Most children and young people in mainstream schools will have their special educational needs met through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.
Early Identification of Need
In deciding whether to make special education provision to support educational, social, physical or emotional needs, we:
Assessment, Monitoring and Review
Each child’s progress is continually monitored by their class teacher and the SENCo. The SENCo oversees any additional support a child may need and at the beginning of the new academic year, data is analysed to get a clear indication of which children need support with their academic work.
Progress is monitored regularly, tracked closely by staff and is reviewed formally every term in Pupil Progress meetings with staff and the Senior Leadership Team. If the child is in Year 1 and above, but is not yet at the expected age related stage then next steps for progression will be discussed and additional specific support will be provided and progress monitored.
These reviews will affect the level of support given to each child and depends on the additional needs of the child and any other factors that may improve or hinder their progress. When a child has been assessed as having SEN and is not making progress with the help that they have been given, school can refer the child to a number of different services for more specialist assessment and advice, including: the Special Educational Needs Improvement Team (SENIT), the Educational Psychology Service or Behaviour Support Service, health services such as speech and language therapy, school nursing service or Children and Young People’s Service or social care teams such as the Early Help Service or Emotional Well Being Team. School might suggest completing a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) form in order get a team of professionals (Team around the Family (TAF)) together to work with the child and their family. This needs to be done with the parent/carers agreement.
If the child does not make progress with the support that has been suggested by specialist staff, school can make a referral to the Local Authority (LA) for an assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is a legal process, which is carried out by the Local Authority (LA), which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
All children are required to be formally assessed at the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6) using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and are the results are published nationally.
SEN Support
Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.
- 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
Termly assessment is carried out by staff who work together to moderate children’s work. This moderation is supported by the Local Authority and cross moderated with other local schools on a regular basis. The school uses a tracking system to analyse data and to identify gaps in children’s learning and to plan appropriate intervention when required. Different children require different levels of support to diminish the difference and to achieve age related expectations.
Children/young people may join Falla Park with parents having a clear understanding of their child’s needs, and as a school we see parents as partners in their child’s educational journey. In this case we work together with parents/carers and young children/person and education, health and social care professionals to design an Individualised Education Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes & provision to meet those needs. Parents/carers and child/young person views are integral to this process.
School staff may initially identify a concern. The class teacher alongside the SENCo will discuss the child’s needs and a meeting with parents/carers and/or the child/young person would be arranged at the earliest opportunity.
The next steps may require the involvement of specialist support or advice, for example Educational Psychology, SENDIASS (Parents Advice and Support Service) or another education, health and social care professional. It is important to understand that the involvement of professionals does not always seek to label or diagnose, but to seek advice and strategies to enable a child/young person to reach their full potential.
As part of this approach, every child with SEN will have an Individualised Education Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes and provision to meet those needs. Parents/carers and child/young person views are integral to this process.
A small percentage of children and young people with significant and/or complex needs may require an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
The purpose of an EHCP is to make special educational provision to meet special educational needs of the child or young person, to secure the best possible outcomes for them across education (SEND Code of Practice p.142). It is a legal document that describes a child or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs. We do not currently have any EHC Plans.
Annual reviews are held for children with EHCPs which focus on the child’s achievements, progress towards their outcomes, further support needed and future outcomes. These meetings care held with teachers, parents / carers and any other agencies involved. Where appropriate, children are encouraged to share their views and aspirations in the review meetings.
Concerns are not always based on academic progress but could also be linked to the social and emotional development of the child. Any concerns that school staff or parents raise in this area may lead to a further investigation by the SENCo. We also offer support from a counsellor or Family Support Worker in school for those children whom we feel it will benefit. The school also work with RISE, who provide additional support for children identified with emotional issues.
For more detailed information see the Local Offer
Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN
If your child has SEN, it may be important for us to carry out formal assessments to identify their strengths and identify their needs accurately. To do this, we will use a range of methods depending upon their needs. When your child enters our school, their current attainment is assessed to give us a ‘baseline’ from where they will progress. Depending upon their needs, other assessments may be needed. These could include:
- Speech Therapy Assessments – which may focus on sound production, language understanding, or other relevant assessments to your child’s needs
- Education Psychology Assessments – which may include memory, understanding, reasoning, logic, and general skills assessments
The outcomes of all assessments are shared with parents and carers. If other agencies are invited to work with your child, you will be invited to attend a meeting where the outcomes of these assessments and their next steps will be shared with you.
Your child’s school achievements may be assessed against the levels expected for children who are working on the National Curriculum (i.e. the same as the majority of other children in their year group), or they may be assessed against other measures for children who are not ready to work on National Curriculum Levels (i.e. the steps before the National Curriculum).
For further information please view or download our Accessibility Plan which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.
