Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

All schools in Devon have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities and are supported by the LA to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. Schools are required to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible.

 

The four broad areas of need are:

         1) Communication and Interaction

         2) Cognition and Learning

         3) Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties

         4) Sensory and Physical Needs

Devon Local Offer

The Children and Families Bill became enacted in 2014. From this date, Local Authorities and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for the children and young people with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25. This is the Local Offer.

 

The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It will also be an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area. Find out more about Devon Local Authority’s Local Offer:

The School SEND Information Report

Statement of Intent

At Exwick Heights Primary, we believe all children deserve the very best possible start and we aim to enrich the lives of all our pupils.

 

Exwick Heights Primary is dedicated to providing the best education for all, and the brightest future. Our vision, “Staff at Exwick Heights Primary School encourage everyone to give of their best, to be independent and lifelong learners and to be proud of their own and others’ achievements ,” is at the heart of everything we do. This is from an inspirational curriculum which gives children experiences on which to base their learning and their future life choices, to a strategic staffing, recruitment and CPD plan which ensures that all teachers and staff members can improve, not because they are not good enough but because they can be even better (Dylan William).

 

We embrace and celebrate the fact that every child is different and unique, which is certainly the case for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), who are always welcome at Exwick Heights Primary. Full support will be provided to each child who has SEND requirements with well thought out strategies to overcome any barriers to achievement. Exwick Heights Primary is a fully inclusive school providing a high-quality and caring education so all pupils can achieve their potential, with a focus on fully involving parents/carers from the earliest opportunity. The progress of children with SEND is monitored towards meeting specifically identified goals and targets, which members of staff consistently champion and support. All staff are supported with continuous professional development to ensure the necessary, up-to-date knowledge and understanding of SEND; everyone at Exwick Heights is a ‘teacher of SEND.’

 

Excellent care, guidance and support contributes significantly to pupils’ personal development to make them all feel safe and secure and make the best possible academic and personal progress. To further support our pupils and families, we encourage our parents to join our SENDCo and Parent Support Advisor (PSA) for half-termly monthly parent support cafes, where guidance can be given towards extra support and services, as well as a chance to for families to share challenges and successes.

Our school will:

  • Have a designated SENDCo who is part of the Senior Leadership team and who has completed the National Award for SEND Coordination.
  • Have a named Governor for SEND.
  • Have a SEND Information Report and SEND policy. These will be available on the website and reviewed yearly by senior leaders and Governors.
  • Contribute to SEND peer reviews.
  • Ensure pupils with SEND have full access to extra-curricular opportunities and ensure they are represented in every aspect of school life.
  • Ensure every aspect of the school’s KPI’s have a reporting mechanism for SEND.

In addition, we will use the following guiding principles as part of our work in supporting children with SEND:

  • First, all staff are aware of the SEND students they work with: we consciously build strong relationships with these students, gaining knowledge of their subject strengths and areas for development, their individual contexts and aspirations.
  • We focus relentlessly on developing them as individuals: their talents, their academic endeavours and acknowledge and support them to overcome any barriers they face.
  • At the front of our minds, we remember that we are powerful advocates: we have a responsibility to ensure that every student with SEND is prioritised for enriching academic and extra- curricular opportunities that challenge and inspire them.
  • Raising the profile of SEND children within our school community is of paramount importance; we prioritise them at every opportunity, proactively encourage them to develop skills and take on roles that equip them for current and future success.
  • We know that excellent teaching is at the heart of success: supported by our ambitious learning culture, our pedagogy, knowledge-rich, cohesive curriculum, consistent routines, feedback, high expectations and strong knowledge of individuals can and do make a difference to our most vulnerable students.
  • We know that excellent teaching is adaptive and meets the needs of the learner: teachers engage with incremental coaching and evidence-informed approaches to refine, develop and improve in order to ensure our learners achieve their potential. We understand the importance of subject mastery and seek always to develop subject knowledge and expertise.
  • We address financial and practical barriers to learning and enrichment: we provide essential equipment where necessary for SEN pupils.
  • We offer opportunities for independent practice: we explicitly teach students learning habits, which are embedded in lessons and monitor their success throughout their school career and intervene, where necessary, to support progress.
  • We raise aspirations and focus on the future: we provide guidance and support that allow our students to explore opportunities they may not have considered. Students are prioritised for careers advice and work experience. We develop strong links with universities and businesses in order to encourage all students to broaden their horizons.
  • We understand that excellent attendance is fundamental to student success: we intervene early and positively when students are absent and ensure that any barriers to excellent attendance are addressed.

Contact Details

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo)Trudy Cronin
admin@exwickheights.devon.sch.uk
01392 209030
Staff member with overall responsibility for pupils with Medical NeedsMelanie Powell
admin@exwickheights.devon.sch.uk
01392 209030
SEND GovernorGraham Davey
admin@exwickheights.devon.sch.uk
Where is the Local Authority’s Local Offer published?https://www.devon.gov.uk/education-and-families/send-local-offer/about-send-and-the-local-offer/
Contact details for support services for parents of pupils with Special Educational Needs.Devon Information Advice and Support for SEND (DIAS)
https://devonias.org.uk/
01392 383080
devonias@devon.gov.uk

Implementation

All schools in Devon have a similar focus and approach to meeting the needs of pupils with SEND, and are supported by the local authority (LA) to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. Exwick Heights Primary is a mainstream, inclusive setting for children aged 3-11 that fully complies with the requirements set out in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2014). A pupil has SEND where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age. (SEND Code of Practice, 2015, p.94) There are four broad areas of need for children with SEND. Trained and experienced staff are able to support learners who may have difficulties with: 

  • Cognition and Learning
  • Speech, Language and Communication needs
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health
  • Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties
  • Children on the Autistic Spectrum

We make reasonable adjustments to our practices so as to comply with the Equality Act (2010). Following the enactment of the Children and Families Bill (2014), LAs and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for the children and young people with SEND aged 0-25. This is the Local Offer.

The Local Offer’s intention is to improve choice and transparency for families, and will be an important resource for parents/carers in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area.  Children with SEND, either with or without an Education and Health Care Plan, are welcome to apply for a place at Exwick Heights or any local school in line with the school admissions policy. If a place is available, we will, in partnership with parents, endeavour to make the provision appropriate and accessible to meet the SEND of pupils at this school. For children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), parents have the right to request a particular school and the local authority must comply with that preference and name the school or college in the EHC plan unless: 

  • it would be unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or SEND of the child or young person
  • the attendance of the child or young person there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, or the efficient use of resources.

Before making the decision to name our school in a child’s EHCP, the local authority will send the governing body a copy of the EHCP and then consider their comments very carefully before a final decision on placement is made.  In addition, the local authority must also seek the agreement of the named school.

The Class Teacher is responsible for:
• Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help (which could be targeted work or additional group/1:1 support) your child may need and letting the SENDCo know as necessary.
• Writing SEND support plans, based on the smaller steps of progress needed for success and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once a term, ready to plan for the next term.
• Building trusting, supportive relationships with their pupils, to help understand the successes and challenges that each pupil (including those with SEND) faces to achieve their best
• Personalised, ambitious teaching and learning for your child as identified on the school’s provision map
• Ensuring that the School’s Information Report and SEND policy is followed in their classroom for all pupils they teach with SEND

The SENDCo (Mrs. Trudy Cronin) is responsible for:
• Developing and reviewing the Schools SEND Information Report and Policy
• Co-ordinating all of the support for pupils with SEND
• Ensuring that you are:
I) Involved in supporting your child’s learning
II) Kept informed about the support your child is receiving
III) Involved in reviewing how your child is doing]
• liaising with all other professionals who may be coming in to school to support your child
• Updating the schools SEND Register (a system for ensuring that all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that the records of your child’s progress and needs are kept up to date
• Providing or sourcing specialist support for staff in the school, so they can help children with SEND to achieve the best possible progress.

The Headteacher (Mrs. Caroline Neal) is responsible for:
• The day to day management of all aspects of the school, including the support for pupils with SEND.
• Although responsibility is shared with the SENDCo and class teachers, the Headteacher has overall responsibility for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
• The Headteacher will make sure that the governing body are kept up to date about issues relating to SEND.

The SEND Governor (Mr. Graham Davey) is responsible for:
• Making sure the necessary support is given for any child with SEND that attends the school.

 

Class Teacher input:
• The teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
• All teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
• Different approaches and strategies are in place, so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning the use of IT to support recording and pre-teaching.
• Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENDCo) are in place to support your child to learn.
• Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has a gap or gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

Specific Group Work:
• This will be small-group, targeted support focused on a specific curriculum area, or focused on supporting the SEND need of the pupil(s). This may be run in or out of the classroom by a teacher or trained TA.

Support from specialist educational professionals:
This means a pupil has been identified by the SENDCo/class teacher as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Team
• Babcock LDP, such as SEMH Team, Communication and Interaction Team, Educational Psychology service.
• NHS services, such as Speech and Language, OT and physiotherapy, under 5 multidisciplinary assessment team
What could happen:
• You will 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 you to 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 as to the ways your child is given support in school and at home.

Specified Individual Support:
• This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong.
• This is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by professionals as needing a particularly high level of individual or small-group teaching.
• This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups.
• Your child will also need specialist support in school from professionals outside the school.
This may be from:
– Babcock LDP Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion Advisory Service.
– Outside NHS agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy Service, occupational/physiotherapy via Children and Family Health Devon.
For your child this would mean:
• The school (or you) can request that Local Authority Services 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 request has been made to the ‘Panel of Professionals’ (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need 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 this, they will ask the school to continue with the current support.
• After the reports have all been sent in, the Panel of Professionals will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong. If this is the case, they will write an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the current level of support 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 EHC Plan will outline the number of hours of individual/small group support your child will receive from the LA and how the support should be used, and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short-term goals for your child.
• The additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child.
• Parents and professionals will meet termly to discuss progress and provision. There will, in addition, be an annual review of the EHCP.

 

We have highly trained teachers and teaching assistants who can identify and help support children who are experiencing any difficulties, with the SENDCo coordinating this work across the setting. All children are different so every child is unique with their learning journey. Class teachers continually track the progress of all children in their class. They have regular discussions with support staff and our SEND team to ensure every child is meeting their potential as well as monitoring written work and regularly observing children during their learning. Class teachers and teaching assistants can discuss any concerns they have as and when needed with the SENDCo. All teachers have termly Inclusion Reviews with the SENDCo and PSA to review progress and provision for SEND and vulnerable children.

There are many ways that we may identify a SEND for example:
• Liaising with all Nursery providers and other primary schools to ensure that information on children transitioning into the School is shared effectively.
• Teachers and Nursery Practitioners carry out regular assessments, so that they are able to quickly identify any child who is experiencing particular difficulties.
• Parents may raise concerns about their child.
• Other professionals working with a child outside of the school may raise concerns or highlight a specific need.
• Pupils views
• Review attendance and exclusion data for students with SEND

Subject leaders and the SENDCo measure the effectiveness of provisions made for pupils as part of their subject monitoring cycle. This will include learning walks, book looks and pupil conferencing.

Your child’s teacher will continually monitor their progress as day-to-day practice

The class teacher will meet termly with the SENDCo and (PSA) to review progress across the curriculum and discuss what is working well/what needs to happen next. Where possible, a member of the SEND team will have short ‘drop-in’ observations to see how children with SEND are getting on, and monitor that they have access to resources and facilities that will help them learn best.

The effectiveness of interventions is measured on a SEND Support Plan, which shows what the child has already achieved, the specific targets being focused on in school, expected outcomes and termly evaluations (both qualitative and quantitative) of the additional support in place. Additionally, provision maps for children whose attainment, emotional needs or other areas of school life is being monitored, are reviewed termly, to identify the additional support to our universal provision that they are receiving. Interventions will be monitored by the class teacher and SENDCo and where necessary, appropriate additional training will be provided to staff running interventions.

If a child is supported through the ‘Team Around Me’ process or an ‘Early Help

Assessment’, the multi-agency team working with the child will meet every 6 weeks to review progress against outcomes.

Pupils with an EHCP will have an annual review where the progress towards outcomes and the appropriateness of provisions in Section E and F of the EHCP will be reviewed. In addition, there will be termly meetings with the parents and other involved agencies to ensure continuity of provision and multi-disciplinary working.

Mrs Cronin reports regularly to the Governing Body. We have a Governor who is responsible for SEND and reports to the wider Governing Body.

As a school, we track and analyse children’s progress in learning against age related expectations on a termly basis. The class teacher continually assesses children and notes areas where they are improving and where further support is needed.

Pupil Progress meetings are held each term with the class teacher. In these meetings, the class teacher and parents/guardians can discuss provision that is supporting progress in school and/or at home, as well as identifying our action steps in any areas where children may not be progressing as expected.

CPD opportunities are offered as part of our wider Ted Wragg Trust provision for senior leaders, class teachers and support staff, with special consideration given to the training that will most benefit a particular member of staff and the children they support. This can include online training, as well as in-person professional development. Weekly teacher and teaching assistant meetings provide an excellent opportunity to discuss with colleagues and seek advice about additional strategies, tools or resources that may help a child with SEND progress well and achieve their best.

Where specific needs are apparent, the School has a range of assessments which can be used to explore a child’s strengths and difficulties in more detail. The Devon Graduated Approach to Inclusion framework can be used as an electronic tool to support teachers and school leaders to identify, assess and record and review the needs of children and young people requiring additional or special educational provision. There are three broad stages of support, all which are implemented using an Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle. The primary aim of this framework, is to ensure that levels of support at an early stage, which are part of a school’s universal offer, are implemented before a pupil progresses through to targeted or specialist levels of support.


 

For a very small percentage of pupils, whose needs are significant and complex and the SEND Support required to meet their needs cannot reasonably be provided from within the school’s own resources, a request will be made to the local authority to conduct an assessment of education, health and care needs. This may result in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan being provided.

  • We have a highly ambitious and broad curriculum and we expect our SEND pupils to be fully involved in all lessons and extra-curricular activities. All students, including those with special educational needs, are taught the school’s broad and balanced curriculum.

    We passionately believe that all teachers are the teachers of children with SEND. High Quality Teaching is a non-negotiable for every child in our school. Our highly skilled teachers will use techniques such as scaffolding to ensure that all children are able to meet these high expectations. There is an expectation that teachers will be highly aware of the learning needs of all children and will ensure that the learning is coherently sequenced to SEND pupils needs, starting points and aspirations. All curriculum areas include retrieval practice and lessons are planned with cognitive overload in mind to ensure that children are not overwhelmed with new and complex information in one go. Learning links build upon previous lessons and years and these links are made explicit to the children throughout the curriculum. Lessons are planned with scaffolds (from modelled examples to sentence starters) and we build in additional time for guided student practice to ensure there is a high success rate. Interventions are targeted with precision and are short, sharp bursts of practice, to ensure that children have maximum opportunity to remain in class and be exposed to all that Exwick Heights has to offer. The best teaching takes place in class and we do not want children missing out on any part of the curriculum as this could be a barrier to them achieving an aspiration for the future.

    What would high quality targeted classroom teaching look like for my child?
    • The teacher would have the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in the class
    • That all teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand
    • Different ways of teaching are in place to ensure that your child is fully involved in all aspects of the lesson. Teachers are aware that a mixture between guided, collaborative and independent work is essential for all children to progress well across the curriculum.
    • Specific strategies (that may be suggested by the SENDCo or professionals) are in place to support your child to learn. This could range from using yellow-paged books and access to a spellchecker to support writing, to use of manipulatives in all areas of maths.
    • Your child’s class teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has a gap/gaps in their knowledge and need some extra support to make the best possible progress

    The school recognises the importance of the findings by the Education Endowment Fund’s summary of recommendations for SEND in mainstream schools and any in class support by teaching assistants adheres to their recommendations on effective deployment of teaching assistants.

    Where appropriate, pupils with medical needs will be provided with a detailed Individual Health and Care Plan, compiled in partnership with specialist nurses and parents and if appropriate, the pupil themselves.

    We are fully committed to ensuring that Exwick Heights is accessible to all children and will
    always be happy to discuss individual requirements where necessary. The school has a
    number of ways in which it is accessible to all:
    • The school has two main buildings, both of which are accessible by wheelchairs
    • There are two designated parking spaces in the main carpark
    • The main school building and the Early Years building can be accessed from the main car park
    • On the main site, there is a lift between the two floors
    • There is a slope to allow ease of access to the school field
    • We ensure wherever possible that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs
    • Extra-curricular activities are accessible for children with SEND.
    • External provision is available through Foxhayes playclub, which is accessible to all children, including those with SEND through. Phone 01392 208773 for further information.

    .

When a child has been identified with special educational needs, the class teacher will ensure that the child can access the curriculum appropriately and this will be
discussed with the parents formally at Parents/Carers’ meetings.

The SENDCo will liaise with external professionals where appropriate and will work with staff to ensure that every child is able to access the curriculum.

If appropriate, specialist equipment may be given to the child e.g. writing slopes, pen/pencils grips or easy to use scissors.

All staff are committed to promoting the involvement of all children in all aspects of the curriculum including activities outside the classroom. Where there are concerns of safety and access, further thought and consideration is put in place to ensure needs are met for all children. Where applicable, parents are consulted and involved in planning for inclusion. A full risk assessment is always carried out prior to planned school trips to prioritise inclusion and safety for all children. Where needed, additional adults may be deployed to support with trips. We also encourage all children, including those with SEND to access our after- school clubs; adults leading the session will take into consideration the needs of individuals and the wider group, and make any necessary adjustments.

All our staff know and care about all the children and their needs. Time within the curriculum is dedicated to fostering self-esteem and confidence. Our carefully planned induction process ensures that through meetings with feeder pre-school settings and conversations with parents, we can anticipate the medical, social and emotional needs of all children.

Exwick Heights offers a variety of pastoral support for children who may be encountering emotional difficulties, starting with the support offered to children in class. This is achieved through a comprehensive curriculum for children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. We use the Jigsaw programme to help structure our PSHCE curriculum, providing children with a familiar framework that builds upon their prior personal, social, health and community education learning from earlier years. Class teachers offer regular circle times and class council opportunities for children to share their successes and where they would like things to improve.

Additionally, each class utilises the Early Help for Mental Health’s 10-a-day principles, to help children begin to independently support their mental health through simple and clear strategies.

Teachers and teaching assistants are aware of the importance of giving children time to talk and share their feelings. For some children, including those with SEND, these opportunities may be more frequent. Teaching assistants are regularly deployed to offer talk time to children who have been identified as needing some extra emotional support, helping to build further trusting and supportive relationships.

We use a Trauma Informed approach to support children’s emotional needs. Key principles of trauma are well-understood and consistently recognised. These are:
• Awareness – Everyone understands the impact of trauma and the importance of high quality relationships.
• Safety – Ensuring physical and emotional safety.
• Trustworthiness – Maximising trustworthiness, making tasks clear, and maintaining appropriate boundaries.
• Choice – Prioritising choice and control.
• Collaboration – Maximising collaborative relationships amongst staff and students that build everyone’s relational skills.
• Empowerment – Empowerment and skill building for everyone in the school.
• Relationships Heal. Healing is possible.

Our Positive Behaviour Management Policy, which includes guidance on expectations, rewards and sanctions is followed consistently by all staff. All staff in school use our Red Badge system, providing a consistent approach to supporting optimal behaviour in the classroom and on the playground. Children proudly display their red badges as a sign of success and achievement, and are rewarded with termly group-treats (such as a pyjama party or visiting the library) for displaying model behaviour. Although behaviour at Exwick Heights is consistently good, we understand that behaviour is a form of communication. For children who may have complex social and emotional needs, a Behaviour Care Plan may be put in place in agreement with parents and professionals.

For children who benefit from more enhanced support to encourage their emotional and social development, we offer clubs such as: our Green Team gardening club to support children to cooperate in a small group and be responsible for our natural environment; structured lunchtime support for children who benefit from more bespoke provision in less structured times; planned activities and groups during playtimes led by a member of staff to encourage collaboration and shared fun.

Our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) or always on hand to listen and support all pupils, providing further opportunity for children to share their feelings with members of staff and recognising the importance of their voice. SLT also ensure that wider assemblies support emotional literacy, using picture books, current affairs and real-world experiences to help children make sense of ‘their world.’

At Exwick Heights, the consistent upholding of our positive ethos ensure that the school is a very calm environment, supported by clear routines and structures in place across the school.

We have a culture of sharing good practice and expertise which enables us to ensure that staff have the skills needed to effectively support children with SEND. All the teaching staff are kept up to date with changes in SEND legislation and practice both nationally and locally. Our regular in-house CPD (Continual professional development) programme offers training around key aspects of SEND.

We regularly audit and review staff training needs and provide relevant training to develop whole school staff understanding of SEND and strategies to support inclusive and high quality teaching. The school uses its best endeavours to secure the special educational provision called for by any students’ needs. We also provide staff with information about effective strategies to use within their class and adhere to the principle that ‘all teachers are teachers of children with special educational needs’ to ensure that all teachers and staff are equipped to deal with a diverse range of needs.

We work closely with external agencies to support staff training and development of expertise. We aim to ensure we have a variety of skills among the staff. Mrs. Cronin (SENDCo) holds the National SENDCo Qualification, and all members of staff have received training in: trauma informed good practice; dyslexia friendly classrooms and provision; ASD provision and targeted support.

The SENDCo attends termly SENDCo updates to keep abreast of current legislation and practices.

There may be times when children require additional support from outside agencies to receive more specialised expertise; the agencies used by the School are:
• The Communication and Interaction Team (CIT/CITEY)
• NHS Speech and Language therapists (SaLT)
• Occupational therapists
• Physiotherapists
• The Educational Psychology Service
• School Nursing Service
• Sensory and Physical Development specialist teachers
• Child Development Centre
• Multi-Agency Support Team (MAST)
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
• Devon Information Advice and Support Service (DIAS)
• Educational Welfare Officer
• Social Care
• Learning Mentor
• Play Therapist
• Health Visitor
• Portage
• ATAN (Advisory Teacher for Additional Needs)
• Support from the Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Team
• SEN 100

The SENDCo oversees the SEND budget and commissions services to meet the needs of current and future cohorts. As needs of students and cohorts are identified or change specific equipment and facilities are bought using the SEND Top up funding as agreed by the SENDCo, for example buying specialist equipment to support identified students.

We work closely with Occupational Therapists and acting on advice from them, a number of pupils have access to learning aids such as writing slopes, ergonomic pens, wedge cushions or pencil grips. Other pupils have been enabled through the use of Chromebooks and ‘talking tins’ to record their learning.

Our schools are wheelchair accessible and we have disabled toilet facilities and a wet-room shower facility. In our KS2 building, there is a lift available. We have an accessibility plan which is reviewed regularly.

If appropriate, we would access further support and advice from outside agencies through the TAF process and access additional funding from the Local Authority if a child’s needs exceed the funding available in our delegated budget.

From the very beginning of any child’s educational journey with us, we work hard to engage parents and build positive home-school relationships. We know that parents know their children best and it is important that we, as professionals, listen and understand when parents express concerns about their child’s development. Parents are always welcome to speak with the class teacher at the end of the day, and arrangements can be made to speak in more detail to the class teacher or SENDCo at any time by appointment or by emailing the school office.

Our universal offer also includes the progress of all children being reported to parents verbally twice times per year and in writing through Annual Reports at the end of every academic year. These reports also include information about any intervention support the child is receiving.

Parents of children with special educational needs are at the heart of the decision making process with regards to the provision for that child. Provisions are reviewed regularly with the parents.

Children (where appropriate) and parents of children who have Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) will be invited to meet the SENDCo to review progress. The views of the child and the parents/carers will form a key part of these discussions.
We aim to ensure that the children are aware of the interventions that they are involved in, what the learning goals are, when they will take place and how well they are doing.

We use a child-centred approach where the views of the child are sought in ways appropriate to their age. Class teachers, teaching assistants and school leaders are always available to listen to children’s opinions, questions and points of view. The SENDCo spends time with individuals to gain their thoughts as part of the annual review and the TAM processes.

Children are helped to complete an ‘All about Me’ page that explains how they feel the adults working with them can best support them. Personalised targets are set, agreed and reviewed with children and their parents/carers.

If a parent of a child with special educational needs has a concern regarding their child’s provision, they would be encouraged in the first instance to speak to the class teacher.  The class teacher can then involve the SENDCo or another member of the Senior Leadership Team, where necessary. A parent is also free to contact the SENDCo directly, via admin@exwickheights.devon.sch.uk or by arranging a telephone call via the school office. It is hoped that all concerns or questions can be resolved through open working relationships and open lines of communication.

If you would like to make a complaint, then please follow the school’s Complaints Policy.

We have established relationships with outside agencies including the Educational Psychology Services and health and speech and language specialists. We draw on their professional knowledge to support individual children as well as to provide staff training. Outside agencies contribute to staff’s professional development by delivering training on specific programmes of intervention, for example Precision Teaching, or strategies for supporting children with identified difficulties.

Professionals from outside the school may be invited to attend meetings to discuss individual situations where it is felt that support above and beyond what the school is able to offer is necessary. In these cases parents/carers will be consulted and consent sought so that the agencies are able to work in supporting the overall development of the child.

A number of strategies are in place to enable effective pupil’s transition. These include:
On entry:-
• A planned programme of visits for pupils starting Nursery. Additional visits are arranged if needed Parent/carers are usually invited to a meeting at the school and are provided with a range of information to support them in enabling their child to settle into the school routine. Your child will be able to visit our school and stay for a number of taster sessions.
• The SENDCo meets with all new parents of pupils who are known to have SEND to allow concerns to be raised and solutions to any perceived challenges to be located prior to entry.
• The SENDCo will visit pre-schools with the Early Years Leader when appropriate.
• Enhanced transition meetings may take place if the child has additional support from the Early Years Inclusion Service.
• If pupils are transferring from another school, the previous school records will be requested immediately.
• If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understanding moving on, then one will be made for them. Short videos are placed on the school website to support transition.

Transition to the next class/Key stage
• The current teacher completes a transition meeting with the new class teacher.
• Historically, a transition morning is arranged to give pupils a chance to experience their new class before the new academic year starts. We know that early identification of possible problems is more beneficial to both the child and the teacher and these need to be addressed as early as possible.
• New class teachers will be invited to SEND meetings in the latter part of the Summer term with the permission of pupils and parents. All information from SEND support plans, including targets that are achieved or ongoing, will be passed on where possible at the earliest opportunity.
• Bespoke transition plans will be put into place if required. This may be additional visits to the classroom when no one is in there, spending time playing games with the new class teacher or a transition booklet.

Transition to a new school in Year 6
• Transition days are generally arranged for pupils with SEND depending on need.
• The annual review in Y5 for pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan begins the process where parents are supported in making decisions regarding secondary school choice.
• Parents will be encouraged to consider options for the next phase of education and the school will involve outside agencies where appropriate, to ensure information received is informative, with questions being answered.
• Accompanied visits to other providers may be arranged as appropriate, depending on the secondary school’s COVID 19 risk assessment.
• The SENDCo will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENDCo of the child’s secondary school. In most cases, a transition review meeting, to which you will be invited, will take placed with the SENDCo from the new school.
• Your child will participate in focused learning relating to aspects of transition, to support their understanding of the changes ahead.
• Where possible, you child will visit their new school or multiple occasions, and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this setting.

The link below provides information on how the Local Authority expects schools to meet the needs of children with SEND and their families; this is called ‘The Local Offer’ and can be found by visiting this website:

https://www.devon.gov.uk/education-and-families/send-local-offer/

 

Additional policies which we strongly recommend that you access:

Special Educational Needs Policy

Equal Opportunities Policy

Accessibility Plan

Behaviour Policy

Anti-Bullying Policy

 

If you have any questions regarding our SEND provision, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Cronin at the school.