1. Introduction
1.1. At King’s College special educational needs are coordinated by the SENCO in liaison with classteachers, the school nurse, the Head teacher and other staff when deemed necessary. This team will liaise with parents and outside agencies, if appropriate, and be responsible for transmitting any information to staff.
1.2 This school provides a broad and balanced curriculum for all children. The National Curriculum is our starting point for planning that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of children. When planning, teachers set suitable learning challenges and respond to children’s diverse learning needs. Some children have barriers to learning which mean they have special needs and require particular action by the school.
1.3 Particular requirements are likely to arise as a consequence of a child having special educational needs. Teachers take account of these requirements and make provision, where necessary, to support individuals or groups of children and thus enable them to participate effectively in curriculum and assessment activities. Such children need additional help or different help from that given to other children of the same age.
1.4 Children may have special educational needs either throughout or at any time during their school career. This policy ensures that curriculum planning and assessment for children with special educational needs takes account of the type and extent of the difficulty experienced by the child.
2. Aims
2.1. The aims of this policy are:
- Assist classroom and subject teachers with SEN. A series of strategies will be developed to accommodate this (MGP to facilitate)
- To create an environment that meets the special educational needs of the child;
- To ensure that the special educational needs of children are identified, assessed and provided for;
- To make clear the expectations of all partners in the process;
- To identify the roles and responsibilities of staff in providing for children’s special educational needs;
- To enable all children to have full access to all elements of the school curriculum;
- To ensure that parents are able to play their part in supporting their child’s education;
- To ensure that our children have a voice in this process.
3. Educational Inclusion
At King’s College we aim to offer excellence and choice to all our children, whatever their ability or needs. We have high expectations of all our children. We aim to achieve this through the removal of barriers to learning and participation. We want all our children to feel that they are a valued part of the school community. Through appropriate curricular provision, we respect the fact that children:
- have different educational and behavioural needs and aspirations;
- require different strategies for learning;
- acquire, assimilate and communicate information at different teaching approaches and experiences.
- With the above in mind we also have a policy for nominating gifted and talented.
RWS, Updated, January 2012, review January 2013
3.1. Teachers respond to children’s needs by:
- Providing support for children who need help with communication, language and literacy;
- Planning to develop children’s understanding through the use of all their senses and of varied experiences;
- Planning for children’s full participation in learning, and in physical and practical activities;
- Helping children to manage their behaviour and to take part of learning effectively and safely;
- Helping individuals to manage their emotions, particularly trauma or stress, and take part in learning
4. Special Education Needs
4.1 Children with special educational needs have learning difficulties that call for special provision to be made. All children may have special needs at some time in their lives. Children have a learning difficulty if:
- They have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age;
- They have a disability, which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities that are provided for other children of the same age.
4.2 If our assessments show that a child may have a learning difficulty, we use a range of strategies that makes full use of all available classroom and school resources. After the initial identification of special educational needs, the child’s class teacher will offer interventions and strategies that are different from, or additional to those provided as part of their usual working practices. The class teacher will consult with parents and draw upon them for additional information and support at home. The classteacher can approach the SEN team for advice. The class teacher monitors the child’s progress over several weeks.
4.3 The child’s name will be added to the school SEN register (see CLASS tracking system) if those strategies and interventions within the classroom environment are not proving successful. The SEN team will become more formally involved. When support is provided the team monitors the child’s progress whilst liaising with parents. If a child is at Stage 2, review meetings are held at least termly between all involved parties to discuss progress towards targets on detailed IEPs (see SENCO file).
4.4. It may be necessary that some external support or assessment is required. The school may suggest a support service; however, the parents may decide to contact their own.
4.5 Gifted and Talented
4.5.1 We use a range of strategies to identify gifted and talented children.The identification process is ongoing, and begins when the child joins our school.
4.5.2 The children undertake national tests/teacher assessed work in Year 2 and Year 6 plus the optional national tests in Years 3 - 8. Teachers also make regular assessments of each child’s progress in all subjects of the National Curriculum in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, and towards all Early Years goals in Pre-Nursery, Nursery and Reception. We compare the information from these tests with a range of national data, in order to ensure that each child is making appropriate progress.
4.5.3 Teachers discuss the children’s progress with parents at the termly consultation evenings, and report termly on each child’s progress.
4.5.4 Our teachers plan carefully to meet the learning needs of all our children. We give all children the opportunity to show what they know, understand and can do, and we achieve this in a variety of ways when planning for children’s learning, such as providing:
- A common activity that allows the children to respond at their own level;
- An enrichment activity that broadens a child’s learning in a particular skill or knowledge area;
- An individual activity within a common theme that reflects a greater depth of understanding and higher level of attainment;
- The opportunity for children to progress through their work at their own rate of learning.
- An opportunity to join other classes or receive planned challenging teaching
5. The Role of the Senior Management Team
5.1 The Senior Management Team does its best to secure the necessary provision for any pupil identified as having educational needs. The senior managers ensure that all teachers are aware of the importance of providing for these children. The senior management team ensures that parents are notified of any decision by the school that SEN provision is to be made for their child.
6. Assessment
6.1 All children are assessed as part of the admissions process to King´s College, Murcia and shortly after admission. Progress is measured from these baseline assessments.
6.2 King’s College is an academic school with a selection process for entry into the Secondary School. Pupils deemed to have a learning need that cannot be managed by the subject teacher would be unlikely to be granted a place in the Secondary School.
6.3 Early identification of Special Educational Needs is vital. The class teacher informs the parents at the earliest opportunity to alert them to concerns and enlist their active help and participation.
6.4 The assessment of children reflects as far as possible their participation in the whole curriculum of the school. The class teacher can break down the assessment into smaller steps in order to aid progress and provide detailed and accurate indicators.
6.5 The class teacher and members of the team assess and monitor the children’s progress in line with existing school practices and against any targets set on IEPs. This is an ongoing process.
7.1 All children have an entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum, which is differentiated to enable them to:
- Understand the relevance and purpose of learning activities;
- Experience levels of understanding and rates of progress that bring feelings of success and achievement.
7.2 Teachers use a range of strategies to meet children’s special educational needs. Lessons have clear learning objectives; we differentiate work appropriately, and we use assessment to inform the next stage of learning.
7.3 We support children in a manner that acknowledges their entitlement to share the same learning experiences that their peers enjoy. Whenever possible, we do not withdraw children from the classroom, except when specific learning support is needed. Teachers´ plans accommodate differentiation when necessary. There are times when to maximise learning, we ask the children to work in small groups, or in a one-to-one situation.
8. Partnership with Parents
8.1 The school works closely with parents in the support of those children with special educational needs. We encourage an active partnership through an ongoing dialogue with parents.
8.2 We have regular meetings to share the progress of special needs children with their parents. We share the process of decision-making by providing clear information relating to the education of children with special educational needs.
9. Pupil Participation
9.1 In our school we encourage children to take responsibility to make decisions. This is part of the culture of our school and relates to children of all ages. The work in the Foundation Stage recognises the importance of children developing social as well as educational skills.
10. Monitoring and Review
10.1 The SEN team monitors the progress of children within the SEN system in school. SEN practice is regularly reviewed by the team.
10.2 The SEN team is involved in supporting teachers who teach children with SEN. The SEN team reviews the work of the school in this area.
December 2011
