John Clifford Primary School

All children who are offered a place at John Clifford School are accommodated according to their individual educational needs. Special educational needs generally fall into one or more of the following categories; Cognition and Learning, Communication and Interaction, Behaviour, Social and Emotional, Sensory and Physical and Anxiety Related Needs.

If your child is identified as not making expected progress, the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail and to listen to any concerns you may have. This could include a plan for any additional support your child may need, and to discuss with you any potential referrals to outside professionals. If you think your child may have special educational needs then please contact the school to discuss this with us.

The Headteacher, SENCO and governors ensure a consistent whole school approach to special needs by monitoring the impact of provision and subsequent intervention strategies. They act upon their findings and adjust provision according to pupil progress and any available resources.

Staff make ongoing teacher assessments and report to parents at open evenings twice a year and once in a written annual report. They meet regularly with parents and children at target review meetings for children with special educational needs. Pupil progress is monitored on a termly basis in line with the SEN Code of Practice. Termly progress meetings between school leaders and staff are held to monitor the progress of different groups including children with SEND.

At John Clifford, we have a graduated approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs. All pupils receive Quality First Teaching all of the time. If a pupils does have special educational needs their support will consist of a four part process of Assess; Plan; Do and Review. A child who has lifelong or significant difficulties may be referred for an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Class teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class and will ensure that your child’s needs are met. Strategies to ensure all children can access the curriculum include making use of all class facilities and space, using in-class provision and TA support effectively to ensure that the curriculum is differentiated where necessary. On occasions, curriculum activity, support or intervention may take place in another room according to the needs of the children.

All pupils with SEND will have access to Element 1 and 2 of a school’s budget which equates to £6,000. Some pupils with SEND may access additional funding. This additional funding (AFN) might be from a budget which is devolved to and moderated by the Family of Schools. This is accessed by submitting bids according to the level of support required. The SENCO formulates the bids according to LA prescribed criteria.
For those with the most complex needs, additional funding is retained by the local authority. This is accessed through the Family of Schools. The Family SENCO will refer individual applications to a multi-agency panel, which is administered by the Local Authority, who will determine whether the level and complexity of need meets the threshold for this High Level Need funding

Resources are allocated at least termly, through discussion between the SENCO, the assessment coordinator, the pupil premium coordinator, class teacher, outside agencies and parents, taking in to account the full range of information available about an individual’s current progress and barriers to learning. Additional funding is applied for if the child meets the relevant criteria.

The school curriculum is regularly reviewed by Senior Leadership Team which includes the SENCO to ensure that it promotes the inclusion of all pupils. This includes learning outside the classroom. Reasonable adjustments are also made to ensure children can access extra-curricular activities and school visits. This may involve 1:1 TA support or parents providing extra resources/support for the child.

We recognize that some children have extra emotional and social needs that need to be developed and nurtured. These needs can manifest themselves in a number of ways, including behavioural difficulties, anxiousness, and being uncommunicative. All classes deliver PSHE (Personal, Social, Health end Economic education) to support this development.

However, for those children who find aspects of this difficult we offer in-school nurture provision, run by teaching assistants such as lunchtime and playtime support through planned activities and groups. If your child still needs extra support, with your permission the SENCo will access further support through Children and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHs)

The SENCO at John Clifford is the school’s head teacher, Mrs Kayley Allcoat who works alongside the school SENCO manager, Bev Swinscoe. Both members of staff can be contacted via the school office.

Our school operates the following training programmes:

• The family of schools support and use expertise within the schools to train each other where possible in a SENCO’s network.
• The SENCO will also attend the LA SENCO annual conference.
• Specialist schools and Families services provide training. This usually occurs within the family of schools.
• The Educational Psychologist also provides training for example on attachment issues.
• The family of schools also work together to train staff and recently worked with Dyslexia Action on specific interventions.
• Individual staff also attend training to support specific needs.

The school has links with external support services in order to fully support our SEN pupils and aid school inclusion. The following services will be involved as and when is necessary:

• Schools and Families Support Services 
• Early Years Support
• Sensory Impaired Support
• Broxtowe Primary Behaviour Partnership
• Speech and Language Therapy Service
• Educational Psychology Service
• School nurse / Health Visitor
• Community Pediatrician
• Occupational Health
• Physiotherapy
• Parent Partnership
• Sure start
• Rushcliffe Primary Behaviour Partnership
• Early Help Unit
• Targeted Support

All equipment for children with physical and visual special educational needs is provided by specialist teams who support the school. At a classroom level, the SEND team has a wide variety of resources to support intervention and differentiation. The school has been partially adapted to accommodate children with a physical disability.  The car park has ramped access to the school at the rear entrance. All steps have yellow or red hand rails; yellow or white paint identifies the edge of steps and pillars around the whole school for children with a visual impairment. There is a platform lift to assist wheel chair users in the Foundation Stage.

All parents have many opportunities to be consulted about all aspects of school life through parents’ forums, annual questionnaires and meetings in which pupil progress is shared. Parents of children with special educational needs are regularly consulted during the target review process.

Children contribute their feelings

 If you have concerns about your child’s progress, you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially. If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress, you can contact the Disabilities/ Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) Simon Thompson. The school SEN Governor, Eric Kerry, can also be contacted for support and will also access any complaint, via the school’s formal complaints policy. (see website)      

The governing body involves other organizations and services in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and supporting the families of such pupils via its regular discussions with the SENCO through school link visits. Each term the Head teacher reports on the progress of children with special educational needs. The governing body also develops and ratifies the schools' SEND policy. (see website)

We signpost parents/carers to organisations who can provide additional support to themselves and their child through the termly review meeting, the circulation of information leaflets and conversations with parents/carers.

In addition there is a support group for parents of children with special educational needs from the Chilwell Family of Schools which John Clifford is part of. This is called THRIVE and meets at least every term. This also gives the parents of children with special educational needs a voice in the vision for special educational needs across the family of schools.

We recognize that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEN, and we take steps to ensure that any transition is a smooth as possible.

If your child is joining us from another school: The SENCO will visit pre-schools with the Foundation Stage Leader when appropriate. If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them. Your child will be able to visit our school and stay for a taster session, if this is appropriate

When moving classes in school: Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance and a transition meeting will take place with the new teacher. Targets will be shared with the new teacher. If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them.

In Year 6: The SENCO will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENCO of the child’s secondary school. In most cases, a transition review meeting to which you will be invited will take place with the SENCO from the new school. Your child may participate in focused sessions relating to aspects of transition, to support their understanding of the changes ahead. Where possible, your child will visit their new school on several occasions. If your child would be helped by a book/passport to support them in understand moving on, then one will be made for them.