Trent Vale Infant and Nursery School

At Trent Vale we actively include all pupils that are allocated a place at our school through the LA admissions procedure.  All children who are offered a place at Trent Vale Infant and Nursery 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 a child starting our school is already known to other SEN agencies within the Local Authority then they will inform us of a child's needs when they are allocated a place at our school. This information might also be provided by other local pre-school settings that a child attends or by the parents themselves. Detailed transition procedures will then be arranged to support their introduction to our setting.

At school we will know if a child needs extra help by our detailed assessment procedures including looking at a child's work and watching how they behave in school.

If you think your child may have special educational needs then please contact the school to discuss this with us.

Any children at our school that have additional provision have their progress carefully monitored every half term. This allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of our provision and plan the next steps to support a child's learning.

School will know how well your child is doing from their regular assessments of your child's progress. This will be shared with you at least every term at a pre-arranged meeting. At this meeting ideas will be shared of how to help you support theri learning. 

At Trent Vale we operate an 'open door' policy so if at any time your feel you need more information of how well your child is doing and how you can best support them then plese contact your child's class teacher.

At Trent Vale 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.

Please read our SEN policy on our website which describes this process in more detail. www.trentvale.notts.sch.uk

. This policy is reviewed annually.

Using the four part process of Assess, Plan, Do and Review the curriculum is personalised for the individual needs of the child with special educational needs where necessary. The SENCO oversees this process to ensure the curriculum promotes the inclusion of all pupils.

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 might be from a budget which is devolved to and moderated by the Family of Schools. (The Family of Schools comprises of a secondary school and its feeder primary schools). 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 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.   

All pupils at Trent Vale have access to learning outside the classroom and extra-curricular activities including school trips. Arrangements to support a child with special educational needs to access these activities are discussed with the parents of each individual child.

All children at Trent Vale are valued and supported as individuals. The class teacher monitors and supports each child's overall well-being on a daily basis. If they have any concerns this will be discussed with parents and the SENCO and  support from within school or outside agencies will be accessed if necessary.

The SENCO at Trent Vale is Miss Gough. She can be contacted via the school.

We aim to keep all school staff up to date with relevant training and developments in teaching practice in relation to the needs of pupils with SEN.

The SENCo attends relevant SEN courses, Family SEN meetings and facilitates/signposts relevant SEN focused external training opportunities for all staff.

We recognise the need to train all our staff on SEN issues. The SENCo, with the senior leadership team, ensures that training opportunities are matched to school development priorities and those identified through the use of provision management. 

Trent Vale Infant and Nursery School invites and seeks advice and support from external agencies in the identification and assessment of, and provision for, SEN. The SENCO is the designated person responsible for liaising with the following:

• Behaviour Support Service
• Educational Psychologist service
• Social Services
• Speech and Language Service
• Specialist Outreach Services
• Health Services

Representatives from voluntary organisations and other external agencies are invited to liaison meetings throughout the year to discuss SEN provision and progress and keep staff up to date with legislation.

The SENCO accesses support from outside agencies through:

• Termly Springboard meeting; this is the route to Schools and Family Support Services and Educational Psychologist
• Referral according to the threshold benchmarks documented in the Pathway to Provision document to support agencies e.g. Early Help Unit for social care involvement
• Referral to health agencies such as speech and language and emotional health and well-being services

The school continues to build strong working relationships and links with external support services in order to fully support our SEN pupils and aid school inclusion.

The school will access support from the Local Authority Schools and Family Support Services to ensure a child with special educational needs has the equipment they need to support their learning and they can access all necessary areas of the school.

The school is already very accessible. It is all on one level with ramps and appropriate toilet facilities. 

All parents have many opportunities to be consulted about all aspects of school life through a range of questionnaires and consultation exercises. Parents of children with special educational needs are regularly consulted during the reviews of their child's progress. We expect all parents, including those whose children have special educational needs, to be actively involved with their child's learning and we offer a range of parents information meetings to support this.

There are  many opportunities for all pupils to be consulted about a range of aspects of school life. This is mainly through pupil discussions and questionnaires that are accessible to all pupils.

Refer to the general complaints procedure which is available of the school's website - www.trentvale.notts.sch.uk

If a parent or carer has any concerns or complaints regarding the care or welfare of their child, an appointment can be made by them to speak to the SENCO, who will be able to advise on formal procedures for complaint. 

The governing body involves other organisations and services in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and supporting the families of such pupils via its regualr discussions with the SENCO, its termly Head teachers reports and its support and ratification of the schools' SEN policy.. 

At Trent Vale 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. 

The SENCO will arrange a transition programme appropriate to the needs of your child. This will begin with a discussion with parents/carers and any supporting agencies to identify the most appropriate route for them to successfully join our school.

The SENCo will liaise closely with parents, preschool settings and other outside agencies to plan an effective transition programme for children entering our Early years Foundation Stage.

Trent Vale Infant and Nursery School is federated with Beeston Rylands Junior School to form The Trent Rylands Federation. As such, both schools work closely together to meet the needs of all children when they are are moving from KS1 to KS2. The SENCOs from both schools will actively involve parents and any supporting agencies to arrange a transition programme appropriate to the needs of each individual child. 

As an early years setting we encourage every child to be independent and achieve their potential so they have the building blocks to prepare them for adult and independent living.

Please visit the schools' website www.trentvale.notts.sch.uk for further information. 

You are also more than welcome to contact the school and arrange a visit to discuss your questions and concerns and see our facilities.