Phone: 01229 462729 | Email: office@dsmprimary.com
School SENCO: Mrs S Pearson (Contact 01229 462729)
As an inclusive community, Dalton St Mary’s C of E Primary School ensures that the needs of all pupils are met, enabling them to achieve success and make a positive contribution to society. Inclusion concerns pupils with special educational or medical needs, those from ethnic cultures, asylum seekers, travellers, the vulnerable, children in public care and those with social and emotional difficulties.
We are committed to high achievement for all, supporting pupils and families in making the very best of the opportunities available to them.
As an inclusive community we are committed to developing inclusive cultures, policies and practices. These are maintained and developed by the SENCO in collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team.
We maintain our inclusive values, shared between all staff, pupils, governors, parents/carers and outside professionals so that all pupils are enabled to achieve as much as they can and derive the maximum benefit according to their individual needs.
The ways we have created this are:
The register is up-dated half-termly and enables all the children to be tracked and support adjusted if necessary. Our school’s tracking system (Scholarpack) allows us to compile
essential data such as the levels of attainment of various groups, attainment/support by gender and enables us to monitor how successful our inclusive education is. The SENCO and SLT keep abreast of developments nationally to support their work.
The Headteacher and SENCO meet in response to the needs of individual children and we invite the appropriate professionals when relevant including representatives of social care.
We have a breakfast club, after school care and some after-school activities on school premises and we provide funding (through Pupil Premium where appropriate) for our vulnerable children to attend these provisions and clubs.
We are fully aware of and responsive to the needs of our exceptionally skilled learners and make use of appropriate strategies to support this group. The school also liaises closely with receiver secondary schools to enable smooth transition takes place.
All school policies are regularly reviewed and amended, ensuring that inclusion is at the centre of school development – increasing the learning and participation of all children and responding to the diversity of their needs.
We monitor planning, assessment, attainment, target setting, standards of teaching and learning and the school environment itself.
Our aim has always been to ensure that school practices reflect the inclusive cultures and policies of our school.
➢everyone is made to feel welcome
➢ pupils help each other
➢ staff and pupils treat each other with respect
➢ pupils are equally valued
➢ the school seeks to draw and admit all pupils from our locality
➢ pupils new to the school are helped to feel settled
➢ there is a partnership between staff and parents/carers
➢ staff and governors work well together
➢ staff, governors, pupils and parents/carers share a philosophy of inclusion
➢ the school strives to eliminate any discriminatory practices
➢ community resources are known and drawn upon
➢ staff appointments and promotions are fair
➢ good induction of new staff
➢ staff expertise is fully recognised and utilised
➢ local communities are involved in the school
➢ there are high expectations of all pupils
➢ differentiation supports each individual pupil’s needs
➢ Teachers and all support staff are concerned to support the learning and participation of
all pupils
➢ teachers plan, review and share good practice
➢ staff collaborate with each other and schools within our cluster
➢ staff development activities help staff to respond to pupil diversity
➢ staff seek to remove all barriers to learning and participation in school
➢ all forms of support are co-ordinated
➢ special needs policies are inclusion policies
➢ the 2014 Code of Practice is used to reduce the barriers to learning and participation of
all pupils
➢ support for those learning English as an additional language is co-ordinated with learning
support when there is a need
➢ we identify children who are exceptionally able learners and provide opportunities to
meet their needs
➢ we are working to remove barriers to full attendance
➢ we maintain anti-bullying and single equality policies (we record incidents of racism and
report these termly to the Local Authority)
➢ we assess and monitor the attainment of pupils to ensure equality of opportunity
➢ we provide a range of support strategies delivered by teachers and support staff in
order to meet individual pupil’s needs
➢ lessons are made accessible to all through a fully differentiated curriculum and by
support
➢ lessons develop an understanding and acceptance of difference
➢ pupils are actively involved in their own learning including self and peer assessment of
learning
➢ pupils are aware of their next steps in learning
➢ pupils learn collaboratively
➢ assessment encourages and tracks the achievements of all pupils
➢ classroom behaviour is excellent, based on mutual respect
➢ homework contributes to the learning of all
➢ opportunities are available for all pupils to take part in activities outside the classroom
➢ staff develop and secure resources to support learning and participation and distribute
these fairly to support inclusion
Inclusion for all is at the heart of Dalton St Mary’s and is reflected in the Children’s Charter, written by the children, permeating all that we do as a learning community.
This section is based on the guidance of the 2014 Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs.
It aims to promote a consistency of approach to meeting children’s special educational needs, with a focus on preventative work to ensure that those needs are identified as quickly as possible and early action is taken.
The legal framework for this policy is the Education Act 1996 and the SEN Disability Act 2001. We aim to identify children with special needs at the earliest opportunity and ensure that the appropriate support is in place to support learning.
The Headteacher and SENCO have overall responsibility for all inclusion issues ensuring the school meets its statutory and moral obligations. The SENCO monitors, reviews, evaluates and manages the support provided for children on the SEND register and is responsible for the day-to-day processes and procedures, supporting teachers and support staff in meeting the needs of children. The SENCO may also work with individuals and groups of children on the SEND register.
All teachers will work to implement this policy and take the responsibility for planning to meet the needs of pupils in their care on a day-to-day basis (with reference to SSPs, advice from the SENCO and external advice). The SENCO will ensure that requirements set out in the Code of Practice are being met.
This will be achieved by:-
Liaising with and advising colleagues
Reviewing SEND data
Monitoring the records of all pupils with SEND
Liaising with the parents of children with SEND
Contributing to and arranging INSET for all staff
Liaising with external agencies/professionals
Writing/reviewing School Support Plans with teachers
Ensure parents have the opportunity to contribute to SSP reviews
Seek the views of children on the Inclusion Register
The school does not have any Specialist Resource Provision. We have supported pupils with a wide range of SEND needs including autism, physical/medical difficulties, specific learning difficulties and visual impairment.
The Nursery and KS1 classrooms are suitable for disabled access. Year 3 and Year 4 can be accessed from the playground however the Year 5 and Year 6 classrooms are located upstairs. We work with all parents of pupils with an individual need to ensure they are able to be a part of our school community.
A child has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty that calls for special educational provision to be made for them. The Education Act 1996 defines a child as having a learning difficulty if they:
(a) Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age or
(b) Have a disability which prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the Local Education Authority
Are under five and fall within the definition of (a) or (b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for the child. A child must not be considered as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or medium of communication of the home is different from the language in which he or she is taught.
Special educational provision means:
(a) for a child of two or over, educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for the children of the child’s age in maintained schools, other than special schools, in the area
(b) for a child under two, educational provision of any kind. (Educational Act 1996, Section 312)
Observations are made in the first term for each child in Nursery / Reception, and foundation stage profile activities take place.
We believe that early identification of a child’s difficulty is essential so that necessary provision may be made to support the child’s progress as soon as possible.
When a Class Teacher or parent expresses a concern about a child’s development, the SENCO is informed. The Class Teacher and SENCO gather information and then decide whether the child’s difficulties require special educational provision to be made. This is discussed with the parents/carers.
Children who join Dalton St Mary’s who have already been identified as having special educational needs, are discussed at liaison meetings and the team then ensures that appropriate arrangements are made for that child with Class Teachers and discussed with parents.
At Dalton St Mary’s, teachers continually assess children’s learning. Each term, every child completes assessments in reading, writing and maths. The results of these assessments are analysed by Class Teachers the SLT and SENCO.
The information gathered is used to monitor progress and informs future planning. Pupil progress meetings with the SLT and SENCO ensure that response to underachievement is swift and robust. Dalton St Mary’s School has adopted the procedure outlined in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice.
In many cases, action taken at one phase will mean that the child will not have to move on to the next. Only if a child’s progress continues to cause concern at any one phase will the child be moved to the next phase.
When there is no longer any cause for concern, the child will either move down a phase or will be removed from the Inclusion register.
Where it is decided to provide a pupil with SEN support, the parents will be formally notified, although parents should have already been involved in forming the assessment of needs as outlined above.
The teacher and the SENCO should agree in consultation with the parent and the pupil the adjustments, interventions and support to be put in place, as well as the expected impact on progress, development or behaviour, along with a clear date for review.
All teachers and support staff who work with the pupil should be made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided and any teaching strategies or approaches that are required.
This should also be recorded on the school’s information system. Parents will be fully aware of the planned support and interventions and, where appropriate, plans will seek parental involvement to reinforce or contribute to progress at home.