The contact details of our SEN coordinator is: Ms Claire Shortt, Headteacher, Broughton Primary School. Tel: 01536 790282

Northamptonshire's local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilites can be found below:

• Local Offer Website
• Local Offer Twitter feed
• Local Offer Facebook page

You can contact them on: localoffer@northnorthants.gov.uk

Effective working links are maintained with:

• Educational Psychology Service: Contact Number : 0300 126 1000
• Educational Inclusion and Partnership Team: Contact number : 0300 126 1000  
• Independent Advice and Support Services: Contact Number : 0300 126 1000
• Virtual School for Looked After Children: Contact number : 0300 126 1000   
• Primary Behaviour Outreach Support (Kings Meadow Team or Maplefields Team): Contact numbers: Maplefields 01536 409040

(See Local Offer website link above for contact details in relation to High Needs Funding Applications and Education Health and Care Plans)

As an inclusive school, we do not seek to closely define the special educational needs for which we will make provision.  Historically, we have had success in providing for a wide range of different needs, when budget, resources and availability of expertise allowed. This has included pupils with :

• Dyslexia
• Autistic Spectrum Disorders
• Dyspraxia
• Visual Impairment 
• Hearing Impairment

 In admitting pupils with special educational needs, we would expect to have informative discussions with both the pupil’s family and the local authority to ascertain the suitability of our provision.  We understand that it is initially our responsibility to make provision for a pupil with special educational needs through the school’s devolved SEN budget.  Thereafter, we are aware of the process of applying for High Needs Funding if the pupil’s and the school’s needs make that a necessity. As a mainstream school, it would clearly be difficult for us to make provision for pupils whose needs and/or demands are significant, severe or profound – to the extent that it could be argued that they would be most appropriately placed in a special school.  However, we do not rule this out and would make a careful assessment of the needs of each pupil in constructive conversation with other agencies.

As a school, we are mindful of and comply with the LA Expectations of Schools, which outlines the key ways in which pupils should be supported in class, along with expected equality duties shown in our 'Equality Policy'–see separate tab in the menu.

We have a range of policies confirming the support we give identified pupils to address their additional needs. Different interventions and approaches are used to address specific areas, and we would look carefully at your child’s individual needs when deciding how best to support your child and which of the interventions to use.

You can view our 'School Access Plan' by opening the attached document at the bottom of this page. If you would like to view additional policies, please ask the school office for a copy of these. 

STAGE 1 Well-differentiated, quality first teaching, including, where appropriate, the use of  small group interventions.  All vulnerable learners will be included on a whole-school provision map.

• All learners will have access to quality first teaching.
• Some vulnerable learners will have access to carefully differentiated activities or approaches directly related to the school curriculum which are part of our good practice in making teaching and learning accessible to pupils learning at different rates.  These will probably be pupils who are underachieving and have been identified by the school as needing to make accelerated progress, but will not necessarily be pupils with special educational needs.  This is considered to be a differentiation of the usual school curriculum – not a special intervention for pupils with SEN.
• All vulnerable learners will be included on a detailed whole-school provision map which outlines and monitors all additional intervention across the school. The whole school provision map enables the school to:
  • Plan strategically to meet pupils’ identified needs and track their provision.
  • Audit how well provision matches needs.
  • Recognise gaps in provision
  • Highlight repetitive or ineffective use of resources
  • Cost provision effectively
  • Demonstrate accountability for financial efficiency
  • Demonstrate to all staff how support is deployed
  • Inform parents, LEA, external agencies and Ofsted about resource deployment
  • Focus attention on whole-school issues of learning and teaching as well as individual needs, providing an important tool for self-evaluation.

 

Identification and Assessment at Stage 1

Children’s needs should be identified and met as early as possible through :

• The analysis of data including entry profiles, Foundation Stage Profile scores, “A Language in Common” assessment,  reading ages, other whole-school pupil progress data
• classroom-based assessment and monitoring arrangements. (Cycle of planning, action and review.)
• following up parental concerns
• tracking individual children’s progress over time,
• liaison with feeder nurseries on transfer
• information from previous schools
• information from other services
• maintaining a provision map for all vulnerable learners which clearly identifies pupils receiving additional SEN Support from the school’s devolved budget or in receipt of High Needs funding. This provision map is updated termly through meetings between the teachers and SENCO.
• Undertaking, when necessary, a more in-depth individual assessment – this may include a range of commercially available assessments, carefully chosen to deliver appropriate, useful information on a pupil’s needs. It may include a bilingual assessment where English is not the first language.
• Involving an external agency where it is suspected that a special educational need is significant.

Curriculum Access and Provision for vulnerable learners

Where children are underachieving and/or identified as having special educational needs, the school provides for these additional needs in a variety of ways and might use a combination of these approaches to address targets identified for individual pupils.

• Teachers differentiate work as part of quality first teaching.
• small group withdrawal time (limited and carefully monitored to ensure curriculum entitlement is not compromised)
• individual class support / individual withdrawal
• further differentiation of resources,
• homework/learning support club,
• Early morning club for reading/ spelling support
• Lunchtime support for behaviour
• Play Buddies/ social skills

Monitoring and Evaluation

The monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of our provision for vulnerable learners is carried out in the following ways:

• classroom observation by the SENCO, EMA co-ordinator and senior leaders.
• ongoing assessment of progress made by intervention groups
• work sampling on a termly basis.
• scrutiny of planning.
• teacher interviews with the SENCO/EMA co-ordinator.
• informal feedback from all staff.
• pupil interviews when setting new IEP targets or reviewing existing targets.
• pupil progress tracking using assessment data (whole-school processes)
• monitoring IEPs and IEP targets, evaluating the impact of IEPs on pupils’ progress.
• attendance records and liaison with Education Entitlement Service.
• regular meetings about pupils’ progress between the SENCO/EMA co-ordinator and the head teacher
• head teacher’s report to parents and governors

Stage 2 Additional SEN Support

• Pupils will be offered additional SEN support when it is clear that their needs require intervention which is “additional to” or “different from” the well-differentiated curriculum offered for all pupils in the school, i.e. they have a special educational need as defined by the SEN Code of Practice 2014.
• Under-achieving pupils and pupils with EAL who do not have SEN will not be placed on the list of pupils being offered additional SEN support (but will be on the school’s provision map).
• In keeping with all vulnerable learners, intervention for pupils on the SEN list will be identified and tracked using the whole-school provision map.
• It may be decided that a very small number (but not all) of the pupils on the SEN list will require additional High Needs funding, for which an application needs to be made to the Local Authority, to ensure their underlying special educational need is being addressed. This may particularly be the case where outside agencies have been involved in assessing the pupil or contributing to their provision.  Where the school can evidence that more than £6,000 above the Average Weighted Pupil Unit has, or will need to be, spent on a pupil within any one financial year, in order to meet his or her special educational needs, an application will be made to the Local Authority, with particular regard to the success criteria and SEN Descriptors published as part of the Local Offer.
• Where a pupil has a significant, severe and sustained need, it may be necessary to enter a multidisciplinary assessment process with health and social care in order to consider the need for an Education Health and Care Plan.
• Where a pupil is in receipt of High Needs Funding and/or an Education Health and Care Plan, regular reviews will be held by parents.

Stage 3 Statement of Special Educational Needs or Education Health and Care Plan

• Pupils with a statement of educational needs (pre September 2014) or an Education Health and Care Plan (post September 2014) will have access to all arrangements for pupils on the SEN list (above) and, in addition to this, will have an Annual Review of their statement/plan.
• Our school will comply with all local arrangements and procedures when applying for
  • High Needs Block Funding
  • An Education Health and Care Plan

And will ensure that all pre-requisites for application have been met through ambitious and proactive additional SEN Support using our devolved budget at an earlier stage.

• Our review procedures fully comply with those recommended in Section 6.15 of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice and with local NCC policy and guidance – particularly with regard to the timescales set out within the process.

Headteacher

• The head teacher is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the progress of all pupils and for making strategic decisions which will maximise their opportunity to learn.
• The head teacher and the governing body will delegate the day-to-day implementation of this policy to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and Ethnic Minority Achievement Co-ordinator.
• The head teacher will be informed of the progress of all vulnerable learners and any issues with regard to the school’s provision in this regard through:
  • analysis of the whole-school pupil progress tracking system
  • maintenance and analysis of a whole-school provision map for vulnerable learners (could be devolved to another member of the SLT and SENCO)
  • pupil progress meetings with individual teachers
  • regular meetings with the SENCO/EMA Co-ordinator
  • discussions and consultations with pupils and parents

Special Educational Needs Coordinator

In line with the recommendations in the SEN Code of Practice 2015, the SENCO will oversee the day- to-day operation of this policy in the following ways:

• maintenance and analysis of whole-school provision map for vulnerable learners
• Identifying on this provision map a staged list of pupils with special educational needs – those in receipt of additional SEN support from the schools devolved budget, those in receipt of High Needs funding and those with statements of Special Educational Needs or Education Health and Care plans.
• co-ordinating provision for children with special educational needs
• liaising with and advising teachers
• managing other classroom staff involved in supporting vulnerable learners
• overseeing the records on all children with Special Educational Needs
• contributing to the in-service training of staff
• implementing a programme of Annual Review for all pupils with a statement of special educational need. Complying with requests from an Education Health and Care Plan Coordinator to participate in a review
• carrying out referral procedures to the Local Authority to request High Needs funding and/or an Education Health and Care Plan when it is suspected, on strong evidence arising from previous intervention (additional SEN support from devolved budget), that a pupil may have a special educational need which will require significant support
• overseeing the smooth running of transition arrangements and transfer of information for Year 6  pupils on the vulnerable learners’ provision map.
• Monitoring the school’s system to ensure that Individual Education Plans, where it is agreed they will be useful for a pupil with special educational needs, have a high profile in the classroom and with pupils (see section below on Individual Education Plans)
• Evaluate regularly the impact and effectiveness of all additional interventions for all vulnerable learners (including those with special educational needs)
• meeting at least termly with each teacher to review and revise learning objectives for all vulnerable learners in their class who are being tracked on the school’s provision map (school managers will guarantee planning and preparation time for teachers and SENCO to ensure that these meetings occur).
• Liaising and consulting sensitively with parents and families of pupils on the SEN list, keeping them informed of progress and listening to their views of progress, in conjunction with class teachers
• attending area SENCO network meetings and training as appropriate.
• liaising with the school’s Inclusion Governor, keeping him/her informed of current issues regarding provision for vulnerable learners, including those with Special Educational Needs (nationally, locally and within school)
• liaising closely with a range of outside agencies to support vulnerable learners.

Ethnic Minority Achievement Coordinator

The EMA co-ordinator will oversee the day-to-day operation of this policy in the following ways:

• maintenance of a list of pupils with ethnic minority heritage and EAL, ensuring they are identified on the school’s provision map
• in collaboration with the SENCO, maintenance and analysis of a whole-school provision map for vulnerable learners from ethnic/linguistic minority backgrounds.
• advising on and co-ordinating provision for children with additional needs relating to ethnic or linguistic background.
• Working collaboratively with teachers to plan for and teach children with EAL as part of mainstream teaching practice
• managing other classroom staff involved in supporting ethnic/linguistic minorities
• Overseeing the initial and ongoing assessment records on all children with EAL
• liaising with parents of ethnic and linguistic minority children, in conjunction with class teachers, keeping them informed of progress and listening to their views of progress.
• meeting at least termly with each teacher to review the linguistic progress of children learning EAL and establish next steps in learning
• in collaboration with the SENCO, evaluating regularly the impact and effectiveness of all additional interventions for children from cultural and linguistic minority backgrounds.
• in collaboration with the SENCO, overseeing the smooth running of transition arrangements and transfer of information for Year 6 pupils with EAL.
• contributing to the in-service training of staff
• supporting the design and delivery of a culturally inclusive curriculum which reflects the ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity of the school
• advising on and sourcing bilingual and culturally reflective materials to support children’s learning across the curriculum
• advising on and sourcing interpreters and materials in translation to ensure that bilingual parents have equality of access to essential information.
• attending EMA Co-ordinator network meetings and training as appropriate.
• liaising with the school’s Inclusion Governor, keeping him/her informed of current issues regarding provision for ethnic/linguistic minorities.
• liaising closely with a range of outside agencies to ethnic & linguistic minority learners

Class teacher

• liaising with the SENCO/EMA co-ordinator to agree :
  • which pupils in the class are vulnerable learners
  • which pupils are underachieving and need t have their additional interventions monitored on the a vulnerable learners’ provision map – but do not have special educational needs.
  • which pupils (als on the provision map) require additional support because of a special educational need and need to go on the school’s SEN list. Some of these pupils may require advice/support from an outside professional and, therefore, an Individual Education Plan to address a special educational need (this would include pupils with statements/EHC Plans)
• securing good provision and good outcomes for all groups of vulnerable learners by :
  • Providing differentiated teaching and learning opportunities, including differentiated work for EAL pupils which reduces linguistic difficulty whilst maintaining cognitive challenge.
  • ensuring there is adequate opportunity for pupils with special educational needs to work on agreed targets which are genuinely “additional to” or “different from” those normally provided as part of the differentiated curriculum offer and strategies”   (SEN Code of Practice 2015)
  • Ensuring effective deployment of resources – including teaching assistant support – to maximise outcomes for all groups of vulnerable learners.

Depending upon the stage of support as outlined above, the progress of our pupils will be assessed and reviewed through:

• The school’s generic processes for tracking the progress of all pupils
• ​Termly evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions on the provision map (in relation to the progress of each pupil)
• ​At least termly evaluation of whether pupils in receipt of High Needs Funding and/or with Education Health and Care Plans are meeting their individual targets which have been written to address their underlying special educational need.
• ​Annual review of Statements/Education Health and Care Plans as prescribed in the SEND Code of Practice (September 2015)

As an inclusive school, we do everything we can to ensure that pupils of all abilities and needs are fully included in the life of the school.

Where appropriate and legitimate, we endeavour to provide different ways for all learners to access the same learning experience, rather than withdrawing pupils and providing an entirely different activity.

Our deployment of additional staffing and resources funded from our devolved additional needs budget through the Local Offer, ensure that all curriculum experiences are available to all pupils in the school (eg educational visits, extra-curricular activities), particularly where a voluntary financial contribution from parents is required for the activity to run.  This is in compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

All lesson planning seeks to address the learning needs of all pupils in the class.  Teachers receive regular training and support to ensure they are skilled in differentiating the curriculum for vulnerable learners.  When subject coordinators monitor planning, work and progress data and when they or senior leaders carry out observations of teaching and learning in classrooms, particular attention is given to whether the ongoing learning offer is inclusive.

Pupils are encouraged to analyse how they themselves learn and there is an ongoing dialogue about this in our classroom.  Pupils are given the opportunity and support  to develop self-help strategies to ensure their full access to the curriculum.

The social and emotional development of our pupils is supported through:

• Specific Social skills programmes such as ‘Time to Talk’,
• Protective Behaviours for vulnerable pupils,
• Friendship issues, social integrations through Play Buddies, Playtime support for games,
• Circle time, time to talk about their concerns
• Assemblies on inclusive themes such as ‘It’s good to be me’
• Meet and Greet as appropriate for pupils experiencing difficulties settling into school life,
• School Council- listening to the concerns and ambitions of the children for their school
• Support for Anti-Bullying Week, Safety On line cyber bullying as regular events

Contact details - Anna Phippen – Head of Pastoral Care

In accordance with Section 6 of the SEN Code of Practice 2015, our Special Educational Needs Coordinator is a qualified teacher working at our school and has statutory accreditation.

The SENCO, EMA Coordinator and Designated Teacher for LAC regularly attend local network meetings.

All staff are trained in how to best support vulnerable learners in order to maximise their achievement as part of the school development plan and annual schedule of continuous professional development.  Specific training needs will be identified and met through the appraisal/performance management process.

Specialist advice and expertise in relation to assessment and support of individual pupils is commissioned by the school from the open market, accessing, as far as possible, services available as part of the Local Offer.

All staffing appointments to support vulnerable learners will be carried out in accordance with equal opportunities' legislation, employment law, safer recruiting policy and best practice.  All vacancies will be competitively advertised to ensure our school employs staff of the highest calibre.

When specialist equipment or a high level of staffing support is required to support a pupil with special educational needs, our school will fund this as additional SEN support up to £6,000 per annum for each individual pupil.  Thereafter, if the cost is higher and the provision of these facilities is likely to be prolonged, the school will apply to the Local Authority for High Needs Block Funding.

Specialist equipment and expertise in relation to its use will be purchased/hired/ commissioned by the school from the open market, subject to the usual guarantees, service level agreements and quality assurance criteria. Our school will, wherever possible, join with other schools in joint purchasing/hire of equipment.

All staffing appointments to support vulnerable learners will be carried out in accordance with equal opportunities' legislation, employment law, safer recruiting policy and best practice.  All vacancies will be competitively advertised and recruited.

Partnership with Parents/Carers

The school aims to work in partnership with parents and carers.  We do so by:

• working effectively with all other agencies supporting children and their parents
• giving parents and carers opportunities to play an active and valued role in their child’s education
• making parents and carers feel welcome
• encouraging parents and carers to inform school of any difficulties they perceive their child may be having or other needs the child may have which need addressing
• instilling confidence that the school will listen and act appropriately
• focusing on the child’s strengths as well as areas of additional need
• allowing parents and carers opportunities to discuss ways in which they and the school can help their child
• agreeing targets for all pupils, in particular, those not making expected progress and, for some pupils identified as having special educational needs, involving parents in the drawing-up and monitoring progress against these targets
• keeping parents and carers informed and giving support during assessment and any related decision-making process
• making parents and carers aware of the Independent Advice and Support Services available as part of the Local Offer.
• providing all information in an accessible way, including, where necessary, translated information for parents with English as an Additional Language.

Involvement of Pupils

We recognise that all pupils have the right to be involved in making decisions and exercising choice. In most lessons, all pupils are involved in monitoring and reviewing their progress through the use of layered targets.  We endeavour to fully involve all pupils by encouraging them to:

• state their views about their education and learning
• identify their own needs and learn about learning

Our school will identify sources of support as they develop and evolve as the Local Offer is defined through Education, Health and Social Care (including the establishment of joint commissioning arrangements).

We seek to respond quickly to emerging needs and work closely with other agencies including :

• Early Help Assessment Team
• CAMHS
• Educatinal Psychology Service
• Independent Advice and Supprt Services
• NCC Sensry Impairment team
• Lcal NHS services
• Targeted Preventin Team
• Educatin Entitlement Service
• Early Years SEN supprt service (Inc Portage team)
• Multi-agency safeguarding hub

In accordance with the SEND Code of Practice 2015, we invite all relevant agencies to annual review meetings, transition meetings and specific provision planning meetings involving pupils with special educational needs in our school.  For pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans, we comply fully with requests from independent facilitators to provide information and cooperate fully with other agencies.

Often at the request of families, we liaise with voluntary bodies in order to be as familiar as possible with best practice when the special educational needs of a pupil are very specific (eg autism, visual impairment etc). 

We have a clear point of contact within the school who will coordinate the support from outside agencies for each pupil.  Most often, this will be the SENCo or Designated Teacher for LAC, but in some cases it can be another member of staff who we have identified as a key worker.

We will ensure early and timely planning for transfer to a pupil’s next phase of education and, in the penultimate year before they leave, will offer transition meetings to all pupils in receipt of Additional SEN support and all those with statements of Special Educational Needs. Pupils with Education Health and Care Plans will have next phase destinations and transition arrangements discussed at plan review meetings convened by the plan coordinator.

A transition timeline will be produced, with specific responsibilities identified.

Support for the pupil in coming to terms with moving on will be carefully planned and will include familiarisation visits and counselling.  Pupils will be included in all “class transition days” to the next phase but may also be offered additional transition visits.

Pupils and parents will be encouraged to consider all options for the next phase of education and the school will involve outside agencies, as appropriate, to ensure information is comprehensive but easily accessible and understandable. Accompanied visits to other providers may be arranged as appropriate.

Parents will be given a reliable named contact at the next phase provider with whom the SENCo will liaise.

No child will be refused admission to school on the basis of his or her special educational need, ethnicity or language need.  In line with the Equalities Act 2010, we will not discriminate against disabled children, and we will take all reasonable steps to provide effective educational provision (see Admission policy for the school, as agreed with the Local Authority.

If there are any complaints relating to the provision for children with SEN or EAL these will be dealt with in the first instance by the class teacher and SENCO / Ethnic Minority Achievement Co-ordinator, then, if unresolved, by the head teacher.  The governor with specific responsibility for SEN/inclusion may be involved if necessary.  In the case of an unresolved complaint, the issue should be taken through the general Governors complaints procedure (see separate Complaints Policy).