SEND Information Report
Ballifield Primary School
SEND Information Report November 2021
| 1 | What kinds of special education needs are provided for? | Currently we provide for children with a diagnosis of Hearing impairment, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), FASD, Visual impairment, Mental Health, Learning difficulties, Physical disabilities, Emotional & Behavioural difficulties, Communication difficulties and Autism. We also have a number of children who are being assessed for additional needs but do not yet have a diagnosis. |
| 2 | How does the school identify children with special educational needs? | Every learner has their progress closely monitored through regular pupil progress meetings and frequent consultation with parents. Through this we are able to identify additional needs that a child may have and can seek out specialist assessments using the outside agencies that support our school e.g. Speech and Language Therapy Service, Educational Psychology Service, Autism Team etc. as appropriate to the child. Concerns from parents are discussed and recorded and the child monitored further by the SENDCO following the graduated response approach. All parental concerns are acted upon.
In line with Sheffield guidelines all children on the special needs register are placed on the Sheffield Support Grid and any children at band 3 or above has a My Plan which is reviewed on a termly basis and can be used to apply for an EHCP. Some children arrive at Ballifield Primary School with their SEN needs already identified from their previous setting. The named SENDCO at Ballifield Primary School is Mrs Clare Roddis. She can be contacted on 0114 2697557 |
| 3 | How many children in the school have special educational needs? | SEN Support – There are currently 39 children with SEN Support status.
Education, Health Care Plan – There are currently 4 children with an EHCP Using the 4 main categories of need from the SEND code of practice (2014) we currently have 38% of the children with communication and interaction as their primary need, 21% with cognition and learning as their primary need, 36% of children with SEMH as their primary need and 5% of children with physical and sensory as their primary need. |
| 4 | What are the arrangements for consulting parents of children with SEN and involving them in their child’s education? | All children with SEN have 3 reviews per year where we discuss with parents the progress their child has made against previous targets set and together set new targets. We strive to include parents view points and preferences when setting these targets.
We use on page profiles or support plans for all children on the SEND register, which include parent’s views on how they would like their child to be supported, as well as the things that are important to their child. All parents have additional parent’s consultation times through the year and are welcome in school at any time to discuss their child. |
| 5 | What are the arrangements for consulting young people with SEN and involving them in their education? | We use one page profiles or support plans throughout the school, including nursery which are shared with the children where appropriate. They know from this plan what each person is going to do to support them to meet their targets, and what their own role is.
Pupils’ views are collected in a review if this is appropriate. |
| 6 | What are the arrangements for assessing and reviewing children’s progress towards outcomes? | We follow the graduated response (as detailed in the SEN policy) where we assess, plan, do and review the programme for each individual child, increasing or decreasing the SEN support as determined by their progress. We use the Sheffield Support Grid to help us ensure that we are doing everything that we need to for an individual child. |
| 7 | How many children have met the exit criteria and no longer need this support? | SEN is a very transient state; some children may need support for their entire time at Ballifield Primary School. Some may make good progress so that their attainments are in line with their peers and no longer require SEN support. We liaise with parents to decide whether SEN is to be continued. |
| 8 | What are the arrangements for supporting children in moving between phases of education and preparing for adulthood? | Learners that have been offered a place at our setting will be invited to attend on a few occasions before joining the setting.
For learners with SEND the SENDCO or class teacher will endeavour to attend transitional reviews to gather as much information about the learner as possible and will pass this information to all relevant school staff to help prepare for the learner’s needs. If appropriate, school staff will meet with outside agencies that are involved with the learner. Learners are prepared to move onto Secondary School following a clear transition programme, which can be amended to suit individuals and their SEND. |
| 9 | What is the approach to teaching children with SEN? | We strive to be as inclusive as possible at Ballifield Primary School and treat each child as an individual, taking into account their specific needs. We take the approach that all SEND children should be in class receiving quality first teaching from their teacher with some support in class from either the TA or teacher where appropriate. Class teachers ensure that they plan their lessons carefully with activities that children with SEND can access. Differentiation, where the learning is adapted to meet every learners needs, can be done in a variety of ways. This includes providing an increased level of adult support, different learning activities, access to specific resources etc. and this is usually highlighted on the class teacher’s planning. Some children with SEND receive some additional learning through interventions such as precision teaching or using the Birmingham SEND Toolkit.
Class teachers are responsible for writing and reviewing the child’s one page profile; where a support plan is in place outcomes are written by the class teacher in consultation with parents and the SENDCO. |
| 10 | What adaptations are made to the curriculum and learning environment of children with SEN? | The SENDCO and class teacher, together with parents, plan the education programme for a learner with SEND, following the advice and recommendations from any supporting outside agencies and with reference to the Sheffield Support Grid. These programmes are overseen by the Headteacher. The programmes are
closely monitored and updated as necessary The school ensures that all lessons are appropriately differentiated so that the curriculum meets the needs of all learners with SEND. We endeavour to make all reasonable adjustments to the school’s routine to support our learners with SEND. We can provide a range of activities to learners with SEND in addition to those available through the curriculum, e.g. fine motor skills group, gross motor skills group or support using the Birmingham SEND Toolkit. |
| 11 | How does school ensure that staff have the relevant training to support children with SEN? | Ballifield Primary School ensures that all staff have access to a variety of training over each school year
The SENDCO and other members of the SLT plan this training around the changing needs of the children that we have in our school. We invite specialists into schools to support and train staff on an ongoing basis and utilise information from parents about how they would like their child to be supported. |
| 12 | How does the setting evaluate the effectiveness of its provision for learners with SEN and how often does it do this? | Feedback is taken at SEND review meetings from
parents and learners. We refer closely to the Sheffield Support Grid that is now in place to ensure that we are doing everything expected for individual pupils. The Senior Leadership Team and Governors monitor performance through sub-committees and reports to set targets for performance. |
| 13 | How do you ensure learners with SEND are included in non-classroom based activities? | Activities that are fully accessible to learners with SEND are arranged in school so that every learner with SEND can be included.
Close consultation with parents when planning trips and activities is sought and school can assist learners with SEND to access trips and activities in a variety of ways, e.g. providing additional adult support when necessary. Where necessary school will make physical adaptations to allow learners with SEND to be included. |
| 14 | What support is available for improving social and emotional development? | All children in school work on the PSHE curriculum. We have adopted the Sheffield PSHE/RSHE curriculum which includes social and emotional learning throughout the year. School assemblies also cover a broad range of aspects within this curriculum. In addition to this, school raises awareness through themed activities such as anti-bullying week, road safety week and fund raising for various charities such as Roundabout and Children in Need. Where a child requires a higher level of support than this school will plan a programme of support written around an individual child’s needs. |
| 15 | How does the school involve other agencies in meeting children’s SEN and supporting their families? | Each child’s needs are managed on an individual basis, with school involving other agencies as and when appropriate. School has excellent links with a wide range of professionals including the Multi Agency Support Team (MAST) who offer a wide range of support to families. We involve other agencies in agreement with parents and in line with the graduated response. |
| 16 | Named contacts within school
for when young people or parents have concerns |
Clare Roddis – Deputy Headteacher /Designated Safeguarding Lead/SENDCO
Amanda Smith – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead |
| 17 | Arrangements for handling
complaints |
Complaints are managed through the school’s complaint procedures, which can be found on the website or copies are held in the main office. |