Special Educational Needs
As cited in the Special Educational Needs (Information) Regulations which came into force on 1st September 2014, schools are required to publish the following information about provision for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). The following information relates to the provision for pupils with SEN at Vigo Village School.
1. The kinds of special educational needs for which provision is made at the school
At Vigo Village School, we can provision for every kind of frequently occurring special educational need without an official statement of special educational needs, or an issued Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC), for instance dyslexia, dyspraxia, speech and language needs, autism, ADHD, learning difficulties and behavioural difficulties. There are other kinds of special educational need which do not occur as frequently and with which the school is less familiar, but we can access training and advice so that these needs can be met. The school also meets the needs of pupils with an EHC plan. Decisions on the admission of pupils with an EHC plan are made by the Local Authority. The admission arrangements for pupils without an EHC plan do not discriminate against or disadvantage disabled children or those with special educational needs.
2. Information, in relation to mainstream schools and maintained nursery schools, about the school's policies for the identification and assessment of pupils with special educational needs.
At Vigo Village School, we monitor the progress of all pupils as an on-going process. We also use a range of assessments with all the pupils at various points for example phonics screening, Speech link, Language link, Reading Yark and Dyslexia Screening Assessment.
Where progress is not sufficient, even if special educational need has not been identified, we put in place extra support to enable the pupil to catch up. Examples of extra support include additional phonics support groups, 1:1 reading with an adult, literacy and numeracy interventions, reading and comprehension, working memory, fine and gross motor skills support, social skills and Time to Talk programmes, pre-teaching, precision teaching, handwriting, sensory circuit/BEAM programmes, Lego intervention and dyslexia support strategies.
Some pupils may continue to make inadequate progress, despite high-quality teaching targeted at their areas of weakness. For these pupils, and in consultation with parents, we use a range of assessment tools to determine the cause of the learning difficulty. At Vigo Village School, we use the following assessment tools:
- YARC reading test
- Dyslexia screening test
- Speech and Language Link
We also have access to external advisors who are able to use additional assessment tools.
The purpose of this more detailed assessment is to understand what additional resources and different approaches are required to enable the pupil to make better progress. These will be shared with parents, included in a class provision plan or an individual personalised plan and reviewed regularly and refined or revised if necessary. At this point, we will have concluded that the pupil has a special educational need and the school will make provision for the pupil which is additional and different to what is normally available.
If the pupil is able to make good progress using this additional and different resource (but would not be able to maintain this good progress without it) we will continue to identify the pupil as having a special educational need. If the pupil is able to maintain good progress without the additional and different resources he or she will not be identified with special educational needs. When any change in identification of SEN is changed parents will be notified.
We ensure that all teachers and support staff who work with the pupil are aware of the support to be provided and the teaching approaches to be used.
3. Information about the school’s policies for making provision for pupils with special educational needs whether or not pupils have EHC Plans, including— (a) how the school evaluates the effectiveness of its provision for such pupils; (b) the school’s arrangements for assessing and reviewing the progress of pupils with special educational needs; (c) the school’s approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs; (d) how the school adapts the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with special educational needs; (e) additional support for learning that is available to pupils with special educational needs; (f) activities that are available for pupils with special educational needs in addition to those available in accordance with the curriculum; and (g) support that is available for improving the emotional and social development of pupils with special educational needs.
Each review of the SEN provision plan will be informed by the views of the pupil, parents and class and subject teachers and the assessment information from teachers which will show whether adequate progress is being made.
The SEN Code of Practice (2014, 6.17) describes inadequate progress thus:
- Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
- Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
- Fails to close the attainment gap between rate of progress
- Widens the attainment gap.
For pupils with an EHC plan, there will be an annual review of the provision made for the child, which will enable an evaluation of the effectiveness of the special provision. The collation of all annual review evaluations of effectiveness will be reported to the governing body.
The school’s arrangements for assessing and reviewing the progress of pupils with special educational needs
Every pupil in the school has their progress tracked as an on-going process. In addition, pupils with special educational needs may have more frequent assessments of, for example, reading age and spelling age. Using these, it will be possible to deduce whether pupils are increasing their level of skills in key areas.
If these assessments do not show that adequate progress is being made, the class provision map or the individual personalised plan will be reviewed and adjusted.
The school’s approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs
High quality first teaching, adapted for individual pupils is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN. Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching. At Vigo Village School, we regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of under-achievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered SEN Code of Practice (2014, 6.37).
In Vigo Village School the quality of teaching is judged to be good.
We follow the Mainstream Core Standards advice developed by Kent County Council to ensure that our teaching conforms to best practice. In meeting the Mainstream Core Standards, the school employs some additional teaching approaches, as advised by internal and external assessments for example one-to-one tutoring, small group teaching. These are delivered by additional staff employed through the funding provided to the school as ‘notional SEN funding’.
How the school adapts the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with special educational needs
At Vigo Village School, we follow the advice in the Mainstream Core Standards on how to adapt the curriculum and the learning environment for pupils with special educational needs. We also incorporate the advice provided as a result of assessments, both internal and external, and the strategies described in the EHC plan.
4. In relation to mainstream schools and maintained nursery schools, the name and contact details of the SEN co-ordinator.
Mrs Bouchera Khatib
Vigo Village School, Erskine Road, Vigo, Gravesend. DA13 0RL
Email address: senco@vigo.kent.sch.uk
Telephone: 01732 823144
5. Information about the expertise and training of staff in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and about how specialist expertise will be secured.
All teachers and teaching assistants have had the following awareness training, as appropriate to the needs of the children with whom they work:
- Autistic Spectrum disorders
- Dyslexia
- Dyspraxia
Where necessary, teachers and teaching assistants receive enhanced and specialist training such as, Circuits training, Colourful Semantics for writing, Reading Strategies for pupils with literacy difficulties, Unlocking Letters and Sounds for phonics and reading and Zones of Regulations awareness for identifying and expressing feelings.
Where a training need is identified beyond this, we will find a provider who is able to deliver it. Training providers we can approach include Ifield SMILE Centre, Educational Psychologist, Speech and language therapy service, occupational therapists, physiotherapist, Specialist Teaching and Learning Service. The cost of training is covered by the notional SEN funding.
6. Information about how equipment and facilities to support children and young people with special educational needs will be secured.
Where external advisors recommend the use of equipment or facilities which the school does not have, we will purchase it using the notional SEN funding, or seek it by loan. For highly specialist communication equipment, the school will seek the advice of the KCC Communication and Assistive Technology team.
7. The arrangements for consulting parents of children with special educational needs about, and involving such parents in, the education of their child.
All parents of pupils at Vigo Village School are invited to discuss the progress of their children on two occasions a year and receive a written report once per year. In addition, we are happy to arrange meetings outside of these times. As part of our normal teaching arrangements, all pupils will access some additional teaching to help them catch-up if the progress monitoring indicates that this is necessary; this will not imply that the pupil has a special educational need. All such provision will be recorded, tracked and evaluated on a class Provision Map, the details of which will be shared with parents three times per year.
If following this normal provision improvements in progress are not seen, we will contact parents to discuss the use of internal or external assessments which will help us to address these needs better. From this point onwards, the pupil will be identified as having special educational needs because special educational provision is being made and the parent will be updated on all planning and reviews of this provision.
In addition to this, parents of pupils with an EHC plan are invited to contribute to and attend an annual review, which, wherever possible will also include other agencies involved with the pupil. Information will be made accessible for parents.
8. The arrangements for consulting young people with special educational needs about, and involving them in, their education.
When a pupil has been identified to have special educational needs, they will be consulted about and involved in the arrangements made for them as part of person-centred planning where this is appropriate. Parents are likely to play a more significant role in the childhood years with the young person taking more responsibility and acting with greater independence in later years.
9. Any arrangements made by the governing body or the proprietor relating to the treatment of complaints from parents of pupils with special educational needs concerning the provision made at the school.
The normal arrangements for the treatment of complaints at Vigo Village School are used for complaints about provision made for special educational needs. We encourage parents to discuss their concerns with their child’s class teacher, the SENCO or the head teacher to resolve the issue before making the complaint formal to the Chair of the Governing Body.
If the complaint is not resolved after it has been considered by the governing body, then a disagreement resolution service or mediation service can be contracted. If it remains unresolved after this, the complainant can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) should the case refer to disability discrimination, or to the Secretary of State for all other cases.
There are some circumstances, usually for children who have an EHC plan, where there is a statutory right for parents to appeal against a decision of the Local Authority. Complaints which fall within this category cannot be investigated by the school.
10. How the governing body involves other bodies, including health and social services bodies, local authority support services and voluntary organisations, in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and in supporting the families of such pupils
The school, on behalf of the governing body, have engaged with the following services:
- Free membership of LIFT for access to specialist teaching and learning service;
- Link to Disabled Children’s Service for support to families for some pupils with high needs;
- Access to local authority’s service level agreement with Speech and Language Therapy Services/Occupational Therapy Services/Physiotherapy Services for pupil with requirement for direct therapy or advice;
- Membership of professional networks for SENCO for example the SENCO forum.
11. The contact details of support services for the parents of pupils with special educational needs, including those for arrangements made in accordance with clause 32.
Information Advice & Support Kent (IASK) provides free, impartial, confidential, advice, support and options around educational issues for parents who have children with special educational needs or disabilities (0-19). They empower parents to play an active and informed role in their child’s education.
Helpline: 03000 41 3000
Office: 0300 333 6474 and
Email: iask@kent.gov.uk
12. The school’s arrangements for supporting pupils with special educational needs in transferring between phases of education or in preparing for adulthood and independent living
At Vigo Village School, we work closely with pupils' previous educational settings prior to their transfer to us in order to secure the information that will make the transfer as seamless as possible. We also forward information about the special educational needs of pupils to the schools they move on to.
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