Special educational needs and provision can be considered as falling under four broad areas:

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, mental and emotional health
• Sensory and/or physical

Communication and interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

Children and young people with an Autism Spectrum Condition, including Asperger ’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication, social interaction and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.

Cognition and learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.

Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties    

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

Sensory and/or physical needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties, which makes it even more difficult for them to access the curriculum or study programme than for those with a single sensory impairment.

Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.

1. • Liaison with the previous educational setting
   • Tracking information – is the child performing below age expected levels?
   • School based assessment
   • Concerns raised by parents
   • Concern raised by school staff
   • Concern raised by pupil
   • Liaison with external agencies
   • Health diagnosis

This support will vary depending on individual pupil need.

If you have a concern about your child the best person to talk to, initially, is their class teacher.

The class teacher is responsible for:

• Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and letting the SENCo know as necessary.
• Writing targets, and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next term.
• Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

In our school we also have a special educational needs coordinator, known as the SENCO. The SENCo in our school is Mrs  L Terry she can be contacted through the school office. Telephone: 0121 354 6270 Email:  enquiry@stjosutton.net 

The SENCo is responsible for:

• Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
• Ensuring that you are:
  • involved in supporting your child’s learning
  • kept informed about the support your child is getting
  • involved in reviewing how they are doing
• Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc…
• Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs.
• Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in the school achieve the best progress possible.

If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress you should speak to the Principal -Mr O’ Hara .The Principal is responsible for:

• The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.
• He will give responsibility to the SENCo and class teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
• He must make sure that the Academy Committee is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.

If you are still not happy you can speak to the SEND Academy committee representative. The SEND representative is Mrs R Miras-Pye. The SEND representative is  responsible for:

• Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND.

We pride ourselves on building positive relationships with parents. We are open and honest with parents and hope that they are able to do the same with us.

• The school has a training plan for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those with SEND. This includes whole school training on SEND issues such as ASD, dyslexia and Speech and language difficulties.
• Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies  where needs arise that are relevant to specific children in their class e.g. from the Communication and Autism Team (CAT), Sensory Support Services (SSS), etc.

Over the last 12 months  staff in school have received the following training:

• Child protection training
• Asthma training
• Epi –pen training
• Safe Guarding
• Autism Training level 1 and level 2
• Peer mediation
• Training in delivering reading and spelling/phonics programmes
• Dyslexia awareness and classroom strategies.

And also in school we have named staff trained in:

• A Lead practitioner in ASD training / Level 3 Autism.
• Qualified first aiders

• Our SENCo oversees all support and progress of any child requiring additional support across the school.
• The class teacher will oversee, plan and work with each child with SEND in their class to ensure that progress in every area is made.
• There may be a Teaching Assistant (TA) working with your child either individually or as part of a group; if this is seen as necessary by the class teacher. The regularity of these sessions will be explained to parents when the support starts.

The class teacher will meet with parents at least on a termly basis (this could be as part of Parent’s evening) to discuss your child’s needs, support and progress.

For further information the SENCo is available to discuss support in more detail.

The benefit of this type of differentiation is that all children can access a lesson and learn at their level.

• We believe that your child’s education should be a partnership between parents and teachers, therefore we aim to keep communication channels open and communicate regularly, especially if your child has complex needs.
• If your child is on the SEND register they will have individual targets put in to place to support their needs. These will be discussed and reviewed, with staff, parents and pupils, on a termly basis. The targets set are SMART (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, Time scaled) targets with the expectation that the child will achieve the target by the time it is reviewed.
• As a school we measure children’s progress in learning against national expectations and age related expectations.
• The class teacher continually assesses each child and notes areas where they are improving and where further support is needed. As a school, we track children’s progress from entry through to Year Six, using a variety of different methods.
• Children who are not making expected progress are picked up through pupil progress meetings with the class teacher and Principal/Vice Principal. 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.
• When the children’s targets are reviewed the impact of the interventions are recorded.

• At St. Joseph’s we value and celebrate each child being able to express their views on all aspects of school life. This is usually carried out through the School Council which has an open forum for any issues or viewpoints to be raised.
• Pupils who have an individual pupil profile discuss and set their targets with their class teacher/SENCo.

Pupils with provision plans and Education and Health Care Plans/ Statements also complete an annual pupil questionnaire where we actively seek the viewpoints of children.

There is a clear stepped approached that parents should take when making a complaint. This is outlined in our school Complaints Policy, which can be found on our school website:

www. stjosutton.net

The SENCo will work closely with any external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual children’s needs within our school including:

• A Lead Practitioner for ASC
• Educational Psychology Service
• Communication and Autism Team
• Pupil and School Support
• Speech and Language Therapy (provided by Health but paid for by the Local Authority
• School Nurse
• Occupational Therapy
• Physical disabilities support service
• Social care
• Health Professionals
• We also subscribe to -‘Our Place’ Community Hub–Mentoring service ( see section 13).

• Birmingham Special Educational Needs & Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) – http:/www.birmingham.gov.uk/sendiass

The Birmingham Special Educational Needs & Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) has been established to provide information, advice and support to children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities, and to their parents and carers. SENDIASS staff work for the Local Authority, but are expected to offer impartial and confidential advice at ‘arms-length’ from other LA services.

Local Authorities have a duty under the SEND Code of Practice to arrange for parents of children with SEN or disabilities, and young people with SEN or disabilities for which they are responsible, to be provided with information and advice about matters relating to their SEN or disabilities, including matters relating to health and social care.

The information, advice and support offered by SENDIASS will be impartial, confidential, accessible and free.

Information, advice and support is available with regard to the Assessment process for Education, Health and Care Plans, support available in nurseries, schools and colleges for those with SEN or disabilities, as well as social care and health issues that are related to education. Individual casework and support in preparing for and attending meetings can resolve many disagreements which may arise, but SENDIASS also offers advice and representation through Appeals and Complaints processes if appropriate.

Contact SENDIASS:

SENDIASS has a telephone helpline (0121 303 5004) available between 8.45 -5.00 each day to offer initial advice and information, or to take referrals if more in-depth casework is required. SENDIASS can also be contacted by e-mail (sendiass@birmingham.gov.uk)

• Our Place Community Hub http://ourplacecommunityhub.org

Our Place Sutton Coldfield has been formed as a result of the changes in funding for Extended Services from the Government and Council but also in response to the needs of our local community. The Hub can offer youth sessions, coffee mornings, parenting drop in sessions, counselling via Relate and support for local carers through their partner agencies: Carers UK and Mind.

Contact Our Place Community Hub:

Email: kellyround@ourplacecommunityhub.org

Telephone: 07962593645

We aim to make times of transition as easy as possible for the children and young people in our school. We encourage all new children to visit the school prior to starting when they will meet their class teacher and peers and be shown around the school. For children with SEND we would encourage further visits to assist with the acclimatisation of the new surroundings. We may also visit them in their current school.

When starting at our school we:

• Meet with the child or young person and their parents to talk about their needs and answer any questions about our school. This includes a home visit in Reception.
• Correspond with staff at the child or young person’s previous school or setting.
• Read reports from people who have worked with the child or young person.
• Arrange visits to our school so the child or young person gets to see it before they start properly e.g. through a ‘shared lunch’ and story time.

Moving to a new year group we:

• Introduce the child or young person to their new teacher individually.
• Provide the children with the opportunity to spend a day in their new class, with their new teacher (hand over day) at the end of the summer term.
• We write social stories with children if transition is potentially going to be difficult.
• Depending on the individual needs, we provide the child or young person with an updated transition book that has photographs of the key staff and areas around school to look at during the school holidays.
• Talk to the child or young person and their family so we can answer any questions they may have about the new year group.
• Give any adults working with the child or young person a copy of any relevant paperwork, such as Pupil Profiles, describing the things that help to support them in school.

Moving to a new secondary school:

• Hold a Pupil Profile transition review and invite key staff from the new school.
• Talk to key staff at the new school about things that help the child or young person to learn well and be happy at school.
• Arrange extra visits to the new school with a member of staff from our school if that is what the child or young person wants.
• Talk to the child or young person and their family so we can answer any questions they may have about the new school.
• Transfer relevant documents.

At our ‘feeder’ secondary school, Bishop Walsh, they run a programme specifically tailored to aid transition for the more vulnerable pupils. The SENCo at Bishop Walsh is Mrs  B Dunphy. She can be contacted through enquiry@bishopwalsh.net 

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50034/special_education_needs_or_disabilities

(external link).

Other support from agencies can be found :

Link to A2E  website  http://accesstoeducation.birmingham.gov.uk/

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/localoffer