Mengham Junior School

023 9246 2162

Special Educational Needs and Disabilites Report

SEN Information Report updated December 2020

Mengham Junior School is a mainstream school committed to providing the very best learning opportunities for all children. The school, including its governing body, recognise that treating people equally does not necessarily involve treating everyone the same.  We value our pupils and it is our aim to ensure that, through a broad, balanced and rich curriculum, they will all reach their full potential. As a fully inclusive school, it is our intention that all pupils have their needs met within a caring and supportive environment.

Definition of Special Educational Needs

‘A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty

or disability if he or she: (a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or (b) has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.’

(Children and Families Act 2014 Part Three)

The four key areas of SEND as stipulated in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice:  0 – 25 (2014) are:

  • Communication and Interaction
  • Cognition and Learning
  • Social, mental and emotional health
  • Sensory and / or physical needs.

How do we identify if a child has special educational needs? 

  • Our open door policies ensure that discussions with parents / carers who express concern lead to further investigations
  • Liaisons with previous schools
  • Some students may be working below age related expectations to the extent that they satisfy the SEND criteria.
  • Concerns raised by teacher
  • Liaison with external agencies – see page 4 for a list of agencies
  • Despite quality teaching there is a lack of progress by the child over a prolonged period of time
  • Health diagnosis through paediatrician
  • At pupil progress meetings, the senior leadership team meet with class teachers to discuss children’s progress; this helps identify any children who require support.
  • Through the use of a range of screening tools to identify specific needs such as Dyslexia Gold, Youngs Spelling test and Salford reading test.
  • All children are closely monitored by class teachers and other staff members through observations, analysis of data and / or emotional / social concerns. These are relayed to the school’s SENCo who will make further investigations / analysis if required. 

What should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?

  • Speak to your child about school and their learning.
  • In the first instance, talk to your child’s class teacher about their progress and any concerns you may have.
  • Contact the SENCo who will further investigate your concerns to determine if additional support or outside agencies need to be contacted.

How will school support my child? 

  • Our SENCo oversees and monitors all support and progress of any child requiring additional support across the school.
  • All teachers are teachers of children with special educational needs.
  • All teachers are responsible for ensuring that children receive relevant support and that individualised teaching and learning strategies are implemented. Differentiation is planned for at an appropriate level so that all children are able to access learning according to their specific needs. The SENCo will support teachers to differentiate appropriately for children with SEND.
  • There may be occasions when a teaching assistant may work with your child as part of a group or on an individual basis.
  • In addition to class support, your child may receive targeted intervention to address an identified area of need. This support will be monitored by the SENCo to ensure it is appropriate and achieving the desired outcome. You will be informed of the intervention, its purpose and what you can do to support your child.
  • Where needs are complex, the SENCo may seek advice from external agencies such as specialist teacher advisors, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists. You will be consulted and your permission requested.

Who will explain this to me?

  • Your child’s needs are discussed during parent teacher consultations.
  • For further information, the SENCo is available to discuss support in more detail.

How are the governors involved and what are their responsibilities? 

  • The SENCo reports to the governors termly to inform them about the progress of children with SEND. This report does not refer to individual children and confidentiality is maintained at all times.
  • One of the governors is responsible for monitoring SEND and meets regularly with the SENCo. They report back to the other governors to keep them all informed. 

How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?

  • In line with our Equalities Policy, we aim to deliver a curriculum according to children’s needs, in relation to pupil progress, attainment and achievement.
  • All work within class is differentiated so that all children can access the curriculum according to their specific needs and abilities. This will mean that the tasks they are required to undertake will be achievable but challenging, providing opportunities for your child to make progress.
  • Differentiation for children with SEND will be monitored by the SENCo.
  • Some examples of support your child may receive include scaffolded tasks, a break-down of tasks into manageable tasks and the provision of specialist equipment.

How will I know how my child is doing?

  • We offer an open door policy; you are welcome at any time to make an appointment to meet with either the class teacher or SENCo to discuss how your child is getting on. We can offer advice and practical ways that you can help your child at home.
  • We believe that your child’s education should be a partnership between parents and teachers and therefore we aim to keep communication channels open and communicate with you regularly, especially if your child has complex needs.
  • The home school agreement sets out expectations of both parent and school to provide the basis of a successful working partnership.
  • Your child’s progress will be discussed at parent consultations.
  • If your child has complex SEND, then a request for an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) may be made. If your child has an EHCP, a formal review meeting will take place annually to discuss your child’s progress against a set of objectives outlined in these plans.  

How will you help me to support my child’s learning? 

  • Parent teacher consultations are an ideal opportunity to discuss any support you may require in order to support your child.
  • The school provides your child with a home learning book. Weekly tasks and activities are provided in this book.   
  • Home learning will designed so that it is accessible to your child.
  • In line with the home school agreement, you can support your child by ensuring that they read at least 4 times a week; practise their spellings and learn times tables.
  • Class teachers and the SENCo are available to discuss support for individual children’s needs.
  • We ask that you keep us informed of any issues outside of school that may have an impact on your child’s ability to learn.

How does the school know how well my child is doing?

  • As a school, we measure children’s progress in learning against national age related expectations.
  • Class teachers continually assess each child and identify areas where they are improving and where further support is needed. As a school, we track children’s progress from entry at year 3 through to year 6. 
  • Children who are not making the expected progress are identified through pupil progress meetings with the class teacher and the senior leadership team. In this meeting, a discussion takes place concerning why individual children are experiencing difficulty and what further support can be given to aid their progression.  

What support is there for behaviour, avoiding exclusion and increasing attendance?

  • As a school, we have a very positive approach to all types of behaviour with a clear reward system that is followed by all staff and pupils.
  • If a child has specific difficulties, then an Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP) is written by the class teacher. This will identify the specific issues being faced by a child, outline any relevant support to be put in place and set targets.  These will be reviewed termly.
  • After any behaviour incident, we expect the child to reflect on their behaviour with an adult. This helps to identify why the incident happened and what the child needs to do differently next time to change and improve their behaviour.
  • It may be that we request support from the Primary Behaviour Service, with your consent, if further support with behaviour is considered necessary.
  • Exclusion is only ever used as a last resort.
  • Attendance of every child is monitored on a daily basis by the administration staff. Lateness and absence are recorded and reported upon to a Headteacher each week.  Support may be given through our Home-School Link Worker, Leah Gornall, who may work with parents and pupils to devise strategies to improve time keeping and attendance.

What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?

  • Children’s well-being is crucial to a child’s education. We have a caring, understanding team looking after our children.
  • Through our broad and balanced curriculum there are lots of opportunities planned to develop children’s confidence, esteem, and social and emotional well-being.
  • At this current time, the school has a trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) who may work with your child if your child is experiencing emotional difficulties or if it is felt that they would benefit from support with their well-being. You will be informed before any work commences.
  • At given times, the school provides a nurture group which focuses on development of skills such as listening, turn-taking and sharing.

What training is provided for staff supporting children with SEND?

  • All teachers are trained to teach children with special educational needs.
  • As a school we work closely with any external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual children’s needs including:

 Behaviour

      • Primary Behaviour Service

Health

      • School nurse
      • Children and Adolescents Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
      • Paediatricians
      • Speech and language therapists
      • Occupational therapists 

Public Services

      • Locality Teams
      • Social workers
      • Educational psychologists

 

  • Teachers and teaching assistants are given regular training; this will be dependent on the needs of the staff and pupils at the time.
  • We have a member of staff who is a trained ELSA.
  • We have trained members of staff who deliver nurture and ‘socially speaking’ groups.
  • Teachers and teaching assistants are trained periodically in behaviour management.
  • All our teaching assistants are trained in delivering reading, mathematics and spelling / phonics programmes.
  • Staff have access to Individual Development Programmes (IDP) for training in speech and language, dyslexia and behaviour.

How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?

  • All children are included in all parts of the school curriculum and we aim for all children to be included on school trips. We will provide the necessary support and make reasonable adjustments to ensure that this is successful.
  • A risk assessment is completed prior to any off-site activity to ensure everyone’s health and safety will not be compromised. Children also complete their own risk assessment prior to any trips to ensure that they are aware of the risks involved and the measures needed to reduce them.  In the unlikely event that it is considered unsafe for a child to take part in an activity, then alternative activities which will cover the same curriculum areas will be provided in school.

How accessible is the school environment?

  • The school is wheelchair accessible with a disabled toilet, large enough to accommodate changing. The school is on one level with all doors accessible for wheelchairs.
  • If a child has a visual and/or hearing impairment, then classroom adaptations and reasonable adjustments will be made to meet the needs of children.
  • The Specialist Teacher Advisory Service may provide the school with specialist equipment specific to your child’s needs.
  • The school has disabled parking bays.
  • We have, in the past, liaised with Ethnic Minority Achievement Services (EMAS) who have assisted us in supporting families with English as an additional language.
  • We have access to Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS). The team helps children from different ethnic minority groups, both in their homes and their educational setting. 

How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s Special Educational Needs?

  • We ensure that the needs of children with SEND are met to the best of the school’s abilities with the funds available.
  • We have a team of teaching assistants who are funded from the SEND budget and deliver programmes designed to meet children’s individual needs.
  • The budget is allocated on a needs basis. The children who have the most complex needs are given the most support, often involving a teaching assistant.

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?

  • The class teacher and the SENCo will discuss a child’s needs and what support would be appropriate, determining the greatest need.
  • The SENCo will analyse teacher assessment data against Hampshire Guidelines to determine whether a child would benefit from an intervention.

How do we know if it has had an impact?

  • When children begin a reading intervention they will be tested to find out their reading and spelling age, this is done in a low-key manner by a teaching assistant. At the end of each term, they will be retested to find the new spelling and reading ages thus showing the impact of the intervention.
  • We will assess whether the child is making progress academically against age expected expectations.
  • If your child has support with social, emotional and mental health then Boxall profiles and observations may be used to monitor progress.
  • Verbal feedback from the teacher, parent and pupil.
  • Children may move off the SEND register when they have made sufficient progress and are in line with age related expectations.

How are parents / carers and children currently involved?  How can I get involved and who can I contact for further information?

  • The school welcomes parents into our school. There are a number of ways that you can become involved: parent helpers listening to children read or assisting on specific days such as Design and Technology days.  Our parent committee, Friends of Mengham School (FOMS), also organise summer fayres and school discos.
  • Throughout the school year, there are many opportunities for parents to visit the school, where staff and children proudly share their learning.
  • The co-headteachers welcome visits to the school from prospective parents and pupils.
  • Parent consultations are held termly; these include an opportunity to meet with the SENCo to discuss any additional needs your child has.
  • Children contribute their views about school through the school learning council. They are sometimes questioned more specifically about teaching and learning and any provision that has been put in place for them.  This is done to assess the impact of provision and to identify any areas that need developing.
  • If your child has an EHCP, your views and the views of your child will be sought before any review meetings.
  • For further information about joining FOMS or becoming more involved with the school, please contact the school office who will be happy to help you. 

How will the school prepare and support my child when joining the school and transferring to a new school?

  • We encourage all new children to visit the school prior to starting; they will meet class teachers and peers and will be shown around the school. For children with SEND we would encourage further visits to assist with the acclimatisation of the new surroundings.  Where possible, we may also visit them in their current school.
  • Our SENCo works closely with SENCos at Mengham Infant School and Hayling College to discuss the specific needs of individual children; this will include intervention programmes they have accessed and any other support they receive.
  • We transfer any documentation to relevant schools and will discuss specific needs and concerns with the receiving school. When children are transferred to our school, we ensure that all documentation is read and understood. 
  • We will write social stories with children if transition is potentially going to be difficult, including transition to another year group within key stage 2.
  • If a child has an EHCP, then a review meeting will be used as a transition meeting during which we will invite staff from both schools. A Transition Partnership Agreement may also be created. 

Who can I contact for further information? 

  • First point of contact would be your child’s class teacher to share your concerns.
  • You could also arrange to meet Miss Slade, our SENCo.
  • Further information can be found on our SEN policy which is on our website (Special Educational Needs Policy).
  • Contact the Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) in Hampshire hampshiresendiass.co.uk
  • Contact Independent Parental Special Education Advice (IPSEA) ipsea.org.uk/ 

Who should I contact if I’m considering whether my child should join the school?

  • Contact the school admin office to arrange to meet the one of our co-head teachers, Mrs Odele Davies or Mr Edd Harrison who will be willing to discuss how the school will meet your child’s needs. 

Where can I get further information about services for my child?

Please view the following documents alongside the SEN Information Plan:

Glossary

CAMHS          Children and Adolescents Mental Health Service

EHCP              Education Health Care Plan

ELSA               Emotional Literacy Support Assistant

EMAS             Ethnic Minority Achievement Service

EMTAS           Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service

FOMS             Friends of Mengham School

IBP                  Individual Behaviour Plan

IDP                  Individual Development Programme

SENCo            Special Educational Needs Coordinator

SEND              Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

TPA                 Transition Partnership Agreement