- Please state the number of pupils on your roll and your average class size
There are approximately 600 pupils on roll, aged with an average class size of 30.
- How does the setting identify learners with SEN?
Early identification of students with special educational needs is critical to their success (SEND Code of Practice 2014). When children start at Abbey Lane School, we are usually already aware of the special educational needs of all students who have a Statement or Education Health and Care Plan. Our Foundation Stage staff ensure they attend transition meetings for children with additional needs to ensure provision is in place for their start in school.
We currently use the Development Matters Ages and Stages in the Foundation Stage and Tracker Plus to assess children’s attainment in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. These assessments tell us how well a child is attaining according to age related expectations and the rate of progress they are making.
If a child is attaining below age related expectations in an area, at this stage their teacher will provide activities at the right level for the child (this is called differentiation). Children’s progress will then be monitored by the class teacher. Most children will make progress if the learning opportunities provided by their teacher are matched to their needs. They may also receive some extra support from their teacher or teaching assistant (under the guidance of the class teacher). Some children may have the opportunity to access a catch-up (intervention) programme for a few weeks. For those children working significantly below age related expectations, we also use the Birmingham SEN Toolkit to enhance the accuracy of our assessments and in turn the effectiveness provision.
Teachers then have the opportunity to discuss concerns about a child with their year group team and during half-termly Pupil Progress meetings, which give a supportive forum in which to discuss strategies and support ideas. Following the implementation of such advice, should the child’s progress not become more rapid, a referral can be made to the SENCo for additional provision.
Once the concern is registered, the SENCo becomes involved and works in conjunction with the class teacher and family to decide the best course of action. This may sometimes involve referring the child to a more specialist professional, such as our external Learning Support Teacher or the Speech and Language Service. We then put more specialised plans in place to meet the needs of the child. This is when we say the child has Special Educational Needs – a child is receiving provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age.
We use Personal Profiles to record the cycle of identification of need, planned provision, delivery of provision and then the review of progress towards the agreed outcomes. This is very much an ongoing process.
Identification of Need and assessment of pupils takes place via:
Discussion of concerns about their child by parents / carers (initially, this would be with the class teacher);
Referral by teacher, following failure to make the expected progress despite high quality teaching that is differentiated and personalised to meet the needs of the student.
Referral by Outside agencies;
Evaluation of the effectiveness of provision and progress takes place in the following ways:
Discussion between class teacher and child.
Regular Assessment and tracking
Pupil Progress reviews
Internal review and referral meetings
Discussion at Governors meetings
Gathering views of stakeholders including children/young people and their parents
When identifying children’s needs we consider the ‘whole child’ i.e. not just their academic learning needs.
Some children may also have barriers to their learning which are not SEN but impact negatively on their
progress and attainment. These could include:
Disability (the Code of Practice outlines the "reasonable adjustment" duty for all settings and
schools provided under current Disability Equality legislation – these alone do not constitute SEN)
Attendance and Punctuality
Health and Welfare
English as an Additional Language
Deprivation (being in receipt of Pupil Premium Grant)
Being a Looked After Child or recently adopted
Being a child of Service personnel
Being newly arrived
Being a traveller
Identifying behaviour as an SEN need is no longer acceptable. Any concerns relating to child or young
person’s behaviour should be described as an underlying response to a need which can be recognised and identified clearly.
- Is your setting physically accessible to all learners?
Our school is based in 2 buildings, one of which is not fully wheelchair accessible. There are disabled toilet facilities. The playground is surrounded by a fence and steep banking on one side. Visual timetables are used in all classrooms.
There is a quieter area of the school yard that pupils may choose to go to at playtime or lunchtime. There is free access to this space.
On occasions, arrangements have been made for pupils to eat their lunch in the school’s library area. While we try to cater for all pupils the school building (in particular the older part) is not designed to cater for those with major physical disabilities. Parents are encouraged to view the school before applying to determine the suitability for their child.
- How does your setting adapt the curriculum for learners with SEND?
Some children have a Personal Profile. This will set out strategies for supporting the child’s progress and would be discussed with the parent/carer and child. These strategies will be implemented, at least in part, in the normal classroom setting. The delivery of any interventions to support and accelerate progress will be the responsibility of the classroom teacher.
All pupils are entitled to a curriculum which is broad and balanced, including the National Curriculum. Through differentiation, the use of technology and the effective deployment of trained support staff, the school endeavours to cater for all pupils to ensure full access to the curriculum within the resources available.
On occasion, some parts of the provision’s routine may be changed to support learners with SEND.
There is a limited opportunity for some children to access Positive Play, often focusing on social skills in our Positive Play room.
- What training have your staff received to support learners with SEND?
Some staff members have had recent training on Working Memory, ASD, Dysfluency and Dyslexia.
Personal Profiles are shared with all of those who work with children in our school.
We access specialist expertise from Educational Psychologists, Learning Support Teachers, MAST, Speech and Language Therapy, the Autism Team, Visual Impairment team and Hearing Impairment team when appropriate.
We have members of staff who are able to administer medicines.
- How do you communicate with and involve families?
We communicate with families in a range of ways e.g. email, informally at the start or end of the school day, termly parent’s meetings, half termly drop in sessions and some children have home-school books where appropriate.
Parents are involved in review meetings for their child. This may be as part of a structured conversation.
In the case of families for whom English is not a first language, we seek additional expertise and support where necessary.
- How does the setting evaluate the effectiveness of its provision for learners with SEN and how often does it do this?
A register is kept of all children with special needs
Overall progress of the children is monitored using Tracker Plus and the results of standardised tests e.g. SATs. and through half termly Pupil Progress meetings.
The SEN policy is evaluated on a regular basis and Governors receive a termly update on those children in school with SEN.
Progress against Personal Profile, My Plan or EHCP targets is reviewed at least termly.
- What support do you provide for the learners' overall wellbeing?
It is our aim to create within our school a secure, happy, stimulating and caring environment, which will help all our pupils to fulfil their potential.
We seek to provide within this atmosphere a wide range of educational opportunities for all our pupils, regardless of ethnicity, faith or ability
To develop and maintain such an atmosphere demands high standards, discipline and commitment, both educationally and socially, from all those involved with the school.
We seek to show by example the importance of respect; for all the people and property in the school, and the community, and for the school’s rules.
We view children as individuals, and have a commitment to recognise and cater for their needs educationally, socially, morally, spiritually and culturally.
Our curriculum includes activities designed to increase pupils’ awareness of disability issues. We strive to promote disability issues positively.
For children who struggle to make friends, we have peer mentors who are easily identifiable by their different coloured sweatshirts who can help with this and teachers also provide some support in this area.
When necessary, we have accessed further support for children with friendship or anxiety issues from the MAST team.
Teachers also act as mentors for vulnerable pupils.
- What kind of behavioural interventions do you use?
In seeking to define acceptable standards of behaviour it is acknowledged that these are goals to be worked towards rather than expectations which are either fulfilled or not. Thus the school has a central role in the children’s social and moral development just as it does in their academic development. Just as we measure academic achievement in terms of progress and development over time towards academic goals, so we measure standards of behaviour in terms of the children’s developing ability to conform to our behavioural goals. The children bring to school a wide variety of behaviour patterns based on differences in need, home values, attitudes and parenting skills. At school we must work towards standards of behaviour based on the basic principles of honesty, respect, consideration and responsibility. It follows that acceptable standards of behaviour are those which reflect these principles.
Rules and procedures should be designed to make clear to the children how they can achieve our acceptable standards of behaviour. They should:
- be kept to a necessary minimum;
- be positively stated, telling the children what to do rather than what not to do;
- actively encourage everyone involved to take part in their development;
- have a clear rationale, made explicit to all;
- be consistently applied and enforced;
- promote the idea that every member of the school has responsibilities towards the whole.
Class Rules are used to promote these values and based on the following:
- Do be gentle
- Do be kind and helpful
- Do work hard
- Do look after property
- Do be honest
Rewards
Our emphasis is on rewards to reinforce good behaviour, rather than on failures. We believe that rewards have a motivational role, helping children to see that good behaviour is valued. Classes have their own reward systems. The commonest reward is praise, informal and formal, public and private, to individuals and groups.
- Team points are issued for the following:
- Being polite – saying please and thank you
- Being considerate – opening doors for people
- Being thoughtful – saying nice things to make people happy
- Being resourceful - doing things independently
- Being respectful- listening, taking turns and following instructions
- These are collected each Thursday by the Team Captains/Vice Captains and the results are read out in Friday’s Good Work assembly. At the end of each term there is a reward for the team with the most points.
For exceptional work or behaviour, children are sent to other members of staff, or the Senior Leadership Team for additional rewards. For some children who need additional support, , a system of adult mentors exists and children build a positive relationship with them so they can visit them for additional recognition to boost morale, motivation and self-esteem.
Attendance
In the area of attendance, we provide
- A broad, balanced education that is dependent on regular attendance at school.
- Promotion of good attendance and punctuality at school, and regular encouragement and rewards.
- Efficient and accurate recording and monitoring of attendance.
- First day contact with parents/carers when absence is unexplained.
- Prompt action when a problem has been identified.
- Liaison with officers from the Local Authority to assist and support families where needed.
- Regular communication with parents/carers.
We would refer to the Attendance and Inclusion Service when;
- Home/school contact has not prompted an improvement in attendance
- There are patterns of absence
- Poor overall attendance (e.g. below 90%)
- Each half term a review of individual pupil attendance takes place. Any pupil showing an attendance of below 90% for the last half term is discussed and, if appropriate, a referral form is completed by the school and passed to the Attendance and Inclusion Service.
- If attendance continues to give cause for concern then strategies will be considered and steps taken in an attempt to improve attendance and punctuality. This could include working with members of staff, the Attendance and Inclusion Service or other professionals if deemed appropriate.
- When a pupil has not attended for 10 school days without authorisation the school has a statutory responsibility to inform the Attendance and Inclusion Service.
- How do you ensure learners with SEND are included in non-classroom based activities?
Abbey Lane Primary School, in providing for pupils, will seek to support children within the classroom whenever possible, this may mean following a modified curriculum to accommodate their learning difficulty.
We intend that every child will have the opportunity to be involved in the school day, educational visits, meal and playtimes and extra-curricular activities.
Parents are closely consulted when there are extra considerations for their child when attending an educational visit or activity and adaptations are made to adapt the provision so it is more accessible.
- Do you offer Breakfast Clubs, After School Clubs or Holiday Clubs? Please specify.
We provide some After School Clubs which are run by external providers.
- How do you consult with and involve learners in their education?
Self-assessment is a regular part of learning for children at Abbey Lane Primary School. Children are also involved in setting their own targets. This is achieved with support where necessary. We aim to use a person centred approach.
- Do you have an online prospectus? Are there open days for families and learners?
Prospective parents/carers are invited to visit our school at any time by arrangement with the school. We will be pleased to show you around and answer your questions.
Our school prospectus can be accessed from our website.
- Do you offer outreach to home educating families?
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