SEND

Holden Clough is an inclusive school. We ensure that all of our children are involved in all aspects of learning, and are challenged and motivated to reach their full potential. Pupils may need additional support to help them meet their learning needs and we are here to support those children.

Local Offer Overview

Miss Boult is our SENDCo

She is responsible for the operation of the Special Educational Needs policy and coordination of specific provision made to support individual children with SEND. Miss Boult can be contacted on the school telephone number: 0161 330 5248.

Our Governor with responsibility for SEND is Mr Basharat Ali.

Miss Joanne Hartley (Deputy Head Teacher  is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Mr Adam Porter (Head Teacher) is our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Our Attendance Officer is Mrs Katie Whiteman.

Our Senior Lunchtime Supervisor is Mrs Angela Woodward.

The kinds of SEND that are provided for

Our school currently provides additional and/or different provision for a range of needs, including:

• Communication and interaction, for example, Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC), Asperger’s Syndrome, Speech and Language difficulties
• Cognition and learning, for example, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties, for example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Anxiety   
• Sensory and/or physical needs, for example, visual impairments, hearing impairments, epilepsy 

Identifying pupils with SEND and assessing their needs

We will assess each pupil’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, which will build on previous settings and Key Stages, where appropriate. Class teachers will make regular assessments of progress for all pupils. This may include progress in areas other than attainment, for example, social needs.   

Consulting and involving pupils and Parents/Carers

We know that Parents/Carers know their children best and therefore listen when they express concerns about their child’s development.  We also listen to any concerns raised by children themselves. If parents are concerned, they need not wait for school to identify their child’s needs. Parents/Carers are encouraged to communicate with the class teacher and where necessary, meetings can be arranged with the SENDCo to further discuss any worries.

Assessing and reviewing pupils' progress towards outcomes
Children who have been identified as needing additional support, will then be part of our ‘assess, plan, do, and review’ cycle. This is where we create and monitor Learning Plans for children to set targets, desired outcomes, and provision to help us achieve these. Learning Plans are then reviewed at the end of each term. These reviews include the teacher, parent/carers and the pupil. The SENDCo may also attend.

Supporting pupils moving between phases and preparing for adulthood

We encourage all families to visit our school for a tour before joining, whether that is before your child’s first day in Nursery or Reception or when transferring to us from another school. 

We liaise with children’s current school/nursery settings to obtain information about children’s achievements and needs. Similarly, we will share information with the school, college, or other setting the pupil is moving to. We will agree with Parents/Carers and pupils which information will be shared as part of this.

Home visits are undertaken for all pupils starting in our nursery by EYFS staff. We visit children starting in our Reception at their Nursery setting or complete a home visit if they are not attending a Nursery. These visits are for us to meet the children in their own environment and to find out about each child before they start in our school.

All pupils have a phased start on entry to nursery or/and reception. We start with 10 children per class then increase to the full intake over 10 days in reception and over 3 weeks in nursery.

Where a child is coming to our school with already identified SEND needs, the SENDCo and EYFS lead will arrange a meeting with parents for further details and/or observe the child on an individual basis in their current setting. This is so we can plan provision for them and arranged a heightened transition if required.

Transition between year groups:

• Staff take part in transition meetings to pass on information about the cohort
• Pupils take part in transition days/sessions to meet their new teacher and see their new classroom
• Pupil Passports are reviewed at the end of a school year and discussed with the new staff who will be working with the pupil next

Where pupils need heightened transitions we will collaborate with the next phase, Parents/Carers and the pupils to help achieve this. This may include:

• Transition booklets so that pupils have a visual reference of where they will be moving on to
• An increased number of visits to their new setting
• Opportunities to build relationships with new staff
• Big Fish, Little Pond - an intervention focused on moving to secondary school

Our approach to teaching pupils with SEND

Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the pupils in their class. We use a graduated approach to the support we offer pupils in our school.

These are in 3 waves of support we offer:

Adaptations to the curriculum and learning environment

We endeavour to enable children with SEND and their families to access all our facilities. The school is wheelchair accessible. There is a disabled toilet large enough to accommodate changing in both the main school building and the EYFS unit. There is a lift to access KS2 on the first floor. For further information please see our Accessbility Plan.

We make the following adaptations to ensure all pupils’ needs are met:

• Differentiating our curriculum to ensure all pupils are able to access it, for example, by grouping, 1:1 work, teaching style, content of the lesson, etc.
• Adapting our resources and staffing - we look at the levels of need in each class before allocating teaching assistant support.
• Using recommended aids, such as laptops, visual timetables, larger font, etc.
• See 5.6 - for further adaptations.

Additional support for learning

We have a number of teaching assistants who are trained to deliver a range of interventions.

Teaching assistants will support pupils on a 1:1 basis for wave 3 interventions or for a short time to help support a child in class. A teaching assistant will support a child 1:1 longer term and for more hours of the school day if that child has an EHCP and this is the support needed as stated in that plan.

Teaching assistants will support pupils in small groups in order to deliver wave 2 interventions and to support learning in the classroom. They will help the teacher to deliver differentiated sessions and may be used to support learners who need more resources and scaffolding or to challenge learners further.

Expertise and training of staff

Our SENDCO, Miss Boult, has 3 years’ experience in this role and has completed the NASENCo Award which is a legal requirement for any SENDCo new to the role. This is a Masters level qualification which provides training for effective leadership of SEND. Miss Boult has always taken a keen interest in supporting SEND pupils and has taught for 6 years prior to the SENDCo role in KS1. Miss Boult is allocated 3 days a week to manage SEND provision.

We have a team of teaching assistants trained to deliver interventions and Miss Woodward, our Level 4 TA also works as a Learning Mentor. She works with Miss Boult and helps to support those children in our school with cognition and learning needs to develop their independent learning skills via timetabled support in class. 

Securing equipment and facilities

Holden Clough Primary School will allocate the appropriate amount of core per-pupil funding and notional SEND budget outlined in the local offer in order to provide for SEND pupils.

We have a service level agreement in place with a private Educational Psychologist to secure our access to this service and reduce waiting times as much as we can.

We have access to The SEMH Support & Inclusion Service (formerly BLIS) to ensure their support for any pupils who may need it and to access training opportunities for our staff.

All of our classrooms have a designated reading corner/quiet space and we have intervention spaces available outside of our classrooms. We also have a studio space which can be used for wellbeing interventions and larger groups, and a small nurture room/learning mentor office for 1:1 or small group work.

Our SENDCo audits current resources and manages the SEND budget for purchasing any additional resources required to support pupils with SEND. We follow the recommendations of external agencies and professionals when purchasing new resources.

Our SENDCo manages EHCP personal budgets and uses the allocated funding to meet the desired outcomes outlined in the EHCP for that individual child. These budgets are allocated from the local authority’s high needs funding block.

Evaluating the effectiveness of SEND provision

The effectiveness of the support and the impact on your child’s progress are reviewed termly. This information along with the views of Parents/Carers and children, enables us to revise and adapt the support given. Where the SEND provision does not enable a child to make adequate progress, we work with parents/carers to request an assessment for an Educational, Health and Care Plan.
 

Enabling pupils with SEND to engage in activities available to those in the school who do not have SEND

All of our extra-curricular activities and school visits are available to all our pupils, including our before-and after-school clubs.

All pupils are encouraged to go on our residential trip(s) to Robin Wood and London

All pupils are encouraged to take part in sports day/school plays/special workshops, etc.

No pupil is ever excluded from taking part in these activities because of their SEND or disability.

Support for improving emotional and social development

Through our PSHE curriculum, theme days/weeks, circle time and pupils’ own experiences, all children are encouraged to explore their own worth in the school community and within their wider community. In doing so, the aim is for each individual to become increasingly responsible for their own actions and learning and also to foster a sense of wellbeing and self-worth.

We provide support for pupils with SEND to improve their emotional and social development in the following ways:

• Pupils with SEND are encouraged to be part of the school council and eco council,
• Pupils with SEND are also encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities.
• Pupils with SEND have access to a number of SEMH interventions.
• Pupils with SEND have access to a Learning Mentor and school social worker.

We have a zero tolerance approach to bullying and poor behaviour. For more information please see our Anti-bullying policy on our Policies page.

Working with other agencies

We work with a number of external agencies to provide support for pupils with SEND.

Including, but not exclusive to:

• Educational Psychology
• CLASS (Communication, Language & Autistic Spectrum Support)
• The SEMH Support & Inclusion Service (formerly BLIS)
• SPLD (Specific Learning Difficulty Team)
• ISCAN (Integrated Service for Children with Additional Needs)
• SALT (Speech and Language Therapy)
• Healthy Young Minds (previously CAMHS – Children’s and Adolescent’s Mental Health Service)
• School Nursing Team

Complaints about SEND provision

Complaints about SEND provision in our school should be made to the SENDCo or Head Teacher in the first instance, they will then be referred to the school’s complaints policy.

The Parents/Carers of pupils with disabilities have the right to make disability discrimination claims to the first-tier SEND tribunal if they believe that our school has discriminated against their children. They can make a claim about alleged discrimination regarding:

• Exclusions
• Provision of education and associated services
• Making reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services

Contact details of support services for parents of pupils with SEND
Please access the local authority service directory: Tameside SID Support

The local authority local offer
Our local authority’s local offer is published here: Tameside Local Offer

Further details can be found in our SEND Policy & Information Report on our Policies page.

For further information or feedback you are very welcome to make an appointment with the Head teacher or SENDCo. Appointments can be made through the school office.

Tel: 0161 330 5248