SEND
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive school where a Special Educational Need and/or disability is not viewed as a barrier to learning or thriving. There are a variety of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) at Widcombe Infant School. These needs can be academic, behavioural, social emotional and/or physical. Specifically we are currently or have recently supported children with social communication and interaction needs, ADHD, ASD, Global Developmental Delay, Cerebral Palsy, Speech and Language difficulties and Mild/Moderate Learning difficulties.
Children with SEND are identified from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, results of assessments, Health or Social Services concerns, any other outside agency concerns, Class Teacher’s concerns, previous School/Nursery concerns and/or parent concerns. Any child causing concern is placed on the SEND Register at the appropriate stage; SEND Single Support Plan or Education, Health and Care Plan. Other children may be monitored to ensure progress is being made to narrow the gap. This is called Specific Monitoring.
Each child’s outcomes and progress are reviewed every term with the Class Teacher, Head Teacher, SEND Co-ordinator, parents and any outside agency involved.
The school evaluates the effectiveness of its provision for these pupils through:
• careful monitoring and frequent reviews to ensure that each child is working at the stage appropriate to their needs and is making progress
• early identification of any child’s difficulties or strengths
• a child who feels pleased and confident at the progress they are making
• each pupil achieving high quality outcomes.
At Widcombe Infant School our ethos is that every child is special and every child needs to achieve high quality outcomes. We aim to identify and provide appropriate adaptations and support for all children who require additional help at school to enable them to thrive within an inclusive environment. High quality classroom teaching is essential. The school has a consistent approach to teaching children with SEND. Adaptive learning tasks support all children in achieving high quality outcomes. Termly reviews ensure each child is receiving the most appropriate level of support. Specific targets carefully linked to their areas of need are set for each child and these are assessed before the next review meeting.
The school adapts the curriculum and learning environment in a variety of ways in order to give each child the best opportunity to have their needs met. These include adaptions by the Class Teacher within the classroom, intervention groups in English and Maths, individual support work in English and Maths, Forest School nurture group, Social Skills nurture group, Thrive programme, ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant), lunchtime SEND PE sessions, weekly target folder support and one to one support from SEND Teaching Assistants for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan or with Transition/Nurture funding. Children’s abilities to access each subject area are taken into careful consideration when the class curriculum is being planned, delivered and assessed.
The physical environment of the school has also been adapted to be inclusive for all pupils and is set out in the School’s Accessibility Plan.
The school provides additional support for learning for pupils with Special Educational Needs. We have four SEND Teaching Assistants providing support for our seven children with an Education, Health and Care Plan and our child with Transition Funding. The school has two trained Thrive Practitioners and one trained ELSA practitioner who support children with Social, Emotional and/or Behavioural challenges. Every week we have a Speech and Language Therapist who works with children with Speech and Communication difficulties. She provides targets and activities to help these children move forward in their learning.
The SEND Co-ordinator is Mrs Sophie Turner. She can be contacted at Widcombe Infant School, Archway Street, Bath. BA2 4JG. Telephone 01225 421998.
Our staff have undertaken training in a number of SEND areas. These include Thrive training, ASD training, Makaton training, children with unclear speech and attachment disorder. Training is undertaken when it is necessary. Advise and targets from outside experts are always incorporated into the child’s Targeted Learning Plan and reviewed every term. The outside agency will provide or suggest specific resources and strategies to help each child achieve their targets. They will contribute to planning and delivering a specialised programme of learning.
The parents of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan are invited each term to contribute to the review of the Targeted Outcomes Plan and to participate in the setting of new targets. Children with a Single Support Plan have their new targets shared with their parents by the Class Teacher.
Parents of children with Transition or Nurture funding are invited each term to participate in review meetings and contribute to new targets. In addition, parents are encouraged to approach appropriate staff with any concerns they may have.
Targets are shared with children on Single Support Plans. These are worked on weekly with a Teaching Assistant. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan contribute their own views and ideas ready for their Annual Review in the My Future, My Choice booklet.
If the parents of a child with SEND have a complaint, they should arrange a meeting with the Class Teacher and SEND Co-ordinator in order to resolve the issue. The parents or the SEND Co-ordinator may then feel they need to involve the Head Teacher, who then may involve the Local Governing Committee. Complaints can normally be resolved with informal discussions and all parties working together for the good of the child. If, however, more complex problems arise which cannot be resolved in this way, parents will be referred to the SEND Information and Advice Service (SENDias) for Bath and North East Somerset. They can be contacted on 01225 394382.
For children with SEND transferring to Widcombe Infant School the SEND Co-ordinator will visit them at their pre-school, participate in transition meetings and a transition plan will be drawn up as appropriate. Arrangements for additional visits to their new class will be carried out as appropriate. For children with SEND transferring to Junior School the SEND Co-ordinator will liaise with appropriate staff at the new school. The new school will be invited to participate in transition meetings and a transition plan will be drawn up. The child will attend additional visits to their new school as appropriate. If beneficial a photograph book will be made for preparation over the summer before starting their new school.
The Local Offer from Bath and North East Somerset is published on their website.
The facilities provided to help disabled children to access the school are set out in the school’s Accessibility Plan. Further information regarding the SEND provision at Widcombe Infant School can be found in our SEN Information Report.
Links to local information including the Local Offer
For more information about the services which are available to children, parents and families within the local area, please see the Local Authority website, Google B&NES Local Offer or use the links below
https://livewell.bathnes.gov.uk/special-educational-need-or-disability-sendEvery local area has a SENDIASS (= Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service), which offers impartial information advice and support for parents.
https://www.sendiasbathnes.org.ukOther useful local information can also be found at
B&NES Parent Carer Forum : https://banespcf.co.uk/ B&NES Autism Support : http://www.fossewayschool.co.uk/specialist-autism-support-service
