Every child learns and grows, just not on the same day or in the same way.
SEND INFORMATION REPORT
Introduction
At The West Grantham Church of England Primary Academy (WGPA), our core values of Integrity, Love, Ambition, Courage and Belief drive our passion for inclusivity and equality for all of our students. Our SEND students access our whole curriculum and have access to individualised interventions. Our highly trained staff work alongside a range of outside agencies and professionals in order to deliver our students’ personalised provision and learning that effectively meets their SEND needs.
Our SEND report is compliant of the following national and regional legislation:
- SEND Code of Practice 2015
- Disability Discrimination Act 2010
- Lincolnshire County Council’s Local Offer 2021
- The Equality Act 2010
Our SEND information report is compiled in conjunction with the following policies:
Special Educational Needs and Disability at The West Grantham Church of England Primary Academy
The West Grantham Church of England Primary Academy is proud of its inclusivity and diversity and places great emphasis on its unique and varied learning community. Everyone at WGP is equally valued regardless of their ability and the following protected characteristics listed in the 2010 Equalities Act:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender
- Race
- Religion or Belief
- Background
The academy truly believe every child matters. We are a mainstream primary academy who works closely with the Local Authority to ensure our academy continually develops our inclusivity offer. Our academy and Trust vision is built on ensuring our students receive high quality experiences and knowledge, both academically and personally, to achieve their full potential, regardless of any SEND needs.
Support for SEND students is categorised under two categories:
SEN SUPPORT
Pupils with less complex needs but who still require support ‘additional to and different from’ their peers are identified as SEN Support.
STUDENTS WITH AN EHCP (Education Health and Care Plan)
These students have more complex needs and require a specific plan to support their learning, health needs and/or social care needs.
As of April 2024, our total number of students on roll is 213 including Nursery, of which 36 students have an identified SEND need (SEN Support) and 9 of our students have an EHCP plan.
Our academy has a higher proportion of students at SEN Support than the national averages in primary education:
| WGPA | * National Average | |
| SEN SUPPORT students | 16.9% | 13.0% |
| Students with EHCP | 4.2% | 2.3% |
*Source: Provision Map
Disability and Inclusion
Students with SEND or a recognised disability have full access to curriculum and activities throughout the academy. Reasonable adjustments are made to the school premises, both within school buildings and grounds, classrooms and resources. Senior leaders facilitate and prioritise staff training or recruitment of specialist staff to ensure students with a disability can access school and the curriculum.
Learning support, Pastoral and SEND staff, as well as every staff member are aware of all students with SEND and/or disabilities to provide additional support and monitoring of students. Staff meet regularly with students, families and other professionals to ensure students’ disabilities and inclusion needs are met.
SEND Explained
There are four categories of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) we provide provision for:
1 Cognition and Learning
Our school is very experienced at supporting students with cognition and learning difficulties through high quality teaching and differentiation of students’ learning. Some of our children have Specific Learning Difficulties (SPLD) such as:
- Dyslexia (specific difficulties with reading, writing and spelling)
- Dyscalcula (specific difficulties with maths and calculations)
- Dyspraxia (specific difficulties with co-ordination and mobility)
Other cognition and learning difficulties are classed as Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) such as:
- Students who are struggling to make sufficient progress and attainment across several or more areas of our curriculum
2 Social, Emotional and Mental Health
For some children, difficulties in their development of social and emotional needs can mean they require additional support. Students with SEMH usually need more time and support from keyworkers who understand their difficulties and issues and sometimes need, the help of external agencies such as CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service).
Recognised conditions such as ADHD and ADD, trauma and attachment disorder all come under the banner of Social Emotional and Mental Health.
3 Sensory and/or Physical Needs
Staff at the academy work closely with several external agencies and healthcare services, such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists and GPs to ensure our school is accessible to all students with sensory and/or physical needs. We will make the necessary reasonable adaptations to the school environment and curriculum offer dependent on the student’s sensory and/or physical needs.
4 Communication and Interaction
For any of our students with an identified communication and interaction need, such as autism or a speech and language need, we can access external support from the Working Together Team and SALT specialists (Speech and Language Therapists) who advise on techniques, training and resources to support each student.
Students are offered additional support within classes and in some cases, 1-1 support in lessons.
How does the academy know if a student needs extra help and how are parents informed and involved?
The academy has an internal cause for concern process whereby staff can submit their concerns and observations to the SENDCo. The information shared with the SENDCo includes academic progress, social and emotional concerns. Parents/carers are then contacted by the SENDCo to arrange a meeting to discuss any concerns they may have whilst students are not in school.
Parents are consulted throughout the assessment process and information received from a student’s home-life will also inform a student’s SEND assessment. As part of the Assess, Plan, Do Review (APDR) cycle we may agree specific targets for your child to work towards. A pupil profile will be created, and the child will be supported in school using Quality First Teaching with their class teacher. This is called Wave One support. If it is decided, as part of the APDR cycle, the student may have additional, targeted support from teaching assistants within the school to help them overcome any barriers to learning. This is Wave Two Support, and the child will, in consultation with the parents, be put onto the SEND Register.
The SENDCo and the class teacher will regularly review the child’s progress and may then decide that they may need one of the following:
- Further Testing
- Pre-Screener for Dyslexia
- Specialist Teacher Assessment
- Referral to other external agency such as Community Paediatrics, The Working Together Team, Speech and Language, Occupational health/Physiotherapy, Visual Processing, Sensory Education team, Behaviour Outreach Support Services (BOSS).
This would be Wave Three Support.
The SENDCo co-ordinates meetings and support involving both student and parents/guardians with outside agencies
SEND Register
Students who are placed on our SEND register will have a pupil profile in place that is designed to support students’ needs or the outcomes expected within a student’s EHC (Education, Health and Care) plan. If a student is placed on the SEND register, receives the support they need and makes progress in line with their peers they will come off the register.
How does the academy support students with SEND make transitions?
Communication with parents is key for the transition process. We have close links with feeder nurseries and the secondary school that we feed into, and we will support our SEND students to move onto the next part of their education by sharing information with fellow professionals and offering additional visits and transition sessions.
Annual review meetings for those children with an EHCP will be held by the SENCo and staff at the child’s new setting will be invited to take part in these.
SEND Students who are ‘Looked After’ by a Local Authority
Our SENDCo will contribute to any process and statutory requirement involving Looked After Children (LAC). They will contribute to TAC (Team Around the Child) meetings, Looked After Children review meetings or other meetings where the needs of the child are discussed.
How does the curriculum match the needs of SEND learners?
We strive for our SEND students to develop a love of learning and confidence in themselves. Our aim is that our pupils are healthy, safe, and enjoy and achieve in all areas of their learning. Our pupils are encouraged to take part in all learning activities as individuals, as part of a group and as part of the whole school. Each pupil is treated as an individual and is a valued member of our school, encouraged to work towards their aspirations. Our curriculum, taught by experienced teachers and support staff, enables all pupils to achieve at their own pace. Differentiation is used to ensure the learning is matched to the needs of the learner. We believe in having a positive approach towards school life, a “can do” attitude and to encourage our pupils to be as independent as possible within their learning and development of future life skills.
How does the academy evaluate the effectiveness of its SEND provision?
At WGP we recognise the need to monitor and evaluate all aspects of our work. In this way we aim to constantly improve the quality of our provision to meet the needs of all pupils. This is achieved by including everyone linked with our school community – students, staff, parents and stakeholders such as Local Authority professionals.
We evaluate the effectiveness of provision for pupils by:
- Holding annual reviews for all pupils to monitor their EHC plan
- Regular evaluation of teaching and learning and the school environment
- Internal and external standardisation and moderation of pupils’ learning/ work
- Evaluation and review of both the School’s Self Evaluation Plan and School Development Plan
- Staff Surveys
- Collecting student voice
- Internal reviews of SEND support plans
- Staff performance management
- Governing Body meetings
- External monitoring visits by independent experts including LENS (Lincolnshire Education Needs Support)
- OfSTED
- Exam body statutory quality assurance
How does the school manage concerns or complaints about SEND?
If a parent or professional has a concern regarding WGP’s SEND provision, they should raise it with the academy’s class teacher as soon as their concern(s) arise.
If a parent or professional has a more serious concern and feels they wish to raise a complaint regarding our SEND provision, they should visit our academy’s website and follow our Complaints Policy, found within the ‘Our Academy’ section of our website
Who do I speak to if I think my child has SEND?
Initially we would ask that parents speak to their child’s class teacher and raise any concerns but if there are additional concerns then please contact:
SENDCo: Emma Drury
How does the school manage concerns or complaints about SEND?
If a parent or professional has a concern regarding WGP’s SEND provision, they should raise it with the child’s class teacher as soon as their concern(s) arise.
If a parent or professional has a more serious concern and feels they wish to raise a complaint regarding our SEND provision, they should visit our academy’s website and follow our Complaints Policy.
What is the Local Offer and what does it mean?
The local offer sets out what provision a local authority expects to be available for children and young people in the area with Special Educational Needs and/ or disabilities. The local authority work with parents, young people, schools, colleges, early years providers and health services to produce the local offer in a way that can be accessed quickly and easily. WGP is based in Grantham and all of our students come from the Lincolnshire area.
Lincolnshire’s Local Authority full ‘Local Offer’ can be found on the following link:
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/send-local-offer
If a parent would like assistance in reviewing the local offer or navigating any part of the Local Offer, then please contact our academy’s SENDCo who would be happy to support any parent.
Where can I access further information?
LIAISE: https://lincolnshire.fsd.org.uk/kb5/lincs/fsd/family.page?familychannel=2_1_11
National Association of SEN: www.nasen.org.uk
Department for Education: www.dfe.gov.uk
Information on Lincolnshire’ Local Offer can be found on the local authority’s website: http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/lincs/fsd/localoffer.page?familychannel=2
The SEND Local Offer is a resource which is designed to support children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their families. It describes the services and provision that are available both to those families in Nottingham that have an Education, Health and Care Plan and those who do not have a plan, but still experience some form of special educational need. The SEND Local Offer includes information about public services across education, health and social care, as well as those provided by the private, voluntary and community sectors.
