Lord Blyton Primary School
Special Educational Needs Information Report
- About this report
The Children and Families Act 2014 says that all schools and academies must publish a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information Report every year. This report explains how our school meets the needs of children with SEND. It will be published on the school website and as part of South Tyneside Council’s ‘local offer’. In the report, we explain how we meet our duties towards pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, including those in our nursery. This report complements the school’s Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Policy. We will keep this report up to date. The school’s Local Governing Body will also review this report every year, and will involve pupils and parents/carers. If you want to give us feedback about the report, please contact the school office.
- Who do I contact about my child’s special educational needs?
Your first point of contact at Lord Blyton Primary School is the Children and Family Manager or the SENCO. The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and Child and Family Manager are responsible for managing and co-ordinating the support for children with special educational needs, including those who have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. They also provide professional guidance to school staff and work closely with parents/carers and other services that provide for children in the school.
The key contacts at our school are:
| Headteacher | Ms Jo Atherton |
| Deputy Headteacher | Mrs Jill Wales |
| Chair of Governors | Cllr E Malcolm |
| SEND Governor | Mrs Joanne Burnett |
| SENCO | Ms Jo Atherton |
| Child and Family Manager | Mrs A Quinn |
| LA SEND Officer | Stevie Gash |
Contact details: Blyton Avenue, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE34 9BN 01914240550
School email: info@lordblyton.s-tyneside.sch.uk
- Which children does the school provide for?
We are a primary school and we admit pupils aged 2 to 11 years. We are an inclusive school. We have a 13 place Additional Resource Base on site. KS 1 has 7 available places and KS 2 6 places. The Resource Base is for children with their primary need being Social, Emotional and Mental Health. The Local Authority in conjunction with the school run the admission process. Pupils will have received 2 terms out reach from the Local Authority and have or be in the process of getting an EHCP. This means we provide for children with all types of special educational needs. The areas of need that are described in the SEND Code of Practice are listed below with strategies and support available in our school.
| School entitlement offer to pupils with additional needs | |
| Type of SEN for which provision is made at the school | Type of support |
| Communication and interaction – this includes children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and those with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) including Asperger’s Syndrome. | · Use of child friendly pupil profiles and needs-based plans involving pupils, parents and staff in the formulation, review and implementation of these documents. · Differentiated curriculum and resources · Visual timetables · Areas of low distraction · Support/supervision at unstructured times of the day. · Social skills programme/support including strategies to enhance self-esteem. · Small group targeted intervention programmes are delivered to pupils to improve skills in a variety of areas. · ICT is used to reduce barriers to learning where possible. · Strategies/programmes to support speech and language development. · Strategies and sensory resources to reduce anxiety/promote emotional wellbeing. · Support and advice is sought from outside agencies to ensure any barriers to success are fully identified and responded to. · Planning, assessment and review. · Access to teaching and learning for pupils with SEN is monitored through the schools self-evaluation process. · Teaching resources are routinely evaluated to ensure they are accessible to all pupils. · All school-related activities are evaluated in terms of their positive impact upon the learning success and inclusion of pupils with SEN. · Support staff are placed where needed throughout the school to ensure pupil progress, independence and appropriate social & emotional support. · Fully qualified/trained SENCO who can provide advice and guidance to staff. · All staff have completed, and will continue to receive, ongoing training in relation to meeting pupils’ needs within the classroom. Various practitioners are specifically trained in identifying and supporting children with ASD, Attachment Disorder and Speech and Language difficulties. · Practitioners are trained to specifically support children with speech, language and communication difficulties using Launch pad to Literacy. Support is offered to families from school Child and Family Manager (outreach service is available to support children and families) and they are signposted to services/organisations which may offer support/advice where appropriate, via the Local Offer. |
| Cognition and learning – this includes children and young people with moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD) and profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). This also includes children and young people with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. | · Use of child friendly pupil profiles and needs-based plans involving pupils, parents and staff in the formulation, review and implementation of these documents. · Differentiated curriculum and resources. · Strategies to promote/develop literacy and numeracy/memory. · Provision to support access to the curriculum and to develop independent learning. · Small group targeted intervention programmes and 1:1 intensive interventions are delivered to pupils to improve skills in a variety of areas, i.e. reading skills groups etc. · ICT is used to reduce barriers to learning where possible. · Support and advice is sought from outside agencies to ensure any barriers to success are fully identified and responded to. · Planning, assessment and review. · Access to teaching and learning for pupils with SEN is monitored through the schools self-evaluation process. · Teaching resources are routinely evaluated to ensure they are accessible to all pupils. · All school-related activities are evaluated in terms of their positive impact upon the learning success and inclusion of pupils with SEN. · Support staff are placed where needed throughout the school to ensure pupil progress, independence and appropriate social and emotional support. · Fully qualified/trained SENCO who can provide advice and guidance to staff. · All staff have completed, and will continue to receive, ongoing training in relation to meeting pupils’ needs within the classroom. · Behaviour and anti-bullying policies are evaluated on a regular basis. Support is offered to families from school Inclusion Manager (outreach service is available to support children and families) and they are signposted to services/organisations which may offer support/advice where appropriate, via the Local Offer. |
| Behavioural, Social, emotional and mental health difficulties – social, emotional and mental health difficulties may manifest themselves in many ways including becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder. | · The school ethos values all pupils. · Positive behaviour strategies are used within the classroom and as part of the whole school behaviour Policy · The schools behaviour policy identifies where reasonable adjustments/changes can be made to ensure the need for exclusion is kept to a minimum. · Risk assessments are used and action is taken to increase the safety and inclusion of all pupils in all activities. · The school provides effective pastoral care for all pupils. · Support staff are placed where needed throughout the school to ensure pupil progress, independence and value for money. · Support and advice is sought from outside agencies to ensure any barriers to success are fully identified and responded to. · Small group and or 1:1 targeted programmes are delivered to pupils to improve social skills and emotional resilience. · Outdoor learning is used to offer a different approach to the curriculum, which supports children with social, emotional and behavioural needs. · Access to information and support is available within school for behavioural, emotional and social needs. · Support is offered to families from school Inclusion Manager (outreach service is available to support children and families) and they are signposted to services/organisations which may offer support/advice where appropriate, via the Local Offer. · Outreach support is also available during school holidays to support the child/family at home. Good links with local services; CYPS, Parent Partnerships and the emotional resilience team. |
| Sensory and/or physical needs – this includes children and young people with visual impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI), multi-sensory impairment (MSI) and physical disability (PD). | · Advice and guidance from the Local Authorities Sensory Impaired Service is sought and acted upon to ensure barriers to success are reduced or removed. · ICT is used to increase access to the curriculum. · Provision to support access to the curriculum and to develop independent learning. · Support staff are placed where needed throughout the school to ensure pupil progress, independence and appropriate social and emotional support. · Advice and guidance is sought and acted upon to respond to pupils who have significant medical needs. · Access to Medical Interventions and health care plans, devised by school nurse in conjunction with other medical professionals and parents. · Access to strategies/programmes to support Occupational Therapy/Physiotherapy. · Support with personal care if and when needed. · Staff receive training to ensure they understand the impact of a sensory need upon teaching and learning. · Staff understand and apply the medicine administration policy. · The SENCO completes any necessary training in order to offer advice and guidance to staff about the needs of pupils. · The school works hard to ensure that parents/carers are able to work in partnership with them to support their children. · Support is offered to families and they are signposted to services/organisations which may offer support/advice where appropriate, via the Local Offer. · All entrances to the school have ramps fitted to allow wheelchair access. The school has disabled toilets/facilities. |
Children and young people with any of these needs can be included with our school community. Whilst these four categories broadly identify the primary areas of need for children and young people, our school will consider the needs of the whole child or young person and not just their special educational needs.
Children with additional educational needs are considered for admission to the school on exactly the same basis as for children without additional educational needs. Prior to starting school, parents or carers of children with an EHCP or pending EHCP will be invited to discuss the provision that can be made to meet their identified needs.
- How does the school identify children’s special educational needs?
We aim to identify and assess children who may have special educational needs at a very early stage. This way we can inform and involve the parents so that we can work together, in partnership to support our children. We can then provide for the child with support, suitable interventions, and resources where appropriate. School can then seek advice from outside agencies when appropriate and if necessary liaise closely to ensure the child’s needs are being met.
We assess different aspects of learning to identify if our pupils are having any difficulties that need to be addressed. We monitor academic progress termly and use itrack to measure progress. Pupil Progress meetings at a SLT level are then used to identify pupils where progress seems limited. These are followed by meetings with the teaching staff. If a need is identified then it is addressed at the appropriate level.
Children are also identified as possibly having SEND through a variety of other different processes. These include observations, discussions with parents over their concerns, behaviours displayed by a child, medical needs or maybe slow progress identified by a professional. Questionnaires are used with pupils around mental health and healthy minds issues. Depending on the nature of the need and concern we would follow the appropriate pathway. Some examples of these would be referral to the school nurse for a medical issue, a referral to the Educational psychologist if we needed some advice around a child’s learning. Where there are concerns around a child’s progress interventions would be put onto a provision map with measurable targets and resources put in place to support progress. Once this occurs, we use very specific need-based plans and pupil profiles which help support their development and speed up progress. We may set up Early Help around the family if we feel this necessary to provide the support they need.
Referrals and requests can be made to a range of services within the borough via the local offer including but not limited to; Portage and Preschool Support, Sensory Services, the Educational Psychology Team, the Specific Learning Disabilities Teams, the Emotional Resilience Team, Child and Young People’s Services, Lifecycles, Healthy Minds, the School Nursing Team etc. At our school, we also buy into SLAs that provide professional services such as Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists in order to carry out assessments, support our staff and offer therapy to children at the earliest point possible.
We also listen to parent/carers and other professionals who may highlight concerns they have about their child. We will then work in partnership with them to ensure the right pathways are followed.
- How does the school teach, support and adapt the environment for children with SEND?
The curriculum is differentiated to match tasks to individual ability, support provided through TAs or resources. Learning support assistants and qualified teachers support individual children and small groups on very specific intervention targets and programmes identified in Provision Maps; using a variety of teaching approaches catering for different learning styles. Maintaining high and realistic expectations for every individual is at the heart of our ethos and practice.
We offer alternative means of accessing the delivery of the curriculum. Learning and recording with the use of specialist equipment and through ICT are regularly planned in response to review outcomes; where the school and family feel a child would benefit from a curriculum adjustment such as a personalised timetable or specialist resource, the school strives to provide this. Termly tracking ensures the success of such adaptations are clearly evidenced and reviewed.
Utilising staff expertise, school resources and our environment, we are able to provide a range of levels of support and ensure that children are learning in an environment which is suitable for them as an individual. By means of 1:1 support, specific small group support and teaching, interventions and focus groups, or in the Resource Base children are able to follow an individual or differentiated timetable and curriculum where appropriate. At all times inclusion rather than exclusion is our aim and focus. WE strive to ensure that all children feel happy and safe in our school and continue to make progress.
Well Being and physical education are part of the normal working day for our children. The children are taught that we need healthy minds to learn to the best of our abilities.
Our children in the Resource base follow a curriculum adapted to their specific needs focusing on targets from their EHCPs. They integrate into mainstream lessons where appropriate to do so.
- How are parents and carers involved in reviewing children’s progress and planning support?
Class Action:
Children who are identified as needing targeted support at Class Action level will meet with their child’s class teacher termly at parents evening to discuss their child’s progress and receive new targets via their child’s provision map. Often children with this level of additional needs may need extra support and interventions in specific areas of their learning. Family Learning opportunities, additional homework or ideas for supporting at home and boosters or clubs delivered by school staff may be offered to children through discussions with parents. If at any point, parents would like to receive more support and guidance regarding their child’s additional needs or escalate the level of support their child receives, they can make an appointment to speak with the SENCO or Family Support manager by contacting the school office. We have an open door policy with the aim to return calls, emails ASAP. This helps to eradicate additional worries that parents/carers may have.
From September 2021 there will be termly meetings with the Child and Family Support Manager and SENDCO if requested or receiving outside agency support.
Additional or Complex Needs:
For children identified as having additional or complex needs, SEND meetings are held each term incorporation with parent evenings in order for parents/ carers to discuss their child’s progress and next steps. These meetings include parents/ carers, class teachers, the SENCO and other professionals or senior management where appropriate. In these meetings, the provision map/pupil passport will be shared, discussed and adapted by anyone contributing. The completed review document and child’s new learning plan provided by the class teacher will then be signed, copied and given to all persons attending the meeting in order for them to ensure they are working towards the targets and outcomes agreed for the child. Within this process the child’s views are considered and where appropriate children will directly provide information about their achievements, level of happiness in school and how they prefer to be supported.
Children with an EHC Plan:
Children with a diagnosis, exceptional or profound needs may have an Education, Health and Care Plan and will be reviewed 6 monthly if aged 5 and under and annually if aged over 5. The EHCP document is a legal document overseen by the local authority. More information can be found at https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/37981/Education-Health-and-Care-EHC-Plan .
Some families have an Early Help running along side an EHCP. The meetings will take place 6/8 weekly. At Lord Blyton we operate an open door policy and parents will have contact with the SENCO or Child and Family Manager with 24 hours of initial contact.
For some of our children in the Resource Base we may monitor behaviour and the children have Positive Handling Plans and Risk Assessments. The parents/carers have a copy and they will be reviewed and parents kept informed of incidents as well as positive progress.
- What training do school staff have?
The SENCO and Child and Family Manager attends regular local authority network meetings to update and revise developments in Special Needs Education and Inclusion. Meeting additional needs and Inclusion issues are targeted each year through the school’s long-term goals and the School Improvement Plan. In-Service training and individual professional development is arranged to match these targets. In-house additional needs and inclusion training is provided through staff meetings by members of the SMT and SENCO as well as other professionals. All staff have access to professional development opportunities through the LA SLA and are able to apply for additional needs or inclusion training where a need is identified either at an individual pupil or whole class level. Support staff are encouraged to extend their own professional development and the management team will ensure tailor-made training where this is appropriate. During lockdown the staff were able to access Mental Health training for both themselves and to support pupils. The school has now bought into a package online provide by Pooky Knightsmith centred around mental health and well being. Staff are allocated training half termly based on identified individual needs.
Each term the Governors are presented in the Headteachers Report the training that the staff have accessed.
The Child and Family Manager has undertaken the Senior Mental Health Lead Practitioner training. All staff have recently had iCAMHS training delivered by Life Cycle staff.
- How does the school measure how well it teaches and supports children with SEND?
Monitoring of teaching and learning of children with SEND will be carried out on a termly basis by the SENCO and SMT. The SENCO will look at the monitoring information on a termly basis and make adjustments to the provision for the individuals or groups of children, if appropriate. Inviting other professionals to share their expertise and assess or support children within school, develops opportunities for school staff to be advised and challenged on the provision we offer to children.
Provision Maps will be reviewed at least twice a year, although some pupils may need more frequent reviews. The SENCO and Child and Family Manager will monitor the provision maps.
The Child and Family Manager and SENDco meet with the SEND Governor to report how well the SEND agenda is running at Lord BLyton. This will include reporting on monitoring and any SEND issues identified in the School Development Plan.
- How accessible is the school and how does the school arrange equipment or facilities for children?
Lord Blyton Primary School is a single site school, with EYFs (2and 3 yr old provision), Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 departments joined by a long corridor. The school is built on one levels with no steps from level to level. All classrooms are accessible by corridors to which there is also wheelchair access from outside of the building. The KS 1 and KS 2 Resource Base classrooms are situated on the appropriate corridors. There is an additional space available for use during the school day. All external doors are ramped to allow access into the building. All external doors operate on a fob system to keep the building secure at all times.
If it is identified that a pupil needs access to specialist equipment or resources the school will resource this. The school will routinely supply ICT equipment, sensory resources, physical resources identified by specialist to support learning such as ear defenders, chunky pencils, slopping desks, work stations.
We have disabled toilet access when needed and the school is accessible to wheelchairs. There is a disabled parking bay if required.
We have a staggered start at Lord Blyton which gives children the option to access the building anytime from 8.45am until 8.55am. They are welcomed into the class which gives the children a nice calm start to the day. Alternative arrangements can be made for pupils struggling to access the school at the start of the day with the SENDCO and Child and Family Manager.
We work with OT and Physio services to make sure resources and the environment are suitable for our SEND children.
- How will my child be included in activities with other children, including school trips?
We are committed to eliminating discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relationships. Through careful planning and reasonable adjustments, pupils with SEND engage in the activities of the school together with those who do not have SEND, and are encouraged to participate fully in the life of the school and in any wider community activity. We work with parents and pupils to listen to their views, feelings and wishes to ensure pupils with SEND have equal opportunities. Our Resource Base children attend trips appropriate to their needs and are included in whole school activities where ever appropriate.
Clubs are run throughout the year. These are both in the school day at lunchtime or after school. These are accessible to pupils throughout school if appropriate.
- How will the school ensure good links with other schools and suitable transfer arrangements?
Reception class staff will meet with staff from partner nursery schools or our nursery prior to pupils starting school. Concerns about particular needs will be brought to the attention of the SENCO or Child and Family Manager after these meetings although if the children are transitioning from the school nursery we will already be aware of any additional needs. Where necessary the SENCO will arrange a further meeting and implement a transition plan between settings and with parents.
Class teachers of children joining from other schools will receive information from the previous school; if there is an SEND issue the SENCO will telephone to further discuss the child’s needs. The Local Authority transition document is used for SEND Children transferring from Lord Blyton Primary School to new schools will have details of their particular needs and additional provision passed-on. An in school document is also in place. The SENCO or Child and Family manager will discuss these children with other schools on request and attend relevant meetings where possible for a suitable period of time.
When children are identified for placement in the Resource Base by the Local Authority the school will go out to visit the pupil in their current setting and a home visit is arranged to meet them in their own setting. The parents will visit Lord Blyton. If it agreed that Lord Byton is a suitable placement the child will be offered a place. They will become part of Lord Blyton School roll. The child will then be offered a place and a transition plan drawn up with the parent/carers. Not all transition plans will be the same and they will very much depend on the needs of the child.
- What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being and their emotional, mental and social development?
At Lord Blyton, we support the emotional, mental and social development of children and young people with SEND and disabilities by providing extra pastoral support arrangements for listening to their views and implementing measures to support their emotional literacy. We have the following provision for ensuring a high standard of emotional and social development which is coordinated by our Child and Family Manager and SENCO;
- Senior mental Health Practitioner
- Mental Health Champions
- Well Being Buddies
- Social skills groups
- Art Therapy
- Theraplay
- Listening groups and relevant Speech and Language groups.
- Bereavement Counselling
- E safety training
- PSHE sessions
- Wellbeing curriculum
- Family groups
- Yoga and mindfulness
- Circle time
- Bespoke inclusion manager support families
- Playground buddies
- Lego therapy
- Teachers and Teaching Assistants trained in emotional resilience
- Pet therapy
- Links with Emotional Resilience Team, Educational Psychologists and other professionals.
- Mindfulness Colouring
- Time to Talk
- Well Being Areas
- Sensory Room
- And many more…..
There is a worry box outside the office for pupils to self refer themselves to Time to Talk. Time to Talk runs regularly which allows pupils to talk to the Child and Family Manager about issues that they may need to. Pupil Voice is important to us and we value what our pupils tell us. They are also told that where relevant, information may need to be passes on to parents or other professionals.
Lord Blyton Behaviour Policy and Anti Bullying Policy set out very clearly what is expected of the pupils at Lord Blyton and how behaviour is managed. All Safeguarding incidents are recorded on Cpoms. Dojo is used to record both positive and negative behaviours. Behaviour is monitored closely by a designated teacher and the Headteacher. Support for behaviour is offered by the Child and Family Manager. In some cases Positive Behaviour Plans and Risk Assessments are required. Parents are always informed about any inappropriate behaviour.
Well Being Buddies are pupils who are identified and support and work with the Child and Family Manager and the Healthy Minds Worker. These pupils are identified and photographs displayed in school. This group of children is representative of the needs of children across the school. All children in school receive class intervention from the Healthy Minds Team.
Pupils with medical needs
If a pupil has a medical need then the school nurse would complete a detailed Care Plan. These are discussed with all staff involved with the pupil.
Whole school training is given by the school nurse depending on the medical need of the pupil.
A high number of our staff receive basic First Aid training, in addition to those that have full paediatric first aid training.
Asthma inhalers are kept in classrooms for use when required. All other medication is given through the office with parental consent.
Where necessary and in agreement with parents/carers medicines are administered in school but only where a signed medication agreement (in line with the medication policy) is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member. Medication is stored in a locked cupboard.
What specialist services does the school use to support children and their families?
At Lord Blyton there are very good links with many external agencies that support our school and the pupils and parent/carers within it.
The Educational Psychologist visits the school regularly, following a planning session with the SENCO and the Child and Family Manager as to the purpose of each visit during the term.
The Local Authority’s Special Needs Services visit when required to provide specific information, share resources and provide guidance and advice.
Teachers from the Sensory Impairment Team work in school to support children, both with and without EHCPs, who have vision or hearing impairment. The specialist teachers work directly with children where this is indicated on a statement.
The SENCO and Child and Family Manager liaise frequently with a number of other outside agencies to meet the needs of our individual families. For example:
- Social Services
- Hearing and Visual Impairment Teams
- School Nurse
- Speech Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational Therapy
- CYPS
- Life Cycle
- Healthy Minds Team
- Emotional Resilience Team
- Early Help
Parents and carers are informed if any outside agency is involved.
Where can I get advice information, advice and support if you are a parent?
Special Educational Needs and Disability – Information, Advice and Support service
(SENDIASS)
Primrose Childrens Centre
Primrose Village
Lambton Tce
Jarrow
NE32 5QY
What do I do if I am not happy or if I want to make a complaint?
If a parent wishes to complain about the provision or the policy, they should, in the first instance, raise it with their child’s class teacher or the SENCO, who will try to resolve the situation.
If the issue can not be resolved within 10 working days, the parent can submit a formal complaint to the Head teacher in writing or any other accessible format. The Head teacher will reply within 10 working days.
Any issues that remain unresolved at this stage will be managed according to the school’s Complaints Policy. This is available, on request, from the school office.
- Other relevant policies
Please read this report alongside the following policies;
Accessibility Plan
Equality Plan
SEND Policy
SEND Admissions Guidance