Special Educational Needs and Disability
Mission Statement
St. Joseph's is a school that has at its centre a clear Catholic ethos, helping the child develop in a Christ-like way; and which is committed to providing excellent teaching and learning for all children.
At St. Joseph's we thrive to offer an education for all. We are committed to providing the very best education for every child regardless of their need. We aim to give every child in our school a broad and balanced education. We strive to deliver quality first teaching where reasonable adjustments are made to suit individual children's needs.
Our school Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCo) is:
Mrs Baldwin
She can be contacted via the school office on 01889 228735 or via email S.Baldwin@st-josephs-rugeley.staffs.sch.uk
What is Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)?
This is a term used when a child finds it more difficult to learn than most of their peers.
There are four broad areas of need, a child may have needs across more than one area:
- Communication and Interaction
- Cognition and Learning
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Sensory and Physical
What should you do if you think your child has Special Educational Needs (SEN)?
Firstly, we would encourage you to talk to your child's class teacher, they would know best about your child's ability and progress within the classroom. To book a meeting with the class teacher you should ring the main office and the class teacher would ring you back at their first convenience. This is a chance for you to talk about your concerns and for the class teacher to discuss how your child is in class.
After that initial meeting the class teacher would speak to the SENDCo, together they would create a plan to go forward.
What support does my child get?
At the end of each term the class teacher will create an Individual Support Plan for your child. This will have around 3 targets on for the following term and will outline what support is needed for you child to achieve the targets. These will be changed as and when the child completes their targets. All targets should be manageable through extra intervention given and should be reviewed every half term if not earlier.
Examples of support are:
Adult support within certain lessons to support learning
Group work intervention on a regular basis
1:1 intervention
The support given to your child will be catered to their individual needs. The class teacher will share these targets with you and discuss what support will be put into place. They will also share these targets with your child if appropriate.
What is the Graduated Response?
You might hear the term Graduated Response, this is a cycle of support given to your child.
There are 4 stages of the Graduated Response. These are:
- Assess- we will look at the individual needs and any data
- Plan- we will plan the support needed to support your child's education
- Do- we will carry out the support planned
- Review- the support will be reviewed in its effectiveness
This cycle will then be repeated with new targets.
If we are looking for extra support from outside agencies they will want to see evidence of the Graduated Response to support your child fully.
What outside agencies could be involved?
If your child is showing a greater need and is not making progress through their targets on their Individual Support Plan, or they have a specific need, we may ask for an outside agency to come and support us.
Agencies include:
- Educational Psychologists
- Speech and Language Therapists
- CAMHS
- Family Support
- Autism Inclusion Team
We could also refer to our local SEND HUB which meets every half term. This is a network of local schools and outside agencies who come together to discuss individual children's needs and give each other advice and support.
All of the above would be referred to by the SENDCo with the agreement from you as a parent/carer.
What is ELSA?
At St. Joseph's we have a trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistant, Miss Owen.
If the class teacher or you feel your child needs more support in their emotions then they could be referred to the ELSA programme. This is a set intervention where your child would come out of their lessons once a week and have 1:1 time in the ELSA room with Miss Owen. This would run for a set period of time.
What is Early Intervention?
Children learn at different rates and this, our staff, do understand. We look at each child as an individual and try and identify areas of need as early as possible to ensure that children get the help and support they need as soon as possible.
All children on entry to our Early Years Foundation Stage will be assessed discreetly through play based activities. This will be their Baseline assessment. These assessments are reviewed by the child's teacher who will identify any areas of need. Teachers will communicate these to the SENDCo.
Staff also carry out ongoing observation based assessments and if the teacher or member of staff has any concerns about progression and development they will discuss these with the SENDCo who will support teachers in creating support plans.
Interventions to support a child's early learning will be seen in different ways; this may be one-to-one play based interventions, discussions with parents and setting targets or speech and language referrals for example. The intervention will be suited to meet the need of the individual. The interventions are planned to ensure that all children make progress in their Learning Journey.
The environment meets the needs of all children, all children make progress! Some children are receiving good intervention to support progression and parents will be informed of this during parents evenings. Outside agencies are involved if needed, parents will always be informed of this. Mrs Baldwin will work with the teacher and the child through observations and meetings with staff to ensure each child's needs are understood and planned for.
This important message below is taken directly from the EYFS Development Matters. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1007446/6.7534_DfE_Development_Matters_Report_and_illustrations_web__2_.pdf
Relevant policies and reports
New proforma SEND information report- Sept 2024
Old proforma SEND information report- Sept 2024
Equality Objectives and Accessibility Plan 2024-25 (key objectives)
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Local Offer
Staffordshire’s local offer provides information and services for children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. The Local Offer website aims to help families by gathering the information that they need to know in order to make informed choices about the support they receive.
Please follow link to find out more:
https://www.staffordshireconnects.info/kb5/staffordshire/directory/family.page?familychannel=0
