At Blackshaw Moor First School we have a policy for SEND. The policy defines special educational needs and the provision we offer.
A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they: (a) have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or (b) have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions. A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if they fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would so do if special educational provision was not made for them (Clause 20 Children and Families Bill).
. The new code of practice considers SEND and it’s provision fall under four broad areas.
. 1. Communication and Interaction.
. 2.Cognition and learning
. 3. Social, emotional, mental and health
. 4.Sensory and or physical
We will follow the principles underpinning the Code of Practice 2014
You can find further information by reading our SEND policy which can be found on the website or ask for a copy in school. You can also access the link to the LA Local Offer which outlines Staffordshire LA’s information and services offered to parents.
Each class teacher follows the ‘plan - do –assess- review’ cycle of teaching and learning. If at the assessment stage a child shows difficulty then steps are put in place to offer support. This may be short term, however if the child has significant difficulties they will access stage 2 of the provision map where they will be taught in small groups of specific objectives according to their needs. The school regularly assess and tracks pupil progress on a half or termly basis depending on the subject. Staff meetings are held to discuss the progress of groups of children and the need for extra support is decided here.

In the first instance you should speak to your child’s class teacher. It is useful to share any information you have that will help us support your child in school.

Policies for SEND, Accessibility Plan, Admission Arrangements, Support Pupils with Medical Conditions, School Behaviour, Exclusion, Health and Safety, Equality and Remote Education can all be found on the school website https://bms.ttlt.org.uk/

A provision map produced by the SENCo highlights the Quality First Teaching that all children are entitled to. If there are concerns that a child is not making the expected progress despite this, a small group intervention led by a TA or Teacher will be planned extra to the child’s timetable of class lessons. This could be short or long term depending on the child’s needs. Sometimes it is necessary to plan a separate curriculum for an individual child with one to one intervention with a dedicated TA. Extra funding is usually applied for in this case. Parents are invited to contribute to their child's individual education plan.

At Blackshaw Moor CE First school we adopt a Quality First Teaching approach. Where children are not making age related expectations we make adjustments to the learning provision so all children can access the curriculum. We also have TA support in each classroom and a programme of interventions tailored to children’s individual needs. This programme is overseen by the SENDCO and evaluated and adapted on a termly basis.

Money is provided in the school budget towards SEND and resources are purchased as required to meet individual needs through a personalised requirement plan. If required an EHC plan is applied for which details additional funding needed. The SENDCo produces a provision map termly which outlines the types of SEND and children needing extra support and additional resources required.

Discussion between class teachers and senior leadership team decides what additional provision is needed and how the support will be provided. The SENDCO then prepares a detailed timetable ensuring all agreed needs are met and this is then delivered by intervention support staff. Parents will be invited to be involved in the decision making.

The school library is made available for quiet, uninterrupted intervention support. The school has access to a range of intervention support materials such as Beat Dyslexia, Time to Talk, NELI and resources purposefully purchased purely for intervention.

Assessments of learning take place in the classroom at the end of each teaching unit. If your child has a support plan, a copy of this will be available for you to see. Individual or group plans show the objective to be achieved, activities and resources needed to help make progress and who will be supporting your child. This is reviewed on a termly basis. There will be two parent’s evening each school year and the SENDCo is available to talk to parents here if they so wish. We are a small school and so teachers regularly talk to parents about their child’s progress and there is every opportunity to make appointments with your child’s teacher if you wish to do so. A final end of year report is also sent home so you can see the progress your child has made. Progress is measured against age related expectations but also against the small step targets set on the individual support plan.
Communication with parents can be face to face, via Teams, text message or telephone conversation. The school also uses ‘Seesaw’ an app for parents and teachers to communicate and share work or news from home or school.
We have access to the Leek SEND hub where we refer pupils if outside agency support is required. We also have access to an Educational Psychologist and speech therapy to support learning.

Parents are invited to be involved throughout the whole process and ways to support your child at home will be highlighted on your child’s support plan.

At the point of starting an individual plan of support, teachers work with the young person to discuss what they feel their strengths are and what support they think they need. We discuss their likes and dislikes and what their targets for learning are.

An intervention programme is written each term by the SENCO with support from the intervention support TA and the class teachers. A baseline of attainment is established at the start of the provision. This maybe a standardised reading or spelling test or a baseline assessment provided by the support scheme to be used. Assessments at the end of the intervention program are then collected and progress is then measured. Children are then assigned new targets or removed from the intervention program based on progress made.
Progress is shared with parents and the individual children during meetings, informal chats and with shared intervention plans.
School will canvas parents opinions of SEND support through parent questionnaires which are distributed at various times in the school year.

Parents bring their child to the classroom door in the mornings and also collect their children at the end of the school day. Teachers greet the children individually into the classroom and handover the child to the parent at the end of the school day.
Children are supervised at lunchtimes and playtimes by staff. Staff are asked to report on student wellbeing at each weekly staff meeting and staff briefing and any health and safety concerns are also required to be reported at these meetings. Classroom risk assessments are completed by the class teacher at the start of each term, trip risk assessments are carried out for every trip and general risk assessments are carried out when an activity is considered higher risk than normal school activities.

We have an anti bullying policy that is available on our website and we take part in Anti-Bullying week and consolidate this throughout the year. We have a ‘Time to Talk’ session which happens each week where children can voice their concerns and messages of kindness, friendship and fairness are reinforced.
The school has a mental health support worker from the NHS who works closely with staff and any children who have been referred for weekly support sessions. We also have a qualified Mental Health First Aider responsible for mental health and well being who is also a class teacher and has a very active role and a good knowledge of all children in school.
All staff are trained in Paediatric First Aid which is renewed every 4 years.

Children with specific health care needs are supported by care plans. A health care plan will be written with the class teacher, SENCO and the parent and if necessary the school nurse would be consulted for advice. These individual care plans would detail how medicines and personal care would be administered. Our First Aid policy clearly outlines procedures in case of a medical emergency and as all staff are first aid trained, any emergency is dealt with efficiently immediately.

Our Behaviour Policy can be accessed on our website. If we feel a young person needs extra support, when school targets are not being met despite interventions for example, we would make a referral to the behaviour support service in Staffordshire.

The looked after child coordinator is Mrs S. Crawforth. Looked after children have a personal education plan written by the school, the social worker and any other relevant agencies. This is approved by the virtual school and funding agreed. Carers are part of this process.

Children are taught by their class teacher and are supported by a TA in each classroom. Children with a support plan receive this support from TAs in school. The lead TA for intervention is Mrs N. Gordon and can be contacted on 01538 300337.

Each child and their progress is discussed in termly staff meetings. Any child with a support plan has their support shared with relevant staff each term in a staff meeting.

The SENDCO has an extensive knowledge and much experience, attending all courses available and update meetings. The intervention TA has a range of experiences and has accessed courses on autism awareness, intervention programmes such as Switch on to Reading and The Acceleration Reading Programme and Code Breakers. Other TAs have accessed communication, speech and language courses.

We work with other agencies to provide support to children such as the Leek Hub, Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language therapists. We have also had support from Autism Outreach when needed.

Your first point of contact is your child’s class teacher. After that you could arrange a meeting with the SENDCo ( Mrs J. Picken) or the headteacher (Mrs S. Crawforth). The school telephone number is 01538 300337.

Mrs J. Picken. 01538 300337 or jpicken@ttlt.org.uk

Each governor has the role of being a link governor where they have responsibility for one or more areas of school life. We have a governor who is dedicated to SEN. The governor meets each term with the SENDCo to discuss relevant issues. The SEND governor also makes visits to the school to observe and question the SEN provision in school and how individual children are supported. We also have a Looked After Children (LAC) governor who meets with the designated teacher for LAC to discuss relevant issues.

Children who receive extra support are set SMART targets which are explained at the start of the term and these are shared with children and parents. Then, after discussion, the provision maps are signed and parents and pupils have the opportunity to add to the targets if they so wish. Achievement towards these targets is shared with pupils and parents at the next cycle of target setting.
The SENDCO also carries out pupil voice interviews to find out how the children feel about their provision and findings are shared with relevant staff when an action plan is then devised.

There is provision on the governing board for parents. When a vacancy becomes available, parents are invited to apply to be a governor and if there are more parents than required, then a vote is carried out and other parents will consider each application and decide who they want to be a governor.

Any parent who needs help to complete forms or access support will be supported by the office manager, the SENDCo or the Head teacher. Staff are trained to use Early Help Assessment if this is required.

All children, regardless of SEND are included or invited to take part in any activities in addition to the curriculum and staffing is put in place to ensure all children's needs are met. Our before and after school provision is fully inclusive and is available from 8am in the morning and until 5.30pm in the afternoon, term time only. There is a charge for this provision of £4.00 per hour. If a child has SEND, the relevant staff will meet with parents to discuss their needs and will ensure that these are met on any trip or club. If necessary, a care plan will be prepared.

The school is compliant with DDA requirements and has an accessibility plan that is available for you to view on the website.
The school is on one level with a low step into the main door and the fire exit, however, there is a door that can be accessed that has no step. There is a climbing path up to the playground outside. There are no wheel chair accessible toilets or changing facilities due to the small size of the building, however, children who need changing are done so discretely in the toilet areas. There is parking in the school grounds, including a disabled parking space, and a drop off/pick up point.

Due to the school being a small rural school, any adaptations are made when required. All SEND students are to support to attend our school with adaptations being put in place beforehand. The Accessibility plan can be found on our school website.

The school communicates through email, phone call, Seesaw (a parent communication app) and a text services. Parents are advised that they can talk to the office manager or head teacher in confidence if they have any problems with communication and support is given if needed. In the event of a family whose first language is not English joining the school, we would contact the local authority for support and use computer programs to help us translate and communicate.

In the first instance you should contact the office Manager, Mrs Frost, on 01538 300337 or nfrost@ttlt.org.uk, who will talk to you about the admission procedure and invite you to have a look around the school and meet the headteacher. Entry criteria can be found in our Admissions policy on our school website.

You can arrange a visit to the school by contact the office manager on 01538 300337.

If your child is starting their learning journey at our school, you will be invited to a meeting at the school and your child will be invited to attend for some sessions to help with the transition in to school. You will be welcome to stay with your child for part or all of these sessions. If your child is joining from another school we will seek to speak to the previous setting and liaise with the SENDCo to ensure provision is continuous. Your child is welcome to visit and spend a transition time with us prior to starting if you so wish.
If your child is moving to another school we will send all the documentation (provision maps, individual education plans, support services accessed and their reports) that we have to them. We will make telephone contact if necessary with the new school and pass any information they may need on.
If your child is moving classes within the school we have a good transition policy in place. Each summer term the children all move to their new September class for 2 days to help them settle into a new routine.
In Year 4 as part of this transition policy, the children spend 2 days at our feeder middle school Churnet View. In the summer term prior to this the children complete a transition project set by Churnet View in school time and this work is sent and displayed by the middle school in time for the children’s visit. A teacher from Churnet View also visits the children in class and spends time answering any questions the children may have. We also use this time to liaise and give all relevant documentation that is passed to the SENCo of the middle school. If you choose another middle school you should contact them to ask about their transition arrangements but all documentation will be shared with your chosen school prior to your child starting.

You can contact Staffordshire Parent Partnership for further information see link.

or Staffordshire Local Offer see link

The information in this report will be reviewed and updated July 2022

For information on complaints please see the complaints policy on our website or contact the school office on 01538 300337