St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is a fully inclusive, mainstream Primary School, who ensures that all pupils achieve their potential personally, socially, emotionally and academically in all areas of the curriculum (regardless of their gender, ethnicity, social background, religion, sexual identity, physical ability or educational needs). We are committed to offering an inclusive curriculum to ensure the best possible progress for all of our pupils whatever their needs or abilities.  We have the same high expectations for our educational aims for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, as we do for all children in school. If you have any concerns or wish to discuss SEND at our school, please do not hesitate to contact me.

G Wild
SENCo 

Contact: (01535) 605880 or gabriella.wild@sjk.bcwcat.co.uk

Aims

At St Joseph's Catholic Primary we strive to create a warm, caring and inviting atmosphere in which children feel secure and experience success. We aim to develop a sense of self-worth and high esteem amongst all of our pupils and treat all equally, in this way all pupils are encouraged to realise their full potential; intellectually, emotionally, physically and spiritually, regardless of race, gender, religion or disability. We will encourage the whole school community to take an active role in fulfilling this aim.

 “The progress of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is good. This is because staff provide well-focused support on key skills and keep close checks on understanding.”

“Children who have special educational needs or disability are well supported and make good progress in line with other children.” (OFSTED Inspection Report, June, 2016)

Objectives

We ensure that:

• Every child has access to a broad and balanced curriculum, including the National Curriculum;
• We provide a high quality, differentiated curriculum for all children.
• Decisions are informed by the insights of parents and those of children and young people themselves;
• Staff have high expectations and set ambitious targets for SEND pupils;
• Staff track their progress towards these goals;
• Additional or different provision that is made for pupils is reviewed regularly;
• All staff promote positive outcomes in the wider areas of personal and social development, and ensure that the approaches used are based on the best possible evidence and are having the required impact on progress;
• Links are maintained with other schools and external agencies;
• Staff, Governors and parents are aware of the school's SEND and Inclusion policies.
• To work within the guidance provided in the SEND Code of Practice 2014.

Links

Click here to find out about the local offer and more information from our local authority, Bradford.

How are Education, Health and Care Plans requested/initiated?

Most Children and Young people (CYP) will have their Special Educational Need and Disability met within
mainstream school, early years setting or college via Quality First Teaching and other existing resources.
If a CYPs needs are not being met via a Graduated Approach then they may need to be considered for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

Schools, settings and professionals can request an EHC Needs Assessment by submitting a referral via the
online Capita SEND Portal.

If you wish to submit a referral you will need to action the appropriate section of the portal:
– Parents and Carers via the Citizen Portal

The aim of introducing the Portal is to make it easier for parents and to increase accountability to so they can track where their assessment is in the process.

If you are worried about your child and would like to apply for an EHC assessment, then please speak to Miss Wild (SENDCo) who will be able to talk about what the assessment involves and offer support and guidance around decision making.

If you have limited access to technology or have additional needs, then please don't hesitate to contact Miss Wild, to submit a referral via the SEND Portal, working in partnership and ensuring that Co-Production is embedded throughout, in line with Bradford’s Co-Production values.

If a local authority (“LA”) is requested to carry out an EHC needs assessment by a parent, young person, school or college, they must consider:

• whether the child or young person has or may have special educational needs (“SEN”); and
• whether they may need special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan.

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, they must carry out an EHC needs assessment.

This test is set out in the law (section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014). This means these are the only questions the LA should be asking when considering whether or not to carry out an EHC needs assessment.

The Nest is a specifically designed room which combines a range of stimuli to help children develop and engage their senses. Our sensory room includes lights, colours, sounds, textures and aromas all used within a safe environment that allows the children using it to explore and interact without risk.

Sensory rooms can help children with learning difficulties and sensory impairments to learn to interact with the world around them, but in a safe environment that builds up their confidence and their ability. This space allows a valuable opportunity for teachers to observe children to see what calms them, rouses them and what they do or don’t like.

Most children who access The Nest will have a sensory plan consisting of supportive sensory strategies created by completion of a sensory profile from parents and school staff.

Benefits of the sensory room

There are a whole host of benefits of a sensory room for all the children. Some of these include:

• Sensory stimulation

Encouraging children to engage with and explore the environment can have positive effects on their ability to understand, react and interact with the larger world around them.

• Enhance learning through play

Sensory play helps children to develop their senses, encourages problem solving and can build nerve connections in the brain. Sensory stimulation also engages different areas of the brain, helping children absorb and retain more information.

• Improve balance, movement and spatial orientation

Sensory rooms can help develop children’s visual processing abilities as well as their fine and gross motor skills, facilitating day-to-day living. 

• Develop communication skills

For some children, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder, both verbal and non-verbal communication is a challenge. Sensory rooms can help to engage withdrawn children and sensory equipment that focuses on sound can be especially helpful in encouraging vocalisation.

• De-stress

Sensory environments can be highly absorbing, providing a moment of comfort and calm for overactive and anxious children. Similarly, the safe and controlled nature of a sensory room can help withdrawn children feel comfortable enough to interact with their surroundings.