SEN Information

Mrs Fay Scott is our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo). She is the point of contact for education professionals and parents regarding SEN/D. Her email address is fscott@cummersdale.cumbria.sch.uk

1. The kinds of special education needs for which provision is made at the school.

Cummersdale School caters for a wide range of special educational needs. 

• Communication and Interaction                                        
• Speech and Language difficulties.
• Cognition and Learning - moderate learning difficulties.
• Social, Emotional and Mental difficulties 
• Sensory and / or physical needs 

2. Information about the school's policies for the identification and assessment of pupils with SEN.

At Cummersdale School children are identified as having SEND through a variety of different ways including: 

• Parental concerns being raised.
• Concerns raised by the class teacher.
• Health diagnosis through an external agency; a GP, Paeditircian or Health Visitor.
• Pupil progress meetings, highlighting when a child is significantly below age-related expectations.  
• Liaison with previous setting whether this is a school or nursery. 
• Liaison with external agencies who have provided specialist assessments. 

3. Information on the school's policies for making provision for pupils with SEN needs whether or not pupils have an EHC plan.

The head teacher, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator and school staff oversee all support and progress of any child needing additional support.

The Class teacher is responsible for planning and delivery of the direct learning of each child with SEND in their class, ensuring that they progress in every area along with their peers through Quality First Teaching. 

At Cummersdale we have developed a curriculum that is all inclusive and takes into account a variety of learning styles. The benefit of high quality first teaching is that all children with SEND can access lessons and make expected progress. 

There are Teaching Assistants who will work with some children with SEND, this may be either individual 1:1 or in small group work depending on the needs identified by the SENDCo and teacher. The purpose and length of these sessions will be explained to parents before such interventions start. 

Those on the SEN register will meet with the SENDCo once a term to discuss the progress that their child is making and set targets for the term ahead. This will detail strategies that will enable the child to develop in all areas of the curriculum. 

The head teacher will report to Governors at Full Governor Body Meetings about the progress of children with SEND; this is a confidential anonymised report.

The nominated Governor for SEND is Flo Bell. The governing body agree priorities for spending within the school budget with the overall aim that children with SEND receive the support they need in order to progress.

4. The SEN co-ordinator

The SENCO (Special educational needs co-ordinator) is Mrs Fay Scott.

5. Information about the expertise and training of staff in relation to children with SEN and how specialist expertise will be secured.

Staff all actively seek training and attend courses which are meaningful for their roles. Teaching Assistants have undertaken subject specific training such as Cumbria Reading Intervention, Structured Reading and Spelling, NELI and Maths Recovery, in order to deliver specific interventions to individuals and groups. 

Staff also attend training on specific learning needs such as Speech and Language, ADHD, Autism and Dyslexia. Where we identify a need for training, external agencies are contacted.

As a school we work closely with any external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual needs, using this expeternal specialism, these agencies include: 

• Local Authority Specialist Advisory Teachers
• Educational Psychologists
• Health including GP, Paediatricians, health visitors, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. 
• Child Mental Health Services
• Speech and Language Therapists
• Social Care including Child and Family Support Workers

6. Information about how equipment and facilities to support children with SEN will be secured.

Whilst most of the school is a Victorian building, there is ramp access and disabled toilet facilities in line with statutory requirements.

We ensure that all children with SEND will have their needs met to the best of the school's ability with the funds available. 

We are continually seeking specialist resources to help support children in class. A bank of resources have been purchased to meet such needs, these include:

• Wobble cushions
• Reader pens for those with dyslexia
• Voice text recognition apps
• Sensory resources for those with ADHD

7. The arrangements for consulting parents of children with SEN about, and involving such parents in the education of their child.

School values the home to school partnership we have with carers.  We feel it is important to have open communication with parents and there are many opportunities for regular contact about things happening in school including Classlist, Parents Evenings, TAFs and Home/School diaries. 

Parents have the opportunity to meet with the class teacher twice a year at parent evenings to discuss the progress their child is making and any concerns they may have

Children on the SEND register will have a pupil passport which details targets and strategies that will help support the childs progress. These are completed by the class teacher and shared with the SENDCo. 

Parents are involved in discussing the needs of their child through Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings and EHCP reviews. These meetings may involve advice and support from professionals from external agencies. 

As a school we track the progress every child makes from entry at Reception to Year 6 using a variety of methods. 

Any child not making expected progress are discussed at termly pupil progress meetings between class teacher, SENDCo and head teacher. All barriers (both internal and external) to learning are explored and a discussion about further support to help learning progress takes place. 

The school website details the curriculum and what your child will be learning, this allows parents to support the learning taking place in school at home. 

8. The arrangements for consulting young people with SEN about, and involving them in their education.

Pupils are involved in their own target setting and reviewing. In class they carry out self assessment and peer assessment. They are given the opportutnity to say what support they would like, what works for them and what doesn't. Pupils are kept at the centre of all discussions and support. 

9. Arrangements made by the Governing body relating to the treatment of complaints from parents of pupils with SEN concerning the provision made at the school.

If an issue has not been resolved satisfactorily by the class teacher and/or headteacher, the governorning body will look into the matter further in line with the school's complaints policy.

10. How the Governing body involves other bodies, including health and social services bodies, local authority support services and voluntary organisations, in meeting the needs of pupils with SEN and in supporting families of such pupils.

Whilst the governing body supports  and oversees the needs of pupils with SEN, it is the staff who generally liase with external agencies. The governing body are kept informed of SEN matters through the headteacher's report.

11. The contact details of support services for the parents of pupils with SEN

The school is able to provide contact details on request.

12. The school's arrangements for supporting pupils with SEN in transferring between phases of education.

The school works closely with feeder nurseries to ensure that relevant information is passed on. The school organises a comprehensive induction into Reception for new starters. The school carries out transition activities in school to ensure smooth transition between classes. The school also has close links with secondary schools to enable a smooth transfer.

13. Information on where the local authority's local offer is published.

Information can be found at http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/cumbria/fsd/home.page

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