St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

To protect with love, all of God’s gifts

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Children and Families Act SEND Local Offer and Information Report

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

Parents

If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher.

Class/subject teacher

Responsible for:

  • Quality First Teaching
  • 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 SENCO know as necessary
  • writing Individual Education Plans (IEP) where required, and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next term
  • ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are helped to deliver the planned provision for your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress – this may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources
  • ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.The SENCO – Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator   (Mrs Clare Moulding – contact main office 01274727970)

Responsible for:

  • coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND Policy and provision mapping to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school
  • ensuring that you are:
    • involved in supporting your child’s learning
    • kept informed about the support your child is getting
    • involved in reviewing how they are doing
  • liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology
  • updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs
  • providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in the school achieve the best progress possible.

Head Teacher (Mrs Catherine Markham)

Responsible for:

  • the day to day management of all aspects of the school – this includes the support for children with SEND.

The head will give responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.

The head must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

SEN Governor

Responsible for:

  • making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND.

Local Authority

Responsible for:

  • providing a Bradford-wide Local Offer for SEND – please see website for further information on services provided (including contact details):
    https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk.
How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning?

If your child is identified as not making expected progress or has additional needs the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail.

Initial concerns about your child’s progress or development may come from:

  • your child’s class teacher expressing concerns that their progress has slowed or stopped or that they are finding learning, or any other area, especially difficult
  • our assessment cycle highlighting that a child has not made the progress expected or that they are falling behind other children of their age
  • a health professional such as a GP or Health Visitor following a medical concern or diagnosis
  • previous Educational settings such as Nurseries or Children’s Centres
  • you, speaking to the class teacher or SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) about anything that you have noticed at home
  • your child expressing concerns about their own development or progress.

Once it has been identified that there may be a Special Educational Need or Disability the class teacher, in consultation with the SENCO, will identify where the need lies and what gaps in learning need to be addressed. From here we will consider what your child’s short term targets should be and what ‘additional provision’ should be put into place to help them to meet their targets. The school will invite you and your child to contribute to this process and will ensure that your views are fully taken into account when considering what provision may be appropriate.

Regular meetings will be held to:

  • review their current targets and the effectiveness of the provision for your child
  • set new short-term targets and identify the additional provision needed.
How is extra support allocated to children?
  • The school budget, received from Bradford LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND.
  • The Head Teacher decides on the budget 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 SENCO 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
    • deciding what resources/training and support are needed.
  • All resources/training and support are reviewed regularly and changes made as needed.
What are the ‘Ranges of Need’?

Bradford Council have identified 7 ‘Ranges of Need’ for pupils with SEN. Within a mainstream school it is expected that provision will be made for pupils within Ranges 1-3 (and 4 dependent on the individual child).

If a child has a Statement of Special Educational Need or an Education, Health and Care Plan in which our school is named, we provide the support detailed in the plan.

For further information about the Ranges at Name of School for each area of need please click on the links below:

For further details about each Range please refer to Bradford Council’s Summary of Provision document or the Bradford Council’s Guidance by Primary Need documents on their Local Offer website (https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk).

What support do we have for you as a parent of child with an 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 SENCO is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have.
  • All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you, or where this is not possible, in a report.
  • IEPs will be reviewed with your involvement each term as appropriate.
  • 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.
  • There are a number of parent support groups such as Parent Partnership and Bradford Families Information Service (see https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk).
  • The school’s Parental Involvement Worker (Mrs R Sabir) and Parental Liaison Mentor (Ms J Oljanuk) are available on certain days (Contact main office on 01274 727970)
What are the different types of support available for children with SEND at our school?

Your child will receive:

  • class teacher input via excellent targeted classroom teaching also known as Quality First Teaching.

Your child may receive:

  • specific group work as part of a smaller group of children
  • specific targeted work on an individual basis or as part of a small group
  • specialist individual support or groups run by outside agencies e.g. Speech and Language therapy OR Occupational therapy groups
  • specific individual support.

For more detail on provision offered please refer to question 4.

Who are the other people providing services to children with a Special Educational Need or Disability in this school?
  • Autism Spectrum Team
  • School Nursing Team
  • Cognition and Learning Service
  • Educational Psychology Team
  • Catholic Care
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
  • PALZ+ (Play And Learn Zone)
  • Health Services as appropriate
  • SEN Early Intervention Team
  • Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties Team
  • Barnardos
  • Art Psychotherapist

Please see Bradford’s Local Offer website for contact details (https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk).

How do we support transition in our school, between year groups and to new schools?
  • Before children start in Reception they will be invited to visit their new classroom and meet with their new teachers. Parents will be invited to a meeting where transition and important information will be discussed. They will have the opportunity to visit the classroom and meet key staff. School staff will be in contact with Early Years settings.
  • If your child is joining our school in any other year group pupil information will be sent from their previous school. When appropriate, school staff will liaise with the previous school to put in place the provision needed to ensure a successful transition – this may include a transition plan.
  • For children who have identified SEND before starting at our school, we will contact key staff at the current setting/school in order to gather information about your child.  School staff will work with the people who already know your child in order to plan the provision needed to ensure a smooth transition into our school.
  • We will invite you and your child to visit school before starting.
  • We can provide children with SEND with a phased start to school (if advised by outside agencies) to allow them to get used to surroundings, staff and routines.
  • When children are moving between year groups, they have the opportunity to spend time in their new classroom and with their new teacher, teaching assistant and peers.
  • Staff will meet to ensure that all relevant information is passed on from the current teacher to the new teacher.
  • If further support is required, a transition plan is developed identifying additional provision.
  • When children are leaving our school, pupil information is sent to the new school.  When appropriate, school staff will liaise with the new school to put in place the provision needed to ensure a successful transition – this may include a transition plan.
  • Pupils leaving our school at the end of Year 6 will have the opportunity to spend a day at their new school before the end of the summer term.
  • Relevant secondary school staff will visit our school to meet the pupils and to discuss needs with the class teacher and/or SENCO.
How can I complain about the provision made for my child?

To find out how to complain about the provision made for your child, please see our complaints policy, which is available on our website. http://stjosephsbradford.co.uk/

For further details about each Range please refer to Bradford Council’s Summary of Provision document or the Bradford Council’s Guidance by Primary Need documents on their Local Offer website (https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk).