Emley First School

The Equality Act 2010 defines a person with a disability as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The definition of disability encompasses a broader range of impairments than might be commonly assumed, including children with autism, those with Tourette's syndrome and those with communication difficulties

Emley First School pays due regard to the need to: eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the single Equality Act.

Emley First School is part of the Shelley Pyramid of schools.

The Head Teachers of all these schools have delegated, to their special educational needs co-ordinators (SENDCos), the responsibility to outline each school’s offer for special needs and disability (SEND). 

Staff at Emley First School recognise the wide range of abilities, aptitudes and interests of pupils in our planning, teaching and assessing. We strive to meet the needs of all our pupils irrespective of their abilities or difficulties. We are committed to a “whole school” approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability, believing that all staff have an important part to play to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress within school.

“We believe that all children have rights no matter who they are, what their ability is, where they live, what their parents or carers do; what language they speak; what their religion is; whether they are a boy or a girl; what their culture is; whether they have a disability; whether they are rich or poor. We believe no child should be treated unfairly on any basis.” (Article 2 from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child)

Your first point of contact is your child’s Class teacher who is responsible for:

• Monitoring and reporting on the progress which your child is making and identifying, planning for and giving any additional help your child may need. This could be in the form of an intervention group activity; targeted work; additional classroom support or precision teaching. They will inform the SENDCo and parents about any additional support your child is receiving.

• Writing ‘Pupil Passports’ (PPs) if appropriate. These will be shared with parents/carers each term and reviewed, before future targets are set.

• Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND. The SENDCo who is responsible for:

• Coordinating all additional support for pupils with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND Policy to ensure all pupils receive a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.

• Ensuring that parents/carers are involved in supporting their child’s learning at home; kept informed about the support their child is receiving and involved in reviewing their child’s progress made towards targets.

• Liaising with professionals who may come into school to help support the child e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.

• Updating the school’s SEND list (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are records of your child’s progress and needs.

• Monitoring, tracking and analysing the progress of all SEND pupils including progress made through attendance at intervention groups.

• Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so that they can help SEND pupils in the school to make the best progress possible.

The Head Teacher (Mrs Cameron) who is responsible for:

• The day to day management of all aspects of the school; this includes the support for pupils with SEND.

• Working with the SENDCo (Mrs Pitt) and class teachers to ensure that your child’s needs are met.

• Ensuring that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

• The Governors of Emley First school are responsible for entrusting a named Governor who will monitor the SEND provision and use of funding in their school. In a support and challenge role, the Governors ensure that the school is as inclusive as possible and treat all children and staff in an equitable way. They monitor and review the accessibility plan and all other statutory policies as defined by the Department for Education.

Specific group work with a smaller group of children.
This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning, which means they have been identified by the class teacher as needing some extra support in school.
This is called an intervention group and may be
• Run in the classroom or another space outside the classroom
• Run by a teacher or learning support assistant who has had appropriate training.

For your child and yourself this would mean,
• Your child will engage in group sessions with specific targets to increase progress
• A teacher, teaching assistant or outside professional such as a Speech and Language Therapist will run these small group sessions using targeted planning with specific objectives
• You may be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward.

Specialist groups run by outside agencies e.g. Speech and Language therapy OR Occupational therapy groups
This type of support is available for pupils with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through whole class quality first teaching and intervention groups. They have been identified by the class teacher or SENDCo as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school such as: Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service, Occupational Therapist, Sensory Impairment teachers, Behavioural Support, Portage, Portex, Educational Psychologist etc.
For your child this would mean:
• Identification by the class teacher or SENDCo (or you will have raised your worries) as needing more specialist input instead of or in addition to quality first teaching and intervention groups.
• You may be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward.
• You may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist. This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them more effectively in school.
• The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:
o Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them more effectively
o Providing support to set targets which will require their expertise in order to make further progress e.g. practicing specific speech sound before others, practicing physical actions such as fine/gross motor skill activities, carrying out core strength exercises etc.
o A group run by a member of school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group
o Group or individual work
• We will tell you how the support will be used and what strategies will be put in place.
• An Education Plan will be created to support your child’s next steps. This will be reviewed with you and new targets set on a termly basis.

Specified Individual support
This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and potentially lifelong. This is usually provided through a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by the class teacher and SENDCo as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching, which cannot be provided from the budget available to the school. Usually your child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school.
This may be from: Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service, Occupational Therapist, Sensory Impairment, Behavourial Support, Portage, Portex, Educational Psychologist etc.
For your child this would mean:
• The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process, which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
• After the school has submitted the request to the Local Authority, which contains detailed information about your child’s needs, including your views, they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), are complex enough to require a statutory assessment. If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs a statutory assessment after examining this evidence, they will ask the school to continue with the support at the previous level within school.
• After the reports have all been submitted. The Local Authority will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and/or potentially lifelong that they need support in school to make good progress. If this is the case they will write a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an EHCP. If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the previous level of support by writing an Education Plan and also set up a meeting in school to ensure a plan is in place to ensure your child makes as much progress as possible.
• The Statement or EHCP will outline the banding of support that your child will receive from the Local Authority and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short term goals for your child. An Education Plan will also be created to support your child’s next steps. This will be reviewed with you and new targets set on a termly basis.
• An additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, implement individual programmes or support small groups, which would include your child.

• This if you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially.
• If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress you should speak to the SENDCo or Head Teacher.

If your child is identified as not making progress with their learning or needs help managing their behaviour, the class teacher will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail and to:

• listen to any concerns you may have

• plan any additional support your child may receive by creating a Pupil Passport The SENDCo may set up a meeting with you to discuss:

• any referrals to outside professionals to support your child

• The school budget, received from the Local Authority) includes money for supporting children with SEND.

• The Head Teacher decides how the budget will be allocated for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of needs in the school.

• The Head Teacher and the SENDCo discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including: o the pupils receiving extra support o the pupils needing extra support o the pupils who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected o the pupils who need behavioural or emotional support o the resources, training and support needed. All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed.

• As parents / carers, you will have regular opportunities to discuss your child's progress within school. This shared discussion may highlight any potential problems in order for further support to be planned.
• Each child’s learning will be planned by the staff involved in your child's education and will be tailored to suit their individual needs in collaboration with advice from parents. This may include targeted support.
• If a child has needs related to more specific areas of their education, such as spelling, handwriting, numeracy and literacy skills, etc. then the child may be placed in a small focus group. The length of time of the intervention will vary according to need and monitored regularly. If you have any questions related to the interventions please do not hesitate to contact the class teacher or SENCO.
• In some cases, a referral may be made to seek further advice through the pyramid’s Additional Needs Partnership in order to discuss the most appropriate way forward with an educational psychologist and other professionals.
• Occasionally a child may need more expert support from an outside service such as Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychologist or Occupational Therapy.
• Any referrals to outside agencies require parental consent.

• All work within the classroom is tailored to individual children’s needs by the class teacher to best enable children to access the curriculum.
• Teaching assistants, Teachers or the SENCO may be allocated to work with a child in a 1-to-1 or small focus group to target more specific needs. 
• If a child has been identified as having an additional need, they may be given a personalised plan. Targets will be set according to their area of need. These will be reviewed by staff and the SENCO at least three times a year with the opportunity for discussion with parents / carers and a copy given to them.
• There are four types of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), as defined by the Department for Education: Communication and interaction, Cognition and learning, Social, mental and emotional health and Sensory or physical. In the Shelley Pyramid of schools we provide for pupils with identified needs in these areas.
• A school’s provision for SEND is defined as support which is additional to or different from that which is available to all students (SEND Code of Practice 2015)
• If appropriate, specialist equipment may be given to the child e.g. writing slopes, concentration cushions, pen / pencil grips or easy-to-use scissors.

• Through the school's assessment and reporting systems, you will be kept regularly informed about your child's progress.
• Pupil targets will be reviewed by staff and the SENCO at least three times a year with the opportunity for discussion with parents / carers and the pupil; with a copy of any plans given to them.
• Progress is monitored using the assess, plan, do, review cycle on all plans.
• In addition, if your child has an EHCP, this will be reviewed at a formal annual meeting.
• You will be able to discuss your child’s progress at parents’ evenings.
• Appointments can be made to speak, in more detail, with members of staff if you require.

• The members of the staff team may meet with you to discuss how to support your child with strategies to use if there are difficulties with their social and emotional needs.
• Staff may suggest ways of how you can support your child and will listen to your concerns. 
• If outside agencies or the educational psychologist have been involved, support and strategies may be provided and could be used at home.
• Discussions with teachers / SENCO / other professionals.
• Parents / carers support home learning and personalised targets.
• Attendance at Parents’ Evenings.
• All parents / carers have a responsibility to support their child’s education.
• This home-school partnership is essential.

• At times it may be necessary to consult with outside services to receive their more specialised expertise. These can be located in the Kirklees Local Offer on the Kirklees website. A link can also be found on our school’s website. https://www.kirkleeslocaloffer.org.uk/information-and-advice/
• An educational psychologist (EP) is allocated to our pyramid of schools. He / she would normally only work directly with children whose needs are considerable and who have not made sufficient progress using the interventions previously put in place for them.
• The psychologist may meet with the parent / carer and discuss any outcomes. He /she will offer advice to the school and parent / carer on how to best support the child in order to take their learning forward.
• The EPs are directly involved in planning SEND provision through the Additional Needs Partnership for children across the pyramid. Termly meetings are held to discuss and prioritise the needs of children and good practice is shared.

Different members of staff have received training related to Special Education Needs and Disabilities. This may include sessions on:

• cognition and learning (e.g. autistic spectrum)
• communication and interaction (e.g. speech and language difficulties)
• physical and sensory needs (e.g. co-ordination needs)
• social, mental and emotional health (e.g. emotion coaching/Alex Timpson program.)
• All SENCOs hold Qualified Teacher Status and have relevant experience.
• Our SENCOs has gained the qualification ‘National Award for Special Educational Needs CoOrdination’.

• Activities and school trips are available to all.
• Risk assessments are carried out and procedures are put in place to enable all children to participate.
• In discussions with parents, if it is deemed that an intensive level of 1:1 support is required, you may be asked to accompany your child during the activity.
• We are an inclusive school and endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that any activity on offer as part of the school curriculum can be accessed by all students

• Schools are responsible for setting an admissions policy and criteria which does not discriminate against pupils with disabilities or treat them unfairly.
• All schools take steps to prevent pupils with disabilities from being treated less favourably than other pupils.
• As individual schools we are happy to discuss individual access requirements. Please refer to the school accessibility plan which can be found on our website.

• All children have opportunities to attend transition visits.
• Discussions between the previous or receiving schools/ settings happen prior to the child joining / leaving.
• All children attend a transition session where they spend some time with their new class teacher (tutor) and other members of staff.
• Additional visits are also arranged for children who need extra time in their new school.
• School staff are always willing to meet parents / carers prior to their child joining the school.
• Middle School/ College staff visit children prior to them joining their new school.
• Where a child may have more specialised needs, a separate meeting may be arranged with relevant staff from both schools, the parents / carers and, where appropriate, the child.

The role of KIAS is to ensure that parents have access to confidential and impartial information, advice and support so they can make informed decisions about their child's special educational needs. This is achieved by working in partnership with parents, providing information, services and training, working with relevant agencies and ensuring parents' views influence local policy and practice. More information can be found here.

PCAN are an independent, parent-led forum in Kirklees for all parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs aged from birth to 25 years. They provide lots of good information, links to social media for networking with other parents, and together they provide a strong, collective voice so that they can work in partnership with service providers across Kirklees. Together we can improve services for our children and young people with additional needs. For more information click here.

At Emley First School, we have forged some very effective links in our multi-agency approach to working to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs. We access these through single service referral forms, or through the EHA process (Early Help Assessment (formerly CAF) when parents can decide to consent to a multi-agency approach to their child’s needs/family needs co-ordinated by the key working process.

Some of the agencies we regularly work with are:-

CAMHS

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services - This service can be accessed following referral from a medical professional (G.P./School Nurse). SENCOs can also refer to the service directly. With parental consent, CAMHS. will work with us to support children, recommending strategies for staff to use in school.

ChEWS

ChEWS is the Tier 2 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for children and young people in Kirklees. The Service provides short term targeted interventions to children and young people who are aged 5 to 19 and whose emotional needs are impacting on their day to day lives. For further information please click here

Hearing impaired Service/Visually Impaired Service

These services can be called upon to support children in educational settings who have hearing /visual impairments respectively. With consent, schools can refer to the service.

Speech and Language Service (S.A.L.T.)

This service can be called upon to support children with speech, language or communication problems. With consent, schools can refer to the service. Some children are also referred via their GP or a School Nurse.

Educational Psychologists

The school is supported by an educational psychologist, who works very closely with the SENCO. Following consent and referral, the educational psychologist assesses and supports individual pupils with special educational needs by providing parents and school staff with detailed reports and suggestions for actions based on identification of need. The educational psychologist is very important in contributing to statutory assessment/Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans.

Occupational Therapy

This service receives a referral from a health professional or from a SENCO, with parental consent. They explore, assess and guide provision around various physical difficulties. Often a report to school will be followed by sessions with an assistant from the service.