SEND
Christ the King Catholic Primary School
SEND Information Report (2024)
Christ the King Catholic Primary School is an inclusive mainstream school where teaching and learning, achievements, attitudes and the well-being of each and every child matters. Our Catholic school, the Church and the community, inspired by the teaching of Jesus Christ, feel a special responsibility to those children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We offer a range of provision to support children with SEND in order to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. In reference to the ladder of engagement, stakeholders and strategic groups are consulted when developments are made in SEND.
This information report gives an overview of the provision your child will receive at Christ the King. If you have any questions about the content of this report please contact the school SENDCo (Ms Madden) who will be happy to answer any of your questions. The Link Governor for SEND is Mrs Rhiannon Fumarola.
Q1 What is a SEND Information Report?
The Children and Families Act (2014) require schools to publish information about how they support children with SEND in their school. SENAR’s aim is that, where possible, all pupils will have their needs met in a mainstream school with access to the right resources, professional experts and high quality teaching. However for some children and young people a mainstream setting will not be the right place so that they can get the best provision to meet their needs. Children, young people and their families are more involved in decisions about the support they receive. As part of a ‘graduated response’ there are different levels of plan such as SEND plans, SEND Support Provision plans (SSPP) and Education, Health and Care Plans to outline the support for children, some of whom have very significant and complex additional needs. All pupils are entitled to an equality of opportunity and to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum, appropriate to their individual needs, talents and personal qualities, as stated in the 2010 Equality Act.
Further, more detailed information on what our school provides is detailed in our SEND policy.
Q2 What is SEND?
The Code of Practice defines SEND as:
“A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.
A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:
· have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age or
· have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.”
If a learner is identified as having SEND, we will provide support that is ‘additional to or different from’ the normal differentiated curriculum, intended to overcome the barrier to their learning. This will form part of our graduated response.
The Equality Act 2010 definition of disability is:
“A person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if (s)he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to day activities.”
Special educational needs and provision can be considered as falling under four broad areas:
• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, mental and emotional health
• Sensory and/or physical
Communication and interaction
Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.
Children and young people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication, social interaction and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.
Cognition and learning
Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.
Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional
difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.
Sensory and/or physical needs
Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties, which makes it even more difficult for them to access the curriculum or study programme than for those with a single sensory impairment.
Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.
Q3 What is the Local Offer?
Every Local Authority in England has a duty to provide children and young people, (0-25 years) with support if they have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities - this is known as the Local Offer. Every Local Authority has to publish what support is available on a website: this is called the Local Offer Website.
This Local Offer website gives information about the support that the local authority expects to be available across education, health and social care. The information on the website is clear and easy to find. It says who a particular service is for, how to apply, and how decisions are made about who gets that service. It includes information about the wide range of services that are available to support all areas of a child’s life (0-25 years) especially those with a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND). This includes support with education, physical and mental health, social care, leisure activities and moving towards independence and adulthood. This is accessible: www.localofferbirmingham.co.uk
Q4 How are children with SEND identified?
At Christ the King children are identified as having SEND through a variety of ways including the following:
o Liaison with a previous educational setting
o Tracking information and school based assessment data– does the data show that the child is showing ‘significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age’?
o Concerns raised by parents
o Concern raised by school staff
o Concern raised by pupil
o Liaison with external agencies
o Health diagnosis
Q5 What should you do if you think your child has SEND?
At our school, we pride ourselves on building positive relationships with parents and carers. In the first instance, please talk to your child’s class teacher to raise concerns. At Christ the King Catholic Primary School the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo) is Miss Madden. She works with children, parents/carers, school staff and outside agencies to coordinate the provision for all our pupils with SEND.
Should you have any concerns about SEND you can contact Miss Madden through the school office on 0121 464 9800 or email enquiry@christkng.bham.sch.uk
Q6 How does the school support children with SEND?
We follow a graduated response as outlined in the Code of Practice (2015). This follows an Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle. Children with SEND have an individual pupil profile with targets set to meet their educational needs. Children will receive additional support. This is reviewed termly with parents. Through this process the school evaluates the effectiveness of provision for pupils and sets new targets. The advice of outside agencies may be involved in the formulation and review of their pupil profile. Those with lots of involvement of outside agencies may require a SEND Support Provision plan (SSPP). Those with the most complex needs may have an EHC plan. Both SSPPs and EHCPs are assigned by SENAR.
All of our teachers adapt their teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils in their class alongside rigorous and accurate assessment procedures. If they have concerns over a child’s progress they will talk to the parents regarding the need to provide specific high quality teaching to target the barrier to learning. This may be done within the classroom through adaptive teaching methods, in a small group inside the classroom or in a quieter room outside. Sometimes the class teaching assistant may provide this support under the guidance of the class teacher.
If progress is still a concern the class teacher will discuss with you their decision to involve the school’s SENDCo. The SENDCo oversees all support and progress of any child requiring support across school. Additional support may be provided by the class teacher through the adaptive teaching methods, targeted and/or specialist intervention. Termly meetings will be arranged to discuss and review progress towards the identified barrier to learning. Sometimes additional meetings will also be arranged if needed. The school will need to ask your permission to involve external agencies so that a more specialist provision may be provided including specialist interventions, dependent on children’s individual needs.
Additional support for children with SEND is secured through the school’s SEND notional budget with additional funding secured, for those with higher needs, through SSPPs and EHCPs, if agreed by SENAR.
Under the Equality Act, the duty to make reasonable adjustments in education is 'anticipatory'. We endeavour to consider what pupils with SEND will need to ensure
they can access and participate in their education and the culture of the school, alongside their peers. See Accessibility plan. Click below
Q7 What external agencies help provide additional support for those with SEND?
The school works closely with external agencies (both in school and outside of school) to support staff training. Outside agencies may provide specialist advice either directly through working with pupils in class, in withdrawal groups or on a 1:1 basis. They may also provide educational advice that schools can follow to support pupils. They may be involved in the review process of SEND plans and meet/ provide feedback directly to parents. The frequency of the involvement of each agency varies. Parental consent will be gathered. These specialist agencies currently include:
o Educational Psychology Service (Ed Ps)
o Pupil and School Support (PSS)
o Communication and Autism Team (CAT)
o NHS Traded Services Speech and Language Therapists (SALT)
o Qualified Teacher of the Visual Impaired (QTVI)
o Occupational Therapy (OT)
o Forward Thinking Birmingham (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service)
o SENDIASS (Parent Partnership)
o NHS Core Speech and Language Therapists (SALT)
o Sensory Support (Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment)
o Teacher of the Deaf (Hearing Impairment)
o School Nursing Service (School Nurses)
o Physical Difficulties (PDSS)
Additional external agencies provide support for pupils:
· School based counsellor (supporting SEMH needs)
· Tracy Vickers Consultancy (WellComm- SALT, Zones of Regulation- SEMH)
· Drama Theatre company (Speaking and Listening and confidence building)
· Adventure Grove (Speaking and Listening)
· Aston Villa (Resilience, Confidence)
Q8 What is the EHCP process?
The majority of children and young people with SEND can have their needs met within a mainstream setting with additional resources. A small minority of children and young people may have more complex needs where additional resources are required. For these children an Education, Health and Care assessment can be requested. If a change of placement to a specialist provision (special school or resource bases) was deemed necessary then an EHCP would need to be acquired first.
Both school and parents can request that the Local Authority (SENAR Team) carry out a statutory assessment of the child’s needs. After a request is made to SENAR, a panel reviews all the substantial evidence of a ‘graduated response’- over time- and decide whether an EHCP is to be assigned. Evidence of contributing outside agency involvement would be reviewed.
If an EHCP has been assigned, a plan would outline the pupil’s short and long term targets, detailing the provision required. The school would then plan what that provision looks like in consultation with SENAR and with the agencies that have been heavily involved in supporting the child and the parent. EHC plans are reviewed annually.
Q9 What training do the staff in school have in relation to pupils with SEND?
All staff are involved in the provision of SEND to varying degrees so all receive training (staff inset, 1:1 advice, resources, guidance etc). Our staff all have training for Allergies, Asthma, Epilepsy, Diabetes and First Aid. The staff who require more in-depth training have received Paediatric First Aid and Diabetes (insulin pump use). Outside agencies provide advice and training to staff, when required, in order to effectively meet the individual needs of the children in the staff’s care. Staff participate in staff training through the Catholic Primary Partnership as well as through joint working with other primary schools. The SENDCo provides whole school training for staff. The SENDCo is appropriately trained for her role and has the National SENDCo award. She attends SENCo Networks and completes joint working with other primary schools.
Q10 How are pupils with SEND involved in their own education?
For children and young people with SEND we use a variety of strategies to support pupils’ high levels of engagement through:
· Children’s views are sought during the creation of SEND plans and as part of the termly review process at each level (pupil profiles, SSPPs and EHCPs).
· Children’s comments and engagement with work on their targets from the continuum and when working with outside agencies.
· Self-assessment and children’s reflections on their learning.
· Pupil voice though pupil interviews, questions and CTK Stewards, Sports’ Crew etc.
· Supporting pupils with the transfer to secondary or other settings, allowing them the opportunity to discuss their feelings and plan for the transition. Followed up with effective handover of notes and collaborative working.
· A range of models and visual resources, accessible for children to use when needed, including Widgit.
· Flexible grouping so that children work with a range of different partners.
· Use of talk partners and revisiting previous learning.
· Ensuring the children know they can talk to a trusted adult when needed.
· Medical alert cards.
· Visual timetables.
· Now and next boards.
· Prompt cards to promote independence.
· Personalised work stations.
· Learning breaks.
· PECS.
Q11 How accessible is Christ the King Catholic Primary school?
We have made every effort to ensure that we are fully compliant with legal requirements. Our school building is quite old but has newer extensions in some parts. It has two different floor levels. The two floors are linked by a staircase. The ground floor is wheelchair friendly with a disabled toilet and ramps to the front of the school and on to the playground. On the occasion when children or adults, who are using a wheelchair need to access the school, provision has been made to use the ground floor in line with the Equality Act’s ‘reasonable adjustments’. See Accessibility plan. Click here
Q12 How do parents of a child with SEND make a complaint?
If you have a complaint about the school, please contact the Head teacher, Mrs Breslin and we will do everything we can to resolve any issues arising. Our school and governing body take complaints seriously and will act upon these on an individual basis. We follow the school’s Complaints Procedure policy. Click here
Q13 Who can I contact for support outside of school?
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Services (SENDIASS) offer accessible information and support for parents and carers of children and young people with SEND. SENDIASS provide advocacy support for individual children, young people and parents that empowers them to express their views and wishes and helps them to understand their rights in matters including School Support; EHC Needs Assessments; Exclusions, complaints; SEND Appeals and Personal Budgets. They establish and help monitor overall effectiveness and feedback on all aspects of SEND provision and policy with a view to providing information to assist service improvements.
Under the Children & Families Act (2014) it is a legal requirement that all Local Authorities have a service such as SENDIASS. The service is free, impartial and confidential.
Contact the SENDIASS:
The POD,
28 Oliver Street,
Nechells,
Birmingham,
B7 4NX.
Email: sendiass@birmingham.gov.uk
Telephone: 0121 303 5004
DfE SEND Code of Practice, April 2015. This is where the statutory framework and guidance for SEND can be found:
www.gov.uk/search?q=SEN+code+of+Practice