SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disability)
St Katherine’s School & Nursery SEN Information for Parents and Carers
We are committed to:
- Raising the standards of attainment for all SEN students.
- Ensure children with SEN access a broad and balanced curriculum.
- Creating a climate where all staff are aware that they are responsible for students with SEN and plan their lessons accordingly.
- Work effectively with a wide variety of agencies and individuals to focus on improving outcomes for all children with Special Educational Needs.
What are special needs?
Special educational needs could mean that a child has:
- Learning difficulties – in acquiring basic skills in school.
- Emotional and behavioural difficulties – making friends or relating to adults or behaving properly in school.
- Specific learning difficulty – with reading, writing, number work or understanding information.
- Sensory or physical needs - such as hearing or visual impairment, which might affect them in school.
- Communication problems – in expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying.
- Medical or health conditions – which may slow down a child’s progress and/or involves treatment that affects his or her education.
Children make progress at different rates and have different ways in which they learn best. Teachers take account of this in the way they organise their lessons and teach. Children making slower progress or having particular difficulties in one area may be given extra help to help them succeed.
Identifying Children’s Additional Needs
At St. Katherine’s School & Nursery we monitor the progress of all children six times a year to review their academic, social and emotional progress.
We also use a range of assessments with all the children at various points, such as:
- Language Link in Reception
- Speech Link as required
- Year 1 Phonics Screening
- Key Stage 1 Statutory Testing
- NFER/NTC Testing
- Key Stage 2 Statutory Testing
Where progress is not sufficient, even if a special educational need has not been identified, we develop a plan to allow the child to catch up. This may mean adapting classroom practise or providing extra support in the form of small group work or 1:1 support.
Some children may continue to make inadequate progress, despite high-quality teaching targeted at their areas of weakness. For these children, and in consultation with parents, we will use a range of assessment tools or access support and advice from outside agencies to determine the cause of the learning difficulty. The purpose of this more detailed assessment is to understand what additional resources and different approaches are required to enable the pupil to make better progress. These will be shared with parents, put into a SEN support plan and reviewed regularly, and refined/revised if necessary. At this point we will have identified that the child has a special educational need because the school is making special educational provision for the child which is additional and different to what is normally available.
If the child is able to make good progress using this additional and different resource (but would not be able to maintain this good progress without it) we will continue to identify the child as having a special educational need. If the child is able to maintain good progress without the additional and different resources, he or she will not be identified with special educational needs. When any change in identification of SEN is made, parents will be notified.
We will ensure that all teachers and support staff who work with the child are aware of the support to be provided and the teaching approaches to be used.
For further details please see our SEN & Disability Policy
Access Arrangements & Equal Opportunities for SEN Children
At St Katherine’s School & Nursery we aim to create an inclusive culture for all staff, children, families and visitors to the school. We recognise, respect and value people’s differences and ensure that individuals or groups of individuals are treated equally; including ability, disability, race, gender, belief, sexual orientation and age.
We promote equality and diversity treating all staff and children fairly ensuring equal access to opportunities to enable children and staff to fully participate in the learning process and achieve and equip them with the skills to challenge inequality and discrimination.
The school environment includes designated parking and step free access to the school building. There are designated disabled toilets and grab rails around the school so that children can develop independence in self-care skills.
Please click here for further information on Equality
Who should I contact if I have any questions or concerns about my child’s SEND?
In the first instance you should always speak to your child's class teacher, and then they may advise you to speak to our SENCO Mrs Caroline Loveland
Tel: 01634 240061
Email: cloveland@st-katherines.kent.sch.uk
Local Offer
Under the Children and Families Bill which became law in September 2014, Local Authorities are required to publish, and keep under review, information about services that they expect to be available for children and young people with disabilities and Special Educational Needs aged 0-25. This is called the Local Offer. The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. The link below will take you to the Kent Local offer:
Please click here for Kent Local Offer
Please click here for Main Stream Core Standards
Please click here for SEND code of Practice