Welcome to our SEND Information Report which is part of Durham County Council’s Local Offer for children and young people with Special Educational Needs. The SEND Information Report was reviewed and updated May 2021.

School SEND Information Report

Updated: 02/10/2023 423 KB

From September 2014 Local Authorities (LA) and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) aged 0-25. This is called the ‘Local Offer’.

The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice for families and will also be an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area.

The current link to the LA Local Offer website can be found at: www.countydurhamfamilies.info/localoffer

General Information

At St Wilfrid’s we recognise that all pupils are entitled to a quality of provision that will enable them to achieve their potential. We believe in positive intervention, removing barriers to learning, raising expectations and levels of achievement and working in partnership with other agencies in order to provide a positive educational experience for all our pupils including those with a special educational need or disability.

Our school recognises there are particular groups of pupils whose circumstances require additional consideration by those who work with them to support their SEND.

At St Wilfrid’s we have appointed a Designated Teacher for Looked after Children who works closely with the SENCO to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEND.

At St Wilfrid’s we ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs make the best possible progress.

There are four broad areas of SEND, these are:

  • Communication and Interaction
    This area of need includes children with Autism Spectrum Condition and those with Speech, Language and Communication Needs
  • Cognition and Learning
    This includes children with Specific Learning Difficulties, Moderate Learning Difficulties, Severe Learning Difficulties and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
    This includes any pupils who have an emotional, social or mental health need that is impacting on their ability to learn
  • Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties
    This area includes children with hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment and physical difficulties.

We are committed to meeting the needs of all children including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. We would ask parents to discuss the identified needs with the school prior to starting so that appropriate intervention and support can be planned and implemented. Advice from the LA or other agencies may be requested to ensure any the school can meet any needs appropriately.

Full details of the admission arrangements can be found on our website.

Applying for a school place if your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan or a Statement of SEN

Children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (or Statement of Special Education Needs) follow a different admission and transfer process for a new school.  Please continue to complete Durham County Council’s parental preference form, as part of the admission process to a new school.  You continue to have a right to request a particular school and this will be considered alongside the information that we have about your child’s special educational needs.  The information would have been provided as part of the Education, Health and Care assessment or following the review meeting.

Key Policies

All of our school policies can be found on our  website but the most important ones for parents of children with SEND are listed below:

SEND Policy

Equality Policy, Statement and Objectives

Accessibility Plan

Anti-Bullying Policy

Behaviour Policy

Medical Needs policy

And/or any other relevant school policies can be found on the policies section of the school website

Contacts

The following are the main contacts for Special Educational Needs and Disability at St Wilfrid’s School:

Mrs R Shaw is SENDCO alongside our Deputy SENDCO Mrs C Roxborough

Miss J Sands is the Head Teacher

Ms J Shaughnessy is our designated SEND Governor:

It is the SENDCO’s job to:

  1. Oversee the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEND policy
  2. Liaise with the relevant Designated Teacher where a looked after pupil has SEND
  3. Advise teachers on using a graduated approach to providing SEND support
  4. Advise on the deployment of the school’s delegated budget and other resources to meet the pupil’s needs effectively
  5. Liaise with parents/carers of pupils with SEND
  6. Liaise with and be a key point of contact for external agencies
  7. Ensure that the school keeps the records of all SEND pupils up to date
  8. Work with the head teacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements.

Pastoral, Medical and Social Support

At St Wilfrid’s all staff are involved with ensuring that all children with pastoral, medical and social needs are met adequately. Ongoing needs are monitored and reviewed by the class teacher, Learning Mentor and parents. Parents are encouraged to liaise closely with the class teacher in order to keep staff informed as to any changes occurring at home. Where new situations of pastoral, medical or social needs arise in school, the class teachers keep a thorough chronology for each child, recording anything which may be useful for future discussions with other agencies on the school CPOMS system.

Statement of Intent for Promoting Equality

At St Wilfrid’s School we are committed to equality. We aim for every pupil to fulfil their potential no matter what their needs. Our School is committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity and valuing diversity for all children and families.  We aim to:

  • Provide a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions are considered and valued.
  • Include and value the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity.
  • Provide positive non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and disabled people.
  • Improve our knowledge and understanding of issues of anti-discriminatory practice, promoting equality and valuing diversity.
  • Make inclusion a thread that runs through all of the activities of the school. St Wilfrid’s School prides itself on being very inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need.  All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.
  • Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
  • Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
  • Ensure that teaching staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.
  • Pupils to gain in confidence and improve their self-esteem.
  • To work in partnership with parents/ carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
  • To identify at the earliest opportunity, all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional)
  • To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
  • Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
  • To promote self-worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independence at all age and ability levels.
  • To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
  • To regularly review the policy and practice in order to achieve best practice.

Types of SEND at the School

  • Memory difficulties
  • Organisational difficulties
  • Writing difficulties
  • Visual processing difficulties
  • Reading difficulties
  • Spelling difficulties
  • Manipulating numbers
  • Auditory processing difficulties
  • Visual stress
  • Time management difficulties
  • Sensory distraction
  • Sensory overload.

Social Emotional and Mental Health

  • Attention Deficit Disorder
  • ADHD
  • Attachment Disorder
  • Autism
  • Disruptive, antisocial and uncooperative behaviour
  • Temper tantrums
  • Frustration, anger and verbal threats/aggression
  • Displaying anxiety or self-harming
  • Truancy

Sensory or Physical

  • Vision impairment
  • Hearing impairment
  • Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD)

Communication and Interaction

  • Autism
  • Speech and language communication needs

The school provides data on the levels and types of need to the Local Authority. This is collected through the school census.

Need EYFS KS1 KS2
Cognition and Learning 3 5 21
Social, Emotional and Mental Health   2 6
Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties 1 3 5
Communication and Interaction 6 4 14

Consultation with Children and Young People with SEND

Teachers/SENDCO and Support Staff will work with children and young people to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes.  The provision is planned and interventions are allocated to individual needs. The children take an active role with setting their targets, discussing them with the class teacher/SENDCO.   The children have regular meetings with support staff to discuss their progress and support.

Pupils are encouraged to give feedback on their outcomes and respond to them during review meetings. They are also asked for their views, interests and hobbies in order to build up a comprehensive pupil profile.

Consultation with parents and carers of children and young people with SEND

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support. Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.

There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:

  • Termly parents/ carers evenings;
  • Ongoing discussions with a class teacher and/or SENDCO;
  • An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have;
  • Through a review of a child’s SEND Support Plan or the Annual Review of their Statement of SEND or EHC Plan.

Finance

The budget allocation is agreed between our school and the Local Authority at the beginning of each financial year. Detail of how this money is used to support children and young people with SEND is shown below. This is monitored each term by the Governing Body.

Full details about the way in which funding is allocated to schools for special educational needs provision can be found by visiting County Durham’s Families Information Service website

At St Wilfrid’s SEND funding is used to support children and young people with SEND by:

  • Purchasing specific technology needed to support children with SEND
  • Buying into traded service agencies for SEND
  • Providing specific resources for children with SEND
  • CPD training needs for all staff
  • A Costed Provision Map will be developed in liaison with the child, young person, parent or carer. An example of a costed provision map can be found here:
  • If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.

Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum
At St Wilfrid’s we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development.

It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of additional opportunities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of our children. Our curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for life-long learning.

How we identify and assess children with special educational needs

Most children and young people will have their special educational needs met in mainstream schools through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.
At St Wilfrid’s we follow a graduated support approach which is called “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”. This means that we will:

  • Assess a child’s special educational needs
  • Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
  • Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
  • Review the support and progress

As part of this approach, we will produce a SEND Support Plan that describes the provision that we will make to meet a child’s special educational needs and agreed outcomes. Parents and carers will be fully involved in this process.

A small percentage of children and young people with significant learning difficulties might need to ask the Local Authority to carry out an Educational Health Care Assessment. Full details can be found on the Local Offer website.

You can find details of how we adapt the curriculum and make it more accessible for pupils with SEND below:

All of the staff in school take an active part in getting to know the pupils really well in order to establish where their barriers to learning lie. They provide the most appropriate work to enable all children to make the most progress with their learning.  Teachers use lots of different strategies to remove barriers for learning for every child.

Examples are: • Differentiated learning materials • Access to ICT and Technology • Additional in class support • Additional out of class support (small group or 1:1 support) • Many enrichment and enjoyment opportunities to stimulate and motivate learning such as music lessons. • Flexible groupings – including small group support work • An innovative, engaging and supportive curriculum • Consistency across all staff including the appropriate use of rewards and sanctions • Assessment procedures that emphasise pupils’ strengths and achievements • Applications during national testing at Key Stage 2 to obtain access arrangements as appropriate.

Extra pastoral support arrangements for listening to the views of children and young people with SEND and the measures taken to prevent bullying.

How the school enables children and young people with disabilities to engage in activities and other educational provision e.g. sports and arts.

At St Wilfrid’s, all children are encouraged to participate in different activities to the best of their ability. Where necessary, adjustments are made to the physical settings, eg by providing different seating arrangements or adjusting the furniture to accommodate special needs. Support will be allocated where necessary in order to provide children with the additional help they need, while still promoting independence skills.

How the school tracks and monitors pupil progress:

All children at St Wilfrid’s are assessed and monitored using a rigorous approach, comprising of end of half term assessments. Termly progress meeting take place with class teachers to ensure that support is put in place to ensure all children are making progress.

How the school measures the progress of children with SEND in school:

Children are monitored in line with the Graduated Approach in addition to the whole school assessment procedures.

How the school evaluates the effectiveness of provision for pupils with SEND:

Staffing and any Specialist Qualifications/Expertise

  • SENDCO: Mrs R Shaw alongside Deputy SENDCO Mrs C Roxborough.( SENCO Award University of Wolverhampton 2011)

External Agencies and Partnerships

The school enjoys good working relationships with a wide range of people who provide services to children with SEND and their families, particularly when a child is demonstrating further cause for concern or their learning need is more complex and persistent. The external specialists may:

  • Act in an advisory capacity
  • Extend expertise of school staff
  • Provide additional assessment
  • Support a child directly
  • Suggest statutory assessment is advisable
  • Consult with all parties involved with the child

St Wilfrid’s work closely with:

  • Durham County Council Educational Psychology Service
  • NHS Occupational Therapy
  • REACH Speech and Language Therapy
  • Durham SEND Information, Advice and Support Service

Compliments and Complaints

Compliments are always greatly received and can be passed on either directly to staff and the SENCO, or formally recorded via our regular questionnaires to parents or in the form of a letter to the Head Teacher.
We hope that complaints about our SEND provision will be rare, however, if there should be a concern the process outlined in the school Complaints Policy should be followed.

Transition Arrangements

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.

How we will support children with SEND when they are moving on to another class or leaving this school:
At St Wilfrid’s we recognise how important a successful transition is to our pupils with additional needs. We work in partnership with our feeder secondary schools to provide an enhanced level of transition for those who we feel would benefit from this. This may take the form of additional visits for pupils, one to one / small group working with secondary school staff or pupil mentoring from secondary schools.

The period of transition depends on the individual needs of the pupil. If it is felt appropriate secondary school colleagues will attend Annual Reviews to meet the current class teacher, parents and most importantly the pupil. We have found this strategy particularly useful in easing any worries or concerns parents and pupils may have. We are particularly keen to involve parents/carers as much as possible in their child’s transition to secondary school. School staff will take opportunities to work alongside parents/carers to visit secondary schools in advance of secondary placement applications being submitted to the Local Authority. This ensures parents/carers can make the most informed placement decision for their child. When a secondary school has been allocated to the child, parents are fully involved and consulted at all stages of the transition process.

Transition from each Year Group is supported so that the children have met with their new teachers and are familiar with the new classroom environment and organisation. ‘Moving Up’ days are organised in the Summer term.  Class teachers share relevant information about the children moving from and to their class.  The SENDCO provides relevant history to children with SEND, so that class teachers are aware of any teaching strategies or agencies that are involved with a child.

Feedback
We are always seeking to improve on the quality of education we provide for children with SEND and are keen to hear from parents about their child’s experience. We would also like your views about the content of our SEND Information Report.
If you would like to comment please contact us.