Updated January 2024
All Ebor Academy Trust schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and are supported by the local authority (LA) to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. 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 Children and Families Bill was enacted in 2014. From this date, Local Authorities and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for the children and young people with Special Educational Needs (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 School SEN Information
This utilises the LA Local Offer to meet the needs of SEN pupils as determined by school policy, and the provision that the school is able to meet.
Our Environment
At Tockwith Church of England Primary Academy, we are committed to providing our pupils with a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum which is accessible to all and promotes inclusion. All our pupils are included in all aspects of school life and are equally valued in school. We create environments that are safe and calm so that our pupils feel comfortable to be in school and to enable them to flourish. Our staff work closely as a team to provide a consistency of approach and strategies that we have in place for our pupils.
Reviews are held at least twice a year, once in the Autumn term as the children enter their new year groups and again in the Summer term before their transition to their new year group. Input from the SENCO can be requested at all other times of the year.
All pupils with SEN at Tockwith have a document in place that is jointly written by parents, the child and professionals. Depending on the level of need, this may be called a Pupil Passport (PPS), a My Support Plan (MSP) or an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).An EHCP is a legal document that describes a child or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs, explains the extra help that will be given to meet those needs and how that help will support the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life.
During the summer term, for pupils from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to Year 5, we hold transition reviews for all pupils who have a MSP (My Support Plan). For those with an EHCP (Education Health Care Plan), the publication of their initial plan by the Local Authority dictates which term their Annual Review is held. A transition week helps the children to familiarise themselves with their new class, adults that they will be working with and different processes of the new year group. Where possible, children visit their new classrooms or class teachers to begin to build up relationships.
For those transitioning to high school, after meeting with parents to discuss high school choices, a meeting is arranged by the two SENCOs (Primary and Secondary) where support and successes that have been implemented are shared. This is done so with the aim of easing the transition. The school applies for secondary places for any children who have a EHCP through the review meeting.
Once secondary schools are allocated, children with EHCPs have a transition review between the primary and secondary provisions to plan a personalised transition package.
Early Years children transitioning to Tockwith CE Primary Academy may be offered:
– Transition meeting pre admission
– Visit to school with parents and guardians
– Staggered transition into school
– Extra transition visits including the previous setting
– Social Stories to be used at home and over school holidays to prepare them for their transition
Because all children learn in different ways, we have tailored our classroom environments so that they can meet a range of needs. All of our classrooms and learning pods aim to provide:
– Visual supports
– A distraction free learning zone
– Sensory Processing strategies (movement breaks, noise reducing headphones, move and sit cushions etc)
– Access to multi-sensory and hands-on learning
– Use of IT and alternative methods of recording where needed
– Use of de-escalation strategies
– A preventative rather than reactive approach
– Positive praise – and lots of it!
– Staffing ratios appropriate to the level of support needed.
Identification & Intervention
Every teacher at Tockwith is a teacher of SEN with all working towards the achievement of every child through excellent quality first teaching. If any child is struggling in class for any reason, strategies and or intervention will be put in place at a targeted level to support this after discussions with parents/carers. Advice would be sought from the SENCO and progress would be tracked to see if these strategies were proving to be successful.
If a child is still having difficulties making progress, it may be that they need more specialist levels of intervention and resources put in place. Again, parents would be very much involved in this discussion and would work with the school to plan this. At this stage, your child would be receiving ‘SEN Support’ and the SENCO would be closely involved to support staff, your child and the family. The majority of children at this level will have some Additional Support. Each child’s support package will be different and dependent on their level of need. As we are keen to promote independence and develop young people’s life skills for the future, through careful planning, we will ensure that each child’s needs are met through a balanced approach of Class Teacher support, Teaching Assistant support, group work and monitored independent time.
Children are identified for the SEN register by using the North Yorkshire County Council banding descriptors. Depending on the outcome, children are placed on either a monitoring register or the SEN register. The bandings are reviewed regularly to ensure that they are accurate.
SEN Support: Defining SEN & SEN Provision
The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice (2014) defines children as having SEN as:
- child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
- A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she
- has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age.
- has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions .
The SENCO works alongside class teachers in overseeing the provisions and interventions we have in place for all our pupils at Tockwith CE Primary Academy. Along with the Senior Leadership Team, they monitor the effectiveness of provision through observations and data analysis. Provision will be adjusted as required to ensure pupils are fulfilling their full potential. Children will always be supported to engage in activities available to pupils who do not have SEN.
Because we understand that Early Identification is key, the SENCO works alongside the EYFS teacher to help identify children with any additional needs and advise on intervention at this early stage.
We work closely with individuals and other agencies to help us identify the right support for each child, including:
– Educational Psychologist
– CAMHS (Child Adolescent Metal Health Service)
– Speech and Language Therapists (both in school and in clinic)
– Other Health Professionals
– Physiotherapists
– Occupational Therapists
– NYCC Specialist Teaching Teams
– Physical and medical teams
– Communication and Interaction Teams
– Hearing Impairment
– Dyslexia outreach support
– Speech and Language outreach support.
Communication and Interaction
6.28 Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.
6.29 Children and young people with ASD, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.
Communication and Interaction Interventions may include
– Delivery of individual speech and language programmes
– Lego Therapy
– Pre teaching vocabulary
– Socially Speaking.
Cognitive and Learning
6.30 Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.
6.31 Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
Learning and Cognition Interventions may include
– Phonics Boosters
– Rapid Reading/1:1 reading
– Reading Fluency intervention
– Comprehension intervention
– Reading/writing/ Sentence and punctuation boosters
– Handwriting intervention – multi-sensory or alternative methods
– Precision Teaching (bespoke to child’s need)
– Number Stacks
– Numicon
– Pre Teaching
– Use of specialist equipment – ICT equipment, coloured overlays and books, pencil grips etc.
Social Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
6.32 Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.
6.33 Schools and colleges should have clear processes to support children and young people, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour so it does not adversely affect other pupils. The Department for Education publishes guidance on managing pupils’ mental health and behaviour difficulties in schools – see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link.
Social, emotional and mental health interventions may include
– Pastoral support and targeted intervention
– Peer Buddies
– Support and advice from Compass Buzz
– Use of visual prompts and timetables
– Wellbeing worker (CAMHS)
– Small group wellbeing work
– Coaching and Mentor Service.
Sensory and / or Physical Needs
6.34 Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or habilitation support. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties. Information on how to provide services for deafblind children and young people is available through the Social Care for Deafblind Children and Adults guidance published by the Department of Health (see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link).
6.35 Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.Sensory and Physical interventions
– Handwriting intervention – multi-sensory or alternative methods
– Busy Fingers boxes
– Delivery of 1:1 Physio and OT programmes
– Use of sensory resources and strategies
– Adapted PE sessions
– Early movement sessions.
Family and Pupil Engagement
Communication is key
We pride ourselves on strong links with parents/carers and the child. We will always keep you in the loop when planning provision and intervention for your child. We have introduced comprehensive documentation for all our pupils receiving SEN Support that is written and reviewed jointly with parents and pupils. We know that by working together, we have a much greater chance of getting it right for your child and your family. There are dedicated sections within your child’s plan for parents/carers and pupils to complete. We welcome your and your child’s input into their plan, not just at their review meeting, but on a more regular basis as things arise.
By clicking on each area below you will see more detail and examples of interventions that we run for our pupils. Some children will need support in more than one area of need so we will personalise their learning to encompass this. At Tockwith CE Primary Academy, we strive to support children with a wide range of special educational needs in each of these areas.
If you have a complaint about the support received in school, please click here to view the Ebor Academy Trust complaints policy.
The SEN specific policies can be found here:
Information Report accompanies SEND policy
Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs including Medicines in School
Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator / SENCO – Mr Lee White – contact can be made through the school.
