Twyford St Mary's
Church of England Primary School

 

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SEND for Parents

At Twyford St Mary’s we believe in educating the whole child. This means valuing each individual by supporting and nurturing their academic, personal, emotional and social development in an inclusive environment where home and schoolwork in partnership. Our special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision is a thread that runs through the school. Our SEND approach is led by our SEN Coordinator (SENCo) Mrs Nikki Lawrence and championed by all our staff.

‘Special educational provision is underpinned by high-quality teaching and is compromised by anything less’. 

SEND Code of Practice 2014

How are children’s Special Educational Needs identified at Twyford St Mary’s?

At TSM, we follow the guidance provided by the SEND Code of Practice 2014 to identify learning needs and difficulties and put appropriate support in place.

At Twyford St Mary’s Primary School children are identified as needing SEND support through:

  • concerns raised by the class teacher, parents, support staff, headteacher or SENCo,
  • a child performing significantly below age-related expectations,
  • a lack of progress,
  • assessment and screening tests, which may include the New Salford Reading Test, the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability, the Vernon Spelling Test, the Helen Arkell Spelling Test, the Sandwell Early Numeracy test, the British Picture Vocabulary Scale, or the Dyslexia Screening Test, which will provide a more detailed diagnosis, or
  • close liaison with outside agencies and specialist professionals.

We follow the ‘Graduated Response’ approach with four action stages: assess, plan, do and review.

This model shows how we identify a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND) and how we intervene, monitor progress, and plan for the support of the child. Children who are identified as having a SEND are placed on our school SEND register as needing SEND Support.

What does SEND Support mean for my child?

SEND Support is very varied and dependent on the needs of the individual child. It will be planned and coordinated with class teachers, the SENCo, LSAs, the headteacher, parents and, where necessary, outside agencies. This liaison will help to inform what provision is needed which is ‘different from or in addition to’ the usual school activities and curriculum. As a school we have excellent relationships with, and are well supported by, many external agencies that we may feel are relevant to individual children’s needs. We work closely with all agencies and parents together.

Some children make very good progress, or their needs change, and so may no longer need to be registered as SEND Support. These children will continue to be closely monitored through class action plans.

Some children have a greater level of need, or their needs may expand over time, in which case a request for an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) will be put together with the school, family, child and outside agencies. This request will be sent to the Local Education Authority (LEA). If successful, these children may have specific resources allocated or one-to-one support hours linked to their EHC Plan. In some cases, children with an EHCP will be supported in school by a one-to-one Learning Support Assistant (LSA).

SEND Support may include:

  • support through additional resources in the classroom from reading rulers to a personal workstation or a laptop to type rather than write,
  • more regular support and feedback in class, which may be one-to-one or small group,
  • adapted timetable,
  • individualised curriculum,
  • personalised play or social and emotional provision,
  • different outcomes or learning journeys in a lesson,
  •  interventions outside of the classroom to support a particular need, e.g. personalised
    learning to support a reading, writing, or numeracy need, emotional support through ELSA, sensory provision or a movement programme to develop motor skills, or
  • support from outside agencies, e.g. Speech and Language Therapist, or Primary Behaviour
    Support.

Working together.

Parents are kept informed of specific SEND support their child is receiving through meetings with the Class Teacher, the LSA, the SENCo and outside agencies.

Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Action Plans which detail interventions, targets and outcomes are regularly reviewed. Parent consultation meetings are held every Autumn and Spring terms and parents are encouraged to arrange meetings at other times if necessary.

Interventions

 School interventions are highly specific additional activities and can take many forms, such as one-to-one or small groups, working in a different location, or in a different way. Interventions focus on the needs of one or more children and are designed to be a specific fix for that need.

Interventions we use at Twyford St Mary’s include:

  • Sensory Circuits. A twice-daily intervention to support pupils’ sensory integration into the classroom.
  • Sensory diet. An OT-based therapy session weekly that supports pupils’ sensory awareness and emotional wellbeing.
  • Six Strand Session. A weekly Social, emotional, and mental health intervention session that is focused on the six-strand curriculum written by the Hampshire Primary Behaviour Support team.
  • Pre-teaching. Individual or small group sessions to teach numeracy or literacy skills and
    vocabulary for a forthcoming lesson.
  • Precision teaching. Short, frequent, precise interventions to address individual, specific gaps
    in numeracy and literacy skills and knowledge.
  • Nessy. An online reading programme that can be accessed both at school and at home.
  • Screening & Intervention for Dyslexia Notably in the Early Years, a highly structured 1:1 phonics programme to develop reading skills.
  • Toe by Toe. A highly structured multi-sensory reading programme.
  • Stride Ahead. A reading intervention designed to improve and develop reading speed.
  • Write from the Start. A programme designed to help individual children develop fine
    motor and perceptual skills for fluent, legible handwriting.
  • Write Dance. A programme which helps children to develop the pre-requisite physical skills
    and coordination for writing through music and movement.
  • Speed up. An 8-week kinaesthetic programme to develop fluent handwriting in Year 3
  • ABC, Clever Bodies and Clever Hands. Individual/small group interventions developed by
    Paediatric Occupational Therapists to develop children’s gross and fine motor skills and to
    help manage sensory processing difficulties.
  • Power of 1 and 2. One-to-one coaching system for maths success
  • The Thrive approach uses one-to-one, appropriate, targeted interventions designed
    to meet individual emotional, social, and mental needs.
  • Cued Articulation. A resource using a set of hand cues for teaching the individual sounds in a
  • The Time to Talk. Small group activities to develop oral language and social interaction skills.
  • Individual or small group Emotional Literacy Support sessions with a trained Emotional
    Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) to provide emotional support, develop independence,
    teach friendship skills, improve self-esteem, develop self-regulation techniques, teach
    calming strategies to help manage anxiety and help children to identify and understand their
    feelings.
  • Lego Therapy. Small group work to develop speaking and listening skills and the ability to
    work in a team.

If you would like further information on any aspect of our SEND provision, please contact our SENCo Mrs Nikki Lawrence either by ringing the school office on 01962 713358 or by emailing direct to senco@twyfordteam.com

All schools must publish a SEND information report that details the implementation of the school’s policy for pupils with SEN. This report will always be updated at least annually.

Here you can find our latest SEND Information report and our SEND Policy.

SEND Information Report