SEND

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Information for Parents

Beliefs and values

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is an inclusive community that aims to support and welcome each individual as a valued part of our community.  Although it may be considered that all children at some point in their education have individual special needs, there are groups of pupils throughout the spectrum of ability who have further and additional individual requirements.  We are committed to working for quality and equality of opportunity for all pupils. We believe that every teacher is a teacher of every pupil; including those with SEND.

Principles:

The principles in this policy reflect the key principles that underpin the SEND Code of Practice 2014. These state that the views, wishes and feelings of the pupil and their parents are valued and respected. The pupil and the parents will be able to participate as fully as possible in making decisions.

Our Aims

The Code of Practice 2014 states that:

A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
• Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

Disabled Children and Young People:

Many children and young people who have SEND may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: ‘long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’. This definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEND, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEND. Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision they will also be covered by the SEND definition. Therefore, the special education needs policy seeks to ensure that:

• Individual differences in pupils are recognised and needs identified.
• Each pupil receives the best education possible and achieves their full potential.
• Children with SEND will be offered a broad, balanced and relevant education.
• All parents, pupils, support agencies and teachers are involved and valued as partners in the pupil’s education. ​

Our Objectives

In order to achieve these purposes, our school will strive to:

• Ensure that SEND is viewed as a whole school responsibility within the   guidance provided in the SEND Code of Practice 2014.
• Meet the needs of individual pupils through Quality First teaching, and the management and deployment of additional resources.
• Provide early identification of pupils with SEND through liaison with relevant agencies and discussions with stakeholders.
• Develop provision maps and plans to support pupils’ varying needs.
• Provide interventions, where appropriate, for each pupil with SEND. This will be reviewed regularly to assess the impact on the child’s progress and will include the views of all stakeholders.