SEND & Local Offer

SENCo: Alison Nicholson 

Please contact the school office to make an appointment with Mrs Nicholson  

Central Primary believes that all pupils should be respected and valued as shown in our own school values.

Some children require support that is additional or different from that made for their peers. It may take the form of additional support in school or require involvement of specialist staff or support services.

Our school has a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) who is responsible for the management of provision and/ or support for identified pupils with SEND. She will also coach and support teachers and other staff to enable them to provide appropriate assessment and focused provision for children in their class with SEND.

All teachers are teachers of SEND pupils and as such provide quality first teaching which takes account of the particular individual needs of pupils with SEND within the classroom.

Types of special educational need or disability we support

The national SEND Code of Practice 2015 states that there are four main areas of need:

Communication and Interaction

Attention / Interaction skills: May have difficulties ignoring distractions. Need reminders to keep attention. May need regular prompts to stay on task. May need individualised motivation in order to complete tasks. Difficulty attending in whole class. Interaction will not always be appropriate. May have peer relationship difficulties. May not be able to initiate or maintain a conversation.

Understanding / Receptive Language: May need visual support to understand or process spoken language. May need augmented communication systems Frequent misunderstandings. Repetition of language and some basic language needs to be used to aid their understanding.

Speech / Expressive Language: May use simplified language and limited vocabulary. Ideas / conversations may be difficult to follow, with the need to request frequent clarification. Some immaturities in the speech sound system. Grammar / phonological awareness still fairly poor and therefore their literacy can be affected.

Cognition and Learning

Children may have difficulties with the skills needed for effective learning such as use of:

• Language, memory and reasoning skills

• Sequencing and organisational skills

• An understanding of number

• Problem-solving and concept development skills

• Independent learning skills

• Exercising choice

• Decision making

• Information processing

Children may have a specific learning disability such as dyslexia,dyscalculia,dyspraxia or dysgraphia.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Children may have difficulties with social and emotional development which may lead to or stem from:

• Social isolation

• Behaviour difficulties

• Attention difficulties (ADHD)

• Anxiety and depression

• Attachment disorders

• Low self esteem

• Issues with self-image

• Autism and social communication

Sensory and/ or Physical

These pupils may have a medical or genetic condition that could lead to difficulties with:

• Specific medical conditions

• Gross / fine motor skills

• Visual / hearing impairment

• Accessing the curriculum without adaptation

• Physically accessing the building(s) or equipment.

• Over sensitivity to noise / smells / light / touch / taste.

• Toileting / self-care.

Please read the SEN Information Report below for more details

Northumberland County Council SEND Local Offer

Central Primary School will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need. 

All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.

To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum it is important to:

• Identify at the earliest opportunity, all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional) 
• Work in partnership with parents/ carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide appropriate support plans for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
• Ensure that teaching and support staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.
• Regularly review the policy and practice in order to achieve best practice.

We understand that children learn and develop in different ways. Teachers and support staff recognise this and use different teaching styles, resources and plan different levels of work in the classroom to cater for the various ways children learn. However, some children may need extra help. 

As a school we provide quality first teaching if a class teacher identifies a need they will find ways to support a child within the classroom setting. This may involve:

• Changing the way activities are planned and delivered
• Matching activities to the ability / need of each child (differentiation)
• Adapting learning materials such as equipment and activities to suit the needs of each child
• Offer small group support to promote skills identified in the child’s support plan

With the permission of parents we may seek additional advice from outside specialists such as health professionals, specialist teachers or educational psychologists who would:

• Carry out further assessment of the child’s needs
• Provide advice to schools on how to best support the child
• Suggest resources that would help the child make progress

Our school staff will set targets for SEND children which will be shared with parents, either during Parents’ Evening or a review meeting. If a child has Special Educational Needs our SENCO will:

• Ensure the right support is put in place for each child
• Advise other teachers and teaching assistants on how to help each child and ensure they have an up to date support plan detailing how their needs will be met in school
• Arrange training for staff so they understand each child’s needs
• Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have
• Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist /medical professional/educational psychologist

A Support Plan details what the school, the class teacher and the SENCO plan to do to help individual children learn. A Support Plan will be written for any child with SEND. It will include:

• Short term targets for the child which are linked to their needs
• Details of any extra support the child will get
• Who will give the child help
• How often the child will get help
• How and when the school will look at the child’s progress again (usually at least three times a year)

These plans are shared with parents / carers.

If a child’s needs are very complex and/or severe we may ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care Assessment (EHCP). This is a very detailed assessment of each      child’s needs.  Parents or carers, the school and a range of professionals will all be asked to provide written reports. At the end of the assessment phase the Local Authority will consider these reports to help decide whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for the child. Parents/carers also have the right to ask the Local Authority to carry out this assessment although it is usually best      if this can be done with the support of the school.

Education, Health and Care Assessment is only appropriate for a small number of children. Mrs Nicholson, our school SENCO, will be able to advise you about this.