Oxclose Nursery School prides itself in being very inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need. All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.
To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum there are some actions we may take to achieve this:
- Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
- Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
- Ensure that teaching staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.
- Pupils to gain in confidence and improve their self-esteem.
- To work in partnership with parents/ carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
- To identify at the earliest opportunity, all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional)
- To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
- Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
- To promote self worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independence at all age and ability levels.
- To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
- To regularly review the policy and practice in order to achieve best practice.
Because of this we offer the following support for SEND children:
- We talk to parents/carers if they think their child has a special educational need and let them know what special help the school is giving
- Miss. Bowden is appointed as the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)
- We have a written Special Educational Needs Policy– a copy is made available for parents and is included on this website.
- We endeavour to identify all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional) at the earliest opportunity.
- We make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
- We promote independence at every opportunity.
- We promote self worth and enthusiasm to give every child a sense of achievement.
Each child’s key worker will be finding ways to support them such as:
- Changing the way activities are planned and delivered
- Matching activities to the ability / need of each child (differentiation)
- Adapting learning materials such as equipment and activities to suit each child’s needs
- Offer small group support to promote skills identified in the child’s Education Plan
With the permission of parents we may seek additional advice from outside specialists such as health professionals, specialist teachers or educational psychologists who would:
- Carry out further assessment of the child’s needs
- Provide advice to schools on how to best support the child
- Suggest resources that would help the child make progress
Our teachers/teaching assistants work in partnership with parents and the SENCO to find ways to support each child with their needs, including giving parents ideas on how to help their child at home
Our school staff will set targets for SEND children which will be shared with parents, either during Parents’ Evening or a Review Meeting.
If your child has Special Educational Needs our SENCO will:
- Ensure the right support is put in place for each child
- Advise other teachers and teaching assistants on how to help each child and ensure they have an up to date Special Education Needs Support Plan detailing how their needs will be met in school
- Arrange training for staff so they understand each child’s needs
- Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have
- Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist /medical professional/ educational psychologist
A Special Education Needs Support Plan / Provision Map details what the school, the class teacher and the SENCO plan to do to help individual children learn. All teachers should be aware that children learn in different ways. Some need to work at a slower pace to ensure they fully understand one thing before they move onto something new.
A Special Education Needs Support Plan will be written especially for any child with SEND. It should include:
- Short term targets for the child which are linked to their needs
- Details of any extra support the child will get
- Who will give the child help
- How often the child will get help
- How and when the school will look at the child’s progress again (usually at least twice a year)
It is good practice for schools to share copies of Special Education Needs Support Plans with parents / carers.
If a child’s needs are very complex and/or severe we may ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care Assessment:
This is a very detailed assessment of each child’s needs. Parents or carers, the school and a range of professionals will all be asked to provide written reports.
At the end of the assessment phase the Local Authority will consider these reports to help decide whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for the child.
Parents/carers also have the right to ask the Local Authority to carry out this assessment although it is usually best if you can do this with the support of the school.
Education, Health and Care Assessment is only appropriate for a small number of children. Your school SENCO or the Parent Partnership Service will be able to advise you about this.
Monitoring Progress of Children with SEND
We have systems in place to monitor the progress of all children carefully. To ensure that staff know your child well, each SEND child has their own key person who will get to know them and be proactive in planning for their needs, working closely with parents, the SENCO (Miss. Bowden).
SEND children are observed closely and their achievements are celebrated in their learning journal. This information is then used to tailor the curriculum to meet the interests of each child using methods of delivery that are appropriate to their needs.
Through carefully planned support, we ensure that our curriculum is accessible to all. Children with SEND are supported in a variety of ways – through one to one support, group activities or whole key worker tasks. The key worker for each SEND child will decide how everyday activities and experiences within the curriculum can be adjusted to ensure their child is fully involved at the appropriate level.
Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum
At Oxclose Nursery School, we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development.
It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of additional opportunities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of our children. Our curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for life-long learning.
At Oxclose Nursery School we employ a Specialist Support Assistant who is dedicated to working with SEND children. She has a wealth of experience and has supported children with a wide range of needs.
The SENCO continuously reviews the qualification needs of staff to ensure they match the needs of the children we have in school and additional training is arranged if required. This ensures that teaching styles and methods are appropriate and up to date, enabling SEND children maximum access to an early years curriculum.
In addition, all school staff receive specialist support and training when there is a need eg strategies to use when supporting a child with a vision impairment. As a team we continually support each other and share expertise to ensure our teaching styles can be adapted appropriately so that all children reach their full potential. Please view the link below for further details of The Early Years Education system in England and Practice at Oxclose Nursery School.
For further information you can view the Teaching & Learning Policy in the School Policies section of our website.
How we identify and assess children with special educational needs
Most children and young people will have their special educational needs met in mainstream schools through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.
At Oxclose Nursery School, we follow a graduated support approach which is called “Assess, Plan,Do, Review”.
This means that we will:
- Assess a child’s special educational needs
- Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
- Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
- Review the support and progress
As part of this approach, we will produce a SEN Support Plan that describes the provision that we will make to meet a child’s special educational needs and agreed outcomes. Parents and carers will be fully involved in this process.
A small percentage of children and young people with significant learning difficulties might need an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Full details can be found on the Local Offer website.
You can find details of how we adapt the curriculum and make it more accessible for pupils with SEN below:
A special educational need can be a number of different things. For example, a child may be having problems with reading, number work or behaviour, which can be helped by putting extra support in at school and by working in partnership with parents. It may also be due to a disability which makes it harder for a child to use the same educational facilities that the school provides for the majority of children. For some children this may be a temporary difficulty, while others may have a long term need for special help.
Types of special educational needs can include:
- General Learning Difficulties – children whose learning progresses at a slower pace
- Speech and Language Difficulties
- Behavioural Difficulties
- Dyslexia (difficulties with reading, writing and spelling)
- Dyspraxia (problems with motor skills, organisation)
- Autism
- ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder – ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Downs Syndrome
- Cerebral Palsy
- Other Physical or Medical Needs
All of our children’s needs are identified and met as early as possible through:
- observation, assessment, target setting and monitoring arrangements (cycle of assessment, plan, do and review)
- listening to and following up parental concerns
- listening to and taking into account the child’s views, wishes and feelings
- the analysis of data including baseline assessments linked to the EYFS to track individual children’s progress over time
- reviewing and improving staff understanding of a wide range of needs and effective strategies to meet those needs
- liaison with schools and other settings on end of year transfer
- exchanging information from other services across education, health, care and the voluntary sector
- involving an external agency, and the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) as a minimum, where it is considered that a special educational need may be significant and long term and may require more in-depth and frequently reviewed cycles of assess, plan, do and review.
- data on progress is stored and analysed through SIMs. Pupils needs are discussed and decisions are taken as to which intervention is needed.
We assess children through making observations of their play. The observations we make inform summative assessments which are analysed and tracked termly. By closely tracking each child, we can ensure that every child makes the progress expected of them. If they are not making expected progress, we can provide interventions on a one to one or small group basis to support their progress.
In 2014-15 our SEND children made more progress within the Early Years Foundation Stage on average than the average for all children.
Staffing and any Specialist Qualifications/Expertise
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.
