SEND

A child has special educational needs (SEN) if they have a learning difficulty or disability that requires special educational provision to be made for them.

A child has a learning difficulty or disability if they have:

• a significantly greater difficulty in learning than most others of the same age, or

• a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools

Children are considered to have a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to do normal daily activities.

The school will make reasonable adjustments for children with disabilities, so that they are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers.

We understand SEND is a difference in need as opposed to a shortcoming or weakness.

However, not all difficulties are considered special educational needs, for example

• a child must not be regarded as having SEND where English is their second language unless the SEN is present in their first language

• persistent disruptive or withdrawn behaviours do not necessarily mean a child has SEN

• a child will not be regarded as having SEND because of a medical condition e.g. asthma or diabetes, unless it impacts on their learning or they have an associated learning difficulty.

We aim to meet the needs of all children in our local community by providing a broad and balanced curriculum and treating each child as an individual. All children are entitled to an education that is appropriate to their needs, promotes high standards and enables them to reach their full potential giving them the opportunity to achieve their best and become confident in living a fulfilled life.

We are proud of our inclusive environment and strive to work with families to tailor provision to meet the needs and abilities of pupils.

Our school can currently provide additional provision for a range of needs including:

Communication and Interaction needs including:

• difficulty communicating with others

• difficulty understanding what is being said to them

• trouble expressing themselves

• not understanding or using the social rules of communication including those on the autism spectrum.

Cognition and Learning needs including:

• learning at a slower pace than their peers

• specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia, moderate learning difficulties or global developmental delay.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs including:

• mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, eating disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).

• adverse childhood experiences

• attachment disorder.

Sensory and/or Physical needs including:

• vision, hearing or multi-sensory impairments

• physical disabilities

• processing difficulties.

These children may need ongoing additional support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.

Children will SEND will be included in all aspects of school life and learning. However, a few children benefit from working away from the class at times. This might be for interventions, movement breaks or to work in a quiet space. Adjustments are made according to individual needs.

When your child starts at Wicor Primary School, the following information will be gathered to help us understand each child:

• current skills and level of attainment

• information from previous settings your child may have attended and any other relevant Key Stage information

• any evidence that a pupil may have a disability and the reasonable adjustments the school may need to take

Class teachers will regularly assess the progress of all pupils and identify if a child’s progress is:

• significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline

• failing to match or better their previous rate of progress

• failing to close the attainment gap between them and their peers

• widening the attainment gap

If your child is making slower progress than their peers, the class teacher will address this initially with carefully modelled and scaffolded, high-quality teaching, trying different teaching approaches and strategies. If progress does not improve, the teacher will have an initial discussion with the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) about whether your child may have a special educational need.

Evidence to identify a child’s special educational need may include:

• information from the child’s class teacher including teacher assessment of skills, attainment and progress. We will look specifically at slower rates of progress than your child’s usual rate of progress or compared to other children of the same age and whether the gap between them and their peers is widening

• discussion with you as parents

• discussion with previous educational setting

• information from tests both academic and those designed to look for specific areas of need

• involvement from external agencies

• Hampshire County Council Special Educational Needs Criteria

• progress in areas other than attainment, for example, wider development or social needs.

Slow progress and low attainment will not automatically mean your child is recorded as having SEND. Equally, your child could be working at Age Related Expectations but may have learning difficulties or a disability. Potential short-term causes of impact on behaviour or performance will be considered, such as bullying or life changing events. Particular care is taken in identifying and assessing SEN for pupils whose first language is not English and support from Hampshire County Council’s Ethnic Minority and Traveller Advisory Service (EMTAS) will be sought.

You should contact your child’s class teacher or the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) to share your concerns.

The class teacher and/or the SENCo will discuss your concerns with you to get a better understanding of what your child’s strengths and difficulties are. Together we will decide what support your child needs and agree on next steps.

If it is decided that your child needs SEN support, we will formally notify you in writing and your child will be added to the school’s SEND register.

The level of involvement will depend on your child’s age, and level of competence. We recognise that no two children are the same, so the level of involvement will be decided on a case-by-case basis. This will be a joint decision involving you, the SENCo and the class teacher.

Examples of ways we may ask your child’s views include:

• asking if they would like to attend meetings to discuss their progress and achievements

• preparing a written statement, video or drawing with your support or the support of a familiar adult in school

• discussing their views with a member of school staff who can act as a representative during the meeting

• completing a questionnaire

You will be invited to participate in discussions and decisions at all stages of the process, including identification of a Special Education Need (SEN) and ongoing support provision. Having you involved enables the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) to gather additional information about your child which may help in identifying the SEN provision that is most suitable for them.

You will be asked to:

• attend termly progress meetings to review the support that is in place for your child

• provide information about the impact of SEN support outside school and any changes in your child’s needs

• share your concerns and, with school staff, agree aspirations for your child

The class teacher, SENCo or Home School Link Worker will provide support and information to help you implement the SEN support at home. Sometimes signposting or referral to other agencies is required to get the best support for home.

Wicor Primary School has an admissions policy available on the website for academic years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. You can access them here.

Information about admissions through Hampshire County Council for Year R and Year 7 including deadline dates can be found here.

You should contact Sarah Blackman s.blackman@wicor.hants.sch.uk in the School office (01329 237412) for information about in-year admissions. If your child has a special educational need, you need to make this know to Sarah and she will contact the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) to arrange meetings to discuss provision available if a child attends our school.

If your child has a special educational need that requires knowledge or expertise that we do not have, we access support from other experts in the required area of need which include:

• speech and language therapists

• specialist teachers or support services

• educational psychologists

• play therapist

• occupational therapists, speech and language therapists or physiotherapists

• health services including GPs, paediatricians and school nurses

• child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)

• outreach form SEN schools

• children’s services

• voluntary/charity organisations

You will always be consulted if the school is considering accessing support from an external organisation or service.

If you think your child needs additional support from an external agency or service, please contact Claire Mapp (SENCo) who will discuss this with you (01329 237412 or email c.mapp@wicor.hants.sch.uk )

If it is decided that your child needs SEN support, we will formally notify you in writing and your child will be added to the school’s SEND register.

An education, health care plan (EHCP) is for children and young people who have more complex needs and need more than the usual SEN support.

An EHCP is a legal document that:

• describes a child’s educational, health and social care needs

• explains the extra support that they will get to meet those needs

• explains how that support will enable them to achieve success

Although the EHCP can include health or social care needs, your child will not get an EHCP if their needs do not affect their education.

You can ask your local authority to carry out an assessment if you think your child needs an EHCP. Anyone else who thinks your child might need an assessment, including doctors, health visitors, teachers, parents and family friends, can also ask for one.

Information about the EHC assessment process can be found on Hampshire County Council’s website.

Our special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is Claire Mapp.

Claire has 10 years experience in this role and is also a qualified teacher and assistant head teacher at Wicor Primary. Claire has achieved the National Award in Special Education Needs Coordination and attends regular training and forums provided by Hampshire County Council to ensure that children with SEND at Wicor are supported in the most effective way possible.

Claire can be contacted by phone (01329 237412) or email (c.mapp@wicor.hants.sch.uk )

All staff receive regular training in different aspects of SEND. Most recently, our current Year R staff have been trained in Makaton and 18 of our staff have been trained in Team Teach, level 1.

Class teachers

All of our class teachers receive regular in-house SEND training and are supported by the SENCo to meet the needs of children who have SEND. Training and improving teacher’s expertise is part of our working practice. Class teachers will be involved in the discussions and identification of the SEN support required, this ensures that they have full and effective knowledge about the requirements for your child.

You will be provided with the email address for your child’s class teacher at the start of each academic year. You can also contact them through the school office.

Learning Support Assistants (LSAs)

We have 12 learning support assistants who are trained to deliver interventions to support special educational needs. Training and improving LSAs expertise is part of our working practice.

Interventions we currently offer:

Sounds Write phonics

Doorway Online touch typing

Sensory Circuits

Language Links (Key Stage 2)

Talk Boost (Key Stage 1)

NELI (Year R)

Attention Autism

Write from the Start

Speech and Language following specific external programmes

Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy following specific external programmes

Lego Therapy

Our Home School Link Worker is Alison Ryan

Alison’s role is to reduce emotional barriers that are adversely impacting on a child’s learning. This may involve:

• working with families to increase attendance

• supporting families in crisis or in need of support

• working with children to develop their confidence

Alison Ryan, Claire Mapp and Suzy Gage are trained to deliver the Family Links Nurture Programme to support parents become more confident with a variety of parenting strategies. Contact Alison by phone (01329 237412) or by email a.ryan@wicor.hants.sch.uk to find out more about the course and to register your interest.

Wicor Primary is proud of being able to provide activities that are outside of the classroom including grounds days, trips and residentials to all pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

All pupils are encouraged to take part in:

• sports days

• grounds days (activities in the school grounds including working on the allotment, working with the chickens, planting trees, digging etc)

• residential school trips (these take place annually from Year 2 to Year 6)

• day school trips which support the learning that is taking place in the classroom

• dance, drama or music performances

Pupils with SEN or disability will be supported and reasonable adjustments made to ensure they can participate alongside their peers.

Class teachers and the SENCo are available to discuss the individual support needs of your child when taking part in activities outside of the classroom.

All of our extra-curricular activities and school visits are available to all our pupils. Adjustments and risk assessments may need to be agreed with parents and carers before participation in some activities.

Yes, we can support your child with their social, emotional development and their mental health. We currently have successful interventions in place which support children’s social, emotional development or their mental health.

These interventions include:

• work with the Home School Link Worker

• referral and facilitation of external counselling sessions

• group sessions for children to support with specific areas of need

If you think that your child needs some social, emotional development or mental health support, please contact their class teacher or the Home School Link Worker, Alison Ryan a.ryan@wicor.hants.sch.uk .

Pre-school to Year R

In addition to the normal transition arrangements with pre-school providers, if your child has SEND, we offer extra meetings with parents, pre-school staff and anyone else involved with the child to support them in starting school. If your child has SEND, we would expect that the pre-school writes a Transition Partnership Agreement (TPA) with you in the summer before they start. The SENCo will meet with you to discuss the actions in the TPA before your child starts school and then review this in the Autumn term.

Year to year transition within Wicor

Class teachers meet with the next class teacher to pass on information to ensure a successful transition. Where appropriate, the SENCo will be involved in these meetings and for some children we will offer the opportunity for parents to meet with the new class teacher before the summer holiday. For those children who we know transition is going to be difficult, additional support such as a transition photo book or opportunities for the child to have informal contact with the new teacher are made. Additional visits to the new classroom are made and if needed, another visit at the end of the summer holiday can be arranged.

Year 6 to Year 7 (Secondary)

Our SENCo and Year 6 staff will meet with the Secondary Head of Year and/or SENCo. Records are shared once your child is registered with their new school. In line with each secondary school transition arrangements, additional visits may be offered. Wicor will support you and your child as much as possible to ensure they are able to attend.

Moving from or to another school

If your child has SEND, you should make this known to the office staff when you apply for a place. Meetings with you can be arranged before your child starts with us. The SENCo will contact previous schools to discuss your child’s needs and the support they were receiving there.

If your child is moving to another school, all records will be shared and the SENCo will contact the new school to ensure they are aware of your child’s needs.

Visits to new schools are encouraged for all children.

Although our school building has two storeys, all areas on the ground floor are fully wheelchair accessible, including toilet facilities.

The school has a disabled parking/drop-off bay.

We welcome all children who want to come to our school; however, providing additional facilities for some children is not always straightforward and we have to be mindful of the constraints on budgets and physical space. We will arrange a meeting with parents, carers and any agencies already working with the child to ensure that we are able to fully meet their needs. We are able to make minor adjustments to the buildings such as automatic door openers and handrails to assist children with mobility difficulties.

If a child requires portable equipment not available in school, we will source it through Hampshire County Council Specialist Teacher Advisory Service.

We are always looking to improve accessibility and you can view our accessibility plan here.

If you have any questions about SEND or are struggling to cope, please get in touch with us to let us know. We are here to support you, your child and your family.

To see what support is available to you locally, have a look at Hampshire County Councils local offer. Hampshire County Council publishes information on their website:

Hampshire's Local Offer for SEND

Hampshire Children and Family services

Local impartial advice can be accessed through Hampshire SENDIASS

Local charities that offer information and support to families of children with SEND are:

Autism Hampshire

Deaf Action

Hampshire Dyslexia Association

Hampshire Youth Access - mental health and emotional wellbeing support

Naval Children's Charity

National charities that offer information and support to families of children with SEND are:

(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

Family Action

National Autistic Society

NSPCC | The UK children's charity

Royal National Institute of Blind People

Special Needs Jungle

YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People

Parents should first raise their concerns informally with the class teacher and SENCo. We will try to resolve the complaint informally in the first instance. If this does not resolve their concerns, parents are welcome to speak to the head teacher or submit their complaint formally.

EHCP- Education, Health and Care Plan – following an Assessment of Special Educational Needs a plan may need to be drawn up when it is considered necessary for special educational provision to be made for a child if their educational needs cannot be reasonably provided from within the resources available in mainstream settings.

SEND or SEN – Special educational needs and disability or special educational needs

SEND Code of Practice 2015 – statutory guidance from the Department of Education on duties, policies and procedures relating to Part 3 of the Children and Families Bill and associated regulations. The code provides practical advice on how to carry out statutory duties on how to identify, assess and make provision for children and young people with special educational needs.

SENCo – Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator who is responsible for co-ordinating the provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities. SEND – Special Educational Needs and Disability.

SEND Register – Every school has to submit the names of children that require provision ‘additional to or different from’ that which is generally provided for children of the same age, in the annual census return. This is commonly referred to as the SEN Register.

Statutory Assessment – while the majority of children with special educational needs will have their needs met within mainstream settings, there are some whose needs may be more complex. The local authority must conduct an assessment of education, health and care needs and prepare an Education, Health and Care Plan when it considers that it may be necessary for special educational provisions to be made for the child.

TPA – Transition Partnership Agreement – should your child have more complex needs but it is felt that an Assessment for Special Educational Needs is not appropriate, then a Transition Partnership Agreement may be written up. This is useful at transition points (from pre- 12 schools to Year R and from Year 6 to secondary school) as it allows all those involved with your child to provide information about how best their needs could be met