If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, it will specify the support needed for your child. For all other children with an identified additional need, either on our Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) register or not, the type of support given to your child will be reviewed at least termly, by the class teacher, a Senior Leader or Special Educational Needs Coordinator and you will have the opportunity to discuss this at meetings in school. If your child has an Education Health and Care Plan we will also arrange Annual Review meetings with you, to ensure that the plan is still appropriate for your child and make any changes.

If you have any concerns about your child, please speak to your child's class teacher; you do not have to wait for a parent's evening. At Dennington Primary School, the staff meets formally on a termly basis to review the needs and progress of the children and more regularly informally at staff meetings where concerns are shared and options for support are discussed. Any concerns raised by parents are shared with appropriate professionals, usually the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCO) and the Headteacher. Both are happy to meet with parents to discuss any concerns with parents/carers.

The level of support your child will receive will depend on their needs. Where possible, we wish to meet the needs of children through ‘quality first teaching’ in the classroom. However, we recognise that in some cases, additional help is necessary. The class teacher will discuss the support provided during the current period and whether continued support would be needed for the near future. The Special Educational Needs Coordinator offers meetings to all parents of children receiving additional support.  Teacher observation, note keeping and gathering of evidence from a variety of sources are all vital in fully assessing a pupil. Some or all of the following are also considered:

• Information from transferring nursery/school, parental information and family history, school based assessments, standardised tests, diagnostic assessments, learning styles, progress meetings, schools tracking system.
• Additional support - we implement provision mapping for teaching assistants, which is updated each term after discussion with teaching staff through pupil progress meetings. Our whole school provision map shows when the children will have individual /small group support. 
• We have intervention groups for those children who need a boost. These children are not necessarily on our Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) register but have been highlighted by teaching staff as in need for some short- term support. This is reviewed each term. As mentioned in the point above, we have termly progress meetings where teaching staff meets to discuss individual progress. 
• We have outside input from Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) for strategies to improve communication skills for our children and a care plan are formulated by the therapist with the cooperation of parents, and put into practice by our staff. 
• We work with behaviour support services and the County Inclusive Resource (CIR) to support children with emotional and behavioural needs and those with autistic spectrum disorders.
• Those children who need readers or specific support during external assessments are identified and any additional provision will be provided. If a child needs to be disapplied, this can also be put in place. 

During the school day the work will be differentiated so that your child will be able to access the curriculum provided for all children in the class. For children with sensory needs, adaptations will be made to materials to ensure equality of access. Both the teacher and teaching assistant will provide support in groups or individually within the classroom.

At Dennington Primary School, we respect your valuable understanding of your child's needs and wishes. We aim to involve you in every decision-making process. We encourage you to meet with us as often as you feel necessary.

If your child is on the Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) register you will be informed by the class teacher. Your child will be given a Pupil Passport. This is a working document that identifies children's strengths and areas of need, which sets out targets for the term and how you, your child and the team in school can help achieve those targets. Any adult working with your child can then monitor and review your child’s progress as appropriate. 

Parents are kept updated through termly parents evenings, termly reports and for those on the SEND register, reviews of the targets which are usually shared at parent's evenings.

At Dennington Primary School, a child's wellbeing is supported at many different levels and in many ways. At a whole school level we have our school vision and aims which includes statements such as:

• Maintain a caring family ethos
• Afford equal opportunities for all
• Offer broad and rich learning experiences, differentiated to meet the needs of each child
• Care for each child’s health and happiness

The school is committed to the THRIVE programme in order to support children’s mental health. We have a fully trained practitioner in school

Where a child has a medical need, a Health Care plan is put together to ensure the child is safe and that the staff are aware of the child's specific needs. We would identify any specific training needed in order to ensure the child's medical needs were appropriately provided for in school. Everyone in school is aware of all specific health needs and a register is kept in the school office. Parents are always informed of any accidents in school, either through a copy of the accident form completed by an adult on duty or in some cases, a phone call to inform of more serious injuries and those involving a bump to the head. If the first aiders feel it is necessary, parents will be asked to get a medical opinion about an injury.  In cases of severe injury, the school will ring for the emergency services.

We regularly discuss and identify staff training needs, usually related to the current needs of the children in school at the time. Most staff have appropriate First Aid training. The school has invested in The Numicon resource, a recommended way of teaching the maths curriculum, is especially supportive for those children who find this area of the curriculum more challenging. A list of specific interventions is included at the end of this document.

Where children have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) we allocate resources appropriately and carefully. This will include the allocation of adult support, small group support, allocation of specialist support (outside agencies, for example, Speech Therapy), and time for the Special Educational Needs Coordinator to liaise with the class teacher and teaching assistant. We also fund specialist equipment and resources and work carefully with outside agencies.  Our staff attend courses to support their work with pupils. For some children, the frequency of such provision may result in the school applying for additional funding to support a child, known as High Tariff Needs Funding.

When your child is given a place to join our Reception year in the following academic year, the Reception teacher will plan a series of meetings to share details about your child. These meetings can take place at your home or in school, whichever is most convenient and will give you the opportunity to share any specific needs or concerns to support your child's transition into school.  During the Summer Term prior to your child starting school, there will be an extensive programme of events designed to help families become familiar with life at Dennington Primary School.

If your child joins Dennington Primary School part way through their primary education we aim to meet with you so that we can ensure a positive start into school. This is usually done in conjunction with the previous school. When joining or moving on to a new school we will arrange extra transfer visits for your child. Parents are encouraged to visit the new school.  The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and/or headteacher will always communicate with the new school to ensure that all information is passed on about your child. If a CAF (Common Assessment Framework) is in place, staff from the new school will be invited to a meeting, so that the parents can have the opportunity to speak with them together with any other professionals involved.

For transition to High School any child on the Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities register or any child with an additional need is discussed both with the Year 7 liaison teacher and the SENCO from the high school. Usually the specialists at the high schools are keen to meet or have a discussion with parents and these may start towards the end of Year 5, especially if the needs are complex and additional provision would need to be put in place to support transition. Throughout Years 5 and 6, all children have many opportunities to visit local High Schools either through curriculum activities, planned transition events or to watch activities put on by the older students.

There are regular meetings for all SENCOs from the local schools to get together to discuss latest issues, share information and update our plans for transition.

At Dennington Primary School we have a disabled toilet that can be accessed easily for those with limited mobility. Information about school including policies, governors, staff, contacts and newsletters are available on the school website or in paper form from the School Office on request.

At Dennington Primary School your first point of contact is always the class teacher. If your child has an Education, Health and Care plan the SENCO will oversee the implementation of the plan in school. 
 

Dennington Primary School SENDCO – Miss Kate Bulley

Miss Bulley can be contacted directly by email  at office@dennington.suffolk.sch.uk or by phoning the school on 01728 638206. 

Dennington Primary School Governor with responsibility for SEND – Mrs Lucy Long

Our SEN Governor Mrs Lucy Long can be contacted directly by email at office@dennington.suffolk.sch.uk or by phoning the school on 01728 638206. 

Suffolk’s Local Offer for Schools can be found online at the address below:

 www.access-unlimited.co.uk/education/special-education-needs

Detailed information about the identification, assessment and interventions for children with SEND can be found in the SEN policy which is available in school and on this website. 

Whole School/Quality First Teaching/Universal

• Quality First Teaching
• Differentiated teaching in classes
• Trained teachers and teaching assistants in classes
• Regular staff training schedule
• High expectations for all pupils
• Teachers attend termly pupil progress meetings with the Head Teacher
• Parents and teachers have access to the SENCo for advice and support
• Assessment for Learning
• Marking policies
• Visual timetables
• Cross curricular use of ICT
• School Clubs
• Behaviour policy
• Rewards and sanctions
• PSHE
• Incentives and rewards

Pupil Progress

• Pupil Asset tracking system to identify concerns about pupils’ progress and highlight any need for extra support and termly Pupil Progress Meetings
• Regular parent/teacher meetings
• Termly academic reports
• Detailed summative annual reports

Transition support to the next year group/teacher/key stage/school

• Close links with pre-school and other local EYFS enables extensive transition and induction arrangements
• Close links with local high schools for transition to Key Stage 3 (Year 7

Medical

• Individual Healthcare Plans for children with serious medical conditions
• Access to school nurse
• First aid trained staff

Accessibility

• Wheelchair access around the school site
• Disabled toilets

 Targeted support for individuals or small groups. Short/medium term

• Pupil Passport targets reviewed with class teacher overseen by SENCo
• Personalised writing frames
• TA support in class.
• Small group interventions for literacy and numeracy
• Dyslexia friendly fonts
• ICT support: Clicker 6/Nessie/Induction loops/ProLoQuo
• Individual behaviour charts
• Adapted materials
• Coloured paper/overlays
• Individual arrangements for SATS
• Home/school liaison
• Additional access to adult ‘listening’ time
• Discreet adult monitoring to ensure support and safety

  Specialised Individual Support-Medium/Longer term

• Pupil Passports
• Education Health & Care Plan (EHCP)  with regular review of short-term targets and an annual review of long-term targets
• TA support in class.
• Access to Educational Psychologist/Special Needs Advisors

Social, Emotional & Mental Health Needs

• Individual behaviour charts or contracts
• Staff & peer awareness and training
• Access to CISS/CAMHS/Social Services
• Adaptations made to access school trips and extra-curricular activities
•  Nurture Groups/THRIVE
•  Education Health & Care Plan (EHCP) or Statement of Educational Needs with regular review of short-term targets and an annual review of long-term targets
• Individual arrangements for SATS
• Additional planning/arrangements for transition.
• Home/school liaison
• Additional access to adult ‘listening’ time
• Discreet adult monitoring to ensure support and safety

Communication & Interaction

• Access to Speech & Language Therapy Service
• Access to County Inclusive Resource to support children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
• Adaptations made to access school trips and extra-curricular activities
• Speech & Language group support
• Speech & Language individual support
• Staff & peer awareness and training
• Individual arrangements for SATS
• Additional planning/arrangements for transition.
• Sessions with speech & Language therapist
• Makaton/PECS/Communication Aids
• ICT support: Clicker 6/ProLoQuo

Sensory & Physical

• Adaptations made to access school trips and extra-curricular activities
• ICT support: Clicker 6
• Staff & peer awareness and training
• Gym Trail
• Adapted materials
• Modified equipment, e.g. writing slopes, pencil grips, cushions.
• Support from Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist
• Individual arrangements for SATS
• Additional planning/arrangements for transition.
• Coloured paper/overlays
• Monitored use of medication

Cognition & Learning

• Individual or group interventions for Literacy or Numeracy (e.g. Dancing Bears, Catch-Up etc)
• Diagnostic tests
• Access to outside professionals: Educational Psychologist/Speech Therapist/Dyslexia outreach/ICT outreach.
•  ICT support: Clicker 6/Nessie
• Staff & peer awareness and training
• Adapted materials
• Specialist Support/Medium or Longer Term
• Coloured paper/overlays
• Individual arrangements for SATS
• Additional planning/arrangements for transition.
• Curriculum modification
• Home/school liaison
• Discreet adult monitoring to ensure support and safety