All of our teachers teach children with additional needs and SEND. All of our staff recognise the importance of identifying additional needs and SEND early and making effective provision quickly. The identification and assessment of additional needs and SEND is built into the school’s approach to monitoring the progress of all pupils.

We assess each pupil’s skills and levels of attainment when they first come to the school. This builds on any information from the child’s previous early years setting or school, and provides us with information we need to monitor their progress. It also ensures that we discover any areas of difficulty early on. Where children already have their SEND diagnosed or identified, we will work closely with the family and other services to make sure we know as much about the child as possible before they start at the school.

Teachers and senior leaders in the school meet regularly to review pupils’ progress. This helps us to see any children whose progress is significantly slower than their peers or whose progress has slowed down and is falling behind.

When we see a child is not making adequate progress, we will look at ways a teacher can adapt lessons to support a child’s learning and progress. The school runs many additional interventions to boost children’s progress and children who need to catch up will be offered such opportunities.
If we continue to be concerned about a child’s progress, we will work with family to carry out an analysis of the child’s needs. There can be many reasons children fail to make progress (eg a significant change in family circumstances, periods of absence, emotional or confidence issues). However, less than expected progress can mean a child has an underlying special educational need.

The school uses a range of different assessment tools and systems to help identify and assess pupils with SEND. The tools and assessments gradually draw upon more frequent reviews and often more specialist expertise to understand the SEND and match interventions to the child’s SEN.

• When considering if a child needs SEND support , the school takes into account:
• The pupil previous progress and attainment (compared to peers in school and nationally)
• The teacher’s assessment and experience of the child
• The views and experiences of parents/carers (this can include a developmental history or a family history of difficulties)
• Pupil’s own views
• Advice from external support services where appropriate

Any parent/carer who feels that their child may have unrecognised SEND is strongly encouraged to contact their child’s class teacher or one of the 2 Assistant Head/SENDCo (Danny Annaly for infant children and Diana Bell for junior children).