Disability and SEN and Inclusion Policy

Additional SEN support information SEN Information Report

’I pray that you……may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ’ Ephesians 3:18

Countess Anne School

A Church of England Academy

Living God’s Love through….

Academic provision that recognises the need for excellence in teaching and learning.
Holistic provision that encourages Christian hope; building spirit and soul through faith orientated pastoral care.
Inspirational provision through a modern curriculum that celebrates diversity and provides new opportunities.

DISABILITY & SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND INCLUSION POLICY

Legislative Compliance

This policy complies with the guidance given in Statutory Instrument : Special Educational Needs (Information) Regulations (Clause 65). It has been written as guidance for staff, parents or carers and children with reference to the following guidance & documents.

SEN Code of Practice (which takes account of the SEN provisions of the SEN and Disability Act 2001) September 2014

Ofsted SEN Review 2010 “A Statement is not enough”

Equality Act 2010

Children and Families Act 2014

The name and contact details of the DSEN Co-ordinator and Governor.

DSEN Co-ordinator : Mrs Rebecca Lawlor

Contact: Tel: 01707 262 840 email: senco@countessanne.herts.sch.uk

DSEN Governor: Jill Knight (Chair of Curriculum Committee Covering)

Contact: Tel: 01707 262 840 email: admin@countessanne.herts.sch.uk

The name and contact details of the Designated Teacher and Governor for Looked After Children (LAC)

Designated Teacher for LAC and Headteacher: Mr David Lodge

Contact: Tel: 01707 262 840 email: head@countessanne.herts.sch.uk

Designated Governor for LAC: Mr Murray Gifkins

Contact: Tel: 01707 262 840 email: admin@countessanne.herts.sch.uk

Reviewed annually. Last reviewed: 20/06/2023

Introduction

Our school believes that every pupil has an entitlement to develop their body, mind and spirit. Educational experiences are provided which promote pupils’ achievements whatever their personal abilities, talents and backgrounds; diversity is valued as a rich resource which supports the learning of all. The school is committed to ensuring that pupils with special educational needs can fulfil their potential and achieve optimal educational outcomes.

Our DSEN policy reinforces the need for quality first teaching that is fully inclusive. The Governing Body will ensure that appropriate provision will be made for all pupils with DSEN. We recognise that it is our duty to provide equal opportunities for every person in our care and a safe and fully equipped learning environment which caters to the needs of every child as an individual. We are committed to inclusion within the school curriculum and participation in all aspects of school life.

Inclusion is an ongoing process that celebrates diversity and involves the identification

and minimising of barriers to learning and participation that may be experienced by

pupils, irrespective of age, ability, gender, ethnicity, language and social background, and the maximising of resources to reduce these barriers.

Our school adopts a 'whole school approach' to special educational needs. It is staffed by a team of qualified teachers, teaching assistants, pastoral and auxiliary staff. The whole team at Countess Anne School is committed to providing a welcoming, attractive and stimulating environment to support the needs and develop the learning of the children and families in the community.

All staff in school have a responsibility for maximising achievement and opportunity of vulnerable learners – specifically, all teachers are teachers of pupils with special educational needs and EAL. Staff are aware of their responsibilities towards all vulnerable learners and a positive and sensitive attitude is shown towards all pupils at all times.

The head teacher and the governing body have delegated the responsibility for the ongoing implementation of this Inclusion Policy to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo).

The SENCo is responsible for reporting regularly to the Head Teacher and the governor with responsibility for DSEN on the ongoing effectiveness of this inclusion policy.

The Designated Teacher for Looked After Children has strategic responsibility for the inclusion of children who are adopted or in local authority care.

Aims and Objectives of this Policy

The aims of our DSEN and Inclusion Policy in this school are:

To provide curriculum access for all
To promote quality first teaching
To secure high levels of achievement for all
To meet individual needs through a wide range of provision
To attain high levels of satisfaction and participation from all stakeholders
To carefully map provision for all vulnerable learners to ensure that staffing deployment, resource allocation and choice of intervention is leading to good learning outcomes.
To ensure a high level of staff expertise to meet pupil need, through well targeted continuing professional development.
To work in cooperative and productive partnership with parents, carers and outside agencies, to ensure there is a multi-faceted approach to meeting the needs of all vulnerable learners.
To “promote children’s self-esteem and emotional well-being and help them to form and maintain worthwhile relationships based on respect for themselves and others”. (National Curriculum, 2014).

All school staff have a responsibility for pupils with DSEN in their class, firstly to

ensure Quality First Teaching with differentiation and personalisation to meet need.

Staff are aware of their responsibilities towards pupils with DSEN, whether or not

pupils have an Education, Health and Care Plan, (EHCP).

CODE OF PRACTICE GRADUATED RESPONSE

The school adopts the levels of intervention as described in the SEN Code of

Practice. The Code of Practice advocates a graduated response to meeting pupils’ needs.

If the school decides, after consultation with parents, that a pupil requires additional

support to make progress, the SENCo, in collaboration with teachers, will support

the assessment of the pupil and have an input in planning future support and add the

pupil to the DSEN Register. The class teacher will remain responsible for planning

and delivering individualised programmes. Parents will be closely informed of the

action and results.

Placement of a pupil on the DSEN Register will be made by the SENCo after full consultation with parents at a Learning Profile (L.P) review. External support services may advise on targets for a new L.P and provide specialist inputs to the support process. L.P intervention will usually be triggered when despite receiving differentiated teaching and a sustained level of support, a pupil:

Still makes little or no progress in specific areas over a long period
Continues to work at National Curriculum levels considerably lower than age related expectations
Continues to experience difficulty in developing literacy/numeracy skills
Has emotional problems that substantially impede their learning
Has sensory or physical needs requiring additional specialist equipment or
Visits/advice from specialists.
Has communication or interaction problems that impede the development of social
Relationships, thus presenting barriers to learning

Parental consent is sought before any external agencies are involved. The resulting

Learning Profile may incorporate specialist strategies. These may be implemented by the

class teacher but involve other adults.

IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT

We accept the principle that pupils’ needs should be identified and met as early as

possible. There are four areas of need as stated in the SEND Code of Practice, 2014:

Communication and Interaction (C and I)
Cognition (Cog)
Social Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH)
Sensory and/or Physical. (S/P)

Whilst these four areas broadly identify the primary need of a pupil we also consider

the needs of the whole child, which may also impact on a pupil’s progress:

Disability
Attendance and punctuality
Health and welfare
English as an additional language (EAL)
Being in receipt of the Pupil Premium. (PP)
Being a Looked After Child (CLA)
Being a child of a service woman/man.

The SENCo works closely within the senior leadership team, using whole school

tracking data as an early identification indicator. We use a number of additional indicators of special educational needs:

the analysis of data, including EYFS baseline and end of EYFS data, end of KS data, spelling ages, class teachers formative assessment data and termly pupil assessments
the use of our local authority SEN criteria
the following up of teacher concerns
following up parental concerns
tracking individual pupil progress over time
information from previous schools on transfer
information from other services

The SENCO maintains a list of pupils identified through the procedures listed; this is

called the DSEN Register. This list is reviewed termly alongside the school’s DSEN provision map ensuring that appropriate provision is provided for each child and that this provision is supporting progress. For some pupils a more in depth individual assessment may be undertaken by the school or other educational or health professionals.

CURRICULUM ACCESS AND PROVISION

In order to meet the learning needs of all pupils, teachers differentiate work. They

work to meet individual learning needs and to mark work and plan homework

effectively. Where pupils are identified as having special educational needs, the school provides for these additional needs in a variety of ways. The provision for pupils is related

specifically to their needs. The range of provision may include:

in class support for small groups with an additional teacher or Teaching Assistant
small group withdrawal with TA or CT
individual class support / individual withdrawal with art therapist.
further differentiation of resources
cross age study buddies
online Maths tutorial group / maths sets
external interventions
provision of alternative learning materials/ special equipment
provision of additional adult time in devising interventions and monitoring their
effectiveness
staff development/training to undertake more effective strategies
access to Specialist Teaching and the Educational Psychology Service or other
support services for advice on strategies, equipment, or staff training

MONITORING PUPIL PROGRESS

Progress is the crucial factor in determining the need for additional support.

Adequate progress is that which:

Narrows the attainment gap between pupil and peers
Prevents the attainment gap widening
Is equivalent to that of peers starting from the same baseline but less than the

majority of peers

Equals or improves upon the pupil’s previous rate of progress
Ensures full curricular access
Shows an improvement in self-help and social or personal skills
Shows improvements in the pupil’s behaviour

RECORD KEEPING

The school will record the steps taken to meet pupils’ individual needs. The SENCo

will maintain the records and ensure access to them. In addition to the usual school

records, the pupil’s profile will include:

Information from parents
Information on progress and behaviour
Pupil’s own perceptions of difficulties
Information from health/social services
Information from other agencies

TARGETS and LEARNING PROFILES:

All pupils on our DSEN Register will have individual Learning Profiles (L.P) setting out

targets and any provision made that is additional to and different from usual

classroom provision.

For pupils with an EHCP, provision will meet the recommendations on the plan.

In subjects where all children have curriculum targets these are used to inform the

L.P. Medium term curriculum targets are recorded in exercise books and smaller steps are recorded as Next Steps in the teacher’s marking. Strategies for ensuring pupils’ progress will be recorded on individual L.Ps and contain information on:

Short-term targets
Teaching strategies
Provision made
Date for review
Success and/or exit criteria
The outcomes recorded at review

The L.P will record only that which is different from or additional to the normal

differentiated curriculum, and will concentrate on three or four individual targets that

closely match the pupil’s needs. The L.P will be created through discussion

with both the pupil and the parent or carer.

REVIEWING A LEARNING PROFILE

Individual Learning Profiles will be reviewed at regular termly intervals with the inclusion of

parents, carers and pupils’ views.

REQUEST FOR EDUCATION HEALTH CARE PLAN, (EHCP):

The school will request an EHCP from the LA when, despite an

individualised programme of sustained intervention within DSEN support the pupil

remains a significant cause for concern. An EHCP might also be

requested by a parent or outside agency. The school will have the following

information available:

Records from past interventions
Current and past Learning Profiles
Records and outcomes of regular reviews undertaken
Information on the pupil’s health and relevant medical history
National Curriculum Progress
Other relevant assessments from specialists such as support teachers and

educational psychologists

The views of parents
Where possible, the views of the pupil
Social Care/Educational Welfare Service reports
Any other involvement by professionals

Education, Care and Health Plans

An EHCP will normally be provided where the LA

considers the pupil requires provision beyond what the school can offer. An EHCP will include details of learning objectives for the child. These are used to develop targets that are:

Of shorter term
Established through parental/pupil consultation
Set out in a Learning Profile
Implemented in the classroom
Delivered by the class teacher with appropriate additional support where specified

Reviews of an EHCP

EHCPs must be reviewed annually. The LA will inform the head teacher at the

beginning of each school term of the pupils requiring reviews. The SENCo will

organise these reviews and invite:

The pupil’s parent
The pupil if appropriate
The relevant teacher
A representative of the SEN Inclusion and Assessment Team
The Educational Psychologist
Any other person the SENCo or parent/carer considers appropriate

The aim of the review will be to:

Assess the pupil’s progress in relation to the objectives on the EHCP
Review the provision made to meet the pupil’s need as identified in the EHCP
Consider the appropriateness of the existing EHCP in relation to the pupil’s

performance during the year, and whether to cease, continue, or amend it

if appropriate to set new objectives for the coming year

At Key Stage Phase transitions meetings, receiving schools should be invited to attend in order to plan appropriately for the new school year. It also gives parents the opportunity to liaise with teachers from the receiving school. Within the time limits set out in the Code, the SENCO will complete the annual review forms and send it, with any supporting documentation to the LA. The school recognises the responsibility of the LA in deciding whether to maintain, amend, or cease an EHCP of DSEN.

REVIEW OF THE DSEN POLICY:

The school considers the DSEN Policy document to be important and, in conjunction

with the DSEN Governor reviews both policy and practice each term. The outcomes of this review are used to inform the termly School Development Plan.

Signed by:

Head: Mr D. Lodge

SENCo: Mrs R. Lawlor

DSEN Governor: Mrs J Knight

School Offer