We aim to identify children with SEN as early as possible. We have staff with a wealth of experience who are extremely capable and skilled at identifying when a child may not be progressing as expected, or are experiencing difficulties in particular areas. These concerns may be recognised through changes in the pupil’s wellbeing, their emotional or behavioural presentation, their progress in comparison to their peer group or a characteristic related to a specific area of SEND.
Concerns may be raised by staff within the school by members of staff or by parents/guardians and will be raised in an informal/formal discussion with the SENCO. During these discussions concerns forms are completed and desired outcomes for the child are discussed. Strategies to achieve these outcomes will then be considered and children will be added to the monitoring register for half a term. Depending on the level of the child’s need, support will be put in at a class level through reasonable adjustments (table supports, writing slopes, TA support). After a period of monitoring if a child is failing to make progress, additional provision will be put in place, such as an intervention programme. External support from healthcare professionals may also be sought and support will be recorded on a Pupil Passport. Parents will be informed at each different stage of monitoring and will be involved in the writing of Pupil Passports.

If you have any concerns about your child, we advise that you speak to your child's class teacher initially, as they know your child's needs the best within school. Our staff are experienced at recognising when a child may need additional support. Following this, if necessary a meeting can be had with the SENCO to further discuss your concerns and any relevant support that can be put into place.

If you wish to discuss your child’s educational needs or are unhappy about something regarding your child’s schooling, please contact the following to raise your concerns or arrange a meeting (as aforementioned, meetings are likely to be with the class teacher at first instance, but may also include the SENCO):
• Your child’s class teacher can be contacted via the school phone number 01785 337310 or email admin@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk
• The SENCO on send@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk
• The Headteacher on office@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk

You will find a copy of the school’s SEN policy and all other relevant documents on the school’s website, under the parents section.

A child or young person with SEND will receive special educational provision, which means they will receive support that is additional to/different from that of other children that are the same age. Springfields First School teaches pupils with SEND in accordance with the Staffordshire Local Offer (https://www.staffordshireconnects.info) and the SEND Code of Practice 2015.
Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress of the pupils in their class, including those on the SEN register or where pupils have support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.
Teachers plan using pupils’ achievement levels, adapting work to match ability for all pupils in the classroom. Where a pupil has been identified as having special needs, their work will be further adapted by the class teacher to remove barriers to learning and enable them to access the curriculum more easily. In addition, they will be provided with additional support that may include specialised equipment or resources, visual prompts, ICT and/or additional adult help. For children that need further support, they may be placed into small intervention groups alongside a small number of peers or individually and will be assessed at the beginning and end of the intervention programme. Intervention programmes are planned specifically to support children in areas that have been identified as requiring support by the class teacher. If a child needs additional support following quality first teaching and interventions, the school may seek the advice of specialist external agencies such as, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, behaviour support, etc. These specialists may work with the child inside or outside of school. Parental consent will be requested before any referrals are made.
We aim to educate all children with SEND alongside their peers, however where this is not possible the class teacher/SENCO will make other arrangements and will ensure that parents are informed of the flexible arrangements.
Parents will be invited in for three meetings throughout the year to discuss/plan the level of support that their child is receiving and to discuss their child’s progress. This will be through parent consultation meetings that occur twice throughout the year and a third SEND parent meeting in the summer term. An individual, targeted plan will be discussed with parents and the child, which will outline the provision available to the child. The plan will discuss the child’s needs, strengths, address the child’s barrier to learning, will set achievable targets and list strategies required to meet them. This information will be included on a Pupil Passport.

All class teachers take responsibility for ensuring that the needs of learners are met. All staff within school are experienced and skilled in adapting work to meet the needs of individual children. All class teachers ensure that they know the needs of the children within their class, each child’s strengths and weaknesses and can therefore accommodate these needs. Class teachers will also take the responsibility for ensuring that the classroom environment is suitable for the children within their class. All staff have a bank of resources within their classroom that consists of concrete maths equipment, number mats, word mats etc. Staff also have access to more specialised resources such as coloured overlays, pencil grips, ICT etc., where necessary. For children that may still be experiencing difficulties after having additional provision provided by the school, the support of external agencies will be sought, such as Autism Outreach, ENTRUST Behaviour Support, Speech and Language Therapy and Educational Psychologist support.
The Senior Leadership Team are responsible for ensuring that all children receive an inclusive education and quality first teaching. The SENCO alongside the SLT will oversee SEND provision within the setting.
All staff have an SEND file within their classroom, with a summary of each child’s academic, SEND and medical needs. Information about an individual child’s needs is shared with supply staff via Pupil Passports. Supply staff are also briefed by SLT or teaching assistants about a child’s specific needs and teaching approaches.
Regular meetings are held between teaching staff, SLT and the SENCO to discuss progress made by children with SEND and to discuss the provision that children are receiving.
We seek professional advice from other agencies, such as the Autism Outreach Team, Behaviour Support Team etc. to help us match the curriculum and learning environment to a pupil’s needs.

The Head Teacher decides on the budget for special educational needs in consultation with the school governors. The Head Teacher and the SENCO regularly review (termly) the special educational needs across the school and make changes if they are needed. Resources for pupils with special needs are, as much as possible, met from the school budget. A proportion of the budget is used for additional staff to support classes or to support individual children. A proportion of the budget is used for physical resources such as writing slopes, writing tools, classroom resources. Funding is matched on a need’s basis- as identified by staff within school in conjunction with parents and the child. The allocation of the budget may change throughout the year based on changes in pupils needs or resources available. If a pupil’s needs are more complex and it is felt that additional funding is needed to meet his or her needs this will be discussed with parents at the regular review meetings and consideration will be given to making an application for an Education Health and Care plan needs assessment. If parents agree, then the school will work in partnership with parents to apply to the local authority for extra funding.

A child’s needs are identified either by the class teacher or by a parent. A meeting will be held with the parent, class teacher and SENCO. During this meeting a plan of provision will be identified and expected outcomes will be discussed. The child will be added to the monitor register for a term and a second meeting will be arranged to discuss progress and next steps, if a child fails to make progress against the intended outcomes, it may be that further provision is required and the child may be added to the SEND register. Parents will be involved in all discussions in relation to this.

As an inclusive school, we have a wide range of facilities and equipment to support children with SEND. Should specific equipment be needed, the school will look at supplying these through the SEND budget. However, should this not be possible, we will contact outside agencies who provide equipment on a loan basis.

Monitoring of progress takes place on a day-to-day basis by class teachers, as they are best placed to identify where progress is falling or excelling. For learners with the most significant needs, regular contact with families may take place if appropriate, either through conversation at the end of the school day, through a home-school diary or through regular emails.
school data in terms of pupil progress is collected on a half termly basis to track the attainment and progress of all pupils. Progress towards the identified outcomes will be shared with parents termly through the school reporting system and Parent Consultation meetings. For children with a Pupil Passport, three meetings are held through the year to discuss children’s needs, targets and progress. During these meetings, a review of previous targets will be shared, along with a plan for learning for the child for the next term, taking into consideration the child's previous attainment and progress.
The progress of children with an Education Health and Care Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education in attendance.
For parent who may themselves have SEND, we endeavor to know how parents most like to communicate and use their preferred method to do so. We also form and maintain positive relationships with our parents in order to help them to feel more comfortable during discussions with teachers and for them to feel at ease approaching staff should they need to.

During Pupil Passport meetings or parent consultation meetings, teachers will share a number of strategies that you can use to support your child at home. Some of these will be general support strategies, some will be more specialised for a child. If resources are required, the school will do their best to provide parents with the necessary resources. If you would like further advice on how to support your child at home, speak to their class teacher. At Springfields First School, we aim to support parents and children in any way that we can.

Homework is sent home on a weekly basis, this is also adapted to meet individual children's needs.

Parent workshops are held several times throughout the year- these can be found on the Springfields First School Newsletter that is sent out to parents on a weekly basis. Training that is offered by external agencies will be shared via the SEND email address or on the termly SEND newsletter.

Pupil voice is an integral part of our school. Children have a termly meeting with school staff to voice their opinions on their Pupil Passport. As our children are young, they do not usually attend meetings unless parent’s wish for them to do so. However, a member of staff from school who works alongside the child, gathers their views in a child friendly way.

A log of interventions is kept, this identifies the starting point of all pupils and the end point- this is usually done on a cycle of 6 weeks. Provision is also monitored through observations by the SENCO or SLT, this can be through book looks, monitoring of interventions and monitoring of lessons. Individual Pupil Passports (support plans) are reviewed on a termly basis. We hold regular staff meetings whereby we discuss the provision that children are receiving. We also have termly pupil progress meetings, held by the Headteacher whereby the progress and provision of all children is discussed.
Children have pupil voice meetings with the SENCO twice throughout the year- during these meetings children are asked about their views of school and how improvements can be made to better suit their needs.
We send a parent questionnaire out to all parents and a separate questionnaire to parents of children on the SEND register to increase parent engagement and to gain a better understanding of their views. We endeavour to follow up on suggestions made by parents.

Children are accompanied and collected from their classroom doors at the start and end of the day. Staff will only hand children over to people that they know unless they have been informed of a different arrangement. If an unknown person comes to collect a child, parents/carers will be contacted before a child is allowed to leave school premises.
All staff are trained in Safeguarding to at least level 1 and have completed relevant checks prior to working in school. There are several designated Safeguarding leads within school.
During play times, a member of staff from each classroom will be on duty to ensure that children are safe and can receive first aid attention immediately should it be needed. Staff regularly receive first aid training.
PE sessions are only taught by teaching staff or trained outside professionals such as sports coaches. Risk assessments are undertaken and updated regularly for the different PE areas within school, such as the all weather pitch, sports field and school hall.
For some pupils, a detailed risk assessment is undertaken which is shared with parents and the relevant staff within school. This is reviewed regularly by the SLT, class teacher, SEND Lead and support staff.

We offer a whole school approach to well-being through our PSHE curriculum. This is delivered by our class teachers and support staff. The class teachers are the people who have overall responsibility for the pastoral, medical and social care of every child in their class, therefore this would be the parents’ first point of contact. The school holds a clear position on bullying, if bullying is suspected we follow the school’s anti bullying policy, this can be found on the school’s website.
We also hold regular pupil voice meetings with children to discuss wellbeing concerns. Pupils with SEND are included in the random selection of children.
The school has a school council who meet at different times throughout the year to discuss a number of issues that may have been brought up by children. There are also peer groups/resilience groups that children may attend to work on resilience, self-esteem and confidence building.
Class teachers/class support staff are responsible for identifying concerns with a pupils confidence/self-esteem as they know a child best at school. Parents can also speak to their child's class teacher if they feel a child may be struggling socially or emotionally in any way.
The school does have a HOPE (Helping Our Pupils Emotions) mentor and runs the HOPE Project one afternoon per week. This project is run on a 1:1 basis and provides children who may be having some emotional wellbeing concerns, with a listening ear.
Springfields First School has a designated Mental Health and Wellbeing Team consisting of Miss Stevenson, Mr Rammell and Mrs Whittingham. The meet regularly to discuss how to increase the awareness of the importance of good mental health and wellbeing for all.

The school has a policy regarding the administration and managing of medicines on the school site. Parents need to contact the administration team if medication is recommended by Health Professionals to be taken during the school day. The school has specific members of staff that will deliver the administration of medicines, this is always overseen by a second member of staff. All teaching staff and support staff have up to date first aid training and there are a number of staff who are also paediatric first aid trained should a child require medical attention or a medical emergency ever arise.
The school has its own documentation for care plans, it is expected that parents complete the form and share all necessary medical notes with the administration team. This can then be shared with the relevant members of staff.
If a child must take time off for medical appointments, the administration staff should be contacted. If this will be a prolonged period, a plan can be put together with the class teacher and SENCO to support the child whilst away from school.

As a school we offer positive, proactive approach to all behaviours. We have a consistent system that runs throughout the school that focuses on relational and restorative practice. Restorative practice is a term used to describe behaviours, interactions and approaches which help to build and maintain positive, healthy relationships, resolve difficulties and repair harm where there has been conflict. We also have three school rules that children are expected to follow and these are to be ready, safe and respectful. These are displayed throughout the school and are shared on a daily basis.
If a child is displaying behavioural concerns, we will monitor them and consider putting them on a Pupil Passport for behaviour - parents and the child will be included in the discussions and writing of this. Once a concern has been identified we follow Staffordshire’s guidelines for the graduated response. If there is still little improvement in behaviour, we will make a referral to the Behaviour Support Team who will observe the child and offer further strategies to use. If a child continues to display challenging behaviour, we will assess the child for possible additional needs and will make referrals to other agencies such as CAMHS or an Educational Psychologist. We always endeavour to work alongside parents in relation to behaviour and will consider referrals to Tier 2 Family Support if all parties involved feel that it would be beneficial. It may also be necessary to add a child to the Stone SEND and Inclusion Hub for further guidance from professionals and to begin the process of applying for an EHCNA.
We will always aim to find alternatives to avoid exclusions and will consider the following alternatives:
• On-site support (e.g., agency involvement, 1:1 support pastoral support, alternative curriculum)
• Off-site support
• Managed moves
• Change of placement to a specialist provision
Further information on this can be found in the Behaviour Policy

Pupils who are looked after are supported by the designated lead Miss Samantha Stevenson who is also the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. She has termly meetings with the pupils, their carers and the virtual school/relevant local authorities and has regular meetings with the child's class teachers to ensure that the children are receiving the necessary support.

All children have a class teacher/s who is responsible for their wellbeing, progress and attainment. Some classes have the support of a teaching assistant throughout the week. There are also designated staff members who deliver interventions. As a parent/carer you will be made aware if your child is involved in an intervention. For some children with SEND and/or an EHCP there are designated teaching assistants who provide some 1:1 or small group support.
We also use a number of sports coaches throughout the week to deliver PE sessions and after-school clubs. For one day a week we also have Peripatetic Music Teachers should your child wish to take up musical instrument tuition- this is currently only available to key stage 2 children.

Should you wish to contact any members of staff within the school, please email office@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk or call 01785 337310.

Pupils with EHCPs and who are on the SEND register have a raised profile and additional information is provided to staff at the start of each term. Pupils SEND information is shared with staff via a physical folder that is locked away in the classrooms or via the SharePoint folder that can only be accessed by staff. Information is shared with staff following the annual review of a student who has an Educational Health Care Plan, and following review meetings of Pupil Passports.
Staff meetings for teachers take place on a weekly basis and any relevant information in relation to SEND is shared with the relevant teaching staff- this can then be cascaded down to the relevant support staff. The school SENCO will also provide staff with updates on individual pupils when necessary.

Samantha Stevenson, the schools SENCO has obtained Postgraduate Certificate for The National Award for SEN Co-ordination from Derby University.

The school has a number of staff who have undertaken Attachment and Trauma Awareness training. All staff will be participating in Relational and Restorative Practice training and Emotion Coaching training in the 24/25 academic year. Staff are encouraged to attend training based on the cohort of children that they are working with. We also have a member of staff who is trained to deliver the HOPE Project to children that have an emotional need. All teaching staff are currently signed up to the Schoot, an online, collaborative, training platform and are able to access online training of their choosing as well as those that have been assigned by the SLT.

Staff meetings take place on a weekly basis and staff are able to share good practice and discuss any areas that may require some additional training/support.

All staff have received Safeguarding training to at least Level 1 and PREVENT training.

We work collaboratively with a range of agencies, some are provided by the NHS and as a school we buy into others, these include:
• MPFT Children and Young Person’s Autism Service
• MPFT Speech and Language Therapy Service
• Caudwell Children Autism Service
• CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
• Action 4 Children
• Occupational Therapy Department
• Community Paediatricians
• School nurse
• Cicely@Stafford Outreach
• Bailey Street Pupil Referral Unit
• ENTRUST Behaviour Support
• Staffordshire County Council Educational Psychology Service
• Burden Basket for HOPE Project
• Tier 2 Family Support Service
• Early Help Professionals

If you wish to discuss your child’s educational needs or are unhappy about something regarding your child’s schooling please contact your child's class teacher first on office@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk or via the office telephone number on 01785 337310

The schools SENCO is Samantha Stevenson, she can be reached at send@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk or via the office phone number 01785 337310

The SEN governor is Mrs Lorraine Banks. The role of the governor is to:
• Help raise awareness of SEND issues at Local Governor meetings.
• Ensures the school policies with regards to SEND are up to date.
• Meets regularly with the SENCO to share key information.
• Holds the school accountable for provision for all SEND pupils.
• Monitor the quality and effectiveness of SEND provision in the school.
• Regularly attends school governors meetings and stays up to date on school life.

Pupil voice is an integral part of our school. Subject leaders will carry out pupil voice questionnaires on a random selection of children across the school. The SLT also carry out pupil voice questionnaires regarding school life, again a random selection of children are chosen including those with SEND. The SENCO also carries out pupil voice questionnaires on children with SEND in order to assess children's views on school and to continually make improvements to the provision that we offer.

All children with a Pupil Passport contribute their views to their passport once per term, this encourages children to consider and discuss their strengths and any areas in which they may have struggles, as well as strategies to support them. We also include pupil views in EHCP meetings, so a meeting is held with the child before every EHCP review. As our children are young, they do not usually attend Pupil Passport or EHCP meetings unless parent’s wish for them to do so.

We do also have a school council that is voted for by our other pupils and they meet regularly to discuss a range of topics.

Parents are encouraged to attend the parents meetings that are held each term, if parents do not attend they will be contacted at a separate time. Parents are able to contact class teachers through the school email address/telephone. A regular newsletter is emailed out to all parents with information updating them to current events within school.

Parents are encouraged to become Governors through a democratic process, parents will be made aware of any opening via email. We also offer parents the opportunity to volunteer within school, supporting reading and supporting on school trips. Parents are also encouraged to join the Friends of Springfields group, who play an integral role in organising events, liaising with the local community and raising money for charity and for the school.

We send a parent questionnaire out to all parents and a separate questionnaire to parents of children on the SEND register to increase parent engagement and to gain a better understanding of their views. We endeavour to follow up on suggestions made by parents.

School staff offer support to parents to complete forms. If parents are not comfortable doing this with a member of staff at school, we are able to signpost parents to organisations that are able to do so. In addition to this we also have a member of staff trained in the Early Help Assessment should parents/carers require family support. Parents can access support through the office team or through the class teacher who will be able to signpost them to the appropriate people.

As an inclusive school, our children are able to access all activities that are available at school. It is our aim that all children are able to access enrichment activities such as extra-curricular clubs and school trips. We will ensure that the appropriate support is available so that this is successful. A risk assessment is carried out prior to any off site activity to ensure everyone’s health & safety will not be compromised. Some children will also have individual risk assessments that will be shared with all the necessary staff. For those pupils whose very high levels of need mean that the standard of out of school activities on offer are inappropriate, we seek to liaise with families about suitable alternatives (for example day attendance to a trip in place of an overnight trip).
We offer a before and after school care club, details for this can be found on the school’s website. Throughout the year, there is also a range of extra-curricular activities, outside providers and school staff lead these. Details of these are released to parents termly.
We ask for parent volunteers for some school trips and parents of children with medical conditions may be asked to accompany their child if we deem it necessary.

The school is fully wheelchair accessible. There is a ramp at the school entrance and also at the pre-school annexe. The school site is all at ground level. All classrooms are accessible via the outside doors.
The school does have a disabled toilet/changing room.
There are a number of disabled parking spaces at the front of the school.

The school makes every effort to provide reasonable adjustments to ensure that its facilities are accessible to all. We change our classroom environment in order to meet the needs of the children in class. We also have a quiet room available within the school that can be accessed by all children.
We encourage all of our children to access extra-curricular activities and we are happy to discuss concerns that parents may have around these.
For further details on the accessibility, please refer to the accessibility plan.

For those who find it difficult to access written documents, we communicate in person, by phone or text.
We monitor the languages spoken by families in our setting and if necessary will consider the use of a translator, we will liaise with Minority Ethnic Achievement Service (MEAS).
If children are experiencing problems with writing, we also offer touch-typing skills and for some children, offer a scribe.

We offer a number of open days, whereby you can visit the school to see a normal school day, and meet with our staff. We also welcome visits to school at any time although these need to be agreed/arranged with school prior to the visit. Please contact the school Admin office to arrange to meet the Head Teacher/Deputy Head, who will willingly discuss how the school could meet your child’s needs.

The school complies fully with the Equality Act 2010 and the School Admissions Code 2014 in relation to the arrangements for the admission of disabled pupils. Where the school is oversubscribed, all children are admitted in accordance with the published oversubscription criteria. Where a child is disabled, the school will take steps to ensure the child is not treated less favourably than other pupils and that the child has access to all necessary facilities- in accordance with the SEN Code of Practice 2015.

For further information on our admissions, please see admissions page on our school website.

Open days are advertised on our school website. However, we encourage the families of pupils with SEND to arrange a separate visit additional to/separate from the open days, so that information that specifically relates to your child’s requirements can be shared. During your visit, a tour of the school will be conducted and there will be the opportunity to discuss any questions you may have with a member of staff/SLT. Please contact the school office to arrange this.

Prior to entry to our school, we encourage families of pupils with SEND to visit for a tour of the school. If appropriate a meeting can be held with the school’s SENCO to discuss the pupil’s needs. Information from this meeting will be shared with the class teacher. We also discuss your child’s needs with the previous school in order to better understand your child's behaviour, abilities and social needs. Transition plans are put into place and if necessary we will arrange additional visits, so that your child can spend some time with their class teacher and peers and get used to their new school environment.

Transition from our school to a new setting varies according to a child’s needs. We often invite a member of staff from the new setting into school to observe the child here. Our SENCO will also arrange a meeting with the SENCO at the new school to share important information/support that the child may need. We may then arrange for the child to visit the new setting if we have the staffing capacity to do so. In order to support the new setting, we offer additional meetings between our class teachers/support staff to meet with staff at the new setting. We also take into consideration the parent’s wishes in relation to transition and often meet with the child’s parents to discuss what they would like to happen. Finally, we will pass on all records before the child begins at their new setting.

We encourage our families to contact the school and we can direct parents to the appropriate place/network for advice.
We currently signpost parents to a range of services and some of these are as follows:

Updated in September 2024. To be reviewed September 2025.

Parent questionnaires are sent out to parents in the summer term should a parent wish to provide feedback. Alternatively parents can email office@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk

If a parent wishes to discuss their child’s educational needs or are unhappy about something regarding their child’s schooling please contact the following:
• The child’s class teacher on the admin email address: admin@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk
• The SENCO on send@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk
• The Headteacher on office@springfields-first.staffs.sch.uk
• For complaints please contact the School Governor with responsibility for SEN, Mrs L Banks (via the school admin email address).
Alternatively, ring the office on 01785 337310 and leave a message for the member of staff that you wish to speak to.
If you wish to make a complaint, please follow the school complaints procedure, which can be found in the complaints policy on the school website.

If a parent/carer disagrees with the contents of an Education, Health and Care Plan or a decision not to issue one, disagreement resolution and mediation services are available. As a last resort, an appeal can be made to the first-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) against decisions made by Local Education Authorities in England. In line with the SEND Code of Practice 2015, parents who wish to make an appeal to the Tribunal may do so only after they have contacted an independent mediation adviser and discussed whether mediation might be a suitable way of resolving the disagreement.