SEN
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Many children, at some point during their time at school, need a little extra support in order to make progress with their learning. Most of these children will have extra help arranged for them in school, using a differentiated teaching approach, and classroom resources. Some children, however, may have ‘special educational needs’.
What are ‘special educational needs’?
Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty, which requires them to have special help. A child has learning difficulties if he/she finds it much harder to learn than most children of the same age, or if he or she has a disability. Their special educational needs may fall into one or more of the following areas: Communication and Interaction; Cognition and Learning; Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties; Sensory and/or Physical. If your child is considered to have special educational needs (SEN) then further help is required. This help is called special educational provision.
What ‘special educational provision’ is given at Aston Clinton School?
Mrs Garraway, our SENCo has responsibility for co-ordinating the provision for special needs across the school with parents, class teachers, the Headteacher and support staff.
Ms Woodroffe, our ARP Manager has reponsibility for children with Speech, Language and Commincation needs in our ARP. Both can be contacted through the school office either by phone on 01296 630276 or by email at office@astonclinton.bucks.sch.uk. For more information on the ARP please see the link at the bottom of this page.
The graduated approach
All children make progress at different rates, and it is the responsibility of the class teacher to respond to all pupils’ needs with quality first teaching. The majority of pupils will respond to good or better teaching and will make progress, but there are a minority of children who need extra provision.
If normal good practice within the classroom does not result in progress then the class teacher, in conjunction with the SENCo will begin to review the child’s access to the curriculum. This is the graduated approach, as detailed below.
No SEN → Booster group → SEN Support → EHC Plan
SEN Support
The decision to begin SEN support for a child is not taken quickly or lightly. Where a teacher has specific concerns (and may have tried ‘booster groups’) they will discuss these concerns with the SENCo. The teacher and SENCo will then discuss these concerns with the child and the parents/carers in a planning meeting, and SEN support may begin.
Upon beginning SEN support, the teacher will outline the additional support a child receives on an SEN plan in consultation with the SENCo. The support may be small group or 1 to 1 intervention depending on need. Small targets will be set for each barrier, with clear success criteria. These targets will also continue in class work as directed by the teacher. We have an excellent team of teaching assistants who support the children with additional needs in our school.
Our approach to SEN support follows the recommended cycle:
ASSESS – PLAN - DO – REVIEW.
The teacher will meet with all staff providing SEN support to review targets at regular intervals. A child’s learning will be assessed and then the team will plan appropriate targets and support.
Statutory Assessment
The special educational needs of most children will be met through SEN Support. Some children, however - those with severe, complex or long-term learning difficulties or disabilities - will need to have extra support arranged for them by the Local Authority (LA). Following a Statutory Assessment, the LA may decide to issue an ‘Educational Health Care Plan’ (EHCP). This plan describes the area(s) in which the child has needs and includes details of extra resources that are required to help the school support them further. The support for the child will usually take place at the school but may, on occasions, involve working with other professional organisations such as an Educational Psychologist, the Specialist Teaching Service and the Joint Therapies Service (which includes Occupational Health, Speech Therapy and Physical Therapies).
Some of the children who have an EHC plan are placed in our Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP). There is more information about our ARP later on this web page.
Working in Partnership with Parents/Carers
You will be invited to all EHC plan review meetings and kept fully informed as to the progress of your child. You are encouraged to support your child and take part in the review and target setting process.
What is inclusion?
All pupils at Aston Clinton School receive an inclusive education. Whatever a child’s ability or disability, they have an entitlement to be educated in a mainstream school whether or not they have SEN.
Mrs Garraway is also responsible, along with the class teacher, for meeting the needs of any disabled children in school. We liaise with relevant agencies to ensure, where practicable, that any adaptions needed in school to support a child with disabilities are in place. Our school accessibility plan outlines our developments in this area. To view our Special Educational Needs Policy and Accessibility Policy, just click on the policy button below.
Who to contact.
If you are concerned about your child please initially speak to your child’s class teacher. Further to this please contact our SENDCo, Mrs Melissa Garraway, by emailing office@astonclinton.bucks.sch.uk.
If you would like to give us feedback, including compliments and complaints about our SEND provision please contact us through the school office: office@astonclinton.bucks.sch.uk. We aim to respond to any complaints within 7 working days and will ensure they are dealt with in accordance with our complaints policy.
If you would like impartial advice from Buckinghamshire’s Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support (SEND IAS) Service. (Formerly Parent Partnership) 01296 383754 parentp@buckscc.gov.uk
If you would like to know more about opportunities for children and young people with SEN and their families, support groups or information about SEND, these are listed in the Family Information Service Directory.
http://www.bucksfamilyinfo.org/kb5/buckinghamshire/fsd/home.page
Buckinghamshire’s Local Offer contains lots of information for parents. You can access this through the following website:
http://www.bucksfamilyinfo.org/kb5/buckinghamshire/fsd/family.page?familychannel=5
Key Contacts:
SENDCo Mrs Melissa Garraway
SEND Governor Mrs Christine Moxham
ARP Manager Ms Woodroffe