Teaching and Assessment

How can I find out about how well my child is doing?

Initially, additional provision will usually be planned and delivered by the class teacher through their normal in-class provision. If appropriate, additional support will be put into place. This may take the form of additional or adapted resources, targeted group support or paired/individual support. The aim of the support will always be to accelerate progress and overcome barriers to learning. If appropriate, children with particular needs may be added to the school's SEN Register. For these pupils, any additional support is documented in a Provision Plan. For some children, it may be necessary to apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). All support plans will identify targets which will be agreed against measurable outcomes over time. Where external agencies are involved, their advice and recommendations are included accordingly. Regular review meetings will be held so that parents can understand both their child's needs and how well they are doing. Guidance will also be provided on how to support at home and how home and school can work together to support pupils. Where necessary, external agencies will be invited to attend such meetings and contribute suggestions to the support that is being provided.

What happens if my child is continuing to have difficulties?

In many cases, children with identified needs will continue to find aspects of school life challenging. Because of this the provision put in place by the school is designed to help the children to better manage their challenges on a day-today basis. If your child is continuing to have significant difficulties which affect their ability to make appropriate progress in line with their peers, external expertise may be requested. Additional funding is available for children who meet the statutory higher needs criteria. This can be accessed using the Local Authority process and the guidance in the Banded Funding Criteria. If this is agreed, a Pupil Resource Agreement will be drawn up and implemented with the school's Educational Psychologist and other professionals where appropriate. Further details about this process are explained in the LA Local Offer.

How will teaching be adapted to meet the needs of my child?

Teachers are trained to adapt teaching to meet the many different needs of pupils in each class. Daily planning takes into account individual pupil's needs and requirements. Differentiation is approached in a range of ways to support access and ensure that all pupils can experience success and challenge in their learning. Additional adults are used flexibly to help groups and individual pupils with the long term goal of all children being independent learners. Monitoring takes place to avoid pupils becoming over reliant and dependent on adult support. Additional interventions take place for targeted groups of children at different times during the day to support progress in Phonics, Writing and Numeracy as well as areas such as fine and gross motor skills, speech and language and social skills.

How do we adapt the curriculum and learning environment?

The curriculum is differentiated to take into account specific areas of difficulty. Teaching and learning strategies are informed by professional advice, for example from the speech and language team or the Educational Psychologist. Additional Individual or small group teaching sessions are provided for short periods with a focus on core skills. Children with SEN have access to support from an additional adult in the classroom. At Tubbenden Primary School we employ a learning mentor and run programs to build self-esteem, behaviour for learning and confidence in learning. For some children with high level of need, individual resources or programmes are provided and managed by the class teacher. All of our classrooms are Dyslexia friendly and children with SEN have access to coloured overlays, coloured reading rulers, as well as coloured books and paper.

How do we assess and review pupils' progress towards their outcomes?

The Inclusion Manager and class teacher will consider all the information from across the school about each pupil's progress, alongside national data and expectations of progress. The school uses a graduated approach:

Assess: this stage should take account of detailed formative assessment to identify individual barriers to learning. This may involve assessment in school or assessments carried out by an external agency. Where appropriate, this stage may include a diagnosis.
Plan: advice and recommendations are incorporated into Provision Plans or support plans written by the Inclusion Manager in consultation with the Class Teacher, parents and outside agencies.
Do: interventions are put in place, following recommendations. These will be time limited and discussed at the termly Pupil Progress Review meetings carried out by staff in school. They will also be discussed with parents at parent-teacher consultation meetings.
Review: the effectiveness of current provision is monitored and any interventions are adapted to meet individual needs. Further advice is sought where necessary.

How do we evaluate the effectiveness of our SEN provision?

The school evaluates the effectiveness of its SEN provision in a variety of ways. Ongoing assessment information which feeds into the school's tracking systems is analysed half-termly to ensure that pupils are making the progress that would be expected. As well as this 'summative' data analysis, formative assessment information drawn from the class teacher's observations and the school's in-house monitoring of day-today learning is also used to assess progress and evaluate the quality of provision. The school also evaluates the progress that pupils make as a result of interventions based on identified criteria specific to the support being provided. Progress against identified individual targets is also used to evaluate the quality of provision. The effectiveness of provision over time is also measured by comparing outcomes for SEN pupils at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2 and comparing these to national outcomes.

How are staff trained to support children with SEN and to meet the needs of pupils?

The training needs of staff, including support staff, are regularly reviewed and planned for, so that all staff are able to meet the needs of pupils with the most common barriers to learning. Where pupils present with rarer difficulties, staff access training and support from specialist teachers or outside agencies. All staff are actively encouraged to take advantage of training and development opportunities. All teaching and support staff undertake induction training when taking up their post. The Inclusion Manager regularly attends the Local Authority SENCO Forums in order to keep up to date with local and national updates in SEND.

Transition

How do we support pupils moving between different phases of education?

The transition process happens every year but particularly between both KS1 and KS2 (Year 2 to Year 3) and KS2 to KS£ (Year 6 to Year 7) is managed very carefully. These transitions can be challenging for all pupils, whether they have identified SEN or not and so every care is taken that, where particular needs have been identified, these are clearly communicated to all professionals involved in transition. Key staff, including the Inclusion Manager, meet with teachers at our feeder nurseries and pre-schools to discuss children who have identified needs, including children currently on the SEN Register and other pupils who might be considered vulnerable. Similarly, once places have been allocated, staff meet with Year 7 SEN staff from the relevant secondary schools to discuss the needs of the pupils that will be transferring at the end of the academic year. In the case of all transitions, all relevant supporting documentation is passed to the receiving school.

Pupil passports are written for all pupils on the SEN Register to ensure key facts are passed clearly on to all staff who will be working with the pupils.

Supporting parents

How do we handle concerns from parents of children with SEN regarding provision made at the school?

Concerns should, in the first instance, be directed to the school's Inclusion Manager who will look into the matter and respond accordingly. If the matter is not resolved to your satisfaction, or if your complaint is about the Inclusion Manager, then you should contact the Head of School. The Complaints Policy can be found here:

SOLA Complaints Procedure

What support services are available to parents?

Information, Advice and Support Service:

iass@bromley.gov.uk

01689 881024/023

The Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS - formally Parent Partnership) offers information, advice and support, for parents and carers of:

Children with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities from birth to 25.

Young people with SEN or disabilities aged 16 - 25; all children (regardless of SEN) on their child's transition from primary school to secondary school.

Choice Service

choiceservice@bromley.gov.uk

Free advice for all parents and carers with moves from pre-school to primary school and on to secondary school.

Bromley Parent Voice

infor@bromleyparentvoice.org.uk

020 8315 4749 Mon/Tue

020 8776 3170 Wed/Fri

Burgess Autistic Trust

info@burgessautistictrust.org.uk

http://www.bromleyautistictrust.co.uk/

020 8464 2897

MENCAP