Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum

How We Support SEND

Wearhead Primary School prides itself in 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.
To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum there are some actions we may take to achieve this:

• 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

A special educational need can be a number of different things. For example, your child may be having problems with reading, maths or behaviour, and school can help by putting in extra support and by working in partnership with yourself. It may also be due to a disability which makes it harder for a child to use the same educational facilities that the school provides for the majority of children. For some children this may be a temporary difficulty, while others may have a long term need for special help.

At Wearhead Primary School, we have experience of supporting children and young people with a wide range of need including:

• General Learning Difficulties – children whose learning progresses at a slower pace.
• Speech and Language Difficulties.
• Behavioural Difficulties.
• Dyslexia (difficulties with reading, writing and spelling).
• Dyspraxia (problems with motor skills, organisation).
• Dyscalculia (difficulties with number work).
• Autism.
• ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).
• Downs Syndrome.
• Cerebral Palsy.
• Other Physical/Medical Needs.

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

Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum

At Wearhead Primary School, 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.

Children learn and develop in different ways. Teachers recognise this and use different teaching styles, resources and plan different levels of work in the classroom to cater for the various ways children learn. This is called Quality First Teaching and is something schools must provide for all children. However, many children, at some time in their school life, need extra help.

Because of this, schools must:

• Talk to parents/carers if they think their child has a special educational need and let them know what special help the school is giving.
• Appoint a member of staff as the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). Mr Tim Hiley is our SENCO.
• Have a written Special Educational Needs policy.

Take account of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice. This is advice given to schools by the government which outlines what schools should do to support pupils with SEN and gives recommendations for good practice.

Examples of the type of support which may be provided may be as follows, but will depend on the nature of the child’s needs:

• Differentiation of work in class (and homework).
• Some additional small group or individual support with a teacher or support staff.
• Additional resources e.g. word banks, number squares, use of commercial schemes.
• Teaching activities to be adapted to the preferred learning style of the child, e.g. a multisensory, practical approach or use of visual cues.
• Use of ICT to support learning.
• Individual behaviour systems/charts.
• Adaptation of the Curriculum or classroom.
• Interventions to support specific difficulties (i.e. dyslexia, dyspraxia).

For further information you can view the Teaching & Learning Policy in the School Policies section of our website.

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 Wearhead Primary School, 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 SEN 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 an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.

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 SEN below:

We aim to identify children who have any difficulties as soon as possible so that appropriate support can be given from an early age. Full use is made of information passed to the school when a child transfers from early education provision and we use assessments during the Foundation Stage to identify pupils and any difficulties they may have (observations on entry, Foundation Stage Profile, Speech and Language Link, teacher assessment/observation).

Other methods used by teachers to identify pupils with SEN are as follows:

• Discussion with parent/carer to see if they have noticed anything/have any concerns.
• Ongoing teacher assessment and observation.
• Progress against the Early Learning Goals in the Foundation Stage.
• Progress against Literacy and Numeracy Objectives.
• Performance against National Curriculum level descriptors.
• Standardised screening or assessment tasks eg AR Tests.
• Results from SATs (end of Years 2 and 6).

If it seems that your child may have special educational needs, your child’s class teacher or the Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) will assess:

• What your child is good at and what they need help with.
• What your child would benefit from learning.
• How best to help your child learn.

Once provision is identified, time is allocated to individuals or groups to best suit their learning style, ability and need.

This is monitored and can be changed once the impact is assessed. Monitoring and Tracking of children with SEND is through the same methods as identification. Assessment is ongoing. Identified needs are evaluated and discussed in light of assessment results and through staff discussion.

Staffing and any Specialist Qualifications/Expertise 

Both teaching and support staff are involved in regular training to support the work they do with children with SEND. This includes having sound knowledge of, for example, dealing with communication difficulties, children on the autistic spectrum and dyslexia.

Specific training to deliver interventions has included:

• Indicative Provision Guidance (identifying level of need).
• Introduction to Speech, Language & Communication (SALT).
• Working with children’s Speech & Language difficulties.
• SALT – Classroom Strategies.
• Lexia.
• ICT: Communicate in Print (using symbols).
• Team Teach.
• De-escalation strategies.
• Numicon assessments.
• Behaviour Support Service.
• South Durham Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
• School Nurse Service.
• Occupational Health service.
• One Point Hub.

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.