Special Needs & Disabilities (SEND)

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice 2014 define Special Educational Needs and Disabilities as:

1. Communication and interaction
2. Cognition and learning
3. Social, mental and emotional health
4. Sensory and/or physical

Many children and young people have difficulties that fit clearly into one of these areas; some have needs that span two or more areas; for others the precise nature of their need may not be clear at the outset. It is therefore important to carry out a detailed individual assessment of each child or young person and their situation at the earliest opportunity to make an accurate assessment of their needs.

You can speak to your doctor, School Nurse, Class teacher or School's SENCo and explain your concerns and worries. They will be able to support you to find the right service for you and your child.

You can ask for a meeting with your child's class teacher and/or SENCo to discuss their educational needs, they will sign post you to the most appropriate service and make a support plan.

After your first discussion with your child's class teacher and SENCo, the class teacher and SENCo will monitor your child's progress. They make some observations and complete some basic assessments. They will then meet with you to discuss what provision will be made for your child's needs. This will be monitored and assessed and you will be kept informed of your child's progress.

The provision that children and young people (0-25 years) with SEND and their families can reasonably expect from:

• The Local Authority including SEND services, Locality Teams and Social Care
• Health including Cambridgeshire Community Services (CCS)
• Educational settings including schools and Early Years, Colleges and further Education
• Voluntary and Community Services including mediation services
• Information about Statutory processes such as Statements of Educational Needs and the replacement Education, Health and Social Care Plans and how to make a complain.

You can find the Local Offer and lots of information about SEND at:

Cambridgeshire Special Needs and Disabilities Page

It is very important to us that your child is happy in school and is able to learn and achieve. We aim to ensure that all children receive Quality Teaching within an inclusive environment.

Our offer is made up of a graduated response to need starting with Universal, Targeted and Specialist. All children are able to access Quality First Teaching (QFT) this is called our Universal Offer. This ensures a positive experience for all children whether they have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities or not. Pupils may need a short catch- up intervention completed by class teacher during non-teaching times for example; assemblies, registration or whole school activities.

Universal Support Offer - Quality First Teaching:

Demands high expectations for both learning and wider life outcomes. Some of the key features are that it is:

• Welcoming
• Multisensory
• Inclusive
• Catering to range of learning styles
• Differentiated for levels of ability
• Chunked down with the use of scaffolds and prompts
• Based on Question, Model, Explain approaches
• Balance between didactic and interactive teaching
• Supportive of metacognition (the pupils understanding how they learn best)
• Practical, problem solving and investigate
• Reflective
• A partnership with parents
• Celebrating small and large step achievements.

Level 1 - Pupils additional needs catered for under Quality First Teaching (QFT) in class (examples shown in the box above) Teacher tailors lessons to the pupil's individual needs.

Level 2 Catch-up - Identified pupils who need a short term intervention to fill gaps in learning. This can be completed via Teaching Assistant, Class Teacher or outside services. This can include Speech and Language early support for lower Key Stage 1 and daily reading with an adult.

Level 3 Booster - Identified group of children requiring some extra support to boost their progress, taught by either the class teacher or specific specialist booster teacher whilst the remainder of the pupils of the class are taught by a specialist teacher for a particular subject.

Targeted Support:

Level 4 SEN Support - Identified children whose progress is not satisfactory after Level 1 and 2 has been implemented, the school will consider advising the LEA that a Statutory Assessment might be necessary. There may be a need for Teaching Assistant or outside agencies or services to be involved to support in delivering one or more interventions to cater for the pupil's needs. Pupils will have specific targets identified on an Individual Education Plan (IEP).

Specialist Support:

Level 5 - Statement of Educational Need or Education Health and Care (EHC) plan - The LEA Services or agencies will be involved to implement an individual education plan to meet your child's needs.

Within our school (and across our cluster of schools) there are staff trained as specialist in areas of special education need who can advise and support at this level. If your child is making little or no progress over a sustain period then we may need to refer to other services for support. You will always be involved in any decision to involve specialist support.

With your agreement an Early Help Assessment (EHA) will be started. This is a form that can refer on to other services such as Early Years Specialist Teacher Teams, Educational Psychology Services, Locality Team or Speech and Language Therapists. More information about a EHA can be found here:

Accessing support for your family

You can find a list and contact information about the different services in Cambridgeshire at:

Cambridgeshire Special Needs and Disabilities Page

We will work with you as an equal partner. Together we will ASSESS needs, PLAN support, DO (implement) and REVIEW your child's progress. These actions form part of a cycle of a cycle through which earlier decisions are actions are revisited, refined and revised with the growing understanding or your child's needs and in what support your child in making good progress and securing good outcomes.

We will first ensure your child is receiving the QFT and learning experiences that they require on a day to day basis. If despite these being in place your child is not making progress we will invite you to work with us to carry out initial assessments and gather observations.

Some of the assessments we use:

• Early Years Speech and Language Descriptors
• School Age Speech and Language Descriptors
• Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
• Early Years Social Communication Descriptors
• School Age Speech Communication Descriptors

We ensure we make reasonable adaptations for individual needs. This includes the strategies, resources and adaptations to the curriculum and environment that teaching and non-teaching staff utilise so as to remove barriers to learning for the children and young people on their care.

Our staff make every endeavour to ensure the school is:

• Dyslexia friendly
• Communication supportive
• Adapted for sensory and physical needs
• Caters for a range of learning styles

• You can support your child by logging any concerns or worries with the class teacher and/or SENCo as soon as possible.
• You can support your child by attending parents evening meetings and review meetings.
• You can support your child by completing some revision, reading, homework or activities to be completed at home as agreed through discussion with the class teacher.
• You can support your child by accessing further services to support you and your family.
• You can support your child by informing the school, class teacher and GP of any changes which may affect your child.
• You can support your child by ensuring you take them to medical or professional appointments that might support their need.

Pinpoint Cambridgeshire is run for parents – by parents, helping Cambridgeshire parents who have children with additional needs and disabilities.

Pinpoint Cambridgeshire

SEND Service (0-25) is a local authority service, delivered in three areas across Cambridgeshire. They work in schools and settings with children and young people (0-25 years) and their parents/carers, providing targeted support and training in all aspects of Special Educational Needs (SEN).

SEND Service 0-25

SENDIASS (formerly Parent Partnership Service or PPS) offers impartial information, advice and support to parents/carers of children and young people with special educational needs and/or a disability and children and young people themselves (up to the age of 25). Tel: 01223 699214.

SENDIASS

Family Support Worker - Can visit the home and support the family with needs at home. Sackville House, Sackville Way, Great Cambourne, CB23 6HL. Tel: 01954 286012.

School Nurse - Contact the school office for our school nurse. Alternatively you can contact the Locality team on: Sackville House, Sackville Way, Great Cambourne, Cambridge, CB23 6HL. Tel: 01954 286 012.

GP Doctor - Find your local doctor and arrange an appointment.

Change in schools

If your child leaves our school to go to a new school, once we know the details of the new school we can send all the information about their needs and services they may have used to them. Then you can follow it up with their new school SENCo once your child has started.

Moving on

If your child is moving onto Secondary School or further education, once we know the details of the new school, we will contact them to arrange a transition to suit your child's needs and send all the information about their needs and services to them. Then you can follow it up with their new school once SENCo or equivalent at their new school once your child has started.

If the complaint is about a teacher you can contact the SENCo or member of the school's leadership team. If the complaint is about the school or services you can contact the local authority:

Cambridgeshire Children and Families

If you need someone to support you with the complaints progress you can contact The Parent Partnership Service providing Cambridgeshire's SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS), Cambridgeshire County Council, ALC2630, New Shire Hall, Emery Crescent, Enterprise Campus, Alconbury Weald, Huntingdon, PE28 4YE. Email: sendiass@cambridgeshire.gov.uk. Confidential helpline open during term times: 01223 699 214. Outside of term time please leave a message as a small number of staff are available to answer queries but it will take time for them to respond to your enquiry.

SENDIASS

• SEND - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
• SENCo - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator
• EHC - Education Health Care Plans
• EHSC - Education, Health and Social Care Plans
• IEP - Individual Education Plan
• PPS - The Parent Partnership Service
• OFT - Quality First Teaching
• EHA - Early Help Assessment Form
• SDQ - Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

You can contact anyone at the school or arrange a meeting with the class teacher or SENCo at the details below.

FAO SENCo

Bassingbourn Primary School

Brook Road

Bassingbourn

Nr. Royston

SG8 5NP

01763 242480

The link Governor for SEND is Dr. Hilary Hodge. The link Governor meets with the SENDCo regularly to review the provision for SEND across the school. Her official email address is chair@bassingbourn.cambs.sch.uk.