Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND)

Hello and welcome,

I am the SENCo at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School. I am responsible for the day to day running of SEN/D policy and co-ordinating specific provision made to support individual pupils with SEN/D, including those who have Education Health Care Plans and or Statements or simply those pupils who may require some additional support through our SEN/D Support in our school. In order to ensure this support meets your child’s needs, I work closely with staff, parents, carers and other agencies to create a tailor-made support package.

As SENCo, I provide professional guidance to colleagues with the aim of securing high quality teaching for children with SEN/D, and I work closely with staff, parents and other agencies. I also work with professionals providing a supporting role to families to ensure that pupils with SEN/D receive the appropriate support.

I am part of the Senior Leadership Team and I work with the Academy Council of the school in order to determine strategic development of SEN/D policy and provision in the school in order to raise the achievement of children with SEN/D.

Should you find yourself faced with a situation that causes concern regarding your child please do not hesitate to contact me in confidence.

Mrs Mari-Ann Kaushiva

“I am responsible for supporting staff in adapting their teaching to support the progress of children with special needs”

SENCo, More Able, EAL and Primary Languages Co-ordinator and Year Three Class teacher

Email: mkaushiva@sjp.bkcat.co.uk Tel: 01977 701493

Annual SEND Report for Governors 2023-24

Introduction

Many children may be described as having special educational needs (SEN) at some stage of their school life. According to statistics, the number of pupils in England who are described as having a Special Educational Needs is around 20%.

This booklet has been designed to help you to understand how we support young people with SEN at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Pontefract; who you should talk to if you have any concerns, and how we identify children’s needs and monitor progress.

SEND at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

At St Joseph’s, we value the abilities and achievements of all pupils. We are committed to enabling all to achieve their best, become confident individuals and make a successful transition into secondary school. We do this by setting high standards and aspirational targets at every Key stage.

Using our best endeavours, we will support all learners and provide well-resourced, appropriate and effective provision which is personalised to meet the needs of individual pupils.

We understand that many pupils will have special needs at some time during their school life. By implementing interventions and support which help to reduce any gaps in progress, we believe pupils will be helped to overcome their difficulties.

At St Joseph’s, we believe that many barriers to learning can be overcome through hard work, determination and a commitment from all pupils, teachers and parents/carers working together.

We follow the guidance for identifying special educational needs, which is set out in the ‘Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 Years’, June 2014.

As well as providing support for all pupils from within the school, we are also able to involve outside agencies and professionals as and when necessary. Details of the way we make provision for young people with special educational needs can be found on the school website within the SEN policy.

Other policies which link to the SEN Policy include:

Anti-Bullying
Attendance
Behaviour
Intimate Care
Administration of Medicines in School

Outstanding SEN practice at St Joseph’s recognises the importance of linking SEN provision to these to build on the quality of whole-school improvement.

What are Special Educational Needs?

A young person may be described as having special (or additional) educational needs if their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age (taken from the SEND code of practice, 6.15; June 2014)

The SEND code of practice expects schools to identify pupils receiving this support and for these pupils to be placed on the SEN-support register where we:

Assess – done between subject teachers and the SENCo using teacher assessment data and experience of the student
Plan – agreed between teacher/SENCo, parents/carers and young person
Do – followed through by all involved
Review – in line with clear outcomes set

What are the areas of need?

In line with the SEND Code of Practice, June 2014, the four broad areas of need include;

Communication and interaction
Cognition and learning
Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
Sensory and/or physical needs

A more detailed description of these areas can be found in our SEN policy available on the school website.

What is a Graduated Approach?

The Graduated Approach is a model of action and intervention in schools to help young people who have additional needs. The approach recognises that there is a range of needs and that, where necessary increasing specialist expertise should be brought in to further consider some of the difficulties that pupils may be experiencing.

At St Joseph’s, a Graduated Approach consists of four stages or levels which we call waves.

Wave 1

This includes all pupils whose individual learning needs can be met through high quality teaching and learning through differentiation (making work/ tasks different in order to cater for all individual learning styles).

Wave 2

Wave 2 support describes any single intervention or support that a student may need to access for a specified period of time. It may include any of the following strategies being used:

The subject teacher gaining further support from the SENCo and the Inclusion Team: Learning Mentor, EAL Co-ordinator, Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator and the Pupil Premium Co-ordinator.

One intervention provided for a specified time period or group specific support.

Wave 3

Wave 3 support describes any combination of interventions and personalised approach that a student may need to access for a period of time. It may include any of the following strategies being used:

The SENCo and /or class teacher may request outside agency or professional support from a specialist team to gain advice about an individual student. They may work directly with the student but also are likely to provide strategies and support for the subject teachers.
The student having various interventions to try to remove barriers to learning.

At this stage a One Page Profile would be completed on the student and distributed to staff who work with the pupil.

What is a One Page Profile?

A One Page Profile is a detailed picture which is made in collaboration with the student, parents/carers and school. It gives a detailed description of the individual student and importantly identifies specific strategies for teachers and support staff to use when teaching the individual student.

Wave 4

A very small number of pupils may require additional support over and above Wave 1, 2 and 3. In agreement and consultation with the young person, parents/carers and other professionals, if it is felt further support is required, we will ask Wakefield Authority to consider a student for an Educational, Health and Care Plan needs assessment. An EHC plan is only drawn up by the local authority if a needs assessment has determined that an EHC plan is necessary, and after consultation with relevant partner agencies. This is a legal document which details the education, health and social care support that is to be provided to the student who has SEN or a disability. It is regularly reviewed, with clear outcomes which must be measurable and worked towards.

Is there any additional funding to support pupils with SEN?

All mainstream schools are provided with resources to support pupils with additional needs, including pupils with SEN and disabilities. St Joseph’s uses some of the money from within the school budget to support pupils up to Wave 3 level of support. If it is deemed necessary to, additional money may be applied for but only at Wave 3 and beyond.

If a student has an EHC plan, St Joseph’s may receive additional ‘top-up funding’ to support an individual student. However, a joint decision between all relevant partner agencies will be made so that a pupil’s needs are addressed through careful and purposeful planning. The outcomes will reflect this clearly and show how funding must be spent for greatest effect.

How we work in partnership

At St Joseph’s, we firmly believe that developing a strong partnership between parents/carers, the student and school is the key to success which will help SEN pupils to achieve their potential. We recognise that parents/carers have a unique overview of their child’s needs and how best to support them. We therefore place the young person and their parents/carers at the heart of every decision as they have a key role in the partnership.

For additional support and information please contact the SENCo.