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
• Use both formative and summative data

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 – through ongoing assessment; discussions with parents and children and advice from other professionals;
• Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes – through SMART targets on support plans that take into account advice from other professionals;
• Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes – through a personalized approach and specific recommended resources;
• Review the support and progress – in conjunction with the child and family at least 3 times a year.

As part of this approach every child with SEN will have an individualised SEN Support Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes & provision to meet those needs.  Parents/carers and child/YP (where appropriate) views are integral to the this process.

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 EHC assessment would be appropriate when recommended by a professional working with the child and after discussion with the parent/carer.

For more detailed information see the Local Offer

Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN

We will follow the graduated approach and the four-part cycle of assess, plan, do, review.

The class or subject teacher will work with the SENCO to carry out a clear analysis of the pupil’s needs. This will draw on:

The teacher’s assessment and experience of the pupil
Their previous progress and attainment and behaviour
Other teachers’ assessments, where relevant
The individual’s development in comparison to their peers and national data
The views and experience of parents
The pupil’s own views
Advice from external support services, if relevant
The assessment will be reviewed regularly.

All teachers and support staff who work with the pupil will be made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided, and any teaching strategies or approaches that are required. We will regularly review the effectiveness of the support and interventions and their impact on the pupil’s progress.

We have 6 teaching assistants who are trained to deliver interventions such as Lexia, Nessy, Power of…, Toe by toe, speech and language, phonics and getting along groups.

Teaching assistants will support pupils on a 1:1 basis when this has been recommended by other professionals, such as an Educational Psychologist, working with the child.

Teaching assistants will support pupils in small groups when this has been identified on a short note or support plan as the most efficient and effective way to meet the child’s needs.

We work with the following agencies to provide support for pupils with SEN:

• Speech and Language
• Cognition and Learning
• ASD team
• Occupational Therapy
• CAMHS
• Behaviour Intervention Team
• Crisis Response
• Educational Psychologist

The school also takes advice and involves other bodies, including health and social care bodies, local authority support services and voluntary sector organisations, in meeting pupils’ SEN and supporting their families.

Through our monitoring we ensure access to appropriate high quality teaching, differentiation and intervention.

• The ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycle forms the basis of our SEN provision, as identified in our SEN policy and SEN report.
• Parents and pupils are involved in the APDR cycle termly as they form part of the review meeting.
• Continuing professional development guides how we plan for learners with SEN however an inclusive and integrated approach is adopted wherever possible.
• In order to ensure there is a holistic approach in addressing all needs we carefully timetable intervention and support looking at what ‘A day in the life of…’ looks like.
• The impact of provision is evaluated in relation to the outcomes set for pupils therefore it is not solely based on assessment data.
• Additional support may be delivered in a variety of ways to meet a child’s needs. It could be individual, group intervention, teacher, TA and peer support.
• High quality teaching with differentiation & personalization and interventions is evaluated by through our monitoring as well as against personalized targets.
• Progress measured in relation to the EYFS curriculum Early Learning goals and good level of development. After EYFS it is measured in relation to the age related expectations of the national curriculum. Our own internal data monitoring system is also used.
• We believe behaviour is a form of communication and therefore it is differentiated (as seen in our behavior policy).
• We take advice and support from other professionals, for eg Health, and make reasonable adjustments where needed and these are reflected in the in the Accessibility Plan.
• We have an integrated and inclusive ethos which enables pupils with SEN to engage in activities with pupils who do not have SEN.
• Risk assessments are sometimes written with the advice and support from other professionals in order to facilitate certain activities and ensure every child’s needs are being met.
• Arrangements for pupils with SEN undertaking tests and exams may differ from other children. This could include a scribe, prompter, reader, resources or additional time. Wherever these have been identified as normal classroom practice for the child they will be reflected in a test situation.
• Through quality first teaching and the assess, plan, do, review cycle we are able to ensure all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
• In order to meet individual needs reasonable adjustments would be made, including to the curriculum, through support and intervention.
• Through ongoing CPD and dedicated SEN staff meetings we ensure that teaching staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.

Every child is encouraged to fulfil their potential and fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum through quality first teaching and the assess, plan, do, review cycle with short notes, support plans or an EHCP.

For further information please view or download our Accessibility Plan which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.