There are four broad areas of special educational need, these are: 

• Communication and Interaction
  This area of need includes children with Autism Spectrum Condition and those with Speech, Language and Communication Needs
• Cognition and Learning
  This includes children with Specific Learning Difficulties, Moderate Learning Difficulties, Severe Learning Difficulties and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
  This includes any pupils who have an emotional, social or mental health need that is impacting on their ability to learn
• Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties
  This area includes children with hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment and physical difficulties.
•  

The kinds of SEN that are provided for:

At Woodlea Primary School, we have experience of supporting children and young people with a wide range of need including:

• Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)
• Language and Communication difficulties
• Cognition and Learning (Learning difficulties)
• Attachment Disorder
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH)

The school provides data on the levels and types of need to the Local Authority. This is collected through the school census.

Our approach to teaching children & young people with SEN

Inclusive education means supporting all pupils to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of school life alongside their peers. Our curriculum includes, not only the formal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum / National Curriculum, but also a range of additional opportunities to enrich the experiences of all pupils.

The Curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for lifelong learning, personal growth and development of independence.

• At Woodlea Primary School we pride ourselves on providing an inclusive education for all pupils and endeavour to support every child regardless of their need.
• All pupils follow the National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum at a pace which is appropriate for them and where necessary we implement changes and adaptations to make it accessible for all. This can include differentiating resources; enlarging print; coloured overlays in reading; tasks broken down into more manageable steps for some pupils.
• Independence is always encouraged and work is matched closely to the needs of the children in order for them to achieve and be successful. Quality First Teaching is paramount to children’s success in the classroom.
• Our school develops confidence and self-esteem in all pupils. Achievements are celebrated in a weekly assembly and this is for progress and achievement as well as attainment. 

How we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for children & young people with SEN

We adapt the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with SEN:

Some pupils with SEN work with outside agencies to support their special educational need in addition to the support they receive in the classroom. Children with SEN can often work in smaller groups with the teacher or teaching assistant to give them a more concentrated level of support.

When completing work independently, tasks can often be broken down into shorter, more manageable tasks to allow the children to be successful and feel like they can achieve. Where possible we use a more practical approach to learning for those children who have learning difficulties. Laptops can be used in lessons for children who have problems with motor skills and recording and sometimes in English lessons for longer pieces of writing.

Teachers ensure they use a variety of approaches to their teaching. This can include accessing information through animations, video and pictorial sources as well as the written word.

Displays and key words are used in the classroom and referred to in teaching so that children who need this support in lessons know that they are there and this can encourage their independence when completing tasks.

Where necessary, children are given learning aids to improve their independence and learning. We have had children benefit from the use of word banks, coloured overlays when reading; ear defenders to help with concentration; specialist cushions and enlarged print as well as breaks in a session to refocus attention.

How we identify, assess and review children with special educational needs

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:

• Work in partnership with parents/carers, pupils
• Consult with relevant external agencies
• Use assessment tools & materials
• Use observations
• Use Short Notes 

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”.

This means that we will: 

• 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

Write a Support Plan in a meeting with the parent, class teacher and SENCO and young person, writing specific learning outcomes which are SMART and are reviewed on a regular basis. The outcomes should be agreed with the parent and child and it is written into the Support Plan what steps, resources and support will be given to help achieve the outcome.

If after two cycles of Support Plans the child still makes little or no progress, we would look to make a referral to an outside agency to get advice and support about how best to help that child and investigate whether the child has a Special Educational Need which is preventing them to make progress in line with their peers. This is only done with full parental consent.

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.

An application for an Education, health and care assessment will take place if the school feels a child has a SEN which they feel they need extra support and funding for in order to provide the necessary, appropriate education for that child. This would be if a child had needs significantly different from their peers or needs which were very complex and needed extremely specific support for.

In school currently there are children with a variety of needs.

Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN

Staff use the SEN planning toolkits which can be found on the Families Information Service site to ensure they are meeting the needs of the SEN children in their class. These offer support and suggestions for strategies they can use with children based on their specific learning needs.

Termly assessments assess the progress of the class. As children with SEN progress at a slower rate objectives are broken down into smaller, more specific steps so teachers can be sure that SEN children are indeed making progress.

Parental concerns are responded to sensitively and appropriately. Where necessary, staff will support parents to complete any paperwork needed to support their child. Parents are always informed about the Local Offer and how they can find out what support is available for their child.

Senior Leaders carry out regular lesson observations of staff to ensure teaching is of the highest quality and children with SEN are being planned for appropriately.

At Woodlea Primary School, our behaviour policy aims to support pupils in making the right choices and see what consequences their behaviour has on themselves and others around them. All children at Woodlea Primary School are respected and listened to by staff who use a restorative approach once an incident has occurred to try and ensure a child understands what they have done and how their actions have affected others.

Staff have regular training from outside agencies as the need arises. Provision is constantly changing with the needs of the children and action is taking promptly by the Headteacher to ensure that staff have the necessary training and understanding of specific Special Educational Needs to give our children the best education possible.

How children with SEN engage in all activities

We enable all children to engage fully in all aspects of school life. To do this, we:

Ensure that children with SEN take part in all activities in school.

Support staff often support and work alongside children with SEN in whole school experiences and on trips to ensure they can have the necessary breaks they need and access all activities appropriately.

Children with SEN have small, SMART targets and receive praise for their achievements.

How we evaluate the effectiveness of SEN Provision

We continuously ensure the provision has a positive impact on the outcomes for all of our children/young people. We do this in a variety of ways, including:

• Robust evaluation of policy and practice
• Book scrutinies – monitoring ensures that work is appropriate for children with difficulties
• SENCO/SLT/Governor monitoring – the SENCO meets regularly with the SEN governor
• Learning walks
• Performance management