How does the school know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child has Special Educational Needs?

At Alverstoke Infant School children are identified as having Special Educational Needs (SEND) through a variety of ways including the following: –

• Liaison with pre-schools and nurseries
• Child performing below age expected levels
• Concerns raised by parents
• Concerns raised by teacher or school staff
• Liaison and assessments made by external agencies
• Diagnosis made by external agencies including health
• Assessments and screening carried out in school
• Specialist teacher advisory service

• We offer an open door policy where you are welcome to come and make an appointment to meet with either the class teacher; SENDCo, Mrs Stacey Hodson or the Child and Family Support worker, Mrs Diane McEwan.
• We believe that partnership with parents is important so we actively encourage you to approach the class teacher with any concerns. If your child has more complex needs it is important to ensure that regular communication takes place.
• We regularly send newsletters about learning and curriculum coverage and offer practical advice on how you can support your child at home. If you require additional information, your child’s class teacher will be more than happy to help with this.
• If your child is on the SEND register you will have regular meetings to discuss their progress and set targets to meet their needs. These meetings share a review of their current needs and what their short term targets will be for your child to work on, both at home and school. The targets are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time scaled) with the expectation that the child will achieve the target by the time it is reviewed.
• If your child has more complex needs, they may have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). For these children this means that a formal meeting will take place to discuss your child’s progress and a report will be written on an annual basis, however more regular update meetings will also take place.

• As a school we measure children’s progress in learning against national expectations and age related expectations.
• The class teachers continually assess each child and note areas where they are improving and where further support is needed. As a school, we track children’s progress from entry through to Year 2. We use a system called Target Tracker where children are assessed through statements within an age related band.
• We also use published assessments which provide standardised scores for children in relation to their age. These scores then give an indication of where children are in relation to other children of similar age. They can help to indicate if your child has a special educational need in a specific area or for a particular need.
• The Senior Leadership Team regularly meet with class teachers and discuss the progress of every child in the class. Children who are not making expected progress are discussed in these meetings and further support is planned to aid progression. If the child remains a concern the class teacher will discuss with parents and plan further support for the child.
• If a child is on the SEN register and their targets are not being met, the reasons will be discussed and the target may be adapted and put into smaller more manageable steps to ensure that the child does make progress. If required outside agency support will be requested and a child will be referred.

• The school’s SENDCo oversees all the planning, monitoring and progress of any children that require additional support in school.
• Class teachers will plan and work with SEND pupils who are in their class and they will closely monitor progress in all areas, seeking further support and guidance from the SENDCo if needed.
• Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) also work in class and may work with your child either individually or as part of a small group as directed by the class teacher. If your child requires an intervention then these sessions may be delivered by a LSA. These intervention sessions may be daily or weekly.
• If your child has an EHCP they may have support from a Special Needs Assistant (SNA). They may deliver interventions or support them in whole class sessions to ensure that they are inclusive in the curriculum and school community.

• The class teacher will meet with parents at least once a term; this could be part of parent meetings, to discuss your child’s progress. If, however your child needs additional support or the teacher is concerned about your child’s needs, they will make an appointment to meet and discuss this in more depth. In these meeting you will be asked for your views and the support you can offer at home to help your child succeed. Collaboration is important and working together will ensure a higher rate of success for your child.
• The SENDCo will also liaise with you to offer information on support being given and is available to meet with parents if there is a concern for your child’s needs being met.
• If at any time during your child’s time at school you would like further support, you can arrange an appointment with the SENDCo who will be able to offer more in depth information.

• The SENDCo reports to the Governors every term to inform them about the progress and support for children with SEND in school. This report does not refer to individuals and confidentiality is maintained at all times.
• There is always at least one Governor who has responsibility for SEND in school, currently this is Phillip Bull. They will meet regularly with the SENDCo and may observe or look at individuals in more detail and work collaboratively to improve provision for children with SEND in school.

• We use prior attainment data, observations and teacher assessment for each child to match the curriculum to their needs.
• We ensure that pupils with SEND are able to participate fully in all subjects and all aspects of school life including extra-curricular activities. We do this through careful curriculum design and adaptaions to teaching.
• Adaptive teaching is an approach that ensures that all children learn well, despite their different starting points, current attainment and learning needs. All work within class is pitched at an appropriate level to meet the needs of each child. It enables all children to access and make progress in a lesson.
• Adaptations are made to teaching to ensure it provides all learners with the opportunity to meet expectations. All learners experience the same high expectations set out by the teacher, with differing layers of support, to help them make good progress and achieve well.
• By using this approach all children are able to learn and make progress in every lesson.
• Subject leaders check planning and ensure appropriate levels of adaptation are planned for in every lesson to meet all children’s needs.

• The school budget includes money for supporting children with SEND. The budget is allocated on a needs basis. The children who have the most complex needs are given the most support.
• The SENDCo and Headteacher decides on the deployment of resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school governors, on the basis of needs in the school.
• We have a team of LSAs who are partly funded from the SEND budget and deliver intervention programmes designed to meet individual’s needs and also support in class.
• Other resources are purchased to meet the needs of individuals in school or groups of children and these resources are evaluated on their value for money regularly.
• The class teacher along with the SENDCo will discuss the child’s needs and what support would be appropriate. This is also discussed at pupil progress meetings with the school leadership team.
• Different children will require different levels of support in order to make expected attainment and progress.
• We ensure that the needs of all children with SEND are met to the best of the school’s ability.

• By reviewing children’s targets and ensuring they are being met.
• Monitoring and evaluating data, checking that each child is making progress academically against age expected levels and the gap is narrowing. Children on the SEND register may have lower starting points the overall aim is that they are catching up to their peers and expected level with a decreasing attainment gap.
• Verbal feedback from the teacher, parent and pupil to parents informally or formally through reports or meetings.
• Children may move off of the SEND register when they have made sufficient progress and their attainment is improved. This is reviewed using Hampshire guidance.

• We are an inclusive school; we welcome and celebrate diversity. All staff working in the school believe that children having a high self-esteem is crucial to a child’s well-being. Our values of belonging, respect and responsibility are a pivotal part of our school and we encompass this in the everyday life of our school.
• The class teacher has overall responsibility for the pastoral, medical and social care of every child in their class, therefore they are the first point of contact for parents. If further support is required, the teacher will liaise with the SENDCo who may seek advice from external agencies with expertise in specific areas. These agencies may be behavioural support, educational psychologist or health and social services.
• The school also has two trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA) who will work under the direction of the SENDCo with vulnerable children during the school day. One of these is also our Child and Family Support Worker (CFSW) and will work closely with parents to support children.

• The school has a policy regarding the administration and managing of medicines on the school site.
• We have a policy for ‘Supporting children with medical conditions at school’. This is adhered to and can found on the school’s website. It is reviewed annually by staff and Governors with parent consultation if changes are made.
• Parents need to contact the school office if medication is recommended by Health Professionals to be taken during school day. There is a named member of staff that then administers medicines on a day to day basis. This is overseen by the Admin staff in the school office.
• As a staff we have regular training and updates of conditions and medication affecting individual children so all staff are able to manage medical situations.
• Care plans for individual children are displayed around the school and these are regularly discussed and shared to remind staff of procedures.
• There is a refrigerator available for storage of specific medication for individuals located in the school office.

• As a school we have a very positive approach for behaviour management, with a clear behaviour policy that is followed by all staff.
• If a child has SEND and this has an impact on their regulation of emotions in school, they will have an Individual Behaviour Management Plan (IBMP) that is written alongside the child and parents to identify specific issues, put relevant support in place and set targets. These plans enable support to be effective, in extreme cases of unacceptable behaviour over a continued time period exclusion may be considered as described in the behaviour policy.
• After any serious behaviour incident we expect the child to reflect upon what happened and discuss the consequences of their behaviour. The adult will also complete an analysis of the incident, trying to look at the reason for the incident and ways to prevent it happening again. Parents will also be informed of the incident.
• Attendance of every child is monitored on a daily basis by the Admin team along with the Senior Leadership Team. Support is given to ensure all children have a good record of attendance and the CFSW works closely with parents in reducing lateness and absence. We have an attendance policy that details these actions in more depth.

• Children’s strengths and difficulties are always sought for Annual Reviews and targets are shared with children where appropriate.
• If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan their views will be sought before any review meetings.

• Regular staff training is delivered by SENDCo on meeting individual children’s needs and how to ensure that every child makes progress and is targeted in class. Training is also targeted at specific conditions or needs that staff need to know more information on.
• We have two members of our staff trained as an Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA) who both receive regular support from a member of Hampshire’s Educational Psychologist team.
• Another member of staff has had speech and language training and works in liaison with the speech and language therapists attached to the children in school.
• Other support staff have attended training on specific interventions that they deliver in school for reading, writing and maths. These are regularly evaluated by the SENDCo.
• Outside agencies regularly provide training for staff when needed on specific areas of concerns or needs in school.

• The SENCo has the national accreditation award and is fully qualified for the role.
• As a school we work closely with external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual children’s needs. These include:-

–  Behaviour support team

–  GP’s

–  Paediatricians

–  School nurse

–  Speech and Language Therapists

–  Occupational Therapists

–  Social Services

–  Locality teams

–  Educational Psychologists

–  Child and adult mental health

–  Specialist Teacher advisory service

• The school site is wheelchair accessible with a disabled toilet. The school is all on one level with ramps at specified fire exits.
• The school has an accessibility plan that is reviewed annually that details priority for the school site to ensure that access for all.

• The school is fully accessible for all pupils and wheelchairs can access all classrooms and shared areas.
• Resources including furniture is sourced by the school, if needed, in order to ensure that a pupil with disabilities can access the curriculum and extra- curricular activities in the same way as their peers. The SENDCo plays an active role in meeting with parents to discuss the needs of their child and ensuring that we are making the school inclusive for all.
• Specialist teachers are available to support in advising the school on reasonable adjustments that should and could be made to meet the needs of a child with a disability.
• School assemblies, displays and PSHE lessons regularly discuss children with a disability or SEN. Children are encouraged by all staff to ask questions and children are taught about.
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• All children are included in all parts of the school curriculum and we aim for all children to be included on school trips. We will provide the necessary support to ensure that this is successful.
• A risk assessment is carried out prior to any off site activity to ensure that there are no health and safety compromises. In the unlikely event that it is considered unsafe for a child to take part in an activity, then alternative activities which will cover the same curriculum areas will be provided in school.

• As a school we believe that partnership with parents is vital to ensure a child’s success. We value parent’s role in their child’s education and encourage an active role in helping children achieve their full potential.
• We offer regular opportunities for parents to take part in their child’s education and to work alongside their children such as workshops, work alongside sessions and also community and national events that are celebrated in school.

• The governors will admit any pupil whose Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) names the school. Where possible such children will be admitted within the PAN.
• Children with SEND without an EHCP will apply as per the usual admission process detailed in our Admission Policy.
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• We encourage all new children to visit the school prior to starting when they will meet their class teacher and class that they will join. They will be shown around the school and be given a buddy. For children with SEND we encourage additional visits to assist with settling in with the new routines and school environment. We will also visit them in their current school if possible.
• When Year 2 children are preparing to leave us for their junior school we arrange visits to the schools and have an excellent transition programme with our local junior school, Alverstoke Junior School. We also arrange additional visits for children with SEND who may need more time for transition.
• We liaise closely with staff when receiving and transferring children to different schools and ensure all relevant paperwork is passed on and all needs are discussed and understood. We may have transition meetings where parents are also invited to share concerns and be involved in ensuring the transition is successful.
• We will have Inclusion Partnership Agreement (IPA) for children with complex needs and members of staff from both schools will attend these.

• Contact the school admin office to arrange a visit to the school to meet the Headteacher, Vanessa Ridler.
• If you are concerned about how the school will be able to meet the specific needs of your child then the Deputy Headteacher/SENDCo, Stacey Hodson will be able to discuss this with you.

• In the first instance, if you have concerns, please talk to the school. Your child’s class teacher will discuss your child’s needs with you and refer this to the schools SENDCo if appropriate and arrange a meeting for you to further discuss your concerns.
• Parent engagement and partnership is something that we, at Alverstoke Infant School, feel is very important and will work in collaboration with parents in order to ensure all children meet their full potential.
• We are keen to discuss your concerns as early as possible so please make an appointment as soon as possible to discuss your child’s need and do not wait until scheduled meetings, such as parent meetings.

 The complaints policy is available on the school website.

Where can I get further information about services for my child?

• You could look at the SEND policy on our website for further information or via this link: AIS SEND Policy
• Contact parent partnership – hants.gov.uk/parentpartnership

This SEND Information Report forms part of Hampshire’s Local Offer which provides information about services available for children and young people from birth to 25 years who have SEND.  More information available via this link: Hampshire Local Offer