St Matthew's

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

At St. Matthew’s, we are committed to ensuring that all children are supported to achieve their full potential.  Every child is unique and special with their own gifts, talents and challenges, and that is why we work hard as a team to create an environment in which each individual can grow and flourish.

Please read on to find out more about how we help all children make progress and achieve at St. Matthew’s.

Who are the key contacts at school if I want to talk about SEND? 

Your first port of call if you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s progress is always their class teacher.  If necessary, they may refer you to one of the following people:

Our headteacher –  Mr M. Gray 

Our SENDCo –  Miss J. Donaldson

Our SEND governor – Mrs A. Steel

Queries linked directly to SEND can be sent confidentially to the school’s SEND coordinator by emailing send@smp.bwcet.com

How do we identify, assess and review p upils with special educational needs?  

Most children and young people in mainstream schools will have their special educational needs met through good classroom practice. In our school, we call this Quality First Teaching.

When a pupil has been flagged as potentially struggling in a specific area of need despite quality first teaching and typical adapted practice, they will monitored to consider any wider factors which may impact on their progress.  Pupils at this stage are at ‘Wave 1′ and a pupil passport is written by the class teacher with support from the SENDCo.  

Early Identification of Need

In deciding whether to make special education provision to support educational, social, physical or emotional needs, we:

• work in partnership with parents/carers and pupils.
• consult with relevant external agencies.
• use assessment tools & materials.
• use observations.
• monitor progress against targets.

‘Wave 2′ Support

Occasionally a child may access a short term intensive intervention programme to address a clearly defined need that may be inhibiting their progress.  This could include short term support to address a specific area within a subject such as maths or reading, or it may be to address a fine or gross motor need.  We will monitor each child’s progress throughout their intervention before deciding whether or not external support is required.

‘Wave 3’ Support

Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.

This means that we will:

• Assess a child’s special educational needs (in relation to progress made)
• Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes (pupils, parents/carers, teacher, SENDCo, outside agencies will be involved at this stage)
• Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes (including any adaptations of the curriculum)
• Review the support and progress (pupils, parents/carers, teacher, SENCO, outside agencies could be involved)

As part of this approach every child with SEND will have an individualised SEND support plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes & provision to meet those needs.  Parents/carers and child  views are integral to the this process.

‘Wave 4′ Support 

A small percentage of children and young people with significant and/or complex needs may require an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.

If a child’s needs are very complex and/or severe we may ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care Assessment:

• This is a very detailed assessment of each child’s needs. Parents or carers, the school and a range of professionals will all be asked to provide written reports.
• At the end of the assessment phase the Local Authority will consider these reports to help decide whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for the child.
• Parents/carers also have the right to ask the Local Authority to carry out this assessment although it is usually best if you can do this with the support of the school.
• Education, Health and Care Assessment is only appropriate for a small number of children. Your school SENCO or the Parent Partnership Service will be able to advise you about this.

For more information, please look at the Northumberland Local Offer.

Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEND

St. Matthew’s Catholic Primary School is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and to providing an equitable learning experience for all pupils valuing the diversity fof all children and families.

At our school we aim to offer excellence and choice to all our children, whatever their ability or needs. We want all our children to feel that they are a valued part of our community and we have high expectations of all our children. We aim to achieve this through the removal of barriers to learning and participation by:

• providing a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions are considered and valued;
• providing an appropriate curricular provision, that respects the fact that children:
  • have different educational and behavioural needs;
  • require different strategies for learning;
  • acquire, assimilate and communicate information at different rates;
  • need a range of different teaching approaches and experiences;
• including and valuing the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity;
• providing positive non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and disabled people;
• improving our knowledge and understanding of issues of anti-discriminatory practice, promoting equality and valuing diversity; and
• making inclusion a thread that runs through all of our activities.

All children experience Quality First Teaching as part of our curriculum – this includes differentiation of resources or additional adult support.  As progress is frequently monitored or following termly pupils progress meetings, interventions related to need and individual children are organised.

If your child has a special educational need our SENDCo, Miss Donaldson will:

• Ensure the right support is put in place for each child as part of the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle
• Advise other teachers and teaching assistants on how to help each child
• Arrange training for staff so they understand each child’s needs
• Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have
• Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist /medical professional/ educational psychologist
• Monitor progress in relation to individual outcomes as well as in relation to national measures

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support.  Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.

There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:

• Autumn and spring term parents’ evenings;
• Ongoing discussions with a class teacher and/or SENDCo;
• An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have;
• Through a review of a child’s SEND support plan or the annual review of their EHC Plan.

How do we adapt the curriculum and the learning environment to suit the needs of children with SEND?

We adapt the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with SEND in the following ways:

• Quality first teaching which is adapted to meet the needs of all learners. 
• Access to technology
• Flexible group or individual support – in and out of class
• Interventions
• Pre-teaching and small group additional tuition
• A broad range of extra curricular activities
• Individualised targets via support plans
• Meetings with parents/carers
• Partnership with outside agencies

How do leaders assess and evaluate the effectiveness of SEND provision at St. Matthew’s?  

Leaders routinely monitor the progress of all learners to ensure high levels of progress and good outcomes for all children.  To help us do this, we:

• listen to pupil voices in termly SEND conferences;
• assess impact through book and lesson appraisals;
• conduct termly pupil progress meetings;
• meet with the governor responsible for SEND to discuss provision, progress and outcomes.