How children with SEN engage in all activities

St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, and the school values diversity. At our school we aim to offer excellence and choice to all our children, whatever their ability or needs. We want all our children to feel that they are a valued part of our community and we have high expectations of all.

We aim to achieve this by removing any barriers to learning, such as:

• providing a secure and accessible environment in which all children can thrive;
• providing appropriate curricular provision, that respects the fact that children:
  • have different educational and behavioural needs and aspirations,
  • require different strategies for learning,
  • acquire, assimilate and communicate information at different rates,
  • need a range of different teaching approaches and experiences;
• including and valuing the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity;
• providing positive, non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and people with disability;
• promoting equality and valuing diversity.

Our Teaching and Learning Policy sets out details of our broad and balanced curriculum. All children experience Quality First Teaching as part of our curriculum – this includes differentiation of resources or additional adult support.  As progress is monitored frequently, we are always looking at different ways in which we can support individual children, so that they can achieve their full potential.

If your child has a special educational need our SENCO will:

• Ensure the right support is put in place for each child as part of the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle.
• Advise other teachers and teaching assistants on how to help each child.
• Arrange training for staff so they understand the child’s needs.
• Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have.
• Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist /medical professional/ educational psychologist.
• Monitor progress in relation to individual outcomes, as well as in relation to national measures.

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support.  Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.

There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:

• Termly parent/carer meetings.
• Ongoing discussions with class teacher and/or SENCO.
• An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have.
• Through termly reviews of a child’s SEN Support Plan and the Annual Review of their EHC Plan (where appropriate).

As many children with SEND are too young to discuss their needs more formally, the school works closely with parents and carers to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. We encourage an active partnership through an ongoing dialogue with parents and carers. We believe that the help of parents is essential to ensure optimal progress and we will consult with them when decisions need to be made. Careful records of each child’s work, progress and achievements are kept and reviewed in accordance with the requirements of the National Curriculum.

We enable all children to engage fully in all aspects of school life. To do this, we:

• Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
• Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
• Ensure every child feels a sense of achievement.
• Ensure that all children have the relevant opportunities to be able to reach their full potential.