Special Educational Needs
Ditton Lodge Primary School is a mainstream school. At Ditton Lodge we value all children equally and provide access to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum for all pupils.
The Special Educational Need and Disability Code of Practice (DFE, 2014) uses the following definition:
“Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.”
Special educational provision means: Educational provision or training which is additional to, or different from that made generally for children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools or by Early Years providers.
We ensure that all needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs are met to the best of the School’s ability within the funds available. We deliver programmes designed to meet the pupil’s needs with trained teaching assistants. Different pupils will require different levels of support in order to bridge the gap to achieve age expected levels. Each pupils needs may vary every year and a pupil may be moved off the SEND register when they have made sufficient progress to be in line with the achievement of their peers/or their disability/health requirements are within those of universal needs.
Our offer of SEND support is made in co-ordance with the Local Offer of the Local Authority (Cambridgeshire County Council).
The local offer from Cambridgeshire County Council can be found here:
What is the vision at Ditton Lodge School?
Our vision statement of “Together we suceed as life-long learners,” underpins all our policies and practices. The children’s overall well-being is of paramount importance to us all. As staff we aim to fully support pupils with social and emotional barriers to learning and ensure support and provision for vulnerable pupils. This includes supporting families in providing a safe and stimulating environment within which their children can thrive. Our school is at the heart of the community that it serves. It is a place where everyone matters, and where the children are at the centre of everything that we do. By creating positive relationships between all stakeholders and offering a rich and varied curriculum with teaching of a consistently high quality, we will ensure that our children are valued and develop into self-confident, tolerant, responsible, enthusiastic and capable life-long learners.
Who is responsible for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities at Ditton Lodge?
The governing body is responsible for the provision of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities at Ditton Lodge. They work closely with the SENDCo to monitor the effectiveness of SEND provision. The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo) is Mrs Anna Shicluna.
The SENDCo, as the responsible person, will
- oversee the provision for SEND.
- work closely with the Headteacher, fellow teachers and teaching assistants;
- have the responsibility for the day to day operation of the school SEND policy;
- oversee records of all pupils with SEND;
- coordinate provision for all pupils with SEND through working with staff, parents/carers and other agencies;
- liaise with and advise colleagues;
- contribute to in-service training for staff;
- liaise with external agencies, including LEA support teams, for pupil support and organisation of SEND INSET, (eg. Educational Psychologist services, health and social services, speech and language therapists and advisory teachers.).
- keeps the Head teacher and Governors informed of SEND provision and provide regular pupil progress reports;
- line manages Teaching Assistants;
All teachers and teaching assistants are teachers of pupils with SEND and will be involved in the development of the school SEND policy;
Teaching staff and TA’s will take responsibility for the teaching of children with SEND in their class, monitoring and maintaining their IEP’s/Pupil Passports and targets.
All staff are made fully aware of the school procedures for identifying, assessing and making provision for pupils with SEND.
How does the school know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?
The Code of Practice suggests that pupils are identified as SEND if they do not make adequate progress once they have had all the intervention/adjustments and good quality personalised teaching.
High quality first teaching and additional interventions are part of the regular review and monitoring process what we offer EVERY child or young person in our care and what we offer additionally. This monitoring also serves to embed our high expectations among staff about quality first teaching and the application of a differentiated and personalised approach to teaching and learning. We make it a point to discuss aspirations with ALL our learners. Children and young people’s SEND are generally thought of in the following four broad areas of need and support:
1. Communication and interaction
2. Cognition and learning
3. Social, emotional and mental health
4. SENDsory and/or physical needs
At Ditton Lodge we are fully aware of the importance of early identification of SEND. Prior to a child joining the Reception Stage Class, parents have an informal chat with the staff, teachers and will have a home visit. This is an opportunity to discover any worries the parents may have, and to find out if the Health Visitor has identified any areas of concern (eg speech, social, physical). It is also an opportunity to find out if any other professionals are involved with the child (i.e. speech and language therapist).