Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Local Offer and Vision

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Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the opportunity to thrive. Some just need a little extra help or special support to achieve their potential.

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Devon’s SEND strategy has been produced in collaboration with families and set out how we will help improve outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families.

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These priorities make up our SEND Local Offer, which includes the education, health and social care services and support for children and young people (0-25) with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Please click this link to visit the Devon County Council Special Education Needs and Disabilities Local Offer and Vision pages.

 

Our SENCO

 

Mrs Hollingsworth is our Special Needs coordinator (SENCO) and her role is to ensure all our children are reaching their potential in their learning. She instigates some programmes that will benefit all children and also directs the work of over 30 Teaching Assistants, all with different skills and knowledge, who help those of our children who may have a problem with their learning in different ways. They may have a long-term issue with specific learning difficulties or just need short-term help in a particular area. We are fully aware of how an emotional need can affect a child’s readiness to learn and we have interventions which take priority in order that children can access the curriculum and therefore progress. We have listed below a tool kit of interventions which we often have special training to deliver; these are used as appropriate according to a child’s need.

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SEN Information Report 2022-23

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EMOTIONAL NEEDS

 

An assessment can be very beneficial as we sit with parent and/or teacher and work out an action plan for home and school to help a child who may have emotional challenges.

 

The BOXALL profile can be helpful for a child with problems learning appropriate classroom behaviour. http://www.nurturegroups.org/. We also use SDQ and ELSA resources for assessing childrens' emotional wellbeing. Two members of staff have also received THRIVE training.

 

Children can have additional Forest School sessions where appropriate.

 

1:1 or group sessions on emotional wellbeing and coping strategies are for children who are undergoing difficult life situations and who need a little extra help. They generally work on feelings, e.g. they can look at anger, anxiety, relationships and transition as we prepare for the summer holidays and next year. The children in this group change according to their current need.

 

Our information sessions are open to the whole of the Exmouth and wider area and is run jointly by our SENCO and (retired) Educational Psychologist. These meetings are weekly on a Friday afternoon and take a particular focus, eg. anxiety, change, learning to wait, sibling rivalry.

 

Lunch clubs run for those who are uncomfortable on the playground for the whole time and include chess, crafting and colouring. These may change according to the talents and interests of those available to help.

We are always looking for parents to help!

 

READINESS TO LEARN

 

Speech and Language Therapy: The Speech and Language Therapist will assess a child experiencing difficulties with their speech and devise a personalised programme for them. The Teaching Assistant will carry out activities with the child to help them achieve the targets.

 

The speech and language group mostly operates in Foundation, for children who need to work on certain sounds, as determined by Speechlink, a computer programme which helps identify any developmental speech and language difficulties. If necessary we can refer to a therapist.

https://speechandlanguage.info/

 

Speaking and listening groups are more commonly found in Foundation or Key Stage 1 and are set up as needed for children who need more practice in turn-taking, communication and interaction.

 

Narrative groups are similar and focus on story-telling, including asking ‘who?’, ‘where?’, ‘when?’, ‘why?’, ‘how?’ and encouraging the children to develop their oral language to help prepare them for the reading and writing they will be doing. It uses Black Sheep resources

http://www.blacksheeppress.co.uk/

 

ICAN Talkboost is a programme we have recently been trained on and which we have been running. It narrows the gap between those children who have a language delay and their peers. https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/talk-boost/

 

LITERACY NEEDS

 

CODE uses the Project X characters and is a hugely popular and effective reading intervention for Key stage 2. This link says it all! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSyuPryftnw

 

We have some teaching assistants trained to deliver Fischer Family Trust 1:1 intervention which helps with reading and writing. They have daily activities with their reading book to help improve their literacy skills and parents work hard as well to narrow the literacy gap.

http://www.literacy.fischertrust.org/

 

1:1 Effective Hearing Reading; Mrs. Hollingsworth has trained all of our teaching assistants on how to be more effective when hearing children read. More sessions are planned and parents and volunteers are invited to help improve their hearing reading skills too.

 

We are always happy to welcome volunteer hearing readers and can train if necessary too.

 

Our SENCO is trained in Reading Recovery: This is a very specialised 1:1 daily programme working with a child on reading and writing, spelling and handwriting and is only delivered by a teacher with extra qualifications in teaching children with very low literacy levels.

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/reading-recovery-europe/reading-recovery

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MATHS NEEDS

 

Numeracy Support

 

Across our school we have experienced staff delivering a suite of quality-assured Numeracy intervention programmes as well as bespoke individualised interventions. Each quality-assured programme that has been chosen is research based and has proven success in supporting children to make rapid progress in their numeracy.

 

Numeracy intervention is managed by class teachers, with support from the Maths team in school and the SENDCo. Working closely together, they work hard to select the most appropriate intervention programme to move the children forward. This may be bespoke, tailored to the child and their individual needs, may take the form of a pre-teaching session, to assign competence during the main Maths lesson, or may utilise some of the intervention programmes below.

 

Spot On With Numbers

 

Spot on With Numbers is an early intervention programme which has been developed in collaboration with Mathematics Counts and has been facilitated by the Babcock Devon Maths Team. It is aimed at children in Key Stage One who have moderate difficulties in Maths,  as well as older children who have specific difficulties, including dyscalculia. It aims to create positive attitudes around Maths and to improve confidence and mathematical understanding which will, in turn, allow children to continue to learn successfully after the intervention.

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The intervention programme itself focuses on numbers 1-20, including place value, additive reasoning, multiplicative reasoning and subitising the numbers 1-10. The Connective Model is followed, allowing this intervention programme to make connections between concrete experiences, pictures/visuals, mathematical language and mathematical symbols. It is delivered by a trained teaching assistant and utilises a variety of physical resources to engage and enthuse the children with their Maths. 

 

Making A Difference

 

Making A Difference is an intervention which has been developed by the Babcock Devon Maths Team and is designed to improve pupil confidence in additive reasoning. It explores in depth how to support understanding and address misconceptions around the areas of understanding and using place value and the relationship between addition and subtraction both mentally and using written methods. Making A Difference is a flexible intervention covering curriculum objectives from Year Two to Year Four and is most commonly used as an intensive intervention programme in Upper Key Stage Two to support learners who are not secure in these objectives.

 

A comprehensive diagnostic assessment is carried out before the intervention takes place, allowing staff to see what the child can do and where support is best targeted. This means that Making A Difference can be tailored to suit the needs of individual children or groups and can be carefully crafted to enhance the potential progress.

 

Fair and Equal

 

Fair and Equal is an intervention which has been developed by the Babcock Devon Maths Team and is designed to improve pupil confidence in multiplicative reasoning. It develops understanding and addresses misconceptions around multiplication and division, using known number facts and using written methods. Fair and Equal is most commonly used as an intensive intervention programme in Upper Key Stage Two.

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A comprehensive diagnostic assessment is carried out before the intervention takes place, allowing staff to see what the child can do and where support is best targeted. This means that Fair and Equal can be tailored to suit the needs of individual children or groups and can be carefully crafted to enhance the potential progress.

 

PHYSICAL NEEDS

 

Physiotherapy: we carry out any therapeutic tasks recommended by Vranch House for children needing help with movement, proprioception, posture, gross or fine motor skills and so on, either 1:1 or in groups if more children need the same help.

 

FUNFIT is a programme set up by Vranch House for children who need help with their gross or fine motor skills or core body strength. They have a series of 30 lessons, after which improvement is usually remarkable. If not, we refer them to Vranch House for a more in depth assessment. http://www.vranchhouse.org/what-we-do/devon-fun-fit-high-five/

 

We run groups to improve Fine Motor Skills in Foundation and years 1 and 2. This helps with sitting correctly for writing, pencil grip, handwriting, using cutlery and scissors.

 

Class teacher generated intervention (led by teacher or TA):

 

We also have groups run by the teacher and/or teaching assistant in each class according to the needs found in that cohort of children. These could be run in or out of the class and may include:

• Spelling group

• Reading comprehension group

• Handwriting group

• Speaking and listening group

• Speech and language group

• Guided reading groups

• Guided writing groups

• Higher ability creative writing group where technical skills are developed, such as handwriting, spelling, punctuation and also creative skills such as story writing, descriptive work and poetry.

• Phonic groups

 

Massage in Schools Programme:

 

The Massage in Schools Programme, which is a fun 10 -15 minute peer (child to child) massage, led by a trained adult, received and given only with the child’s permission. Massage is given over clothes and only to the back, arms and hands. The programme was introduced into this country in 2001 and is firmly based on the principles of rights, responsibilities, respect and choice. There are many benefits including increasing the children’s concentration, better sleep patterns and reduction in bullying and aggressive behaviour.

Please see www.massageinschools.com.