Special Educational Needs

Ms E. Simpson - Head of School & Inclusion Lead

Emma Simpson for Safeguarding page (ID 1156)

Ms E. Simpson

Ms E. Simpson

Welcome to the Alston Primary School Inclusion and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) page.

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator is Ms E. Simpson. Mrs. Logan is the Assistant SENDCo.

You are most welcome and encouraged to discuss any matters related to SEND identification and provision with Ms Simpson or Mrs. Logan. Please call and make an appointment on 0121 464 1569 or email enquiry@alston.bham.sch.uk

Please read the SEND Information Report for July 2024 to learn about the present provision at Alston for SEND pupils. The links below give a summary of the differing needs that some of our children have at Alston Primary School.

Strategies to support pupils with SEND or mental health concerns can be discussed with the SENDCo or Assistant SENDCo.

Suggestions for any further information that could be included on this page will be gladly received.

Consulting Parents

At Alston Primary School if a child has been identified as having a particular need then this is communicated to the parent/carer. The SENDCo, inclusion team, class teacher and teaching assistant decide upon provision for the child in consultation with the parent/carer.

The provision and the review of the provision is communicated with parents via a phone conversation or personal meetings.

Consulting Pupils

Pupils identified as having a particular need may have one of the following:-

Individual Teaching Plan (ITP)
Special Support Provision Plan (SSPP)
Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP)

At Alston, pupils have ownership of these plans and contribute to the review and for setting targets.

Assessing of Progress

Pupils and parents/carers of SEND pupils are involved with the review of the individual’s plan. Progress is measured by quantative as well as qualative data depending on the child’s needs.

Transition to Another School

The Alston SENDCo will consult with the SENDCo of a child's previous school and their next school. This is so that everyone is aware of the child's special needs and to inform the school about the most appropriate provision for them.

Adaptations of the Curriculum

Staff provide a daily SEN sheet for pupils who need to practise basic skills. This is based on their Individual Teaching Plan. Teachers adapt activities so that the can access the curriculum. We want our SEND pupils to be given support to work independently for a set period of time to achieve the learning objective appropriate for their learning needs and learning style.

Additional Support

Additional support comes in the form of

Adapted activities so that pupils have access to the curriculum
Daily SEN sheet for children with an Individual Teaching Plan
Interventions:-
- Catch Up Literacy
- Precision Teaching
- Phonics interventions
- Sensory and language rich curriculum
- Reading and maths interventions
- WellComm
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Gross Motor Skills Intervention

Staff Training

All staff have been learning a new Makaton sign each week.
All TAs took part in Autism training for a whole teacher day.
Two members of staff from our hub have received Crisis Prevention Training this year.
All members of staff in the hub now receive supervision.

Equipment and Facilities

The SENCo and the inclusion team members identify resources that are required to support individual children. This is also in consultation with specialist practitioners that work in school. Extra sensory resources were purchased this year for the Language and Sensory Hub.

Evaluation of Provision

The School Development Plan for SEND Provision is evaluated with senior leaders. SEND provision is monitored twice within each term. This takes place with the monitoring of pupils’ work, Pupil Progress Meetings and lesson observations. This year a Peer to Peer Review took place from another SENDCo from a different school.

From our SEND Peer to Peer Review we supported individual teachers with planning their access to the curriculum for SEND pupils.

Inclusion in School Life

Alston Primary School is comitted for all SEND pupils to have the same opportunities as all children. Teacher’s plan for all the differing needs of children so that they work and play with their peers as much as possible. Adjustments to the environment are put in place so that children with physical needs can access their classroom and the play areas. There is a stair lift for children who are unable to manage walking up and down staircases.

Leigh Trust organised termly inter-school activities for the SEND pupils from across the school throughout the academic year 2022/2023.

Social and Emotional Development

The school has a Mental Health Lead who is trained as a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA). There are two learning mentors who are also MHFAs who support children who are vulnerable and have mental health needs. The school has achieved the silver ‘Carnegie Mental Health in Schools Award’. A number of pupils are also working with Norton Hall who provide counselling to pupils and their families. All pupils are assessed for their wellbeing twice a year and from these assessments support is put in place to help individuals.

The Assistant SENDCo is now qualified as a lead for being a Trauma Informed School.

The designated safeguarding leads work with the Child Advisory Support Service (CASS) to discuss and refer children who are vulnerable or where a concern has been highlighted. Referrals have been made for families who need support in understanding and managing the needs of their SEND child. These referrals have resulted in parents been allocated a family support worker.

Concerns or Complaints

If parents of SEND children wish to raise a concern about the SEND provision then they should contact the following people in this order:-

Ms E. Simpson – SENDCo and Head of School
Mrs. Nott – Executive Head Teacher
Mrs. Greenwood – CEO
Maria Nicholaou – Chair of Governors and SEND Link Governor

Support Services in School

The following practitioners work with our staff so they can provide the appropriate provision for groups of children or individual children.

Pupil School Support Service
Educational Psychology Service
Communication Autism Team
Visual Impairment Team
Hearing Impairment Team
Physical Difficulties Support Service
West Midlands Speech and Language Therapy Service
West Midlands Occupational Therapy Service

Each term the agencies have a Multi-Agency meeting with the SENDCo to review the provision of all children with an Educational, Health Care Plan or a Special Support Provision Plan.

Arrangements for Disabled Pupils

A pupil with a physical disability would be welcomed at Alston. Prior to admission the school would assess whether they can provide for the child’s needs as the school has a number of staircases and one stair lift.

The school would work with other agencies to ensure that school staff were trained to support the needs of a pupil. A personal management plan would be produced with the appropriate agency, the parent/carer and the pupil.

SEND Code of Practice DFE

SEND CODE OF PRACTICE DFE

Cognition and Learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.

Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Sensory needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning.

Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional on-going support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.

Speech and Autism

Communication and interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

Children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Condition ASC, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.

National Autistic Society

Autism Trust

ADHD or ADD

Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorder

Some pupils maybe very active and continually run, climb and fidget. They may have difficulty concentrating on an activity. This can be supported with Occupational Therapy. A diagnosis can be provided by referral from your own doctor to see a specialist in ADHD.

A similar condition is Attention Deficiency Disorder where a child finds it difficult to focus on an activity but they do not display any hyperactivity.

Social Emotional

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

Concerns of Provision

If you have any concerns about your child's wellbeing or possible signs of a special educational need then do not hesitate to contact the SENDCo; Ms E. Simpson or the Assistant SENDCo; Mrs. Noreen.

Agencies at Alston

At Alston we work with many agencies to gain expert advice from specialist practitioners. This information is then shared with teaching staff and parents as how to provide appropriate provision for pupils with special educational needs.

Pupil School Support Service (PSSS)
Educational Psychology Service (EP)
Communication Autism Team (CAT)
West Midland Speech and Language Therapy Service (WMSALT)
West Midland Occupational Therapy Service (WMOT)
Forward Thinking Birmingham
Visual Impairment Team
Hearing Impairment Team

Each term the SENDCo meets with the agencies altogether to ensure the appropriate provision is in place for our SEND pupils.

Training for staff

This academic year the staff at Alston have received the following training:

Quality First Teaching of SEND pupils in class - September 2021 and May 2022
Autism Awareness Level 1 March 2022

Staff in the Language and Sensory Hub have received the following training:

Autism Educational Trust Progression Framework
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) May 2022
Social Communication Emotional Regulation Transactional Support (SCERTS) March 2022

Identification of Needs

Pupils transferring to our school who have SEND will be assessed to ensure that Alston can provide appropriate provision.

Pupils who start at the school maybe identified as having special educational needs by their class teacher. The class teacher will make a referral to the Inclusion Team so that an assessment can be made of the child's needs. A conversation would then take place with parents/carers to plan for the needs of that child.

Outside agencies may be consulted about a particular need.

Working with parents

At Alston we want to work with parents to support the needs of their child. When parents and school staff work together to support children it will provide security and re-assurance for the child with special educational needs.

Occasionally the school will make a referral, in consultation with parents, for a family support worker to advise parents on how to support their child at home who has special educational needs. This is only for a short term period.

Admissions & Transitions

When children with special educational needs are transferring to Alston then a member of the Inclusion Team will visit them in the present setting. This is to re-assure the child and family about transferring to Alston.

Children transitioning from Alston to another school will visit the new provision with a familiar adult from Alston. A smooth transition is always the aim from our school.

Inclusion

At Alston Primary School we endeavour to remove the barriers for SEND pupils so they can access learning and play activities in school. Adjustments have to be made where possible. The inclusion team consists of a SENDCo, Assistant SENDCo, two Learning Mentors, Teacher and two Teaching Assistants of the Language and Sensory Hub, EAL Teaching Assistant and one to one support TAs when needed.

The Inclusion Team is passionate and keen to include all children in all parts of school life, wherever possible. They are always looking for strategies to improve this further.

Here are some useful websites for parents of children with SEND:

Mommy's Speech therapy - Practical speech therapy ideas and activities for home practice Autism West Midlands - This website offers a range of information, resources and services about autism for families and professionals.

Autism Education Trust - Information about the autism spectrum and advice to parents