Supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
At Crofton Hammond Infant School we strongly believe that every child is entitled to receive a good education, enabling him or her to maximise opportunity and success in learning and life, irrespective of need, prior attainment, background or circumstance. We continually seek to adapt and improve our provision to meet the individual needs of all of our children in their communication, physical, emotional or learning needs. We teach our children and staff about disabilities. They learn about respect and to value that we are all unique, and that we might learn in different ways. Helping all members of our community learn how to interact, live, learn and work together in a harmonious way, where everyone is respected and valued, empowers our children towards independence and inclusion.
The Children and Families Act 2014 defines children as having special educational needs or disability (SEND) if they have a learning difficulty or disability, which calls for special educational provision to be made for them, including if the child:
- 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 to others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
We will do everything we can to meet your child’s SEND needs. Parents are consulted and involved in every decision that affects their child. Special educational needs are identified through The Graduated Approach. This is a four part cycle in which we will:
- assess the child’s needs
- plan support and intervention to meet the needs and ensure the child can make progress
- do – put in place the support and intervention for an agreed period of time
- review the progress the child has made as a result of the intervention
We recognise that every adult has a role to play in SEND and improving outcomes for all our children. Effective leadership of SEND provision is the responsibility of governors and senior leaders. Anna Philipson is our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) and it is her role to provide leadership and guidance to colleagues, working closely with parents/carers and partner agencies to support strong outcomes for children with SEND; modelling inclusivity and exemplifying best practice in teaching, curriculum provision, and the physical environment and resources. Subject leaders have an important role in ensuring our curriculum is accessible to all children. And ultimately, as leaders of SEND provision in their classrooms day to day, class teachers have a significant leadership role to play in delivering high-quality teaching to children with SEND.
We firmly believe that all children should have access to inclusive quality-first teaching delivered through a well-differentiated curriculum, learning alongside their peers. The difficulties a child may experience with learning are not seen as ‘within the child’. We scrutinise what barriers to learning there might be for the child, and how these might be overcome through carefully planned environmental adaptations, teaching and learning strategies, and, or, targeted interventions. The individual needs of each pupil are at the heart of our provision for children with SEND, and as parents and carers your voice is listened to and valued in all decisions affecting your child.
We will use our best endeavours to ensure that every child has a happy and memorable experience at Crofton Hammond Infants School through:
- An inclusive environment where everyone is valued and have equal opportunities
- An environment which is nurturing and supportive
- Positive relationships between all member of the school community
- A culture of continuous learning for all members of the school community – training and development is planned and responsive to the individual needs of our children.
- Ensuring every child (and their parents and carers) has a voice and can express their views and feelings, and are given regular opportunities to do so
- Using person-first language, for example ‘a child with autism’ rather than an ‘autistic child’, celebrating the identity of the child and in pursuit of broader inclusivity.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your child’s individual needs with us further. For our most up to date SEN Information Report and our SEN Policy please look at our Statutory Information page. Hampshire Local Offers also list services and information for children and young people with SEN and/or disabilities.