The SENCO will liase closely with feeder Nurseries and other primary settings. Home visits, setting visits and transition meetings will be held with practitioners and parents to determine if there is any SEN need.

A child or young person has special educational needs (SEN) if they have difficulty accessing the curriculum temporarily or long-term, which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.
The law states that a child has difficulty accessing the curriculum if they:

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.
• have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local educational authority.

Special educational provision is educational provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools.

Special Educational Provision may be triggered when pupils fail to achieve adequate progress, despite having had access to a differentiated programme. Parents and staff will be informed that the child has special educational needs and appropriate provision identified to meet the pupil’s individual need(s) will be made.

Lack of adequate progress may be indicated by:

• Little or no progress despite the use of targeted teaching approaches and a differentiated curriculum.
• Working at levels significantly below age expectations, particularly in literacy or numeracy.
• Presenting persistent emotional and / or mental health difficulties, which have not been managed by appropriate strategies usually employed.
• Sensory or physical impairments that result in little progress despite the provision of appropriate aids or equipment.
• Poor communication or interaction, requiring specific interactions and adaptations to access learning.

The Painsley MAC uses the graduated response as outlined in the Code of Practice (2014). To identify pupils with SEND, St Mary’s will assess each pupil’s skills and level of attainment on entry and make regular assessments of all pupils to ensure that each child’s progress is similar to that of their peers. Each pupil’s progress will be monitored at each assessment point.

• A variety of teaching styles suited to the pupil’s need will be put in place. This will include a multisensory approach for pupils with Dyslexia and a mainly visual approach for pupils on the Autistic spectrum. For some pupils with learning difficulties, individual or small group help can be provided by individual schools, when need is found to be appropriate.
• A class teacher, who in their professional opinion, considers a child not to be performing at an appropriate level or whose social, emotional, physical development or medical needs is giving cause for concern will begin to collect data on the child concerned. The class teacher will inform parents of the school’s concern.
• If the child is still causing concern the teacher will make the SENCO aware by completing a ‘cause for concern’ form available on the staff shared area.
• A variety of screening procedures are used and copies of results and assessment scores are then collated by the SENCO and fed back to staff, parents and pupils.
• A pupil’s parent/carer may express concern. Once the information is gathered the process is the same as for staff referrals.
• Where necessary, appropriate interventions are put into place and external agencies may be contacted to support pupils’ needs.


St Mary’s will make provision for pupils with the following four kinds of need:
• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health
• Sensory and/or physical

Curriculum Support [Provision] is achieved by:

• Identifying and assessing an individual pupil’s needs.
• Reporting of pupils’ needs to all members of school staff.
• Providing an appropriate curriculum, taking into account
- National Curriculum and examination syllabuses
- Continuity and progression
- Departmental development plans.
• Delivering an appropriate curriculum, taking into account
- Suitable teaching materials
- Effective, differentiated teaching strategies
- A supportive learning environment
- Encouraging a positive self-image.
• Providing learning support through
- Curriculum development
- Support teaching
- Training.
• Using outside agencies where necessary and appropriate.
• Monitoring individual progress and making revisions where necessary.
• Ensuring that parents/carers understand the process and involving them in the support of their child’s learning.
• Encouraging pupils with SEND to participate in decision making processes and contributing to coffee mornings, review meetings and transition process.
• SEND representative will visit the school twice a year to discuss SEND issues.
• Teaching Assistants and teachers collaborate effectively.

Concerns can be raised by speaking to your class teacher in the first instance. A meeting will be held with the school SENDCo Mrs Reid.
rosannareid@st-marys-leek.staffs.sch.uk

Should a meeting be arranged with the SENCo, please consider the following prior to the meeting:

• Bring any medical paperwork which may be appropriate.
• Points which you may want to consider before meeting with the SENCo:
• Why you think your child has SEN/disability
• Whether your child learns at the same rate as other children their age
• What the school can do to help

The school SEND policy, SEND Report, SEND statement, Transport for SEND pupils and Guide to SEND can be found on the school website in the Special Educational Needs page. Please click on the link below:
https://stmarys-catholic-academy.secure-primarysite.net/special-educational-needs/

The Accessibility policy, Assessment policy, Admissions, Behaviour policy, Health and safety, Exclusions and Equality can be found on the school website on the policy page. Please click on the link below:
https://stmarys-catholic-academy.secure-primarysite.net/policies/

St Mary’s is an inclusive academy where every child is valued and respected as a child of God. We work to support all our students to make progress in their learning, their emotional and social development, and their independence including those with SEND.

All teachers are teachers of special educational needs. The SEND Code of Practice is followed and all teachers receive training in the SEND Code of Practice. St Mary’s Catholic Academy recognises that it is the teachers’ responsibility to meet the needs of all children in their class through high quality teaching, classroom organisation, seating arrangements, carefully planned lessons, a range of teaching styles, teaching materials and differentiation.

St Mary’s Catholic Academy supports the recommendations made by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in their support and teaching of students with SEND. See link below:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/send

St Mary’s has a dedicated team of qualified teaching assistants including higher level teaching assistants, two ELSAs, and SENCo. The team provide support in the classroom, out of class in 1:1 and in small groups. They have a received a range of training, have excellent subject knowledge and provide outstanding levels of support for academic learning and emotional support. All EHC students have a link TA whom they meet regularly with and who provides close support for the student.

Some pupils require targeted intervention. These are planned onto a provision map and interventions are delivered by Teaching Assistants. Interventions may include small group or individual work.

A wide range of interventions are provided for all areas of SEND and may involve bespoke packages or a programme developed and personalised specifically for a student or group of students. Current interventions include Nessy (computer pro-gramme), Read Write INc 1:1, fresh start and Wordshark. Maths interventions may include Numbershark and Century Tech.

Social Skills/behaviour interventions may include for example: The Incredible 5 Point Scale; Social Stories Nurture group, ELSA, Counselling and wellbeing support from qualified practitioners.

Additional support may be offered for homework, handwriting, counselling, booster support, mind mapping, self-esteem, lunch time and break time support, meet and greet in the morning, quiet areas and time out.

We provide information for parents through: newsletters, information on the website, information evenings; parents’ evenings; text message service and letters home.

Pupil progress is shared each half term with parents through reports on attainment and effort. Parents can view schemes of learning on the school website. Parents can arrange an appointment to discuss progress with the child’s class teacher or SENCO.

We welcome parents to support us by encouraging your child to fully engage with their learning and any interventions offered by: helping them to be organised for their day (including wearing the right uniform, bringing required equipment and books;) ensuring full attendance and excellent punctuality; checking that they have completed their home learning; attending parents’ evenings and review meetings. We will make our best endeavours to take your views, and those of your child, into account.

All students with an EHC plan will meet at least once a year with the SENCo to review progress and provision.
The SENCo reports termly to the SEND governor who monitors and reviews the work of the SEND department.
Where a student is failing to meet expected levels of progress, interventions may be put into place and the outcomes of these monitored at termly meetings, in meetings with the Pastoral lead and with the SEND team.

When action is required to support increased rates of progress, this will follow a graduated a response model: Assess, Plan, Do, Review.
Assess: St Mary’s will assess the pupil’s needs using teacher assessment, experience, previous attainment and data tracking against peer and national data.
Plan: Parents/carers will be invited to a meeting to plan support and intervention. The student will receive a pupil passport/profile and all teachers who work with the student will be made aware of the child’s needs and support required.
Do: Class teachers will implement the plan in their daily teaching and retain responsibility for the pupil if 1:1 or small group support is needed outside the subject.
Review: The parent will be invited to a review of the impact of the support and this will be evaluated at a termly meeting. The class teacher will revise support in line with the outcome of the meeting.

SEND support will be recorded on the child’s ‘Pupil passport’ which will have clear expectations and targets for the student. Progress will be monitored and reviewed termly at a meeting with parents, the pupil, class teacher and SENCo.
Students with SEND are placed on the SEND register, with the consent of parents and this register is accessible to all staff in the academy.
If progress rates are deemed to be inadequate, despite additional support and interventions, advice will be sought from external agencies with the permission of the parents/carers.
Such agencies may include:
Autism Outreach Team
Hearing Impairment Team
Visual Impairment Team
Educational Psychologist Service
CAMHS
Occupational Therapy
Educational Welfare Workers
School Nurse
School Counsellor
SEN Hub

For pupils who may have significant or more complex needs or who fail to make expected levels of progress despite SEND support, the academy or parents may consider requesting an Educational Health Care plan (EHCP) that will be undertaken by the Local Authority.



All teachers at St Mary’s have high expectations of all students. All students are provided with a broad, balanced curriculum with Quality First Teaching that is differentiated to the learning needs of all students. High quality teaching is monitored and ensured through: classroom observations; termly work sampling; work scrutiny of exercise books; internal and external moderation of assessments; teacher meetings with SENCo, termly SEND Passport review meetings; academy data and progress tracking.

Teaching staff and Teaching Assistants use a range of methods to support the learning needs of all students including: modelling; scaffolding; questioning; sentence starters; storyboarding; chunking information; use of writing frames; cloze procedures; guided reading; mind mapping; use of ICT eg laptops and iPad.

Staffing and resources are adapted to accommodate the needs of students.
Students with a disability will be provided with “reasonable adjustments” to facilitate their access to the curriculum. The school may provide specialised equipment to support pupils in the classroom, for example: coloured overlays, larger font size, laptops, reading rulers, pen grips and exercise books with coloured paper.

Outside agencies are invited to work closely with our students with additional needs. We work with a range of agencies including for example: the Educational Psychology Service; Autism Outreach; the Hearing impairment team and communications support workers; the Visually impairment team; Occupation therapy and Physiotherapy services.

The Curriculum is continually monitored by the Leadership Team to ensure that it meets the needs of all students. The curriculum overview can be viewed on the school website. The curriculum is personalised to accommodate those students with more complex needs eg: 1:1 Physiotherapy; 1:1 tuition; small group support; counselling.

All students, including those with SEND, are assessed on a regular basis in accordance with the School’s Assessment Policy. We aim to develop the students’ knowledge and skills to enable them to build subject knowledge and apply what they know with increasing confidence and fluency.

Where a student is failing to meet expected levels of progress, interventions are put into place and the outcomes of these monitored at data points, in meetings with the Pastoral lead.

Some students may require a more personalised curriculum dependent on ability and need and a reduced curriculum may be required for a short period of time to allow a student to settle.
The Accessibility Plan, Examination Access Arrangement Policy and Equality Policy are all available on the school website.

All teachers at St Mary’s Catholic Academy have high expectations of all students. All students are provided with a broad, balanced curriculum with Quality First Teaching that is differentiated to the learning needs of all students. High quality teaching is monitored and ensured through: classroom observations; termly work sampling; work scrutiny of exercise books; internal and external moderation, teacher meetings with SENCo termly SEND Passport review meetings; academy data and progress tracking.

Teaching staff and Teaching Assistants use a range of methods to support the learning needs of all students including: modelling; scaffolding; questioning; sentence starters; storyboarding; chunking information; use of writing frames; cloze procedures; guided reading; mind mapping; use of ICT eg laptops and reader pens.


Staffing and resources are adapted to accommodate the needs of students.


Students with a disability will be provided with “reasonable adjustments” to facilitate their access to the curriculum. The school may provide specialised equipment to support pupils in the classroom, for example: coloured overlays, larger font size, laptops, reading rulers, pen grips and exercise books with coloured paper.


Students may be assessed for Examination Access Arrangements in school and this information is shared with staff at each assessment point. Some students may require additional processing time or access to a reader or prompter.


Outside agencies are invited to work closely with our students with additional needs. We work with a range of agencies including for example: the Educational Psychology Service; Autism Outreach; the Hearing impairment team and communications support workers; the Visually impairment team; Occupation therapy and Physiotherapy services.


The Curriculum is continually monitored by the Leadership Team to ensure that it meets the needs of all students. The curriculum overview can be viewed on the school website. The curriculum is personalised to accommodate those students with more complex needs eg: 1:1 Physiotherapy; 1:1 tuition; small group support; counselling.


All students, including those with SEND, are assessed on a regular basis in accordance with the School’s Assessment Policy. Parents and students are provided with assessment timetables which are emailed in advance of the half term assessment point. We aim to develop the students’ knowledge and skills to enable them to build subject knowledge and apply what they know with increasing confidence and fluency.


Where a student is failing to meet expected levels of progress, interventions are put into place and the outcomes of these monitored at data points. Some students may require a more personalised curriculum dependent on ability and need and a reduced curriculum may be required for a short period of time to allow a student to settle.

The Accessibility Plan, Examination Access Arrangement Policy and Equality Policy are all available on the school website

Staffing and resources are adapted to accommodate the needs of students. The notional SEND budget is used to ensure that students on the SEND register or those who are being monitored receive the support that they need. The budget is used to fund the cost of Teaching Assistants, interventions and the purchase of resources.

Students with an EHCP receive support as specified in their individual plans.

At St Mary’s we aim to support the needs of all students in our care. Students do not require a specific diagnosis or label to receive support in the form of reasonable adjustments. The SENCo and Deputy SENCo work with the students, their parents/guardians, teaching staff, support staff, caseworkers, pastoral team and external agents to develop support packages for individual students. Assessments, observations, book scrutiny, classwork and homework as well as more formal standardised assessment support this process. Regular reviews, discussions and meetings take place to keep parents informed of progress.

The notional SEND budget is used as well as additional top up funding allocated to students with EHCPs to purchase equipment and facilities such as reader pens, coloured reading rulers/overlays, mini whiteboards, laptops and software etc.

St Mary’s ensures the provision that pupils with SEND receive is effective. All pupils on the SEND register with literacy difficulties are assessed for reading and spelling with a standardised score and percentile rank every twelve months. Children are assessed in KS1 every six weeks with the Read Write INc assessment. KS1 children also take the NFER Mathematics test. Children in Reception have the DfE approved Reception Baseline and are assessed on entry by Read Write INc and then every six weeks. Teacher assessment continues throughout the year informally in the Early Years. KS2 children are assessed using NFER. These scores are recorded and used to ensure provision is meeting the needs of the child.

We evaluate the effectiveness of provision for pupils with SEN by:
• Reviewing pupils’ individual progress towards their goals each term
• Reviewing the impact of interventions after [number of] weeks
• Using pupil questionnaires
• Monitoring by the SENCO
• Using provision maps to measure progress
• Holding annual reviews for pupils with statements of SEN or EHC plans

Teaching staff and the school SENCo liase closely with parents conducting 6 weekly Individual Education plans, feeding back to parents and pupils and setting new targets. Parents will also have termly pupil passport meetings and parents evenings to discuss their child with the class teacher and school SENDCo.
• The Painsley MAC is committed to working with parents in partnership.
• Parents’ permission will be sought if we think that their child has special educational needs.
• Parents will be contacted by the class teacher, or the SENCO to discuss a child’s needs further.
• Parental views are recorded as part of the Annual Review procedures, at termly Pupil Passport meetings and at other meetings as required.
• Parents are encouraged to attend Parents’ Evenings where their child’s progress is discussed with subject teachers.
• Effective communication is achieved through regular contact with home either through letters, telephone calls, the pupil planner or emails.

Pupils
• Pupils are actively encouraged to be involved in decision making by attending all Reviews and to be involved with negotiating and evaluating their targets.
• Pupil views are recorded as part of the review process and their views are valued and listened to.

At St Mary’s, we encourage our parents to be involved in the education of their child. We welcome parents to support us by encouraging your child to fully engage with their learning and any interventions offered by: helping your child to be organised for their day (including wearing the right uniform, bringing required equipment and books;) ensuring full attendance and excellent punctuality; checking that they have completed their home learning; attending parents’ evenings and review meetings. We will make our best endeavours to take your views, and those of your child, into account.

Each child’s Pupil Passport is co-produced with the parent and child and is reviewed termly with the pupil and parent, class teacher and SENCo. Parents’ and student views may be sought at these meetings and recorded on written forms.

All students with a Statement of Educational Need or Education, Health Care plan will meet more formally at least once a year with the SENCO to review progress and provision and at two additional review meetings to review targets and progress towards the outcomes on the EHC plan.

Students meet regularly with their link Teaching Assistant and their views are recorded. All students are encouraged to attend parent evenings, passport review meetings and EHCP annual review meetings.

All students, including those with SEND, are assessed on a regular basis in accordance with the School’s Assessment Policy and assessments take place every half term for all students. Teachers monitor progress throughout the year. Pupil progress is shared each half term with parents through parents evenings and school reports on attainment and effort. Each student’s progress is monitored in comparison to their peers and against national data.

On receipt of a report, parents may wish to discuss their child’s report further with their class teacher. There are two parents evenings held each academic year. Other meetings can be arranged on an individual basis with the SENCo and/or class teacher.

Students with SEND are screened annually to track progress each Autumn term using standardised assessments.

Pupil and parent voice are captured at regular intervals.

External agents involved with the young person may provide regular progress reports which are sent out to parents.

The academy follows the graduated approach and the four part cycle: assess, plan, do, review.

Termly meetings are arranged to discuss progress and amend targets on the Pupil Learning Passports.

Termly meetings are arranged to discuss progress and amend provision against the outcomes for those students with an Educational Health Care Plan.

The SENCo or class teacher offer a range of break and lunch time support in areas where a range of activities are on offer including homework club, Nurture group and the opportunity to socialise and eat with peers in a calm environment.

Some students may require a link teaching assistant to meet and greet them each morning.

Staff, including teaching assistants and support staff accompany students on a range of school trips. Care plans are used to keep children safe during out of school visits.

Some students require early movement between lessons to avoid crowded corridors and staff will be aware of these students. Similarly, some students with additional needs may require teaching assistant support to access the different buildings across the school site and to be accompanied in the school lift.

Where appropriate, risk assessments are carried out to ensure the safety of the students in our care.

Pastoral support is delivered across St Mary’s following the graduated response with the class teachers, TAs, Inclusion Officer and Safeguarding team to support the wellbeing of students at St Mary’s.

There are two trained ELSAs.

The lay-chaplain visits school regularly and works with students.

Intervention support takes place at Nurture group, at lunch time clubs, meet and greet during the morning, link TA meeting time and buddy support.

The link to the anti-bullying policy can be found on the school website.

Medical and care plans and the administration of medication are managed in compliance with the Academy policy. Mrs Reid the school SENCo manages the medical care plans, holds student medication and informs staff of an individual’s care needs. The Medical policy is shared on the school website:

The Behaviour and Attendance policy and the Values and Expectations policy can be found on the school website

Attendance across the Academy is monitored by the safeguarding team and the Education Welfare Worker, Mrs Barlow.

Students who are looked after are supported by the designated safeguarding team. Those students who are looked after and who have SEND are also supported by Mrs Reid, SENCo. All staff work closely with students, their carers and the virtual school/relevant local authorities.

All students have a class teacher who registers their attendance each morning and who is responsible for the pastoral welfare of the students in their class. Class teachers can be contacted for specific support.
All students with an EHCP will have a designated link Teaching Assistant who will meet with them regularly to check on wellbeing and progress and who may contact parents if required. The SENCo can be contacted for specific queries related to SEND.

All new staff receive dedicated SEND training at the start of each academic year. The SENCo provides training and liaise with external agents to provide training on a range of needs.

Students with EHCPs and who are on the SEND register have a raised profile and additional information is provided to staff at the start of the academic year. Information is shared with staff following the annual review of a student who has an Educational Health Care Plan, and following review meetings of Learning Passports.

The SEND register is placed on the SEND area of the staff shared platform for staff access.

Student Passports and Support Plans are placed on the Whole School area of the staff shared platform for staff access.

All students with medical needs are listed and this information is shared with staff on the staff shared platform.

The SENCo leads a team of teaching assistants who share information pertaining to students with SEND with staff.

Risk assessments are shared with teaching and support staff.

The SENCO, Mrs Reid, has attained the National SENCo Award. She has over 13 years of teaching experience across primary educational institutions. She leads a team of 10 dedicated, well-qualified teaching assistants.

There is an ongoing programme of In-Service training for all members of staff. Whole school training also takes place, where appropriate. The SENCo attends courses on SEND issues in order to keep up to date with local and national issues and to share good practice.

Teaching Assistants have received personalised training programmes including Attachment Awareness, Dyslexia Training, Dyscalculia, Multi-sensory teaching approaches, ELSA and RWI.

We have close links with our Educational Psychologist who provides information for staff training on a range of issues.
The school nurse and medically trained professionals deliver training on issues such as asthma, epilepsy and physiotherapy programmes.
The academy has regular access to advice from a range of service providers including the local district SEND and Inclusion hub.
The SEND department work with speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and other health professionals who are involved with students attending school and a wide range of external agencies which include:

Autism Outreach Team
Hearing Impairment Team
Visual Impairment Team
Educational Psychologist Service
CAMHS
Occupational Therapy
Educational Welfare Workers
School Nurse
•
Who would be my first point of contact if I want to discuss something?
• Who can I talk to if I am worried and how do I contact them?

Mrs Reid is the school SENDCo please contact rosannareid@st-marys-leek.staffs.sch.uk or phone 01538 493888

Mrs Reid is the school SENDCo please contact rosannareid@st-marys-leek.staffs.sch.uk or phone 01538 493888

St Mary’s SENDCo is Mrs R Reid, please contact rosannareid@st-marys-leek.staffs.sch.uk

Mrs Reid is supported by nine specialist support Staff.

The SEN governor is Mr Joe Sullivan. The role of the governor is to:
Help raise awareness of SEND issues at LG meetings.
Monitor the quality and effectiveness of SEND provision in the academy.
Work with the SENCo to develop SEND policy and provision in the academy.

There are two MAC SEND governor meetings held each year.
Termly meetings are held between the SEN governor and the school SENDCo.

We recognise that all pupils have the right to be involved in making decisions and exercising choice in their education where that is possible. Students are encouraged to take part in Pupil Voice activities in school; to regularly evaluate their work and learning in lessons; attend review meetings and contribute to setting targets. Open dialogue between pupils and key adults is encouraged. There is a school council and pupil voice can be captured during passport review meetings, EHCP annual reviews and at extra-curricular activities and clubs.

We welcome parents to support us and parents are frequently asked to provide their views and feedback at Passport review meetings, annual review meetings and in parental surveys.

The SENDCo and class teacher meet regularly with families to offer support and signpost services. The SENDCo works with families of students with SEND and other families to provide support and guidance. Referrals are made to external services eg CAMHS, Early Help, SEND and Inclusion hub, Autism Outreach when required.

All students are encouraged to take part in a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and activities and all clubs, activities and trips are available to all students. All students are encouraged to fully immerse themselves into the school life by participating in, workshops, enrichment days, transition days, school productions, sports day and residential trips. Reasonable adjustments are made to facilitate any additional needs and no student is ever excluded from taking part in activities because of a special educational need or disability.

Is the building wheelchair accessible? Yes - Fully accessible. There is a ramp leading up from the main entrance situated on Cruso St, Leek, ST13 8BW. This gives access to the main reception area and also to the KS1 playground for access to all of the EYFS and KS1 classrooms.

There is a lift from the ground floor which accesses the middle and top floors.


Are disabled changing facilities available? Yes


Are disabled toilet facilities available? Yes. There are two disabled toilets. One located on the ground floor by the main reception and one located on the first floor beside the Reception Class.

Do you have parking areas for pick-up and drop-offs? Yes - One disabled car-parking spot on the main car-park.

In line with statutory guidance, the school has an Accessibility plan which is regularly reviewed to ensure that pupils are able to access the curriculum and the physical environment. All pupils, including those that have sensory or physical disabilities, have the opportunity to participate fully in all aspects of the life of the academy. Some pupils, with an EHC plan, receive support from a Teaching Assistant to access the buildings, practical subjects and the full range of learning opportunities thereby facilitating integration into the life of the school. There have been modifications to the buildings in order to make the school more accessible to those pupils with a physical disability. These improvements include ramps, handrails and disabled toilets.
The academy is fully accessible with handrails, a lift and toilets for the disabled. There is a disabled spot marked and located next to Reception, a second disabled toilet can be found next to EYFS. Further educational equipment can also be obtained through the SEND department and the physical impaired service at Horton Lodge.

Translators may be used as required to support EAL families. There is an electronic language translator facility on the school website.

We employ an EAL Teaching Assistant at St Mary's Catholic Academy who helps us to translate if language is a barrier.

We access the SEND Hub when we require additional help and support. We also have access to The District Inclusion Team.

All of our communications and newsletters can be printed in larger font on request.

In the first instance please contact Mrs Maggie Kelsey, School Business Manager on 01538 493888 or via email admin@st-marys-leek.staffs.sch.uk

St Mary’s has several open days. The EYFS open day is held in July and September. Families have the opportunity to tour the school site, meet with the staff and with other students in school.
To arrange a visit to school please contact Mrs Maggie Kelsey, School Business Manager on 01538 493888 or via email admin@st-marys-leek.staffs.sch.uk

St Mary’s has close links with its feeder Nursery schools.

The SENCO will visit the Nursery providers in the Spring and Summer terms and will conduct home visits.
Early transition visits may be arranged for more vulnerable students at the request of the parents or Nursery and these commence in July prior to the autumn transition point.

Where practicable, the SENCO will attend the Annual Review of a Nursery pupil who has an EHCP to ensure a smooth transition is made. For children identified with additional needs, regular transition visits take place throughout the spring and summer terms.

Parents/carers are invited to a meeting at the school and are provided with a range of information to support transition.

Relevant information is disseminated to teaching staff before transfer to ensure a smooth transition.

You may wish to contact the SENCo if you feel that your child needs the support of a specialist service.
Some support services available to parents include:

The SENDIASS Staffordshire Family Partnership is for parents and carers of children and young people ( aged 0-25 ), with special educational needs and disabilities and children and young people ( up to 25 ) with SEND can be contacted on www.staffs-iass.org. They offer information, advice and support about education, health and social care issues to support Staffordshire’s SEND Local Offer.
The Staffordshire Local Offer can be found: https://www. staffordshire.gov.uk/Children-and-earlyyears/hildcare-providers-and-professionals/SENDD-Local-Offer.aspx

Independent Parental Special Education Advice (IPSEA) http://www.ipsea.org.uk/
British Dyslexia Association http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
https://combined.nhs.uk/

The Painsley SEND Information report is updated annually. The latest update was November 2021.

Please click on the Complaints Policy 2021-2022 below