Gotham Primary School

We are a main-stream primary school offering provision for children aged 5-11. Within our teaching, we support a full range of academic abilities. Where children are identified as having additional needs we put in focused intervention packages to cater for their particular needs and we offer holistic and bespoke support to enable them to be 'the best that they can be'. We currently cater for children with a range of needs including ASC, ADHD, Down's Syndrome and other cognition and learning needs. 

We routinely assess all children’s progress in maths, reading and writing as well as other curriculum subjects. In our pupil progress review meetings we identify children who we feel may be falling behind. We compare the children’s attainment to their cohort within our school, as well as other schools in Rushcliffe and nationally. We also take into account each child’s previous attainment as we recognise that all children develop at different rates. We also use a variety of resources, such as dyslexia screenings to identify children’s areas of strength and target areas for intervention.  We also work closely alongside external agencies to identify children with significant additional needs. Teacher's consider both the academic and social/emotional needs of children in their class and offer support for these. 

The class teachers and the SENCO are happy to discuss any needs related to special educational needs with parents and will also gather additional support if needed. 

In addition to monitoring done by class teachers, the SENCO also evaluates the progress and attainment of each child on the SEND register. Each term, the SENCO monitors the progress made by children the children on the SEND register by comparing their progress and attainment to their year group expectations. If it is found that an intervention has not had the desired outcome, then alternative intervention will be provided. Children with social, emotional and mental health needs are also monitored to ensure that intervention is supporting their needs. At the end of every year the head teacher does an annual consultation with both parents and children. Issues surrounding SEND in school are part of this questionnaire - parents and carers are asked what we do well and what they would like to see improve. Staff at the school then strive to meet the needs of the parents and children who have raised areas of development. 

We work closely with all parents to support the learning of every child in our school. Where a child has significant special educational needs we provide parents with a provision map, which sets out a child’s current targets and the targeted support that has been put in place either in small groups or 1:1.  Provision maps enable the parents to feel confident that their child’s needs are being met. This allows the school to manage our available teaching assistant time equitably. Parents of children with significant special educational needs are also offered termly meetings with the SENCO, class teacher and outside agencies if applicable to discuss their child’s progress. We are a listening school and so we ensure that our structured conversations enable parents to have a voice in planning the most suitable range of interventions for their child. Where appropriate we also seek to include pupil voice in planning and evaluating provision. 

We are an inclusive school and firmly believe in allowing children with SEND to spend as much time as possible with their peers in the classroom setting. We strive to make adaptations to our teaching and environment to cater for the needs of the pupils. Pupils with significant  special eduational needs are offered bespoke provision, which is planned to best meet their needs.  However within this we also recognise that some interventions are best delivered in a smaller groupings and so children may work with teaching assistants or teachers in our TA stations or the nurture room as appropriate.

We follow the national curriculum, and all teaching at our school is differentiated and adapted to meet the needs of all of the children. Children are given targets based on their level of attainment to ensure they are accessing the curriculum at a level appropriate to them. We are aspirational for our children with SEND and we aim to allow them to do the same work as other children, alongside their peers, with adaptions to suit their learning needs. Some children have a bespoke and personalised curriculum tailored to meet their needs and address areas of development. 

For children who receive additional funding from the family of schools, or via higher level needs funding, a set amount of money is allocated to the child for their provision. This amount of funding is moderated by the family SENCOs to ensure parity across the schools. The amount of funding given will then determine the amount of additional support given to each child. For children whose level of SEND is catered for within school we ensure that the teaching assistant allocation is fairly distributed so that all children receive the support they need.

All children in our school are included in every aspect of our provision, including school trips, sports events and after school clubs. For school trips, we carry out a risk assessment to determine the level of support a child would need and then allocate this from our TA team. Children with SEND are represented across our school in areas such as school council, school sport teams and class jobs. 

We are a caring school with a family feeling and so are mindful of the social, physical and emotional development of our children as well as their academic achievement. PHSE is part of our curriculum and healthy living is promoted through the Science curriculum, as well as our annual Sports and Healthy Living Week.  Children have a voice through school council and good relationships between different aged children are promoted through reading partners and other buddy schemes. Children with additional social, emotional and mental health needs have support through our ELSA (emotional literacy support assistant) and other interventions such as Lego Therapy to support social skills and communication. We also receive external agency support from the Rushcliffe SEMH team and the Educational Psychology Service. 

Sarah Magirr is the school SENCO.

c/o office@gotham.notts.sch.uk or 01159149751.

We provide CPD for all our staff including teaching assistants so that they are equipped to meet the needs of all of our pupils. Over the past few years this has included autism, dyslexia, zones of regulation and executive functioning. Some teachers and teaching assistants have had further training on subjects relevant to the children in their class such as colourful semantics, Makaton, precision teaching and whole word reading. We have planned further training in inclusive classrooms and risk assessments. 

We receive support from the family of schools via our termly Springboard meetings where referrals to other agencies can be made. We also work in partnership with the following:

• Educational psychologist
• Speech and Language team.
• Autism specific speech and language team.
• Sure Start
• Schools and family support service 
• Visual and Hearing Impairment Team
• Healthy Families and Community Paediatrician.
• Social Care.
• Rushcliffe Primary  SEMH team 
• ELSA (emotional literacy support)

When any child joins our school with needs which cannot be met by the above services we are proactive in seeking support.

Our school was built in 2006 which means that the site and building are fully accessible to wheelchair users. We benefit from a disabled toilet and shower and have a hearing loop. We have recently developed a nurture room to specifically cater for children with SEND. We have considered the auditory and visual environment for pupils with SEND alongside specialist agencies. 

All parents are consulted annually by the head teacher on behalf of the governors, in addition to this parents of pupils with SEND have regular structured conversations with the class teacher and some have additional meetings with the SENCO.

Children complete an annual consultation to inform the Headteacher what they feel has gone well in the year. School council is a vehicle where children are able to offer ideas for positive change. This year children from year 2 upwards participated in a detailed consultation on healthy living, bullying and safeguarding issues. Children from our school will participate in the Rushcliffe pupil parliament where they will learn to debate pertinent issues with other children from 28 primary schools.   The SENCO also carries out pupil voice activities with pupils to gauge their views on their provision and aspirations. Where appropriate, children with SEND have contributed to their annual EHCP reviews and transition meetings. 

If a parent is unhappy in anyway with the provision at our school our first recourse is to listen to their view and see if the issue can be resolved. Often parent’s anxieties can be overcome by a discussion to outline our provision and reassurance that we are working in the best interests of their child. Where a parent continues to be dissatisfied we have a formal complaint policy and a named complaints governor who will support the process to seek a resolution which is satisfactory for all parties.

The governing body delegates the responsibility for the provision and support for SEN to the Headteacher and SENCO, both of whom are held to account and who give termly reports on issues regarding SEND. The SENCO meets termly with the SEND governors to discuss recent updates, progress of pupils and plan future initiatives. 

The SENCO and Headteacher are the first port of call for parents seeking information about additional support. In addition to this we prominently display literature from other services in our foyer.

We have a well-established and successful transition programme for all children and their parents. For children who have identified additional needs we would prepare a transition plan specific to their needs in partnership with agencies who have already been supporting them. This process would include dialogue with their parents and visits to pre-school settings. Before starting school children have an opportunity to visit their new classroom and teacher and parents are given the opportunity to attend our induction meeting.

Each year we have a series of 3 full transition days so children can spend time working with their new teacher. Staff meeting time is allocated to the transfer of assessment data and TA allocations. Teaching assistants also transfer information regarding interventions. When moving from primary to secondary, we work closely with the head of year 7 to discuss individual needs and to pass on assessment and intervention data. Where necessary meetings can be arranged for staff from the secondary setting can meet with parents, class teacher and SENCO to discuss transition further. Identified children also have the opportunity to undergo an enhanced transition to East Leake Academy involving an extra visit with a specific SEND focus. 

Preparing for adulthood activities happen right from the start at Gotham Primary. We support the development of children's executive functioning skills to enable them to become independent learners. We plan lessons and experiences to  teach all children about healthy living, anti-bullying, bike ability, life opportunities through DARE and sex and relationship education in addition to the academic curriculum to broaden the child’s school experience. A full list of provision designed to prepare children for adulthood is kept in school. 

Further information can be accessed via the school’s website, prospectus, local authority website or by arranging an appointment to meet with the Headteacher and/or SENCO.

This information is updated and reviewed annually.