Leanne Wilson SENCO
Racheal Cowan EYFS SENCO
SEND is the acronym for Special Educational Needs and Disability.
A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:
For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers. For a child under two years of age, special educational provision means educational provision of any kind.
It can be a worrying time if you are concerned your child is falling behind at school. It is worth remembering that SEND is not always permanent and even when it is (especially with things such as dyslexia, autism and ADHD) many children go onto be extremely successful irrespective of how quickly they achieve at school. With early intervention and an excellent graduated approach, great progress can be made. If your child is identified as being SEND the school will be duty bound to provide a curriculum which is dedicated to narrowing the gap between your child’s achievement and those of his or her peers. This is outlined in our local offer. It is worth remembering that every child has their own unique brain and way of being. It is up to the school to try every avenue to enable your child to experience success at to feel successful whilst at school.
A one plan is a document schools in Darlington prepare to evidence the graduated approach the school has put in place for your child evidencing that they may need further funding and support. It is in this document we evidence expenditure of the notional SEN funding the school receives as well as therapies, interventions and approaches used to narrow the gap between your child’s attainment and National Expectation. It is within this document that reports from external professionals would be taken into account also such as educational psychologists, school nurse, occupational therapy to name but a few. This document is presented to the high needs funding panel at Darlington Local authority should the school feel the child need more than the school can provide with the notional funding received. It is through this method that funding for extra equipment, one to one support or alternate provision can be sourced.
An EHC (Educational Health and Care Plan) has been brought in under the new SEN code of practise to replace statements. It was brought in to encourage multiagency working and to ensure the whole child and parents are considered when planning a child with SEND’s educational future. In Darlington an EHC would be granted when a one plan is submitted evidencing that the notional funding a school receives is not enough to meet the needs of the child in question. EHC’s are awarded from band 7 to band 10, each band being allocated a particular sum of money. When a child receives band 10 this typically means a child is in need of 1:1 support or that specialist provision should be considered. Very few children would be eligible for an EHC unless a significant learning difficulty was apparent.
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing, spelling and memory.
Signs of dyslexia?
Signs of dyslexia usually become apparent when a child starts school and begins to focus more on learning how to read and write.
A person with dyslexia may:
However, people with dyslexia often have good skills in other areas, such as:
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs of the world are diagnosed dyslexics. It is worth remembering that being dyslexic isn’t a life sentence it just means that a person’s brain works differently and they need to be enabled to understand the way their brain works and utilise its potential. At Skerne Park Academy we have a team of staff who are committed to unlocking the potential of a dyslexic child to ensure they are happy, resilient and have a good understanding of how amazing their brain is.
We have a dyslexia friendly school and therefore many aspects of school life aid the dyslexic brain. This means that a child does not feel singled out or isolated just because their brain happens to function dyslexically.
Skerne Park Dyslexia therapies include:
This is a group of behavioural symptoms that include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
The symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be categorised into two types of symptoms.
These categories are:
Most people with ADHD have indicators that fall into both these categories, this isn’t always the case. For example, some people with the condition may have inattentiveness and not hyperactivity or impulsiveness. This form of ADHD is also known as attention deficit disorder (ADD). ADD can sometimes go unnoticed because the symptoms may be less obvious.
Symptoms in children and teenagers
The symptoms of ADHD in children and teenagers are well defined, and they’re usually noticeable before the age of six. They occur in more than one situation, such as at home and at school.
The main signs of each indicator are detailed below:
Inattentiveness
The main signs of inattentiveness are:
Hyperactivity and impulsiveness
The main signs of hyperactivity and impulsiveness are:
These symptoms in school can be detrimental to a child learning. It is therefore important that early identification is sought and that a host of therapies for the child initiated. Some of these therapies can include:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the name for a range of similar conditions, including Asperger syndrome, that affect a person’s social interaction, communication, interests and behaviour.
In children with ASD, the symptoms are present before three years of age, although a diagnosis can sometimes be made after the age of three.
It’s estimated that about 1 in every 100 people in the UK has ASD. More boys are diagnosed with the condition than girls.
There’s no “cure” for ASD, but speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, educational support, plus a number of other interventions are available to help children and parents.
Signs and symptoms
There are many strategies which can be utilised to aid your child in mitigating the impact of ASD. It will not alter the diagnosis however it will enable your child to cope even better in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Strategies Skerne Park Academy utilises to aid in this process are:
This list is not exhaustive and as we work with more and more child on the ASD spectrum we continually refresh our provision to enable every child to be treated as unique and to experience success through school.
Leap frog is our very own nurture base. Within this room we meet the needs of some of our children who find the day-to-day of school life sometimes overwhelming. We have provision for 12 children from years 1 and 2 who demonstrate signs of attachment disorder where they’re not quite school ready. Depending on the needs of the child some may have an intervention place of a term up to some children accessing the base for the full 2 years. The children have access to the full curriculum and they are taught it at their own pace. The philosophy of nurture is to enable the child to be emotionally literate, resilient, confident and ready to access school. We usually find that once a child has these elements in their tool kit, the academic side of the curriculum flourishes. The base utilises lots of parental engagement where parents are encouraged to actively take part in lessons, help with coffee mornings, stay and play and generally celebrate their Childrens successes as they venture through their time in the provision. It is only open to Skerne Park Pupils so to enable them to make strong friendship links without the reality of losing them back to another school later in their academic lives.
Should you feel the need to complain about the Special Education Needs provision your child is receiving please refer to the Academy Complaints Policy.