3. What are the different types of support available for children at Pilsley Primary School ?

What different types of support are available

Children identified or referred as having Special Educational Needs and or a Disability will experience a graduated response to their Additional Needs

Firstly they will experience class teacher response through excellent targeted classroom teaching (Quality First Teaching).

For your child this would mean

·         That the teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.

·         That all teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.

·         That different ways of teaching are in place, so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical

           learning.

·         That specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCo) are in place to support your child to learn.

·         That you are fully involved in supporting your child's progress

·         That extra support is available to help your child with gaps in their understanding

This extra support maybe:-

·         Run in the classroom or a group room.

·         Run by a teacher or a teaching assistant (TA).

·         Run by the Learning Mentor

·         Run by a professional commissioned by the school to provide Art Therapy or Counselling

·         Run by outside agencies, e.g. Speech and Language therapy

Some children will need additional support to make appropriate levels of progress.

They would then, in consultation with parents or guardians, be placed on the School Register of Children with Special Educational Needs at a School Support level.

  SEN Code of Practice 2014: School Support (SS)

This means a pupil has been identified by the SENCo and class teacher as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from Local Authority Services, such as the Autism (ASD) Outreach Team,  Behaviour Support Team , Sensory Services (for students with a hearing or visual need) or the Education Psychology Service (EPS).

What could happen:

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 to understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them more effectively.

The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations about how your child is given support. The school will change the support offered according to the additional advice providing upto £ 6000 worth of additional support.

Should your child continue to have severe difficulty and struggle to make appropriate levels of progress then additional support can be applied for in the form of Specific Individual Support .

  SEN Code of Practice 2014: Specific Individual Support

This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong.

This is usually provided via a Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by professionals as needing a particularly high level of individual or small-group teaching.

This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching, Code of Practice School Support, intervention groups or short periods of 1:1 intervention with a cost of up to £6,000 .

Your child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school.

This may be from Local Authority Services such as the Autism Outreach Team, Support Service for Special Educational Needs, Behaviour Support , Physical Disability Service and Sensory Services (for students with a hearing or visual need)

  or 

Healthcare agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) or Occupational Therapy Service.

For your child this would mean:

The school (or you) can request that Local Authority Services carry out an Education Healthcare Needs Assessment.

After the request has been made to the ‘Panel of Professionals’ (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 an Education and Healthcare Plan,(EHCP) 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 the current support .

After the reports have all been sent in the Panel of Professionals will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong. If this is the case, they will write an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the current level of 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.

The EHC Plan will outline the additional funding and support available to your child from the LA , how the support should be used, and what strategies must be put in place in order to achieve agreed long- and short-term outcomes for your child.