SEND

SEND at Our School

Please see below for more information regarding the school’s approach to supporting children with SEND.

Intent, Implementation and Impact of SEND provision

Our School SENCO: Miss Amanda McNaughton

Our governor with responsibility of SEND: Mrs Linda Bashford

Whinstone Primary is a very inclusive mainstream school – we believe that every child deserves the best possible education from their own unique starting point. We strive to promote an inclusive ethos, in which diversity of need and ability is acknowledged and nurtured. We believe in the importance of appropriate educational provision for pupils of all abilities, and try very hard to ensure that we cater for all children’s needs.

Providing a high-quality education for children with SEND is at the heart of our school’s ethos of inclusion. We recognise that pupils are all different and do not have the same starting point or challenges. However, we strive to give pupils the support needed to make them all equal.

Classes are made up of mixed ability pupils, including pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Our school is an inclusive setting where the needs of pupils with SEN are met, with pupil views highly valued to ensure every child has the opportunity to experience a broad and balanced curriculum.

We ensure that pupils:

Are offered an education, which provides equal opportunities regardless of individual differences
Have access to a broad and balanced curriculum, including National Curriculum differentiated according to individual needs
Are assessed using suitable materials and with support from external agencies
Are supported with the resources available and provided within the school
Have the right, either directly or through their parents, to express a preference in relation to their educational needs and provision
Have their needs reviewed, monitored and evaluated using the Assess, Plan, Do, Review

How do we identify and give extra help to children and young people with SEN?

A pupil may be identified as SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which requires special educational provision to be made for them. This is provision that is in addition to, or different from, that generally in place for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools.

Communication and Interaction
Cognition and Learning
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties

We know when pupils need help if:

Concerns are raised by parents/carers, teachers or the child
Limited progress is being made
There is a change in the pupil’s behaviour or progress

Early identification of need is key in being able to the correctly provide support for children. Once a need has been identified, communication will take place between the parent, class teacher and SENCo to discuss next steps and an action plan in moving forward.

How do we work with and support parents and children/young people?

A support plan will be written and agreed by the class teacher, parents and pupil. The plan will outline the child’s needs and will consist of SMART targets for the child. These are reviewed termly and monitored by the SENCO.
Each pupil’s educational provision will be planned by the class teacher. It will be differentiated accordingly to suit the pupil’s individual needs. Depending on the need, support can vary but may look like one of the following:

Additional general support by the teacher or teaching assistant in the classroom (small group work)
Recommended, specific equipment to support learning, such as writing aids, seat wedges, handwriting slopes, coloured overlays/paper, fidget toys etc
Referrals to outside agencies, with parental consent
Keyworker assigned to the child to provide emotional or pastoral care
Targeted intervention if the need is related to more specific areas of learning, such as spelling, handwriting, numeracy and literacy skills etc.

In addition to in house support, we work closely with the following outside agencies:

Name of Service
CAMHs (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
Speech and Language Therapy (NHS)
Occupational Therapy (NHS)
Physiotherapy (NHS)

As a school we also use Symphony Psychology to provide assessments with an Educational Psychologist. In addition, we work with private companies in supporting individual children. If you would like more information on this, please speak on the SENCo.

Who to contact
If you have any concerns around your child’s progress or feel that they may have additional educational needs, please speak to your child’s class teacher as a first step. The class teacher will then pass on any queries to the SENCo and a further meeting can be arranged to discuss your concerns in depth. Alternatively, you can contact the school office to arrange a meeting with the SENCo if you would like to discuss your child’s special educational needs

School SENCO: Miss Amanda McNaughton – amcnaughton@whinstone.org.uk

School office: 01642 750318

Guide For Parents

Further SEND information

Our school SEND offer, with additional information amount our SEN provision, can be found by following this icon.

You can find more information on the authority’s Local Offer for children and young people with SEND and their families here:

Stockton Local Offer

Government information regarding SEND can be found here:

SEND guide for parents and carers

The SEND policy and SEND section of the Whinstone Primary School website has been written to comply with the statutory requirement laid out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) code of practice, 0-25 guidance.