Children with special educational needs and disabilities

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Ethelred Nursery School and Children’s Centre offers early years provision for children from 0–5 years. The nursery school has capacity for 55 full-time equivalent children. Some attend on a part-time basis, with a number attending full-time who meet the necessary criteria. Children accessing the universal offer attend from 3 years old, and those qualifying for the 2 year offer start the term after their 2nd birthday. Our children’s centre caters for the under threes and offers a variety of services including drop-ins, training, and health-related services. The children’s centre operates over 48 weeks a year, whilst the nursery school is open for 39 weeks, following the normal school year pattern. Our provision is inclusive, and we strive to ensure that we meet individual needs as far as possible. We aim for excellence and the delivery of high quality Early Years Education and Care.
Our SEND Better Start Worker offers support to families who have children with special educational needs and disabilities and works across the Lambeth North locality and beyond. This enables them to access a range of services and have a point of contact as some families are isolated for a variety of reasons. In our school, we support a number of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, some of whom require one-to-one support. We are committed to developing strong parent partnerships and work very closely with parents and carers to achieve the best outcomes for their children.
All Lambeth maintained schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and support by the Local Authority ensures that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. All schools are supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of SEND pupils being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible, where families want this to happen. To see if you are eligible for funding click here.

The school will meet the needs of children with the following SEND:

Communication and interaction
Cognition and learning
Social, mental and emotional health
Sensory /physical

The information below details the offer within the school and ways in which parents, children and young people may access the support required.
People who support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities in this schoolWho are the best people to talk to in this school and centre about my child’s difficulties with learning/ Special Educational Needs/Disability (SEND)? And how can I talk to them about my child if I need to?

Teacher/key personThe teacher/key person is recommended as the first point of contact if you have any concerns.
S/he is responsible for:

Making sure that all children have access to good/outstanding teaching and learning and that the curriculum is adapted to meet your child’s individual needs.
Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support, adapting resources etc.) and discussing amendments with the SENCO as necessary.
Contributing to Personal Learning Plans (PLP), also sometimes called Individual Education Plans (IEP), and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next steps.
Making sure that all members of staff working with your child in school are aware of your child’s individual needs and/or conditions and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable them to be included and make progress.
Making sure that all staff working with your child in school are supported in delivering the planned work/programme for your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help and specially planned work and resources.
Making sure that the school’s SEND Policy is followed for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

Contacted by: speaking to them at the beginning and end of a school day to arrange an appointment or telephoning the school (020 7582 9711).
The Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENCO)Our named SENCO is Cathy Byrne.
She is responsible for:

Coordinating all the support for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), and developing the school’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
Making sure that you are:
- Fully involved in supporting your child’s learning;
- Kept informed about the support your child is receiving;
- Fully involved in reviewing how they are progressing;
- Fully involved in planning your child’s support.
Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology, occupational therapy etc.
Updating the school’s SEND record of need, (a system for ensuring all the special educational, physical and sensory needs of pupils in this school are known and understood) and making sure that there are excellent records of your child’s progress and needs.
Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help your child (and other pupils with SEND in the school) to achieve their potential.
Supporting your child’s class teacher to write Personal Learning Plans (PLP), also sometimes called Individual Education Plans (IEP), that specify the targets set for your child to achieve.
Preparing an Education, Health and Care Plan where needed.
Organising training for staff so they are aware and confident about how to meet the needs of your child and others within our school.
Organising the work of the Teaching Assistants who give individual and group support to children with SEND.
Liaising with the SEND Better Start Worker to share information on individual children who require support.

Contacted by: in person at school and centre or by telephoning the school to make an appointment (020 7582 9711).
Teaching Assistant (TA)A Teaching Assistant (TA) may be allocated to work with a pupil with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Whilst they take a very valuable role in your child’s education we would prefer that questions regarding your child’s learning and progress are directed to teachers/key persons and the SENCO who are fully involved in any support offered and make the decisions, in conjunction with the parents, on the type of support and interventions children may require.
A child may receive support from a number of adults, and a conversation with the teacher/key person or SENCO will give you a fuller picture than may be obtained from a single supporting adult.
Of course, as a school we welcome regular dialogue between parents and all staff on how a child’s day has been and we do actively encourage this continued feedback.

Acting Head of School at Ethelred Nursery School & Children’s Centre is Catherine Byrne.
She is responsible for:

The day-to-day management of all aspects of the school; this includes the support for children with SEND. She delegates responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met and that they make the best possible progress.
She must make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about all issues in the school relating to SEND.

Contacted by: a personal request made before school or telephoning the school for an appointment (020 7582 9711).
SEND Governor: Our current SEND Governor is Shirley Dowuonah-Hammond.
She is responsible for:

Making sure that the school has an up-to-date SEND Policy.
Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all children in the school.
Making sure that the school’s SEND funding is appropriately spent.
Making sure that the necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEND.
Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to children with SEND in the school and being part of the process to ensure your child achieves his/her potential in school.

Contacted by: writing to the SEND Governor via the school office.
How could my child get help in school?
Children in school will get support that is specific to their individual needs. This may be all provided by the teaching team or may involve:

Staff who will visit the school from the Local Authority central services such as the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Outreach Team or Sensory Services (for students with a hearing or visual need).
Staff who visit from outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Service.

What are the different types of support available for all children, including children with SEN and /or disabilities in this school?
For all children in schoolClass teacher input via good/outstanding classroom teaching

The teaching team will have the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in the nursery class.
All teaching and learning is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
Putting in place different ways of teaching so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning or providing different resources adapted for your child.
Putting in place specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCO or staff from outside agencies) to enable your child to access the learning task. This may include occasional support from a Teaching Assistant to help with a particular difficulty.

For any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of the Early Years Foundation StageWhere the class teacher and the school SENCO, on the basis of high quality evidence, conclude that a pupil needs the additional targeted support given by SEND Support

Your child’s key person will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has a gap in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to close the gap between your child and their peers.
You will be immediately informed and be a full partner in planning and reviewing additional support or interventions.
The class teacher will plan with you and the SENCO interventions to support your child’s learning. These interventions will have clear targets to help your child make more progress.
Interventions may include small group work or individual sessions on specific areas of learning.

Specific small group work
Small groups may be run in the classroom or outside, and are specialist groups run by outside agencies e.g. Speech and Language therapy or Occupational therapy groups and/or individual support. This may be from Local Authority central services such as the ASD Outreach Team or Sensory Service (for students with a hearing or visual need), or outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Service.

Where small group sessions are put in place they will be run by teachers, key persons and teaching assistants or an outside professional (like a Speech and Language Therapist)) using a recognised programme.
At this point you will be fully involved in discussions and decisions, and asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward.
Where specialist professionals work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, these may include:
- Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better;
- Support to set targets which will include their specific professional expertise;
- Your child’s involvement in a group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. Speech and Language Support;
- A group or individual work in school run by an outside professional.
You will always be involved in decisions about how the support will be used and what strategies that will be put in place.
You will be provided with the contact details for any agencies or services outside the school that are or will be working with your child.

For children whose learning needs are more severe, complex and potentially lifelong.Support is provided through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
This means that your child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENCO as needing a particularly higher level of individual and small group support which cannot be provided from the resources already delegated to the school.
Usually, if your child requires this high level of support they may also need specialist support in school from professionals outside the school. This may be from Local Authority central services such as the ASD Outreach Team or Sensory Services (for students with a hearing or visual need), or outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service, Occupational Therapy service, Physiotherapy and/or CAMHS.

The school is committed to using its own resources to deliver good and outstanding classroom teaching, organising intervention groups and making referrals to outside agencies for advice and support to enable your child to make progress. If, despite all of this your child still needs further or more specialist input, the school, or you, can recommend that the Local Authority makes a statutory assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This is a legal process and you can find full details about this in the Local Authority (LA) based Local Offer, Lambeth web site at: www.younglambeth.org
This is done in full partnership with you and your child. After the school has sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), the LA will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), are sufficient to need a statutory assessment.
If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report, to which your child contributes, outlining your child’s needs and how they will be met and the long and short term outcomes that are being sought.
If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with the SEND Support in School and provide further support to you and the school to ensure your child’s needs are met.
After the reports have all been sent in, an EHC Plan to which you and your child will contribute will be prepared. It is called an Education Health and Care Plan because it brings together all of the educational health and social care needs that your child may have in one plan.
The school must make its best endeavours to put in place the support identified in the plan.
The progress your child makes with the support identified will be regularly reviewed and changed according to the progress your child makes.

How will we support your child with identified SEND starting at school?

If your child has been allocated a place in our school by the local authority and they have SEND, please contact us as soon as you receive the offer as we may not have details of their needs at this stage.
We will invite you to visit the school with your child to have a look around and speak to staff and meet the key person who will work with you and your child while they are in the school.
If other professionals are involved, a team around the Child (TAC) meeting will be held to discuss your child’s needs, share strategies used, and ensure provision is put in place before your child starts.
Your child’s key person may make a home visit and also visit your child if they are attending another provision. We may suggest adaptations to the settling in period to help your child to settle more easily, but these will be agreed with you at the TAC meeting.
If they have not already visited, your child will be invited into school in advance of starting to meet the staff who will be supporting them and their peer group.
Following the settling in period, the SENCO/class teacher will arrange an early meeting with you to review your child’s learning and progress.
The staff will then hold regular meetings in school to monitor the progress of your child and invite you into school at least once a term to review this with you.

How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

If you have any concerns we recommend you speak to your child’s key person initially, and at the earliest opportunity.
If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and feel that your child is still not making progress you should speak to the SENCO.
If you are still not satisfied, then you should speak to the Headteacher.
If this fails to resolve the issue and you are still not happy, you can speak to the school SEND Governor.

How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?

When a key person or you have raised concerns about your child’s progress, and high quality personalised teaching has not met your child’s needs, the key person will raise this with the SENCO. If you have raised the concern the school will invite you in to discuss it and plan a way forward.
The key person will discuss your child’s progress with you at our termly parent conference when you will be informed of your child’s progress and any additional support being given.
Schools also have regular meetings between the teaching team and senior managers in the school to ensure all children are making good progress. This is another way your child may be identified as not making as much progress as expected.
If your child is then identified as not making progress, the school will make a decision about whether to monitor this or put intervention strategies in place and will inform you. This may involve small group activities or one-to-one support.
If your child is still not making expected progress the school will discuss with you:
- Any concerns you may have;
- Any further interventions or referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning;
- How we could work together, to support your child at home/school.

Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in this school?
Directly funded by the school:

Teaching Assistants
Additional Educational Psychology input to provide a higher level of service to the school
1:1 or small group teaching

Paid for centrally by the Local Authority but delivered in school:

Autism Outreach Service
Educational Psychology Service
Sensory Service for children with visual or hearing needs
Dyslexia
Speech and Language Therapy (provided by Health but paid for by the Local Authority).
Occupational Therapy
Physiotherapy

Provided and paid for by the Health Service:

Professional training for school staff to deliver medical interventions
Parent Partnership Service (to support families through the SEN processes and procedures).
School Nurse

Voluntary agencies:

National Autistic Society
MENCAP

The contact details for the support services can be found on the Lambeth Local Offer website www.younglambeth.org.
The Lambeth Local Offer website contains full information of the services available to children, young people and their families under the Lambeth Local Offer.

How are the adults in school helped to work with children with SEND and what training do they have?

The SENCO’s job is to support the class teaching team in planning for children with SEND.
The school has a school development plan, including identified training needs for all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children including those with SEND. This may include whole school training on SEND issues or to support identified groups of learners in school, such as ASD, S&L, dyslexia etc.
We provide whole school staff training to disseminate knowledge, strategies and experience, to ensure consistency of the school’s approach for children with a SEND.
Individual practitioners including support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies which are relevant to the needs of specific children in the school e.g. from the ASD Outreach service, Sensory service or medical /health training to support staff in implementing care plans.
Individual training is provided for an identified staff member linked with the needs of a child with special educational needs and/or disabilities or identified through the school’s performance management process.

Training takes place on a regular basis. If you would like to hear about the training which is currently taking place or has taken place by the staff members in the school, please speak to the Headteacher or SENCO.
How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?

Early Years practitioners plan experiences and activities according to the specific needs of all groups of children in the nursery class, and will ensure that learning tasks are adapted to enable your child to access their learning as independently as possible.
Specially trained support staff can implement the practitioners’ planning to support the needs of your child where necessary.
Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually, in small groups and in the classroom so that they can learn most effectively, and where necessary to be included in the full life of the school. These will be included in your child’s learning plan.
Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis, if needed, to meet your child’s learning needs and increase your child’s access to what is on offer.

How will we measure the progress of your child in school? And how will I know about this?

Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her key person.
His/her progress is reviewed formally every term using the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework document as a guide. The rate of progress in all areas of the curriculum is recorded and discussed with parents and carers at our termly parent conferences.
Children in receipt of SEND support have an IEP (or PLP) which will be reviewed with your involvement every term and the plan for the next term made.
The progress of children with an EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults, including parents, involved with the child’s education.
The SENCO will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual learning and in any group that they take part in.
A range of ways will be used to keep you informed, which may include:
- Termly parent conferences
- Additional meetings as required
- Annual Reviews
- End of Year Reports
- On a daily/weekly basis with key person/SENCO

What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with SEND?

We would like you to talk to your child’s key person regularly so we know what they are doing at home and we can tell you about what we are doing in school. This is to ensure that we are doing similar things to support them both at home and school and can share what is working in both places.
The SENCO (or Head teacher) is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have.
All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you by the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report. The SENCO will also arrange to meet with you to discuss any new assessments and ideas suggested by outside agencies for your child.
IEP’s (or PLP’s) will be reviewed with your involvement each term.
A home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you, when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child.

In addition:

The IEP will include ideas for how you can support your child at home, following the discussion with you.
The external professionals involved with your child will be happy to meet with you on request.
Our termly newsletter includes ideas of ways in which you can support your child with learning; these are often practical ideas and can be easily adapted to suit the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
We will be happy to consider any ideas in order to support your child.

If your child is undergoing statutory assessment for an EHC Plan you will also be supported by the Children’s Services SEND Team. They will ensure that you fully understand the process.
How have we made this school physically accessible to children with SEND?

The school is at ground floor level with accessible gates and doors, so is suitable for children with physical disabilities.
We ensure that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.
The school has staff trained to support children with a range of needs.
If you have a specific concern, please make contact with the SENCO. Contact telephone number 020 7582 9711

How will we support your child when they are leaving this school?
We recognise that ‘moving on’ can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.

If your child is moving to another school:
- We will talk with your child to identify how they are feeling about the move and discuss with them (in a way that they can understand) how to make it as positive an experience as possible. We carry out a number of transition activities including making ‘I Can’ books which detail what the child can do and offer starting points for the new school. Children who have SEND make visits to their new schools and we invite the teachers to visit the children in our setting so that we can share information regarding the child’s needs and accomplishments and learn about what works for the child and what the next learning steps might be.
- We will contact the new school’s SENCO and ensure s/he knows about any special arrangements or support that needs to be made for your child.
- We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible. All IEPs (PLPs) will be shared with the new teacher and you will be invited to the planning meeting.

GLOSSARY OF TERMs

IEP
Individual Education Plan
PLP
Personal Learning Plan
S
Statement stage of the SEN Code of Practice
SA/SA+
School Action stage of the SEN Code of Practice
SA+
School Action Plus stage of the SEN Code of Practice
SEN
Special Educational Needs
SEN Code of Practice
The legal document that sets out the requirements for SEN

EHC plan
Education, Health, Care Plan
SEN
Special Educational Needs
SEND
Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities
SALT
Speech and Language Therapist
CAMHS
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service
EP
Educational Psychologist
SENCO
Special Educational Needs Coordinator
ASD
Autistic Spectrum Disorder