area and how to access them. It includes provision
from birth to 25, across education, health and social care.
Information on the Essex
Local Offer can be found at: www.essexlocaloffer.org.uk
;)
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What should I do if I am
concerned?
|
If you have any concerns
relating to the schools provision for your child regarding SEND please speak
to the Class Teacher, Inclusion Manager. If your child is in the nursery then please speak to the SENCO of the nursery.We aim to resolve any concerns parents have in
person to arrive at a mutual understanding to support your child.
If a
complaint is made and cannot be resolved, the parent can submit a formal
complaint to the Head teacher in writing. The Head teacher will reply
within 10 working days. Any issues that remain unresolved at this stage
will be managed according to the school’s Compliments and Complaints Policy.
This is available, on request, from the school office.
|
Which other policies
might be helpful?
|
SEN(D)
POLICY
COMPLAINTS
POLICY
PUPIL
PREMIUM STATEMENT
ADMISSIONS
POLICY
ATTENDANCE
POLICY
ACCESSIBILITY
POLICY
BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT POLICY
These
may be found online or by request at the school office. |
We hope these
key questions have answered any queries you may have but do not hesitate to
contact the school if you require further information. Parent of a child in Year One "The school have quickly recognized x's level of need and have worked hard to put provisions in place for her.' Parent of a child in Year 5 " Staff are very committed and listen to any concerns and in contrast, achievements, he has and these are expressed to us."
This document is reviewed
yearly by the Inclusion Manager and Governing Body in conjunction with parents. Above are
comments made by parents who have children receiving additional SEND Support. |