My name is Jo Ward and I am the SENDCo at St Mary’s.

Please feel free to email me during school hours with any issues concerning your child.

I can be contacted at school on 0161 681 6663 or at joanne.ward@st-marys.oldham.sch.uk

This report explains what we can offer to support your child if they have special needs or a disability. All children are different and their educational needs will vary. This report aims to provide parents and carers with an overview about how we support children at St Mary’s and what we are able to offer you and your child.

Most schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of children with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Our school is supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all children, regardless of their specific needs, achieve their potential in school.

Under the Children and Families Bill, local authorities and schools are required to publish information about the services they expect to be available for children and young people with SEND aged 0-25. The local authority refers to this as the ‘Local Offer’ and information is available on the Oldham Council website.

Children with additional needs are placed underneath one umbrella – SEND.

SEND is then split into 4 broad areas of need:

• Communication and Interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, Emotional and mental health
• Sensory and/or physical

• A child has SEND if he or she has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age or has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age.
• St Mary’s follows the cycle of the graduated response:

• Assess
• Plan
• Do
• Review

           Pre-school

• When pupils have been identified with a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND), we work with the children, parents and professionals before pupils start at St Mary’s. We will visit nursery and pre-school settings, or home and attend any review meetings prior to your child starting school. We use the information provided to identify what support their SEND will need in our school setting. We can also discuss a transition plan so we can meet the needs of your child immediately.

Cause for concern

• If you tell us you think your child has a Special Educational Need or Disability, we will discuss with you and assess them. We will share what we discover with you and agree with you the next steps and what we can do to support your child. We will take into account the wishes and views of the child.
• Regular teacher assessment and pupil progress meetings help us to identify any children who may need additional help and support in school. If your child is identified as not making progress, we will use the graduated response to identify if a child has a Special Educational Need.
• This involves completing a cause for concern profile and implementing suitable adjustments and interventions to monitor progress over a short period of time. We will also set up a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail.
• We will listen to concerns, plan any additional support your child may need and discuss any referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning. This will be done as a partnership.

            SEN Support

• Children will only be added to the school SEND register after discussion with and permission from parents/carers.

• All teachers are responsible for the progress and development of all the children in their class.
• High quality teaching is our first step in responding to all children with SEND
• The class teacher plans lessons and makes reasonable adjustments according to the specific needs of all groups of children
• Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class.
• This may involve using more practical learning, different resources, using technology or having additional adult support.
• Your child’s class teacher will have carefully assessed your child’s progress informally and formally and will know where there are gaps in learning and understanding.
• They will decide, with the advice of the SENDCo when additional group or individual support is needed.
• Children with SEND will have specific targets linked to their need which are reviewed termly
• All staff take into account and are sensitive to the child’s specific needs when planning and assessing.

• We will follow the assess, plan, do, review cycle as part of the graduated response.
• The class teacher will discuss the progress of your child with the senior management team at termly pupil progress meetings.
• Parents of children with SEND will be invited into school termly to attend a pupil-centred review meeting with your child. At the meeting we will discuss your child’s strengths and identify areas for development.
• Progress will be reviewed with your involvement and plans and targets for the next term.
• The views and experiences of parents and the pupil’s own views will be sought.
• The school will follow external advice and support from relevant external services
• The progress of a child with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is formally reviewed at the Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education.
• For pupils who are working below the standard of national curriculum assessments and not engaged in subject-specific study, we use the engagement model to assess pupils’ progress.
• For other pupils who are engaged in subject-specific study, we may use PIVATS to assess progress which is in smaller steps and at a slower pace than the usual national curriculum.

St. Mary’s works in a collaborative partnership with many different agencies. This means that a supportive plan can be developed to meet your child’s needs both in and out of school.

We are currently involved with:

• QEST (Quality and Effectiveness Support Team)
• Educational Psychology
• Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)
• Visual Impairment Team
• Hearing Impairment Team
• Physical and Sensory Support Team
• Occupational Therapy
• CAHMS
• School Nurse
• Early Help
• MHST
• Primary Outreach Service
• PIP team (Pupil Intervention Project)
• Caritas

• As an inclusive school, every child has the opportunity to access all areas of the curriculum
• We encourage all children, including those with SEND to engage in extra-curricular activities both those that our school hosts and those that are available in the local community. We provide a wide range of activities that are held after school, we ensure that the clubs we offer reflect a wide variety of curriculum elements e.g. sport, art, forest school etc. Access to these clubs are monitored by school.
• All children are encouraged to go on our Y6 residential to Robinwood.
• Provision for trips and activities will be adapted to meet individual needs
• Any child needing specific help will have this discussed between school and home before any visit or activity
• No pupil is ever excluded from taking part in an activity because of their SEN or disability
• All pupils are sensitively encouraged to take part in sports  days/workshops/assemblies/school plays etc
• The school’s accessibility plan can be found on the school website.
• To support our working families, we run a Before School Club which is accessible for all children

• Prior to joining us at St. Mary’s, when pupils have identified SEND we work hard with the people who already know them (Early Years Team, previous school/SENDCo) and use the information already available to identify what their SEN will be in our school setting.
• Children will be invited to make additional visits to the setting, this can be arranged with their pre-school key worker.
• A phased entry can be arranged to suit the needs of the child.
• Where necessary, children will receive transition booklets with photographs of their new teacher, classroom and routines every year.
• For those children moving from our setting to another, we will pass on all records and information so that any additional support can be put in place in their new school
• We work closely with SENDCo’s and SEN teams from Secondary schools to ensure smooth transition from Year 6 to Secondary, passing on all relevant information.
• Our Year 6 pupils visit their forthcoming Secondary School for curriculum taster sessions. Our local Secondary Schools also provide transition events for parents and pupils part way through their final primary year.
• For children with Special Educational Needs an additional transition meeting is arranged with pupils, parents and both primary and secondary SENDCo’s (or their representatives). At this meeting a discussion is held about the pupil’s identified special educational needs, how they can be met and a provisional plan is made for their transition.
• In many cases, additional visits and extra transition arrangements are put in place for our Year 6 pupils with SEND.
• Transition documents are completed by class teacher and SENDCo which are passed on to the high school.