Charlestown Community Primary SchoolSEND: Children with additional needs
At Charlestown Community Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that all of our children have amazing opportunities throughout their time with us. We want them to leave us equipped with the necessary skills to continue their journey through secondary school and beyond.
The four areas of SEND are:
Communication and Interaction
Cognition and Learning
Sensory (Hearing and Visually Impaired) and Physical Disability
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
These areas are to help the school identify and provide for their needs rather than to label them or put them in a particular category. The needs of the child will be identified with
consideration of the whole child not just their special educational needs. In practice, individual children or young people often have needs that cut across all these areas and
their needs may change over time. The support provided to an individual should always be based on a full understanding of their particular strengths and needs and seek to address them all, using well evidenced interventions targeted at their areas of difficulty and where necessary specialist equipment or software.
Communication and Interaction
This includes children with speech and language delay, impairments or disorders and children on the Autistic Spectrum.
Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives. Children and young people with ASD, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.
Cognition and Learning
Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties
cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learnin difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment. Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. We are able to screen children who we consider have dyslexic traits by completing a dyslexia screening test. Consent will be gained from parents/carers and results shared once completed. Staff have received training to ensure that dyslexic learners within their classroom have appropriate access to learning and challenge.
Physical and/or Sensory Needs
Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities
generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a
multisensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or support. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of
vision and hearing difficulties. Our building is accessible for wheelchair users and has a number of toilet facilities to accommodate wheelchair users.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or
isolated, as well as displaying challenging or disruptive behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming,
substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder,
attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder. If we have concerns around ADHD, we will consult with parents/carers and may carry out a QB screening test. Results will be shared with home and if necessary, a referral to CAMHS will be made.
Individual Education Plan (IEP)
Children identified with a special educational need will have an IEP written by their class teacher. This will set out targets appropriate to their need. Plans will be shared with home
and reviewed at regular intervals throughout the year. For children who we consider will require a higher and longer level of support, we will talk to you about requesting the Local Authority to carry out a Statutory Assessment of need, this may lead to funding in the form of an Education Health and Care Plan.
Outside Agencies
We work alongside a number of professionals and agencies.
One Education Educational Psychology
CAMHS
Physiotherapy
Bowker Vale Outreach
Bridgelea Outreach
RHOSEY
LOIS
Assessment
Children are assessed using PiXL – the whole school assessment system. If they are working on a specific intervention programme, progress is tracked and reviewed through this system. For children working below their age-related expectation or their year group, attainment and progress will be monitored through the PIVATs system. This method
acknowledges the smaller and often slower steps that the child with additional needs has.
For the children with the highest level of need, Cherry Garden assessments are used to monitor progress and identify gaps in learning.
The ARC (Additional Resource Class)
For children with a particularly high level of need, our ARC gives the children an opportunity to have small amounts of time out of their mainstream classroom accessing interventions. This may be for 1:1 learning support, nurture time or time for social skills.
The Team
The following members of staff work most directly with children with SEND. They work alongside our team of class teachers and teaching assistants.
Mrs Peters Deputy Head (Inclusion)
Mrs Ingram ARC lead teacher
Mrs Clare SEN Assistant
Miss McConnell SEN Assistant
Mrs Griffin Learning Mentor
Mr Greaves Learning Mentor
The ARC SEN teaching assistant team
For this and any other information regarding additonal needs You can contact our SENCo Mrs. Peters on: senco@charlestown.manchester.sch.uk for further information.
The Local Authority offer can be found by clicking on the link: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/sendlocaloffer
The Local Offer Team
Email: localoffer@manchester.gov.uk / 0161 234 1946
Searchable directory: www.manchester.gov.
Welcome to Manchester Local Offer / Local Offer SEND Information Hub
Twitter: @MCRLocalOffer