SEN Information Report

Principal – Mrs Carly Ellis

SENDCo – Miss Sarah Fitzsimmons

ALL children should have access to learning and there should be no barriers to their learning.

But it can be worrying if you feel that your child has a special need and/or disability. To help with your concerns we have listed some frequent worries and questions below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Help, I think my child may have a special need, what do I do now?

• If you are concerned, first speak to your child’s teacher and/or make an appointment to see the SENDCo. Then we can decide if your child has not been making progress together. We can look at your child (observe) and then their teacher and the SENDCo can do extra things to check if they are struggling. Then we can all meet to discuss what to do next.

What kind of SEND are provided for at Priorswood Primary School?

We pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive school, who strive to meet the needs of all of our children, responding to the needs of each individual child to devise the best package of support for them. Needs are usually broken down within four broad categories:

1. Cognition and Learning (including developmental delays, dyslexia, learning difficulties)
2. Communication and Interaction (such as speech and language difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Conditions)
3. Sensory and physical needs (including medical needs, physical disabilities, sensory processing differences)
4. Social, Emotional and Mental Health (including ADHD and trauma).

There will be some children who have needs across more than one of these areas, and support is always tailored to the individual child.

How does the school know if my child needs extra help?

• Teachers and staff regularly do assessments. We follow how the children are doing as soon as they arrive in reception. The teaching staff makes sure that all of their pupils understand what they have to do in class, make lessons fun, interesting and teach in ways so that everyone can understand. For example they use:-
• Signs and symbols so that pupils can SEE what they will be doing every day rather than just being told what they will be doing for that day.
• They use words that all children can understand.
• They use special pens/pencils to help them write if they have difficulty holding a pen.
• Sometimes pupils need extra help to learn in class and they may tell us that they do not understand.
• Sometimes their work SHOWS us that they do not understand.
• Sometimes pupils struggle to concentrate and settle into class.
• Sometimes they have trouble remembering things. Lots of children may struggle at some point when they are at school.

How will school staff support my child?

High quality teaching underpins all educational provision. It focuses on inclusive practice and breaks down barriers to learning. For the majority of children this can be achieved by identifying specific barriers, followed by personalisation and differentiation using strategies as identified in the Somerset Graduated Response Tool.

The Somerset Graduated Response Tool breaks down SEN into four broad areas of need. This targets specific support for teachers to plan and for any interventions to take place. You can learn more about the Somerset Graduated Response at: https://www.somerset.gov.uk/children-families-and-education/the-local-offer/education/what-to-expect-from-education/

When any of this continues for a LONG time and when their test results and classwork are not at the level it should be for their age, we then look more closely. When this happens a teacher will contact the SENDCo who will observe your child. At the same time we will contact YOU as the parent/carer. We then ASSESS how we can help. This means we identify why your child is struggling. Then we PLAN how we can help them improve and what we need to do. For example, it might mean your child needs some help with reading. We then DO this. This might mean we give them one to one help for 3 times a week for half an hour during the whole term. Then we REVIEW, which means we see if what we have been doing has worked. We all meet to see how things have been going. If it hasn’t worked then we look at why and how. So the process of ASSESS, PLAN, DO and REVIEW begins again. This is called the GRADUATED RESPONSE.

The Graduated Response Cycle of Help.

At all times the SENDCO makes sure that the cycle runs smoothly and she will keep you up to date. We will all meet and work together. Often there is a written plan of how we can all help and support your child. Sometimes a young person may need extra specialist support from people outside. We will ALWAYS ASK YOUR PERMISSION if we need to do this.

• It may be help from the Somerset Access to Inclusion (A2I), who will provide support for inclusion; or the Autism Outreach Team and the Outreach Team if your child has autism or you think they may have. We also work with the community medical teams- Occupational therapy, Speech and Language as well as support from an Educational Psychologist.
• Our Pastoral and Safeguarding lead can help support at home with lots of things- housing, parenting concerns, school attendance, behaviour issues or just support when you may need it as a family. All of us work together to help your child and this all adds to what we do already as a school.
• Somerset Parent Carer Forum is an outside group run by parents with children who have extra needs. They help and support families and give guidance on all areas of special needs. Their telephone number is 01458-259384 and their website address is https://www.somerset.gov.uk/send/somerset-parent-carer-forum-spcf/ They run support groups all over Somerset.

How will the school help my child if they are feeling anxious, unhappy, tearful or if something has happened at home that is making them find school hard. For example- parents splitting up or family illness and death?

• Our school encourages children to talk freely about their emotions and we all have days when we may feel sad or worried. We believe pastoral care is at the heart of Priorswood. If those feelings are stopping them from learning then again we can all meet and discuss how we can support and help your child. We run something called ELSAs (Emotional Support Literacy Assistants). This is an 8-week one-to-one intervention where your child can talk through their worries and anxieties with Mrs Jan Tanner and Mrs Cheryl Morgan who are trained ELSAs. We will then talk to you about how this has gone.

My child has a disability, how will the school help with this?

We make sure as far as possible that there is access to all areas. We make sure that all children are safe and that areas can be used safely according to their needs. All school trips will be risk assessed so that your child can join in and be safe. We will talk with all the people who help with your child for example- their nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Then we can make sure that we are doing everything possible to include them in school and that they can learn like everyone else.

What happens when my child has a new teacher/class or moves school?

• We work really hard with new schools and nurseries to make sure that when children have to make these big changes in their life they are ready. These changes are called transitions. We will all meet before the change happens- to what their worries may be. We make sure that they feel confident and happy about any changes by listening to them. We make sure we do something about their worries and reassure them. Then after the change has happened we meet to make sure that everything has gone smoothly and see how they feel. This also applies to when your child moves from one class to another. We meet with you and your child to see what concerns you may have. The new class teacher also makes sure that they are well aware of your child’s worries and needs. Again we review after- to see how this has gone and that they are settled.
• When moving schools we work closely with the school to which your child is transitioning to. We will have transition meetings with you and the staff at the school if this is required. With the transition from Year 6 to Year 7, secondary schools will have transition programmes which we will support.

I feel very upset that the teacher does not seem to be doing what we all agreed in the meeting together- how can I complain?

• If you as the parent/carer are unhappy about how things are being done in any way then in the first instance please speak with the class teacher. We pride ourselves on listening to you as the parent/carer. We will listen to your concerns and make sure that you feel happy and satisfied with what is being done. This is crucial as your child is the most important person and we need to make sure that all is well. If you are still unhappy, then you can contact either the SENDCo, Sarah Fitzsimmons or the Principal (Mrs Carly Ellis) who will also be happy to listen to your concerns.

How will I be involved with the school and my child’s education?

If your child has a special educational need or disability, we will keep you up to date and tell you how things are going. The assess-plan-do-review cycle keeps going for as long as your child needs help and support. You will be involved from the start until the end. If you have any queries or concerns you can contact your child’s class teacher or the SENDCo at any point.

What adaptations are made to support a child with additional needs?

We work with Parents and Children to identify what works and what barriers exist to their ability to access classroom learning alongside their peers. We then work with all agencies to plan ways of overcoming these barriers in order to achieve the optimum learning environment, within the constraints of the school building, for each child to enable them to thrive socially, emotionally and academically. Teachers will plan carefully and make the necessary adaptations to meet the needs of the children in their classes. Sometimes children are grouped to work with others of a similar ability, with or without the support of an adult. Teachers mark carefully and use assessments to identify the next steps in learning that your child will need to take. The work they are given will match these. This may involve differentiated learning tasks, supported communication systems, aids to sensory processing, physical adaptations to the classroom environment or supportive systems to help children learn about and manage their emotional and social interactions amongst many others.

What training have the staff supporting children with SEND and disabilities had?

All teachers and teaching assistants spend time keeping their skills and knowledge up-to-date through Continuous Professional Development opportunities (CPD). These training opportunities may be provided by experts from within the CLF, or through specialist support agencies. Our SENDCO, Sarah Fitzsimmons, has completed a nationally recognised and legally required, post-graduate award in special educational needs (NASENDCo). Additionally, we can access support from specialist learning and health support agencies to ensure our provision is right for the individual child and enables the best progress possible.

Policies that are relevant to this report and should be read in conjunction with:

• SEND Policy
• Accessibility Policy
• Medical Policy

Link to the Local Offer:

Somerset County Council has to provide support and help if your child needs this. To find information on this it is on the Somerset Local Offer from please use the following link:

https://www.somerset.gov.uk/children-families-and-education/the-local-offer/

Somerset’s SEND Local Offer is our local hub of information and guidance for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), their families and professionals in Somerset.  Explore services available to support you and how to access them.

This report is written annually and will be reviewed in October 2025.

Electronically signed: S Fitzsimmons (SENDCo)

Date: October 2024