Roughwood primary School
Local Offer
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
2019
As part of the Children and Families Act 2014, all schools in Rotherham are required to make available their Local SEND Offer to families which details how they can support children and young people with a special educational need and/or disability (SEND).
What will be included in the Schools’ Local Offer?
The Schools’ Local Offer will include information on:
- How the special educational needs of children are assessed
- Ways in which teaching is adapted to meet the individual special needs of pupils
- The training provided to school staff to help them meet the special educational needs of pupils
- How parents and carers and the pupils are involved in planning to meet these special needs
- The specialist support available both from the school and other agencies such as the Learning Support Service, speech and language therapy or outreach support from a specialist teacher
- The accessibility of the school to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities
- The support and guidance offered to parents and carers
Our Local Offer –
Roughwood Primary School is an inclusive school. We ensure that pupils are included in all aspects of learning and school life. Having opportunities such as visits, residential experiences, outdoor learning opportunities and enterprise education. Our Curriculum is a curriculum that provides many rich and varied activities and experiences. Each year group makes regular visits to places of local interest such as Eyam and Eden Camp. Activities are often linked to topical issues, events in the news or local events. We aim to make learning meaningful and to promote a real love of finding out about new things. Activities frequently inspire pupils to produce work of very high quality. Enterprise skills are strongly promoted linked to work around Real Projects (rigerous, engaging, authentic learning) STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and a varied range of out-of-school activities are available for pupils to enjoy. Teachers plan their lessons well and regularly adapt what they have planned to suit pupils’ precise needs. Well-targeted support helps to reinforce key ideas or tackle any misunderstandings
How the special educational needs of children are assessed.
At some stage of a child’s education they may require additional support for a set period of time to help meet their needs or improve their learning. The decision to do this is made by the school and is based on a variety of factors including academic progress, and/or assessments carried out by teaching staff or other professionals. Children are identified each half term through looking closely at their rate of progress and identifying ways we can support a child’s progress or accelerate progress. It may also be based on ensuring children have a smooth transition into school or require support when going through significant change either at home or school. Some children may require support for a longer period of time to ensure they can access the curriculum effectively and be included fully in classroom learning and school events. Support will be planned by school staff and where appropriate by external professionals. Children who require support in terms of their acquisition of English are not considered SEND pupils but as they may require additional support their needs are reflected in our local offer. Our Local Offer describes the range of provision and support available to support identified children as and when appropriate.
Ways in which teaching is adapted to meet the individual special needs of pupils
The quality of teaching is outstanding and parents value highly the quality of teaching that their children receive. At Roughwood there are strong relationships between staff and pupils underpin learning in all classes. Teachers offer every encouragement to their pupils to help them achieve as well as they can. Teachers have high expectations and know their subjects outstandingly well. They use resources very well and ask pupils thoughtful and highly effective questions to help them learn. Teachers plan their lessons well and regularly adapt what they have planned to suit pupils’precise needs. Well-targeted support helps to reinforce key ideas or tackle any misunderstandings.Teaching assistants play an important role in supporting pupils’ outstanding learning and progress. They are particularly effective when working with individual pupils or small groups in providing pupils with just the right amount of skillful support that they need. Lessons are differentiated to match the individual needs of all learners and work closely with parents to ensure that all needs are being met.
The training provided to school staff to help them meet the special educational needs of pupils
All staff have outstanding CPD opportunities that allow them to support learners in all areas of their Education, Safety and Well being. Regular opportunities are given to the training in SEND provision including specialised areas including Autism, ADHD and Speech and Language. This training is supported by the Educational Psychologist and Learning Support Service. Teaching Assistants are also given the opportunity to attend staff meetings and Inset days to develop their knowledge and understanding in key areas. We have highly skilled teaching assistants who deliver excellent intervention programs in Literacy and Numeracy. As a lead school for ICT, all staff are trained to use a range of resources to support pupils with special educational needs including talking tins, easy speaks and we also buy into a range of programs such as clicker, espresso home access and sumdog
How parents and carers and the pupils are involved in planning to meet these special needs
We pride ourselves in having excellent relationships with parents and carers keeping them informed and updated on their child’s education. We invite parents in throughout the year to contribute to discussions and make suggestions as to what they feel their child needs. We communicate effectively through the school website, newsletters, interim reports and parents evenings. Children who have special educational needs have three review meetings each year to set new targets and discuss progress, these meetings involve the parents and child through our steps to success proforma. At the meeting we assess targets and set new ones, this is based on a contract with the parents and child. Where we meet together and work together on ensuring the best possible provision for your child.
The specialist support available both from the school and other agencies such as the Learning Support Service, speech and language therapy or outreach support from a specialist teacher Specialist support is accessed from a variety of professionals, depending on the needs of the child, the specialist agencies that we access are –
Educational Psychologist – Amy Turner is based at Riverside House, Main Street, Rotherham and can be contacted by phone on 01709 382121
Learning Support Services – Emma Sneath is based at Rockingham Professional Development Centre, Roughwood Road, Wingfield Estate, Rotherham and can be contacted by phone on 01709 740226
Autism Communication Team – Claire Johnson is based at Kimberworth Place, Kimberworth Road, Rotherham and can be contacted by phone on 336413
The Speech and Language service – based at Kimberworth Place can be contacted by phone on 01709 423229
Other specialised service details are available on request.
The accessibility of the school to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities
Physical Disabilities
In our Disability Equality Policy we have a Accessibility Plan which states that risk assessments are carried out for pupils with a physical disability within the classroom environment we liaise with appropriate agencies regarding furniture and any specialist resources that may be needed. Again this is also in place for school visits and residentials.
Pupils with medical needs
If a pupil has a medical need then a Care Plan is compiled with support from the school nurse in consultation with parents/carers. These are discussed with all staff who are involved with the pupil. All staff receive Epipen training delivered by the local NHS trust. Where necessary, and in agreement with parents/carers, medicines are administered in school but only where a signed ‘Medicine consent form’ is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member. All staff have basic first aid at work training.
Sensory Barriers
In case of vision impairments we would consult with parents, carers and professionals and take advice from the vision impaired support service in Rotherham LA. Ensuring communication documents are accessible for all. This would also involve looking at seating arrangements in the classroom, enlarged text and appropriate level of lighting.
Hearing Impairment
We would again consult with parents, carers and professionals to seek advice, we would access the right resources for the classroom and around the school including assemblies. We would look at the acoustics in the school and then the Headteacher and Governors would access budget/ funding implications for a loop system.
The support and guidance offered to parents and carers
As a school we value the contribution parents and careers make to their child’s education and at our school, parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. We do a great deal to encourage parents from different backgrounds to become involved so that they can support their children’s learning effectively. We offer many opportunities for you to become involved in the life of the school through family learning afternoons, we run a mums group on a Wednesday afternoons and we offer support through regular meetings. Our Inclusions manager, Behaviour for learning leader and learning mentor are available to offer advice and support and we will seek advice from professionals in order to ensure that support and guidance is available.
Common abbreviations you may come across –
There are many SEND terms that are abbreviated which can lead to confusion (even for us!). Below is a glossary of the most used SEND terms.
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder
ASD Autistic Spectrum Disorder 2 BESD Behavioural Emotional & Social Difficulties
CAF Common Assessment Framework
CAMHS Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service
COP Code of Practice
CP Child Protection
DCD Developmental Co-ordination Disorder
EAL English as an Additional Language
EP Educational Psychologist
FSM Free School Meals
HI Hearing Impairment
KS Key Stage
LAC Looked After Child
LEA Local Education Authority
LSS Learning Support Service
MLD Moderate Learning Difficulty
NC National Curriculum
OT Occupational Therapist
PP Pupil Premium
SaLT Speech & Language Therapy
SEN Special Educational Needs SEND Special Educational Needs & Disability
SENCO Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
SpLD Specific Learning Difficulty
VI Visual Impairment
What is Pupil Premium
Why has it been introduced?
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.
Who decides on how the money is spent?
In most cases the Pupil Premium is paid direct to schools, allocated to them for every pupil who receives free school meals. Schools decide how to use the funding, as they are best placed to assess what their pupils need.
How are schools accountable for the spending of Pupil Premium?
They are held accountable for the decisions they make through: the performance tables which show the performance of disadvantaged pupils compared with their peers. The new Ofsted inspection framework, under which inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, in particular those who attract the Pupil Premium.
Inclusion and SEND policy – click here to open current policy