SEND

Wessington Primary School
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Click here to view our SEND Policy

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SEND Ranges

Sunderland City Council have introduced SEND ranges which are used to help schools identify and assess the needs of their pupils and to put in appropriate support. 

Please watch this short video to find out more:

Sunderland’s Guide to SEND Ranges

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Information Report for Parents

Reviewed and amended April 2020

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDco): Mrs D Lorraine

Telephone: 0191 4187916

Introduction

All Sunderland Local Authority (LA) maintained schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and are supported by the LA to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school.

All schools are supported 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.

What is the Local Offer?

The LA Local Offer

The Children and Families Bill 2014. From this date Local Authorities (LA) and schools were required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) 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.

The direst web address for Sunderland’s Local Offer is here

The School SEND Information Report

This utilises the LA Local Offer to meet the needs of SEND pupils as determined by school policy and the provision that the school is able to provide.

Guiding Principle Information

Please click on the 12 questions below for more information about the SEN Information Report from Wessington Primary School.

Question 1- Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s difficulties with learning/ Special Educational Needs or disability (SEND)?

 

Question 2– What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our school?

 

Question 3– How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

 

Question 4– How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?

 

Question 5– How is extra support allocated to children and how do they progress in their learning?

 

Question 6– Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in this school?

 

Question 7– How are the teachers in school equipped to help work with children with SEND and what training do they have?

 

Question 8– How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?

 

Question 9– How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

 

Question 10– What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with a SEND?

 

Question 11– How is Wessington Primary School accessible to children with SEND?

 

Question 12– How will we support your child when they are leaving this school? OR moving on to another class?

Question 13 – What emotional and social development support do we offer for a child with SEND?

 

Question 1
Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s difficulties with learning/ Special Educational Needs or disability (SEND)?

The Class teacher

Responsible for:

• Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and letting the Special Education Needs/Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) know as necessary.
• Writing Pupil Progress targets/ on Pupil individual Support Plans and sharing and reviewing these with parents once each term and planning for the next term. Personalised teaching and learning for your child as identified on the school’s provision map.
• Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

The SENDCos at our school are:

Miss K Longstaffe – 2 year old nursery provision to reception

Mrs D Lorraine – Year 1 to Year 6

Responsible for:

• Developing and reviewing the school’s SEND policy
• Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
• Ensuring that you are

1. i) involved in supporting your child’s learning
2. ii) kept informed about the support your child is getting

iii) involved in reviewing how they are doing.

• Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into to school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.
• Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring that all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that records of your child’s progress and needs are kept.
• Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so that they can help children with SEND in the school to achieve the best progress possible.

The Headteacher – Mrs A Young

Responsible for:

• The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.
• The Headteacher will give responsibility to the SENDCo and class teachers, but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
• The Headteacher must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about issues relating to SEND.

The SEND Governor –Mr M Potter

Responsible for:

• Making sure that the necessary support is given for any child who attends the school, who has SEND.
• School contact telephone number: 0191 4187916

Question 2
What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our school?

1. Support Within Nursery at Earliest Opportunity

Within Wessington Nursery your child’s support will start from their home-visit. The Nursery
Teacher and Key Person will gain an understanding of your child’s development and learning needs
through observations of play and the information you share. Where appropriate your child can
benefit from an individualised induction into Nursery.

The Key Person will work closely with yourselves and the SENDCO to make accurate observations
and assessments. If all parties feel that your child needs additional support we will arrange a
meeting with yourself and your child’s Health visitor. Within this meeting we will discuss the
strengths of your child and decide on any referrals to be made.

We can make a referral to Speech and Language Therapy Service (SALT), to Autism Outreach,
Occupational Therapy, Paediatrics and Educational Psychology for screening, advice and guidance at
the earliest opportunity. We can also make a referral to access Inclusion Grant Funding.

A ‘Support Plan’ will be completed, detailing small achievable targets for your child. The Key Person
will use the Support Plan to enable activities to be effectively delivered within the provision. Close
observation and assessment will be part of the on-going process to closely check on development
and progress. SENDCo monitoring will maintain high quality teaching and intervention activities, and
form part of the ASSESS, PLAN, DO and REVIEW cycl

2. Class teacher input via excellent targeted classroom teaching (Quality First Teaching).

For your child this would mean:

• That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
• That all teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
• Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning.
• 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

Intervention which may be:

• Run in the indoor and outdoor learning environments.
• Run by a Teacher, Teaching Assistant (TA) or Key Person.

1. b) Specialist groups run by outside agencies e.g. Speech and Language therapy

SEN Code of Practice 2014: School Support (SS)

• This means they have 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:
• Local Authority central services such as the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Outreach Team or Sensory Service ( for students with a hearing or visual need)
• Outside agencies such as the Education Psychology Service (EPS), Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

What could happen:

• You may 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 yourself understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better 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:

1. c) Specified Individual support

• This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are, severe, complex and lifelong.
• This is usually provided via a Statement of Special Educational Needs or 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 (“Including All Children” documentation from LA).
• Your child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:
• Local Authority central services such as the ASD Outreach Team or Sensory Service ( for students with a hearing or visual need)
• Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service.

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 a Statement of Special Educational Needs or 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 Statement or 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.

Question 3
How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

 

• If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially.
• If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress, you may speak to the Special Education Needs/ Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo).
• The school SEND Governor can also be contacted for support.

Question 4
How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?

If your child is identified as not making progress, the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail and to:

• listen to any concerns you may have
• plan any additional support your child may need
• discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning

Question 5
How is extra support allocated to children and how do they progress in their learning?

• An application for additional funding can be made for 2 -4 year old children with SEND through the Inclusion Grant Fund. 
• The school budget, received from Sunderland LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND.
• The Head Teacher decides on the deployment of resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of needs in the school.
• The Head Teacher and the SENDCos discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including:

◦the children getting extra support already

◦the children needing extra support

◦the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected and decide what resources/training and support is needed.

• Schools identify the needs of their pupils on a school provision map which for SEND pupils identifies all resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed.

Question 6
Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in this school?

School provision

• Teaching Assistants/ Key Person mainly working with either individual children or small groups.
• Learning Mentor who works with small groups on Nurture Programmes, Life Skills and Forest School.
• Reading Recovery accredited Teacher who works on a daily individual basis with identified children.
• One to one counsellor ‘Hear to Listen’ Service who works weekly on 10 week blocks with identified children.

Local Authority Provision utilised by the school

• Autism Outreach Service
• Educational Psychology Service
• Sensory Service for children with visual or hearing needs
• Parent Partnership Service
• Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)

Health Provision utilised by the school

• Additional Speech and Language Therapy input to provide a higher level of service to the school.
• School Nurse
• Paediatrician
• Health Visitor
• School Nurse
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• CAMHs

Question 7
How are the teachers in school equipped to help work with children with SEND and what training do they have?

• The SENDCO’S job is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEND.
• The school provides training and support to enable all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children, including those with SEND. This includes whole school training on SEND issues such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Speech and language difficulties.
• Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class e.g. from the Autism Outreach Team (AOT) service.

Question 8
How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?

• Class Teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class, and will ensure that your child’s needs are met.
• Support staff, under the direction of the class teacher, can adapt planning to support the needs of your child where necessary.
• Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.
• Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed to meet your child’s learning needs.

Question 9
How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher.

• His/her progress is reviewed formally every term in the prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (for 2 year olds, Nursery and Reception children) and in reading, writing and maths for children in Years 1 to 6.
• If your child is in Year 1 or above, a more sensitive assessment tool can be used, which shows their attainment in more detail breaking learning down into smaller steps (PIVATS 5 – Performance Indicators for Value Added Target Setting).
• At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS) or Formal Teacher assessment. This is something the government requires all schools to do and are the results that are published nationally.
• If your child is registered at Action Plus on our SEN Support register at our school, they will have an Individual Support Plan.
• The progress of children with a statement of SEND/ EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review, with all adults involved with the child’s education.
• The SENDCos will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work and in any group that they take part in.
• Regular book scrutinies and lesson observations will be carried out by the SENDCo, and other members of the Senior Management Team, to ensure that the needs of all children are met, and that the quality of teaching and learning is high.
• Termly Pupil Progress Meetings review progress of all children, including the impact of interventions and the establishment of new targets and intervention programmes identified on the School Provision Map.

Question 10
What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with a SEND?

• The class teacher is regularly available to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and school so similar strategies can be used.
• The SENDCo is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns or worries you may have, please enquire at the school office to make an appointment.
• All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.
• Personal progress targets on Support Plans will be reviewed with your involvement as part of the 2 Year Old Provision Review Meetings and/or Parents Evenings.
• Homework will be adjusted as needed to your child’s individual needs.
• A home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you, when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child.
• The progress of children with a statement of SEND/ EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review, with all adults involved with the child’s education.

Question 11
How is Wessington Primary School accessible to children with SEND?

• The school is on one level with easy access and double doors.
• We ensure, where ever possible, that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
• There is a disabled toilet, shower area and changing facilities.
• Extra-curricular activities are accessible for children with SEND.

Question 12
How will we support your child when they are leaving this school? OR moving on to another class?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible

If your child is moving child to another school:

• We will contact the school SENDCO and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.
• We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.

When moving classes in school:

• Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher.
• Support Plans will be shared with the new teacher.
• If your child would be helped by a book, such as a Pupil Passport to support them understand moving on then it will be made for them.

In Year 6:

• The SENDCO or Year 6 Class Teacher will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENDCO of their secondary school and their SEN file will be passed on.
• Your child will do focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead.
• Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.

Question 13