Inclusion - Key Questions

How do we ensure that children who need extra help are identified early?

At Southwood there is a high expectation of all teaching staff that they know their children well. If a teacher has concerns about a child this will initially be discussed informally with the phase leader/SENCo who will offer advice. Class teachers meet each term with the SENCo to discuss pupils who are not making adequate progress, based on their teacher assessment and data from termly assessments. A discussion takes place, and the class teacher, with the support of the SENCo, identifies the area of need and plans appropriate in-class intervention and support for the pupil.

What should a parent do if they think their child may have special educational needs?

If parents have a concern about their child they can speak to the class teacher and arrange an appointment (at a convenient time for both of them) to discuss their concerns. If you would like to meet with a member of the Inclusion Team an appointment can be made through the office. Please look out for our Inclusion Team Coffee Mornings that happen every term where you can discuss concerns with a member of our team. 

What do we do to help children with special educational needs?

All teachers are teachers of SEND and so the expectation is that children’s needs are met through quality first teaching and effective differentiation. There are teaching assistants in classes and they work alongside the class teacher to support the learning all of the children either individually or as part of a small group. We have termly pupil progress review meetings with the class teacher, deputy or head teacher. At these meetings the learning needs of the pupils are identified and a discussion takes place to determine the best intervention/support for the pupil. If the teacher is concerned that there is a specific SEND need, a referral will be made to the SENCO for an assessment to be carried out.

How do teachers match the curriculum and their teaching for children with special educational needs?

Planning is differentiated according to the national curriculum level of the pupil. PIVATS are used to plan effectively for some children identified with an Educational Health Care Plan (EHC). This enables teachers to record the small steps of progress that the pupil makes. Children with an EHC may also have Person Centred Targets (PCO’s) which will focus on personal or social skills.

How do we allocate and match our resources to the needs of the child?

Identification and assessment procedures for pupils causing concern:

Step 1: High Quality Teaching for all pupils

Step 2: Regular termly assessment for ALL pupils to discuss children who are not making good progress or are below age expected levels- interventions and support will be put in place based on the need

Step 3: If the teacher still remains concerned about a child’s progress or levels, a referral will be made to the SENCo or Social Inclusion Lead who will observe the child in class and work alongside the class teacher to put support in place

Step 4: Sometimes the SENCo or Social Inclusion Lead may need to seek advice from specialist agencies, if this is the case they will make a referral for specialist intervention (CAHMS, Community Paediatrician, Children development team, Targeted Family Support & Educational Psychologists)

What services can the school offer children with additional needs?

At Southwood we have lots of in-house support that children can access, these include:

Speech and Language Therapy

Thrive

Nurture

Family/ Pastoral Care

Mentoring

Counselling

Lego Therapy 

Medical support

Our Medical policy has been updated with new guidelines

• Where necessary (and possible) we make referrals to the school nurse

• There are yearly height, weight checks in Reception

• First Aid policy and procedures are clear and followed by all staff. Recording systems for accidents is robust and clear. Parents are informed by note of any accidents their child has been involved in at school.

• Parents are notified by note and text message when their child suffers a bump to the head

• We have a team of first aiders led by a senior first aider (Mrs Partridge)

• Medication can be administered by the first aid team if a consent form is completed – this can be obtained from the school office

How accessible is our school environment?

Southwood is wheelchair accessible with ramps at both main entrances and disabled toilets. Corridors are wide enough for wheelchairs to move around freely and the second storey of the building can be accessed by a lift. Please take a look at our Accessibility Plan for further details.  

Jargon Buster