Starting School
School Day
Useful Info
SEND Information Report
Our SEN Provision
How We Support SEND
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South Stanley Infant and Nursey School prides itself in being very inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need. All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented and for most children and young people in a mainstream school their needs can be met through Quality First Teaching and good classroom practice.
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Mrs Collier, SENCO, co-ordinates the work of all staff with SEND pupils and produces a whole school data base detailing pupil needs and interventions provided. We are committed to providing an education that includes and promotes the learning of all children, regardless of ability. We have pupils with a wide range of abilities and different needs and strive to include them in all activities, providing them with the opportunity to make maximum progress.
We recognise that some pupils will need extra support and adaptations to access the school curriculum and to participate in school activities. Your child’s Class Teacher and Teaching Assistant (TA) will find ways to support them in class such as:
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Changing the way lessons are planned and delivered
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Matching activities to the ability / need of your child (differentiation)
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Adapting learning materials such as worksheets, books and activities to suit your child’s needs
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Small group support
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Pupils with SEND are supported in class by their teacher and teaching assistants. Pupils may work with different TAs in school to support them or to do specific work e.g. speech and language programmes dependent upon their specialism. Your child may work in class with individual or small group support or may sometimes be withdrawn from the classroom to work one to one with a TA or in small groups.
A special educational need can be a number of different things. For example, your child may be having problems with reading, maths or behaviour, and school can help by putting in extra support and by working in partnership with yourself. It may also be due to a disability, which makes it harder for a child to use the same educational facilities that the school provides for the majority of children. For some children this may be a temporary difficulty, while others may have a long term need for special help.
Because of this, schools must:
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Talk to parents/carers if they think their child has a special educational need and let them know what special help the school is giving.
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Appoint a member of staff as the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO)
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Have a written Special Educational Needs policy – a copy should be made available for parents
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Take account of the Special Educational Needs (SEND) Code of Practice. This is advice given to schools by the government which outlines what schools should do to support pupils with SEND and gives recommendations for good practice
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Examples of the type of support which may be provided may be as follows, but will depend on the nature of the child’s needs:
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Differentiation of work in class (and homework)
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Some additional small group support with a teacher or support staff• Additional resources e.g. word banks, number squares, use of commercial schemes
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Teaching activities to be adapted to the preferred learning style of the child, e.g. a multisensory, practical approach or use of visual cues
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Use of ICT to support learning
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Individual behaviour systems/charts
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Adaptation of the Curriculum or classroom
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Interventions to support specific difficulties (i.e. dyslexia, dyspraxia)
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Use of Makaton/ communication aids to support communication skills at all level
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Finance
As part of the school budget there is a ‘notional’ SEN amount. This Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEN. The school funding formula is generated to include financial provision to specifically support pupil’s individual special needs. At South Stanley Infant & Nursery School our notional SEN budget for 2023-2024 amounts to £63,549. This funding is prioritised to tailor learning to ensure that all children with special educational needs or a disability make progress. Details of how this money is utilised is provided in our school’s budget and maintained by the governing body.
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The school provides data on the levels and types of need to the Local Authority. This is collected through the school census.
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Across our school we have a variety of children with varying types and levels of need, including children with a SEN Support plan and with EHCP(Education, Health and Care Plan) Below is an overview of the types and levels of needs across our school in November 2023
How would my child be assessed and would we be informed?
Early Identification of need
Most children and young people will have their special educational needs met in mainstream schools through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.
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As a school, we assess all children continuously. We carry out formal assessments at the end of every term to measure their progress and identify the next steps in their learning. We work in partnership with parents/carers and pupils to build working relationships. If there is an identification of need then a class teacher will meet with parents/carers to complete a Short Note which outlines the child’s areas of need and how they will be supported.
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Should the child require further support with their need, then a class teacher will meet with parents/carers to complete a Support Plan. The Support Plan outlines areas of strength and difficulty and sets agreed outcomes and next steps. We may begin to consider the involvement of relevant, external agencies or use assessment tools, classroom observations and materials to support the early identification of SEN status for a pupil.
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Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need school will follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.
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Assess a child’s special educational needs
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Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
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Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
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Review the support and progress
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SEN Support Plan
The class teachers and SENCO oversee SEN support and together the school, child and parents work together to initiate and review support for children whose needs are outlined on a ‘SEN Support Plan.’ Meetings will be held at least once per term with parents to review the outcomes set and to plan next steps.
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Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
Where, despite the school having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the SEN of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress or where a child has significant or complex needs, the school or parents may consider requesting an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. An Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is a legal document which describes the child or young person’s special educational needs and the support and outcomes to be achieved. The provision outlined in an EHC plan must be provided and the plan will be reviewed at least once per year.
The kinds of SEN that are provided for
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At South Stanley Infant and Nursery School, we have experience of supporting children and young people with a wide range of needs including:
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Communication and Interaction
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Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SCLN)
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Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)
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Cognition and Learning
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Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD)
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Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)
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Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs
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Mental Health Difficulties
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Social and Emotional Needs
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Sensory and/or Physical needs
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Gross and Fine Motor Needs
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Sensory Processing Needs
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Hearing Impairments
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Visual Impairments
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Physical Disability
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Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Our approach to teaching children & young people with SEN
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South Stanley Infant and Nursery School prides itself in being inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need. All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.
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To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum there are some actions we may take to achieve this:
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Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
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Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
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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.
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Pupils to gain in confidence and improve their self-esteem.
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To work in partnership with parents/carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
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To identify at the earliest opportunity, all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional)
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To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
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Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
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To promote self-worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independence at all age and ability levels.
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To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
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To regularly review the policy, procedures and practice in order to achieve best practice.
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How we support SEN
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Special Educational Needs and/or a disability can affect many children throughout their school career and beyond. Whilst disabilities generally affect children long term, not all SEND difficulties should be seen as life-long. SEND is seen by our school as the child requiring provision that is additional to or different from the rest of the class. We understand that every child is unique and a carefully planned approach is needed.
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Our school recognises there are particular groups of pupils whose circumstances require additional consideration by those who work with them to support their SEN. Some children, at some time in their school life might have additional or different needs and it may be that they will be on our SEN register for a short period or a long period of time. However, children’s needs will be frequently reassessed regularly in order to ensure that the provision is suitable and supports every child’s development.
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Our SENCO, oversees the operation of the SEN Policy and works alongside class teachers to coordinate provision for children with SEN. The class teacher will plan for the child and use regular assessment to ensure that progress in every area is made. This is Quality First Teaching and is where the work is highly differentiated and suits the needs of all children, it comes in the form of a lesson rather than an intervention programme.
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Alongside Quality First Teaching, that your child will receive in lessons, there may be a Teaching Assistant (TA) or Higher Level teaching Assistant (HLTA) working with your child, either individually or as part of a group, if this is seen as necessary by the class teacher. Children may be taken out of the classroom for additional teaching sessions or intervention.
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Who will explain this to me?
Children at South Stanley Infant and Nursery School that are receiving additional support and intervention programmes have a Support Plan. Parents are invited into school to review and discuss support and progress with staff every term. The children also meet with their teacher or the SENCO to set their own targets for their Support Plan and review progress. Children also complete an ‘All About Me’ pupil profile. This allows the children to share their views and opinions and gives them ownership of their Support Plan.
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For further information the SENCO is available to discuss support in more detail.
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How are the Governors involved and what is their responsibility?
Governors are kept up to date on the progress of SEN pupils; the SENCO meets with the Governing Body termly. Confidentiality is maintained and individual pupils are not named however, data is shared to support discussions around funding arrangements and the SEND Notional Budget. The Governors agree priorities for spending and evaluate the impact of previous funding allocations.
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Our Governor for SEND is Mrs Charissa Lumsden
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If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the SENCO or the Head Teacher to arrange an appointment.
How we identify, assess and review children with special educational needs
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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.
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Early Identification of Need
In deciding whether to make special education provision to support educational, social, physical or emotional needs, we:
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Work in partnership with parents/carers, pupils
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Consult with relevant external agencies
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Use assessment tools & materials
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Use observations
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Use Short Notes
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Other
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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”.
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Assess a child’s special educational needs
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Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
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Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
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Review the support and progress
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At South Stanley Infant and Nursery School termly assessment is carried out and by staff who work together to moderate children’s work. The school uses a tracking system to analyse data and to identify gaps in children’s learning and to plan appropriate intervention when required. Different children require different levels of support to diminish the difference and to achieve age related expectations.
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Children/young people may join us with parents having a clear understanding of their child’s needs and as a school we see parents as partners in their child’s educational journey. In this case we work together with parents/carers and young children/person and education, health and social care professionals to design an individualised SEN Support Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes & provision to meet those needs. Parents/carers and child/young person views are integral to the this process.
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School staff may initially identify a concern, the class teacher alongside the SENCo will discuss the child’s needs and a meeting with parents/carers and/or the child/young person would be arranged at the earliest opportunity. During this meeting a Short Note would be completed with agreed outcomes for the child/young person and next steps. The next steps may require the involvement of specialist support or advice for example, Educational Psychology, SENDIASS (Parents Advice and Support Service) or another of education health and social care professional. It is important to understand that the involvement of professionals does not always seek to label or diagnose but to seek advice and strategies to enable a child/young person to reach their full potential.
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For some concerns, we may discuss the involvement of specialist support, for example, Education Psychology, SENDIASS (support for families) or Occupational Therapy. It is important to understand that the involvement of professionals does not always seek to ‘label’ or ‘diagnose’ children but to seek advice or strategies to help them to reach their full potential. As part of this approach every child with SEN will have an individualised SEN Support Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes and provision to meet those needs. Parents/carers and child/young person views are integral to the this process.
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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 (EHCP).
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The purpose of an EHCP is to make special educational provision to meet special educational needs of the child or young person, to secure the best possible outcomes for them across education and prepare them for adulthood (SEND Code of Practice p.142). It is a legal document that describes a child or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs.
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For more detailed information see the Local Offer
How we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for children & young people with SEN
We believe that inclusive education means supporting all pupils to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of school life alongside their peers. Our curriculum includes, not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also a range of additional opportunities to enrich the experiences of our children. Our curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for life-long learning, personal growth and development of independence.
As part of our inclusive education and to ensure that we meet all individual needs, we will modify and adapt the curriculum. Further information on how we enable and adapt each subject area can be found below
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Some of the actions we may take to achieve this are:
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Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
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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.
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To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
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More details on how we adapt information, our environment and curriculum can be found in the Accessibility Plan and our Accessibility Action Plan.
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At South Stanley Infant and Nursery School we do our best to ensure that all children are offered the opportunity to participate in activities outside the classroom and extra curricular activities. We ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to enable children with SEND to access a full curriculum and to enrich the experiences of all pupils. We are prepared to seek advice, resources, equipment and training in order to provide high quality experiences for our children. Many settings offer support and advice in meeting the needs of children with SEND and offer specific risk assessments which are sent to the school prior to school outings or visits. As a school we ensure that suitable and accessible transport is provided and that comprehensive risk assessments cover travel arrangements to ensure that all children are safe during excursions.
SEN Support
At our school, we do recognise that some children may not make the necessary progress despite
having access to high-quality teaching to support the areas of learning they find difficult. Therefore,
as part of the graduate approach, the class teacher, with support from the SENCO, will discuss the
child’s needs and areas of concern to decide whether they need specialist-targeted interventions
within the school or from specialist support.
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As part of this process, an initial meeting will be held with parents/carers and an early identification
short note will be completed and will outline our concerns and next steps. This is reviewed termly
with parents and if there are still concerns despite targeted interventions, then discussions regarding
referrals to specialist support. With the involvement of specialist support and specialist-targeted
interventions, then a support plan will be created with specific targets and this will be shared with
parents/carers and the child and reviewed regularly. The child will also be added to the SEN register.
Support for SEND
Any children whom we feel may require extra support to achieve their potential or remove any
barriers to learning are quickly identified and appropriate support is implemented. Any extra
support that is required is discussed with the child and their parents. If it is felt appropriate, the class
teacher may involve the SENCO who in turn may seek advice from outside agencies at a later stage.
Support for children with physical needs:
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Quality First Teaching.
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Gross Motor Skills interventions.
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Fine Motor Skills interventions – Write from the Start
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Specialist group support from outside agencies e.g. Occupational Therapy
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Access to our sensory room.
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Support for children with speech, language and communication needs:
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Quality First Teaching.
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WellComm assessment.
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Speech and Language interventions.
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Specialist group support from outside agencies e.g. Speech and Language Therapy
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Support for children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties:
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Quality First Teaching.
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Pastoral Care.
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Specialist group support from outside agencies e.g. CAMHs Mentoring and Counselling/ One Point Service.
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Relax Kids
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Connecting with Children
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Lego Therapy
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Access to our sensory room.
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Angry Arnold
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Zones of regulation interventions
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Taming a Tempersaurus
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Social Stories
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Support for children with cognition and learning needs:
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Quality First Teaching.
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Differentiation in lessons and activities
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Maths and English specific interventions.
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Specialist group support from outside agencies e.g. Educational Psychology Service.
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Specific individual support for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong and what this means for your child e.g. Dyslexia, Dyspraxia.
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Staff may use a range of teaching and learning styles.
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A personalized and supportive curriculum.
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A broad range of extra-curricular activities, including After-School clubs
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Colourful Semantics
How children with SEN engage in all activities?
We do our best to ensure that all children can access all things. We do not see SEND as a barrier to accessing the full curriculum and ensure that children with SEND are fully included in all activities in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
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For example, if a child had a physical disability, they can always be incorporated in to a PE lesson with adaptation and effort; we make that effort. We are prepared to seek advice, resources, equipment and training when needed in order to provide quality-learning experiences for our children.
Support for Emotional & Social Development
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The quality of care, guidance and support in our school is excellent and we pride ourselves in knowing every child’s abilities and needs.
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South Stanley Infant and Nursery has and maintains close links with External Partnerships; In order to access the best professional advice, we also link with Local Authority and Private Providers of additional services, such as Occupational Therapy, CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) School Nursing Service, Social Services and Medical Professionals
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Our well trained staff are up-to-date with many aspects of well-being, some having very specialised skills which can support children with complex needs or in vulnerable circumstances. Families may be supported by Mr Trevor Howard – School Attendance and Welfare Officer and Mrs Amie Stephenson - Family Liaison Officer The school works closely with ‘First Contact’ services.
Several members of staff are trained in specific medical procedures for children with identified needs. Almost all staff have some form of First Aid training, from basic to enhanced. Several staff are trained in Paediatric First Aid. Staff are also trained in delivering medicines in school.
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Staff are trained in Connecting with Children, Lego Therapy and other social and emotional interventions.
The opinions and views of our children and young people are crucial. We undertake questionnaires to identify how we can support our children in their social and emotional development. Any concerns raised are dealt with immediately; including any concerns over bullying.
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Our school is accessible to all of its users. Steps are all over our school but access to all levels can be supported from different doors. Staff will provide support for visitors/ pupils with disabilities.
Children Looked After (CLA) with SEND
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Our Designated Teacher for Children Looked After is Mrs Louise Thompson. Mrs Thompson works closely with the SENCO to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEN.
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Children Looked after with SEND are supported in the same way as all children in school with SEND through the Graduated Response, the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle. The process will start with a Short Note and following the identification of need an SEN Support Plan or EHCP to meet the requirements of the pupil and the addition of a PEP (Personal Education Plan).
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When a child becomes looked after his/her social worker must ensure that the child’s needs and the services to meet these are documented in the Care Plan. The Care Plan – of which the PEP is an integral part – is made before the child becomes looked after or in the case of an emergency placement within 10 working days. The PEP is a record of what needs to happen for looked after children to enable them to fulfil their potential and reflects any existing education plans, such as an EHCP, SEN Support Plan or Provision Mapping. The PEP should reflect the importance of a personalised approach to learning which secures good basic skills, stretches aspirations and builds life chances. The PEP is the joint responsibility of the local authority and the school.
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Our Designated Teacher for Children Looked after is Mrs Louise Thompson and can be contacted on 01207 232445.
Our Designated Governor for Children Looked after is Mrs J Wilkinson.
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Our Children Looked After Policy can be found in our School Policies section of our website
How we evaluate the effectiveness of SEN provision
We continuously ensure the provision has a positive impact on the outcomes for all of our children/young people. We do this in a variety of ways, including:
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Regular meetings between the SENCO and SEND Governor
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Monthly SENCO and Headteacher review meetings.
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Robust evaluation of policy and practice
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Book Scrutiny
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SENCO/SLT/Governor Monitoring
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Learning Walks
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Staff Performance Management
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SENCO Monitoring of Interventions every half-term
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SEN support plan review meetings held at least 3 times per year
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SENCO attending termly Pupil Progress meetings.
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Feedback from parents/pupils
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Other evaluations as identified by the SENCO/ Headteacher or governing body.
SEN Transition
At South Stanley Infant and Nursery School we recognise how important a successful transition is to our pupils with additional needs.
We work in partnership with our feeder junior schools to provide an enhanced level of transition for those who we feel would benefit from this. This may take the form of additional visits for pupils, one to one / small group working with junior school staff or pupil mentoring from junior schools.
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Meetings between Mrs Jeanette Collier (SENCO Infant school) and the SENCO at South Stanley Junior School take place to discuss all children who have additional needs. If it is felt appropriate Junior school colleagues will also attend annual reviews.
Transition from each year group is supported so that the children have met with their new teachers and familiarised themselves with their new classroom environment through half day and full day visits.
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New starters for Reception children are provided with the following opportunities:
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Parent open information event
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Children’s visits to reception class in the summer term
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Reception pupils and parents invited for school lunch
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Shortened sessions if needed
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Support during lunchtime if needed
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Reception staff visiting feeder nurseries
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New nursery children are provided with the following opportunities:
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Parent open information event and initial visit for children
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One week of visits in the summer term, gradually increasing to full session when children are settled
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Staff discussion and transfer of information from pre-nursery school setting
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Discussion with health visitor and other outside agencies if SEND has been previously identified
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If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.
Disability & Accessibility
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At South Stanley Infant and Nursery school we are committed to providing a fully accessible environment which values and includes all pupils, staff, parents and visitors regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual and emotional needs. We are committed to challenging negative attitudes about disability and accessibility and to developing a culture of awareness, tolerance and inclusion. Our staff are committed to ensuring that children are fully supported to enable them to participate fully in the life of the school and access all aspects of the curriculum, as set out in the National Curriculum inclusion statement.
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At South Stanley Infant and Nursery School we strive to:
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set high expectations and provide opportunities for all to achieve, taking account of children’s diverse learning needs.
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take account of legislation to help inform our equal opportunities policies and practices.
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take specific action to create effective learning environments, secure pupils’ motivation and concentration, provide equality of opportunity, use appropriate assessment and set targets for learning.
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What we do to prevent pupils with disabilities from being treated less favourably
Our School is committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity, prevent disabled pupils from being treated less favourably and valuing diversity for all children and families. Our children are taught from entering the school to value diversity and they know that everyone is unique and everyone is special in our school.
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Our Staff aim to promote the involvement of all pupils with disabilities in all classroom activities. All staff are following LA and school policies and procedures to support pupils with disabilities and all staff are aware of requirements set out in the Equality Act 2010. We have a disabled parking space outside the school entrance and although there are steps within the school site all classrooms can be accessed via alternative routes if required. We ensure that classrooms have a clear and accessible layout and are communication friendly environments.
Our staff are able to support communication through their training in the use of Makaton and PECS as communication tools and all classrooms have a visual timetable clearly displayed. We are aware of our duties under the Equality Act 2010 requiring reasonable adjustments in access arrangements for examinations and our SENCO can provide advice and guidance in ensuring appropriate access arrangements are in place for the Year One phonics screening and the Key Stage One SATS in Year Two.
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At South Stanley Infant and Nursery School we aim to:
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Offer a rich, stimulating and accessible curriculum and environment in which all our pupils can grow and in which all contributions are valued and accepted.
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Celebrate the achievements of all our children and families, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or disability.
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Establish close liaison with our families and regularly consult with children, parents and the School Council to ensure that the needs of our pupils are being met.
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To ensure that pupils with a disability or children with SEN are able to be fully involved in school life and the curriculum and are offered the opportunity to participate in activities both inside and outside the classroom by making reasonable adjustments.
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The Accessibility Plan details the short, medium and long term actions, and the arrangements for reviewing and making adjustments on an annual basis.
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The facilities to assist access are outlined in our Accessibility Plan
The Accessibility Plan contains relevant actions to:
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Improve access to the physical environment of the school, adding specialist facilities as necessary.
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Increase access to the curriculum for pupils with a disability. This covers reasonable adjustments within teaching and learning, specialist aids and equipment and the wider curriculum of the school, such as after school clubs, visits etc.
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Improve the provision of information to pupils, staff, parents and visitors with disabilities. All information will be made available in various formats within a reasonable time frame.
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The Accessibility Plan details the short, medium and long term actions, and the arrangements for reviewing and making adjustments on an annual basis.
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Our Accessibility Plan can be viewed on our school policies page: School Policies
Consultation with Children and Young People with SEND
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Teachers/SENCO and Support Staff will work with children and young people to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes. The provision is planned and interventions are allocated to individual needs. The children take an active role with setting their outcomes and discussing them with the class teacher/SENCO. The children have regular meetings with staff to discuss their progress and support.
Consultation with parents and carers of children and young people with SEND
We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support. Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.
There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:
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Termly parents/ carers evenings;
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Ongoing discussions with a class teacher and/or SENCO;
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An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have;
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Through regular reviews of their child’s SEN Support Plan/ EHC Plan.
For children with the highest level of need/support, the school, and everyone involved with the child, will attend an Annual Review to determine future levels of support and provision.
SEN Open Mornings
Mrs Collier, our SENCO, undertakes regular SEN coffee mornings for parents of children with SEND to attend, covering a range of topics to support parents.
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to speak with the SENCO or to arrange an appointment.
Compliments, Complaints and Feedback
We are always seeking to improve the quality of education we provide for children with SEN and are keen to hear from parents about their child’s experience. Compliments are always greatly appreciated and can be passed on either directly to staff, the SENCO or the Head Teacher. Compliments are formally recorded via our regular questionnaires to parents or in the form of a letter or email to the Head Teacher. Positive comments will be published on our website. We hope that complaints about our SEND provision will be rare, however, if there should be a concern the process outlined in the school Complaints Policy should be followed. Any complaints will be dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible.
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In the first instance, parents should speak to the class teacher
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Make an appointment with the school SENCO/HT
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If matters are unresolved please seek further advice from Durham County Council Local Offer.
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To make a formal complaint please follow the procedure in the Complaints Policy which can be found in our School Policies section.
These concerns are either sorted out informally, often as a result of discussions, or become formal complaints. The period of consideration will vary with the degree and complexity of the complaint and the urgency with which it needs to be settled.
If your concern is directly related to decisions around an EHC assessment or EHCP this will be managed directly by the Durham Statutory Casework Team.
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.
Further information can be found in the Complaints Policy in the School Policies section of your website or by visiting the Durham County Council Local Offer website.
Key Policies for SEND
All of our school policies can be found on the website but the most important ones for parents of children with SEND are listed below:
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SEND Policy
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Equality Policy, Statement and Objectives
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Accessibility Plan
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Anti-Bullying Policy
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Behaviour Policy
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Medical Needs Policy
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Administering Medicines in School policy
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Teaching and Learning Policy
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Complaints Policy
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If you would like a paper copy (or any other format) of any of our documents on our website please speak to the school office, who will provide them to you free of charge.
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.