Newker Primary School

How we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for children & young people with SEND

Newker Primary School, prides itself in being very inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need. All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.

To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum there are some actions we may take to achieve this:

Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
Ensure that teaching staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.
Pupils to gain in confidence and improve their self-esteem.
To work in partnership with parents/ carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
To identify at the earliest opportunity, all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional)
To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
To promote self worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independence at all age and ability levels.
To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
To regularly review the policy and practice in order to achieve best practice.

We understand that children learn and develop in different ways. Teachers and teaching assistants recognise this and use different teaching styles, resources and plan different levels of work in the classroom to cater for the various ways children learn. However, many children, at some time in their school life, need extra help and support in a variety of different ways.

Because of this we offer the following support for SEND children:

We talk to parents/carers if they think their child has a special educational need and let them know what special help the school is giving.

We have a Special Educational Needs Policy – a copy is available for parents on request and is included on this website.

Each child’s teacher finds ways to support pupils individual needs by:

Adapting the way activities are planned and delivered
Matching activities to the ability / need of each child
Adapting learning materials such as equipment and activities to suit each child’s needs
Offer small group and/or individual support to promote skills identified in the child’s Individual support plan.

With the permission of parents we may seek additional advice from outside specialists such as health professionals, specialist teachers or educational psychologists who would:

Carry out further assessment of the child’s needs
Provide advice to schools on how to best support the child
Suggest resources that would help the child make progress
Our staff work in partnership with parents and the SENDCO to find ways to support each child with their needs, including giving parents ideas on how to help their child at home.
Our school staff will set targets for SEND children which will be shared with parents, either during Parents’ Evening or a Review Meeting.

If your child has Special Educational Needs the SENDCO will:

Ensure the right support is put in place for each child
Advise other staff on how to help each child and ensure they have an up to date Individual support plan detailing how their needs will be met in school.
Arrange training for staff so they understand each child’s needs
Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have
Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist /medical professional/educational psychologist.

Any child with SEND will have a Support Plan which details what support can be put in place to help the child learn and progress.

An Individual Support Plan will be written especially for any child with SEND. It includes:

Short term targets for the child which are linked to their needs
Details of any extra support the child will get
Who will give the child help
How often the child will get help
How and when the school will monitor the child’s progress

If a child’s needs are very complex and/or severe we may ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care Assessment:

This is a very detailed assessment of each child’s needs. Parents or carers, the school and a range of professionals will all be asked to provide written reports.

At the end of the assessment phase the Local Authority will consider these reports to help decide whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for the child.

Parents/carers also have the right to ask the Local Authority to carry out this assessment although it is usually best if you can do this with the support of the school.

Education, Health and Care Assessment is only appropriate for a small number of children. Your school SENDCO or the Durham SENDIASS will be able to advise you about this.

More details on how we adapt information, our environment and curriculum can be found in the Accessibility Plan which you can find in the School Policies section of our website.