Bentham Community Primary School serves many different children from within our catchment area and beyond. All school staff and Governors believe the widest possible choices and opportunities should exist for all young people, regardless of special educational need or disability. Children at some stage of their school life may experience learning difficulties in one area or another of the school curriculum. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive school and having an inclusive ethos. We are ‘open to all’.
How do we decide when a child goes on the SEND list?
At Bentham Community Primary children are assessed regularly and pupil progress meetings are held, where progress of all children is considered. If a child is considered not to be making the expected progress for them, then we will put in extra support for that child, in the area of learning that they need. This will be led as a discussion between the head teacher, class teacher and SENCo and/or Key Stage Lead Teacher. If the additional support through in class strategies or interventions are not having the desired impact and the child is working significantly below their peers, we will re-asses the options, hold a conversation with parents and consider putting the child on the SEND list. We will continue to work on in class strategies and alternative interventions. We continually Plan, Do, Review and Assess all our children on the SEND list.
All children have access to quality first teaching and our lessons are differentiated for all learners so that they can access the learning at their level and make progress.
If further help is required, and again after full consultation with parents, the relevant support agency provided by the Local Authority will be contacted, who will then help to plan an appropriate course of action with the SENCo and class teacher.
How do we keep parents informed?
We keep parents informed regularly about their child’s progress through an Autumn and Spring parents evening where ‘Bentham Inclusion passports’ are updated with parents. As well as through termly effort grades and an annual report at the end of the academic year, at all of these stages we encourage feedback and dialogue from our parents. If at any point a parent wants to discuss their child then a convenient time can be found with the class teacher to discuss any concerns. We have an open door policy.
‘Bentham Inclusion passports’ are the main way in which we record all information with regard to a child on the SEND list. This key document will tell anyone who needs to know, what interventions and support a child has had and importantly, the impact they have had. It also lists any outside agencies support and recommendations for us to use. The document is key to transition so that Secondary schools know the provision that has previously been put in place.
We make sure that transition is well planned for all children. The SENCo and class teacher where possible will hold a meeting with the secondary schools that children are moving onto in order to discuss individual children and their needs with special attention paid to those children with SEND.
All documentation has to be legally given to Secondary schools but we highlight the ‘Bentham Inclusion Passport’ as the key document with the most up to date and relevant information.
We encourage children with SEND to have extra visits to their setting so that they can become more familiar with the layout and routines at secondary school. We try our best to help to facilitate and co-ordinate these visits.
If you have any concerns regarding your child then please raise your concerns with the class teacher and/or the SENCO – Mrs McGregor.
Our school SEND Policy can be found in the attachment below.
The new SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disablity) Local Offer provides information for children, young people and their parents/carers in a single place, helping them to understand what services they and their families can expect from a range of local agencies. This has been introduced as part of the Children and Families Bill and became law in 2014.
North Yorkshire County Council have published their local offer for children and families from 0-25. This outlines what is available for children and young people with SEND in our Local Authority. This can be accessed using the link below.
Mrs Alison McGregor is the school's Special Educational Needs Coordinator.
Miss Angela Tierney is the school's Home School Link Worker.
Mrs Gemma Knapp is the School SEND and Pupil Premium Link Governor.