Greengate Junior School
Offer for SEND
Schools in Cumbria have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special
Educational Needs and are supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all pupils,
regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. All schools are
supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with a Statement of
Special Educational Need/s or Education and Health Care Plan being met in a mainstream
setting wherever possible, when families want this to happen, Local Authority Information
can be found at:
http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/cumbria/fsd/home.page
Greengate Junior School’s SEND Offer aims to:
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Support parents and carers in making decisions regarding their children’s needs.
Provide information about SEND and the processes involved
Provide information about school provision to support children with SEND
Ensure that pupils are included in all aspects of learning and school life throughout
their time at our school
The staff and governors at Greengate Junior School place children and families at the very
heart of everything we provide educationally, socially, morally and emotionally. Every child is
valued and the children including those with SEND (Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities) do well here.
Greengate Junior School has an open door policy, parents are able to speak to the head or
senior staff usually without a pre arranged appointment. The following information supports
our commitment to inclusion throughout the school.
Children may require additional support for a set period of time to help meet their needs or
support their learning. The decision to do this is made by the school and is based on a
variety of factors including academic progress, and/or assessments carried out by teaching
staff or other professionals. It may also be based on ensuring children have a smooth
transition into school or when support is required to assist with significant change either at
home or school. Parents/carers will be informed when this happens.
Some children will require support for a longer period of time to ensure they can access the
curriculum effectively and be included fully in classroom learning and school life. Support will
be planned by school staff and where appropriate by external professionals. Parents/carers
will be kept informed about this support and encouraged to work with school staff to ensure
the child is happy in school, progressing in all aspects of development.
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Greengate Junior School offers
Engagement with parents/carers
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Open door policy for parents to meet Headteacher, SENCo or family support worker
Regular meetings with class teacher and/or senior management
Support for parents who have concerns including weekly meeting with family support
worker and a supportive network of parents
Specialist expertise in school
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Staff are qualified to cope with the individual needs of children covering a wide
variety of need including: Severe learning difficulty , speech, language and
communication difficulties, autistic spectrum conditions, dyslexia, visual impairment,
hearing impairment, ADHD, behavioural difficulties and medical conditions such as
diabetes/asthma
2 members of staff have post graduate qualification in working with and supporting
children and young people with an ASC
3 members of staff have post graduate qualifications to work with children with
dyslexia
1 member of staff has ELKLAN speech and language qualification
3 members of staff are qualified to deliver reading recovery programmes
5 members of staff are qualified to provide maths intervention
All members of teaching staff and 3 members of support staff are qualified to use
Team Teach
1 member of staff has additional qualifications in supporting visually impaired children
2 members of staff have high level knowledge of working with hearing impaired
children including use and maintenance of equipment
Members of staff trained to support Looked After Children
All members of staff have recently attended training on support of diabetic children
provided by specialist nurse from Furness General Hospital
Staff are trained in supporting emotional and social resilience.
SERIS worker employed for 20 hours per week
Staff qualified to deliver Kidsafe
Qualified children’s counsellor employed 1 day per week for 1 to 1 sessions
All staff have a variety of behaviour management strategies and are able to prevent
behavioural issues with suitable planning and differentiation of tasks
Specialist expertise out of school providers
School aims to identify those pupils requiring referral to external agencies. School liaises
closely with the following educational, health and social care services.
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Educational Psychology Service
SEND department
Specialist speech and language teachers
Specialist severe learning difficulties teachers
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Specialist ASC Teachers
Specialist Advisory Teacher service for hearing/ visually impaired children
CAMHS
MIND
Autism support worker
Oaklea Trust
School nurse
Community Paediatrics/CDC/Children’s occupational therapy/children’s physio
Action for Children
Furness Young Carers
Social care
Pupil Referral Unit and Sedburgh Drive specialist provision
Input from local secondary school to support gifted and talented pupils
Local PCSO’s
Planning and Assessment
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SENCo oversees SEND support to ensure consistent provision
Co-ordinated planning between class teacher and teaching assistant for pupils with
SEND
Advice from external specialists incorporated into planning and provision for pupils
with SEND
SEND children will have a minimum of two IEP’S (Individual Education Plan) per
school year , some children may have more IEP’S with shorter term goals
Individual targets and differentiated learning activities
Regular assessment of progress against individual targets and national expectations
Provision to support access to the curriculum /independent learning
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1:1 support in class and withdrawn
Small group support in class/withdrawn with teacher/STA
Planned differentiation of skills, tasks and activities
Provision of individual timetables/ checklists
Pre tutoring and scaffolding
Organisation of physical environment
Use of specific schemes e.g. Tony Attwood anger management
Use of appropriate resources e.g. auditory equipment, Visio Book, writing slopes ,
multi sensory resources, suitable IT software
Regular access to computers, laptops and ipads
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Question
Answer
Who are the best
people to talk to in
Greengate Junior
School about my
child’s difficulties
with learning,
Special Educational
Needs or disability
(SEND)?
SENCo
Responsible for:
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Coordinating support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the
school’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in
school
Liaising with all the other people who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning e.g.
speech and language therapy, educational psychology etc.
Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are
known) and making sure that there are records of your child’s progress and needs
Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help children with SEND in
the school achieve the best progress possible
Ensuring that you are:
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involved in supporting your child’s learning
kept informed about the support your child is getting
involved in reviewing how your child is doing
Class/subject teacher
Responsible for:
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Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child
may need (this could be things like targeted work, differentiated work and/or additional support) and letting the
SENCo know as necessary
Writing Individual Education Plans (IEP’s) at least twice per year and sharing and reviewing these with parents
and SENCo
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Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are helped to deliver the planned work/programme for
your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside
specialist help and specially planned work and resources
Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any
SEND
Head teacher
Responsible for:
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The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND
Working with SENCo and teachers to ensure high quality inclusion
Ensuring the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in school relating to SEND
SEN Governor
Responsible for:
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What types of
support are
available at
Greengate Junior
School?
Ensuring that the necessary support is available for any child who attends the school including those with SEND
Quality classroom teaching
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Each teacher has the highest possible expectations for all the children in their class
Teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand
Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve
using more practical and sensory learning
 Specific strategies (which may be suggested by trained staff members or external experts) are in place to
support your child to learn
 Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child
has gap in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible
progress
Specific group work within a smaller group of children
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This group, often called Intervention groups by schools, may be
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Run in the classroom or outside
Run by a teacher or most often a Senior Teaching assistant who has had training to run these groups
For your child this would mean:
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He/ She will engage in group sessions with specific targets to help him/her to make more progress.
A Learning Support Assistant/teacher or outside professional (like a Speech and Language Therapist) will run
these small group sessions using the teacher’s plan
This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of
learning
Specialist groups using advice from outside agencies e.g. Specialist HLTA for hearing impaired
The child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENCo as needing some extra specialist support in school from
a professional outside the school
For your child this would mean:
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Your child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENCo (or you will have raised your worries) as needing
more specialist input instead of or in addition to intervention groups
You will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and help plan possible ways forward
You may be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a
Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist. This will help the school and yourself understand
your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better in school
The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may
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include:
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Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some
aspects of teaching to support them better
Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise
A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group
Group or individual work with outside professional
School may suggest that your child needs some agreed individual support in school. They will tell you how the
support will be used and what strategies will be put in place
Specified Individual support
This is usually provided via a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan
(EHCP).This means your child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENCo as needing a particularly high level
of individual or small group teaching, which cannot be provided solely from the budget available to the school.
For your child this would mean:
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The school (or you) can request that the Local Authority carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs.
This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child
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After the school have sent in the request to the Local Authority (with a lot of information about your child,
including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork
provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case they will ask you and all
professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child
needs this, they will ask the school to continue with their support
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After the reports have all been sent in the Local Authority will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex
and lifelong and that they need more than 20 hours of support in school to make good progress.( some children
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may be offered fewer hours) If this is the case they will write an EHC Plan. If this is not the case, they will ask the
school to continue with their support and also set up a meeting in school to ensure a plan is in place to ensure
your child makes as much progress as possible
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The EHC Plan will outline the number of hours of individual/small group support your child will receive from the
LA and how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short
term goals for your child
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The additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or
run small groups including your child
How can I let the
school know I am
concerned about my
child’s progress in
school?
If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher initially
How will the school
let me know if they
have concerns
about my child’s
progress?
If your child is identified as not making satisfactory progress the school will set up a meeting to discuss this with you in
more detail and to:
How does
Greengate Junior
School support
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If you would like further discussion you should speak to the SENCo or Head teacher
If you feel your concerns have not been satisfactorily resolved you may speak to the SEND Governor
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listen to any concerns you may have
plan any additional support your child may receive
discuss with you any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning
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The SENCo is regularly available to meet with you to discuss your child’s needs and progress
Class teachers are available to discuss progress and share information
All information from outside professionals will be shared verbally or in the form of a report
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parents of children
with SEND?
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How will teaching
be adapted to
support children
with SEND?
Parents will be encouraged to be involved in their child’s education and life in school through discussions with
school staff, attending events and parental consultation evenings, contributing to IEP’S and through talking to us
when something happens that may affect your child’s welfare
A home /school contact book may be used to support communication if parents/carers agree this to be useful
School has a designated family support worker often available without an appointment who can assist with a
variety of issues/concerns
The family support worker runs a weekly meeting open to all parents to discuss concerns and provide useful
information. School admin staff are able to make appointments for parents to meet with staff members
Numeracy:
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Targeted small group support in class (often in ability matched groups)
Withdrawal of small groups or individual pupils for additional Numeracy support (e.g. Springboard, Maths
Recovery)
Support in small groups from support teachers
Literacy including reading:
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Small group reading support in class through guided reading and individual reading
Support from additional teaching staff within and outside of the class
1:1 such as reading intervention
Reading support outside of class from volunteers
Additional small group literacy support from teaching assistant (e.g. phonic groups)
Differentiated and multi-sensory activities
High quality displays
Strategies to support/modify behaviour:
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Consistent school wide implementation of the school’s behaviour policy
SEND registration of those pupils whose behaviour difficulties are persistent and constitute a barrier to learning.
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Provision will include close collaboration with parents/carers, home/school book to ensure daily communication
between home and school, daily behaviour oversight by school staff
Wide range of pastoral support to support children’s behaviour in and beyond the classroom
Where a pupil’s behaviour deteriorates because of inadequate response to the above provision a referral will be
made to one or more of the following agencies: the EP, CAMHS, EBD. PRU
Strategies to enhance self esteem/promote emotional well being:
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Circle Time / SEAL programme
School SERIS worker who works 1:1 and with small groups
Fully qualified counsellor works one day per week for 1:1 sessions with children identified by parents or school
staff
Regular liaison between staff including Children’s Centre when there are concerns regarding individual
families/children
Collaboration and communication with all external professionals involved with children as appropriate e.g. GPs,
CAMHS and external agencies
Educational psychologist works closely with referred children and their parents
Open door policy for parents
Family Support Coffee Mornings
Support/supervision at unstructured times of the day including personal care:
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Trained midday supervisors and STA’S in the lunch hall and playgrounds
Midday supervisor/STA’S initiating and supporting activities during lunchtime
Prefects (Year 6s) helping in the playground and around school
Members of senior management team available throughout lunchtime
Strategies/programmes to support Physical needs:
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Referral for assessment and intervention from an occupational therapist /physiotherapist (via school nurse)
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Implementation of recommendations made by occupational therapist or physiotherapist by an allocated member
of staff.
Provision of support resources such as writing wedges and pencil grips.
Small group participation in Smart Moves programme
Access to medical interventions:
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How will we
measure the
progress of your
child?
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Regular meetings between SENCO/STA and school nurse
Wide range of staff and midday supervisors trained in First Aid
Staff training in the administration of support and/ or medication for Anaphylaxis and Epipen use
Liaison with medical professionals for children with ongoing treatment
Folder with photographs of child and detailing the child’s condition and required medication displayed in the, first
aid area, school office and school kitchen
Individual protocols for children with significant medical needs
All staff regularly trained in support/protocols for children with asthma
Daily support and liaison with kitchen staff for children with diabetes and/or gluten intolerance
Appropriate number of staff trained in Adult and Paediatric First Aid
Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher
Class teachers meet once a term with the head teacher to discuss all children’s progress
If your child is not yet working at National Curriculum levels, a more sensitive assessment tool is used which
shows their level in more detail and will also show smaller but significant steps of progress. The levels are called
‘P levels’
Children are assessed each term in writing and numeracy to assist with forward planning
At the end of the key stage (year 6) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment
Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and are the results that are published
nationally
The Head teacher, SENCo, Literacy leader and Numeracy leader analyse end of Key Stage results to identify
any areas requiring change/support
IEP’s will be reviewed at least twice per year
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How are school
resources allocated
and matched to
SEND?
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How accessible is
the school
environment?
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How do we support
your child when
they are moving to
another school or
transferring to
The progress of children with a statement of SEND/ EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all
adults involved with the child’s education
The SENCo will also check that your child is making progress within any individual work and in any group that
they take part in
Children with identified additional funding are allocated all of their budget allocation. This may take the form of
support staff, specialist resources, access to additional activities and specialist services
The head teacher and school governors decide on the SEND budget , support, training and resources are
reviewed and changes made as needed
School has designated SEND governor
Resources are allocated to ensure that all children including SEND have access and participation in
extracurricular activities
School is accessible through ramps and all areas are wheelchair accessible apart from the ICT suite, other
provision is made within the classroom for any child unable to access the suite
School has been assessed by Furness General Hospital Occupational Therapy Department and deemed to be
safe for children with visual impairment
School carpets are colour differentiated to highlight change of camber
School has a disabled toilet facility and a shower. School also has a washing machine and tumble dryer.
School has a quiet Sensory room for those children requiring this type of support
School purchase aids which support pupils ability to access the environment, curriculum and extra-curricular
activities
School offers a British sign language interpreter for our hearing impaired families
If your child is moving child to another school:
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Greengate Junior SENCo will contact the school SENCo and ensure he/she knows about any special
arrangements or support that needs to be made for your child
We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible
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secondary school?
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Information will be passed on to the new class teacher and in most cases, a planning meeting or telephone call
will take place with the new teacher or SENCo . All IEPs will be shared with the new teacher
In Year 3:
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The children take part in a full transition programme ( with our main feeder schools) throughout Year 2
Greengate Junior SENCo will contact the school SENCo and ensure school knows about any special
arrangements or support that needs to be made for your child
The school SENCo meets parents of children with Statements or EHCP during the previous term
In Year 6:
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Year 6 staff will attend the Primary Transition Day to discuss the specific needs of your child
Greengate Junior SENCo will contact the school SENCo and ensure he/she knows about any special
arrangements or support that needs to be made for your child
Your child will do focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes
ahead
Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and staff from the new school will visit
your child in this school.
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