Special Educational Needs

We are very proud of our Inclusive School

We are committed to offering an inclusive curriculum to ensure the best possible progress for all of our pupils whatever their needs or abilities. Our aim is to create an atmosphere of inclusion, encouragement, respect and sensitivity.

Specific objectives of our SEN policy

To identify pupils with special educational needs and disabilities and ensure that their needs are met
To ensure that children with special educational needs and disabilities can access the activities of the school
To ensure that all learners make the best possible progress
To ensure that learners express their views and are fully involved in decisions which affect their education
To promote effective partnerships and involve outside agencies when appropriate.

The school website gives parents general information about support for pupils with Special Educational Needs, however, any parent who wishes to discuss their individual child’s needs is encouraged to meet with Mr Langford, Headteacher and Mrs Salter, our Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO).

Within School there are a variety of different SUPPORT GROUPS, CLUBS and INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS, designed to support our pupils. The range of support made in the school is “ Needs Lead” and therefore varies each year in response to identified needs.

EXAMPLES OF THE TYPES OF DIFFICULTY THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Speech and Language Difficulties

Difficulties can be in the way the child speaks, or in how they process the language that they hear. Sometimes children have difficulties in planning what they want to say and in finding the words that they need.
It is often very difficult to identify children with Speech and Language Difficulties, it may sometimes be referred to as the ‘hidden disability’.
It can impact on a pupil’s development, educational progress and life chances. Speech and Language Difficulties, can negatively affect pupil’s behaviour and the ability to socialize and make friends.
Children with Speech and Language Difficulties generally have average or above average non-verbal intelligence and are often very good at masking their difficulties.
We aim to identify any underlying Speech and Language Difficulties and, working with parents, the school might refer the pupil to a Speech Therapist.

Specific Learning Difficulties - Often known as Dyslexia

Dyslexia – a learning difference linked to the way language is processed that affects a SPECIFIC area of learning. This means that
the child’s overall ability is as high, or higher, than their peers but that there is a difficulty with a specific “building block” .
An example is a child who appears as “bright as a button” when chatting to his parents, friends or teacher, but who struggles to read or to spell.
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) estimates that 10% of the population is dyslexic. Some estimates suggested that up to 30% of
the population show some traits of this type of difficulty.
Dyslexia can affect sequencing, memory, motor skills and often leads pupils to have reduced confidence.
Structured literacy programmes are known to benefit pupils with dyslexic traits.
We run programmes in most year groups and will tailor programmes to suit pupils’ different learning styles.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Autism (including Asperger Syndrome) affects the way a person communicates, relates to others and makes sense of the world’ (National Autistic Society).
Children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders tend to see fragments rather than the whole, often recognising details
which relate to their interests and experiences rather than fully understanding what they are being taught.
Pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders can experience severe difficulty with organisational skills: getting to the right place at the right time with the correct items. Similar difficulties affect the ability to initiate and complete tasks: pupils may require structure, initiation and small step sequencing for there to be successful outcomes.
Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders also have difficulties with empathy and social interaction.
It is quite common for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder to be greatly affected by sensory stimuli which can cause anxiety and distress.
As with other types of special educational needs, our teaching reflects the way that individual children learn.
Most pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders prefer a routine approach and can become unduly stressed by sudden changes or unexpected events.
In order to support pupils we use visual timetables and visual stimuli in all classrooms, to help children to make sense of the routines of school life.
Autistic children are capable of learning social behaviour that does not come naturally to them, and for this reason Social Skills
Training is planned and delivered to groups and individuals by our school support staff.

Developmental Coordination Disorder – Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia manifests in different ways to different degrees.
It is thought to be ‘An immaturity of the brain resulting in messages not being transmitted to the body’.
Dyspraxia can affect pupils in a variety of ways, but tends to manifest itself as co-ordination difficulties with eating, dressing, talking, riding a bike or writing.
A dyspraxic pupil may appear to struggle with balance and some parents have thought that their dyspraxic child was “clumsy”.
Very often a child with this difficulty will also display characteristics of dyslexia, or speech and language difficulties .
Whilst dyspraxia affects only two to three percent of the population, we do sometimes see varying degrees of coordination difficulties as pupils grow and develop.
Every child is different and we are not all equally well coordinated!
We run clubs to help promote fine motor skill control and also handwriting. These help a number of children with pencil control difficulties and most of the pupils on these programmes make good progress.

Children recognised as needing particular support at school are considered to be “School Action” pupils. This means that Holy Innocents' Catholic Primary School are planning and delivering support clubs or group work in order to boost that pupil’s learning and confidence.

When we work with colleagues such as Speech Therapists we consider our pupil to be receiving “School Action Plus” support. This means that a slightly higher level of support is needed which is provided by the school PLUS other colleagues.

A small minority of pupils need even more support and for this reason there is a process through which the Local Education Authority can arrange to make an additional or different provision for that child.

All of these options and support for the parents of our pupils can be found at school where we have a dedicated team of teachers and support helpers.

More Able Children

At Holy Innocents' the needs of more able children are met within the class through carefully planned work that extends their learning. We also run extension classes every week in English and maths, with specialist teachers, to give pupils every opportunity to reach their potential.

London Borough of Bromley Local Offer for children with SEN