Our vision for children with special educational needs and disabilities is the same for all our children and that is a commitment to create an inclusive, safe and stimulating environment where we work and learn together.
Where pupils have an identified special educational need or disability before they join Temple Mill, we work very closely with the people who already know them including parents, previous settings and specialists and use the information already available to identify what possible barriers to learning may be within our school setting and to help us plan appropriate support strategies.
The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools and academies to plan to support pupils with medical conditions. Individual healthcare plans will normally specify the type and level of support required to meet the medical needs of a pupil. Where children and young people also have SEN, their provision should be planned and delivered in a co-ordinated way with the healthcare plan.
If parents believe that their child has a special educational need, we will discuss this with them and assess their child accordingly. Often these assessments will be carried out by school but we sometimes request advice from more specialised services such as Educational Psychology, Speech Therapy or Occupational Therapy. We will always share the findings with parents and, in consultation, plan the next steps to best support their child.
Sometimes teachers feel that a pupil has a special educational need; this may be because they are not making the same progress as other pupils. We believe that early identification and intervention is best to help pupils achieve success. We will observe the pupil’s learning characteristics and how they cope within our learning environment. We will assess their understanding of what they are learning in school and, if appropriate, use on-going assessments to help us pinpoint the difficulty. This will help us to identify the pupil’s needs and plan strategies to support their learning.
If school has become concerned about a pupil, parents will be contacted by the class teacher or the school’s SENCO/Inclusions Officer (Mrs Nicola Caselton) and their thoughts and opinions will be sought. We will then work together to create a SEND support plan to best suit the pupil and review this regularly.
Mrs Nicola Caselton is the SENCO/Inclusions Officer for Temple Mill Primary School and can be contacted through the school office.
For further information about our SEND support, please take a look at our SEND Information Report: