Special Educational Needs
What is SEND?
Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (often called 'SEN' or 'SEND') is a legal term for many people who will need extra support during their education.
What is the Local Offer?
The Local Offer is a way of letting families know the services that are available locally and how they access them; from specialist social care services, transport, childcare, health and sports activities.
Click on the SEND logo to go to the Local Offer website
Type of SEN for which provision is made at West Denton Primary School
- Communication and Interaction
- Cognition and Learning Needs
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs
- Sensory and/or Physical Needs
(see further down the page for more detail)
If you have any concerns about your child’s learning or well-being please come in to school. Our staff are always willing to discuss your concerns and to act upon them if necessary.
You may also find the following information/contacts useful.
Newcastle Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service
This service provides friendly, impartial information, advice and support to parents of children with SEN or disability.
Newcastle SENDIASS team can be contacted on 0191 2840480
Judith Lane is the Newcastle SENDIASS Lead Specialist Email: SENDIASSadmin@newcastle.gov.uk
The National Autistic Society
Web: www.autism.org.uk
Email: nas@nas.org.uk
Newcastle Families Information Service
Web: www.newcastlefis.org.uk
Northeast Special Needs Network
Contact details:
Northeast Special Needs network
Northern Counties Site
Tankerville Terrace
Jesmond
Newcastle upon tyne NE2 3 BB
Family advice workers: 0191 281 2255
Email: admin@nsnn.org.uk
At some stage in a child’s life he or she may need additional or specialist teaching. In accordance with the Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs the school will provide appropriate individual education plans for children working at School Action / Action Plus stage of the code. In addition these children will receive a limited amount of additional small group or individual teaching in school. This may be provided by the school’s Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCO), an additional teacher or a classroom assistant qualified in Special Educational Needs. Parents and carers will be kept fully informed, during regular consultation sessions, of their child’s progress. The school has close links with external agencies including the school nurse, audiometrician, speech therapists and educational and behavioural psychologist. We ensure we work very closely with external agencies to provide the very best support possible for children with Special Education Needs from the most gifted to the least able. The school has a designated SENDCO who is, at present, Miss Alexander who works collaboratively with Mrs. Sutcliffe (SENDCO Assistant). Further details of the school’s Special Needs Policy is available, on request, from the Head Teacher. This policy is reviewed annually. Any complaints from parents with special educational needs should be made as per the school Complaints Policy.
Arrangements for Children with Disabilities
WDPS welcomes children who have disabilities and will meet the needs of these children as fully as possible. The school follows the L.A. admissions criteria and has taken steps to allow disabled pupils greater access to school. Staff are aware of the needs of children who have medical disabilities and provide support as needed. The school maintains good contact with the school nurse and other professionals. All children are treated equally with access to all areas of the curriculum offered to all children.
School Offer for children with SEN.
At West Denton Primary School (WDPS) we provide a friendly, caring learning environment in which all children can reach their highest potential. We recognise that every child is different and we value the need for a full range of educational and pastoral support, and as such the school has a dedicated welfare team. In addition to a SENDO (Miss Alexander) and SENDO Assistant ( Mrs Sutcliffe) this team includes:
Parent Support Advisor, Educational Welfare Officer, and SEN trained Teaching Assistants. West Denton Primary also employs a counsellor and has excellent links to outside agencies such as: Newcastle Dyslexia Team, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Educational Psychology, Visual Impairment Team, Hearing Impairment Team and Children and Young Peoples Services (CYPS).
Outlined below are the types of things we do, to support all of our children with additional needs, as well as targeted types of support that we are able to provide in relation to specific areas of Special Educational Needs. If you would like further information about the support that West Denton Primary can offer, then please contact Miss Melanie Alexander or Mrs Alison Sutcliffe on 0191 2674211.
For all children at West Denton Primary who have an additional need:
- We support families with children with SEN through review meetings and and informal 'open door' approach. Support is offered to families through our experienced SEN team, all of whom have additional specialised training
- The school employs a qualified Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCO), and an Assistance Co-ordinator who are responsible for providing advice and guidance to parents and carers and up to date training to staff
- We seek support and advice from a range of outside agencies to ensure each child's needs are full identified and understood, and to learn from specialists, how best to support our SEN children
- We implement and review pupil friendly SEN Support Plans, which target the pupil's specific needs, and provide the staff with targets suited to each individual child's requirements
- We deliver high quality teaching, differentiating the curriculum and our resources to meet the needs of individual children and to promote pupil progress
- We offer support to all pupils and parents during periods of transition from Pre-School to Early Years, Early Years to Key Stage 1 and Year 6 to High School
- We liaise closely with secondary schools at transition times to ensure that SEN pupil information is clearly communicated and that records and recommendations are shared so that the move to secondary school is as smooth as possible
- Provide Teaching Assistants in class who work with SEN children and also, importantly, support other children so that the teacher has more opportunities to work with the SEN children
- We evaluate intervention groups and strategies on a termly basis, or earlier if we deem necessary
- Regularly evaluate and update our teaching resources to ensure they are accessible to all SEN children
- We use ICT and interactive resources to promote access to the curriculum
- Activities are evaluated in terms of their positive impact on the learning success and inclusion of pupils with SEN
- Support staff are places where they are needed throughout the school to promote pupil progress and independence
- We have an experienced SENCO and SENDO Assistant who can provide advice and guidance
- Staff receive on-going training in relation to meeting pupils' needs in the classroom.
For pupils who have a higher level of additional need, in addition to all the above, we provide a key worker.
- To support the pupil to work on their individual targets.
- To support access to the curriculum.
- To provide pastoral support.
- To deliver specific targeted interventions where necessary.
- To build self-confidence through achievement.
Specific provision is also provided for different areas of need. The table below explains some of the details of support; however this is not a comprehensive list. If you require further information we would urge you to contact the school or come in and have a chat and a look around.
| Types of SEN for which provision is made at West Denton Primary School | Type of support/provision made at West Denton Primary School |
|
Communication and Interaction
E.G. Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) / Social Communication Disorders.
Speech, Language and Communication Needs. |
We use visual supports, for example, visual timetables etc. to help children to understand what will happen and when.
We have areas of low distraction / stimulus.
We can offer support and supervision at unstructured times of the day e.g. break and lunchtime when appropriate.
We offer social skills programmes / support including strategies to enhance self-esteem e.g. social skills groups.
Where appropriate we individualize reward systems to promote learning and enhance self-esteem.
We use social stories and comic strip conversations etc. to help children learn how to approach and deal with different social situations.
We have a variety of resoures available to use, depending on a child's level of sensory needs.
We spend time with children helping them to identify situations that cause anxiety and find ways to relieve this, for example, through regular check ins with identified members of staff, counselling, withdrawn support, and communication cards, stress ball and fiddle toys.
Opportunities to communicate in various ways e.g. Makaton, comic strips etc.
Small group support or one to one, for developing pupil's speech, language and communication following programmes of work provided by outside specialists such as Speech and Language Therapists, and delivered by trained SEN support staff.
Use of ICT programmes where appropriate. |
| Types of SEN for which provision is made at West Denton Primary School | Types of support/provision made at West Denton Primary School |
|
Cognition and Learning Needs
E.g. Moderate learning Difficulties (MLD)
Specific learning Difficulties (SPLD) |
We access the advice and expertise of the special educational needs Teaching Support services (SENTASS), to ensure the needs of the children are clearly assessed and identified.
We provide individual and small group support with a focus on Literacy and Numeracy skills.
WE use ICT and I-pads where possible, to reduce the barriers to learning and develop speed typing through programmes such as Dance Mat.
We use ICT intervention programmes such as, Lexia and RM Maths to engage the children and improve literacy and numeracy skills.
We offer presentations to parents to help them gain a better understanding of their child's needs e.g. Dyslexia.
We access pupils in order to provide appropriate access arrangements to SATs examinations.
We prodive resources to support children with specific needs, e.g. coloured overlays, pastel paper, recordable whiteboards, smartboard backgrounds to suit synoptic sensitivity and dyslexia boxes in every classroom, which contain rainbow alphabet cards, high frequency word banks, connectives, sentence starters, etc. |
| Types of SEN for which provision is made at West Denton Primary School | Types of support/provision made at West Denton Primary School |
|
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs
Mental Health Conditions
Social difficulties
Emotional Difficulties |
We provide excellent pastoral care for our children, through our Core Values, which have an ethos of mutual respect and appreciation.
We provide a Thrive Room, focusing on emotional understanding and expression.
We complete risk assessment and then take actions to ensure the safety and inclusion of all children, whenever possible, in all activities.
We provide small group sessions for vulnerable children, using the Thrive approach.
We put in place short term support for a child with a specific emotional need, for example, bereavement, through the Kalmer counseling service.
With the support and advice of The Parent Support Service, Educational Psychology and the Children and Young People's Service (CYPS), we provide small group activities to support the needs of individuals and small groups of children.
We create behaviour management plans where necessary, to ensure children can access the curriculum and all children remain safe.
For those pupils who find break times too big to manage, we provide practical 'contained' activities, such as arts and crafts activities, attending the allotments, visiting the wild life garden and accessing the Thrive Room. |
| Types of SEN for which provision is made at West Denton Primary School | Types of support/provision made at West Denton Primary School |
|
Sensory and/or Physical Needs;
Hearing/Visual Impairment
Multi-sensory Impairment
Physical Disabilities
Medical Needs |
We provide support and practical aids where appropriate to ensure pupils can access the curriculum, such as Makaton pictorial language and exercise books especially formulated to suite the needs of the visually impaired pupils.
Small groups or one to one targeted intervention programmes are delivered to pupils to improve skills e.g. Teodorescus (Write From The Start), dance mat typing skills on I-pads and support from experienced SEN Assistants to develop find and gross motor skills.
We request and act upon advice and guidance from the Newcastle Children's Vision Team and Hearing Impairment Team. |