Special Education Needs and Disability

St Nicholas School puts children’s needs at the centre of our practice. We are committed to ensuring that all children achieve their best, becoming confident individuals and successful lifelong learners. Children experience just one childhood, and we are committed to providing the right support and resources to enable all learners to fulfil their individual full potential.

The needs of each individual child are taken into account as well as their gender, ethnicity, culture, religion, language, sexual orientation, age, ability, disability and social circumstances. We promote inclusion and equality for all, through learning and across all aspects of school life. Our indoor and outdoor spaces, alongside the broad and balanced curriculum that we offer all children, allows all learners to succeed and make the best possible progress.

We seek to foster an ethos of care, kindness and empathy, ensuring that all children with a special educational need, disability or medical condition succeed and achieve alongside their peers and feel that they belong, are valued and included in all aspects of school life. Barriers are identified and addressed, with the aim that all children can meet or exceed the high expectations set for them. Withdrawal from the classroom for further intervention is carefully considered and only happens if it is maximising learning and/or social/emotional support.

We recognise that parents are the first educators of their child and so we aim to work in partnership with parents and families, to obtain the best possible outcomes for our children. Any concerns about a child are discussed with parents at the earliest opportunity by the Class Teacher and parents are consulted if their child requires additional support.

Teachers are skilled in making reasonable adjustments where needed, to allow all children to access the appropriate provision. Staff development and expertise is prioritised, in order to support individual needs within the school. We have a clear process for assessing, planning, providing and reviewing provision for children with SEND, with appropriate input from parents and other professionals.

Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP)

As St Nicholas School, high quality classroom provision ensures that all learners succeed and make progress, including children with an additional need.

There are many things that we put into place as part of our daily routine and practice, such as:

additional resources or equipment to aid learning (coloured overlay, spellchecker, Numicon)
information presented in different ways (on coloured paper, through pictures, broken up into small chunks, translated)
seating arrangements (nearer the board, at the back of the room/in their own area)
movement breaks/sensory circuits or sensory support (weighted blankets, fiddle toys, standing desk)
pre-teach/visual timetables, so children know what is coming up in lessons.

The ability to identify and meet all learners’ needs in class in every lesson, is a requirement of the Teachers’ Standards (2012). Teachers are guided and supported to do this by the Inclusion Team. By using assessment, they determine children’s skills and levels of attainment to plan next steps. Information from the previous Teacher/school is also considered, to plan accordingly and make reasonable adjustments if needed.

When a Teacher identifies that a child is making slow progress or not closing a learning gap, they will target the child's specific area of need and implement alternative strategies as soon as possible. To support this process, Surrey Additional Needs and Disabilities Partnership checklist is used.

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/455364/Ordinarily-Available-Provision-schools.pdf

This resource is designed to support the inclusion and well-being of children. There are a range of strategies suggested but it is important to note that all learners are different (each child has strengths and needs that are unique to them); this is not an exhaustive list and not all strategies or interventions will be effective for all learners, and not all support can or should be provided to all or at the same time.

Resources

At St Nicholas School, we are proud of our inclusive ethos and our commitment to ensuring that every child, regardless of their individual needs, is supported to thrive. We offer a wealth of resources and strategies to meet the diverse needs of our children, across the four key areas of the SEND Code of Practice such as:

Communication and Interaction

Aided Language Displays (ALD boards)
Visuals using Widgit symbols
Word Aware resources

Cognition and Learning

A wide range of manipulatives in Maths, including number lines, ten frames, Numicon, and Dienes blocks.
Mind mapping tools to support organisation and memory.
Laptops with touch typing programs and voice dictation software to support written expression.
Word mats and key vocabulary resources created using Widgit software

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Social Stories to help children understand and manage different situations.
Visual supports to aid emotional regulation and communication.
Zones of Regulation resources to help pupils identify and manage their emotions effectively.

Sensory and Physical Needs

Therabands and wobble cushions to support focus and movement needs.
Weighted blankets and sensory tents to create calming spaces.
Task boards to support independence and routine.
Pencil grips and other fine motor aids to assist with writing and classroom tasks.

Interventions

Whilst Quality First Teaching and Ordinarily Available Provision meet the needs of many learners, we recognise that some children may benefit from more targeted, individualised support. For these children, we offer a variety of structured, evidence-based interventions designed to address specific areas such as literacy, numeracy, language and communication, emotional wellbeing and motor skills. These interventions are delivered by trained staff and are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are effective in meetings the child’s needs.

Examples of the interventions we offer include: Literacy for All, First Class @ Number, Success @ Arithmetic, Language for Behaviour and Emotions, Language for Thinking, Talkabout, Time to Talk, ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant), Touch-typing programmes, and Colourful Semantics.

Learning Support Plans (LSPs)

Where a child is considered as having a special educational need and/or disability, a cycle of support must be in place. We call this a Learning Support Plan and this defines a graduated approach. These children are placed on our SEND Register.

The desired outcomes, including the expected progress and attainment, and the views and the wishes of the child and their parents are all considered. We use this to determine the support that is needed and whether we can provide it by adapting our core offer, or whether something different or additional is needed.

Prior support and actions to address a child's needs are re-visited, reviewed, and refined so that more focused and informed provision can be put in place. These actions help to ensure that all children are able to make good progress and better access the school curriculum.

Assess

What are the difficulties experienced by the individual?
When do they occur during lessons/other environments?
How does the child describe their needs and difficulties?
What have parents shared regarding difficulties they see at home?

Plan

What additional High Quality Teaching strategies or OAP could we adopt to support the child?
What additional provision and resources are necessary to target the needs of the child?
When will specific support take place (avoiding the same lesson being missed)?
Who will be responsible for delivering and overseeing additional support?
How can we minimise the amount of time the child spends outside of the classroom?
What tracking systems will we use to measure impact?

Carry out additional High Quality Teaching strategies and note differences made?
Refine delivery of strategies to maximise the effect they have.
Ensure that additional provision is delivered as it is meant to be.
What do we need to adjust considering initial observations and feedback?

Review

What did we all notice (staff, child, and parents)?
Which of the strategies were helpful and at what point of the learning did they have most impact?
What impact did the additional provision have on the child's ability to make progress?
Given what we now know what are our next steps?
Could the child be removed from the SEND list following the targeted interventions?
What further support would be most appropriate given the more focused understanding of the child's needs?
What additional training will the school need to access to provide targeted provision

Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs)

Once external specialists are involved and recommendations are made, the school may then be able to gather enough information to request Surrey for an EHCP assessment. Evidence must also include 3 cycles of the graduated response (Learning Support Plans). The request to assess also includes a costed provision map of all of the support that the school has already put in place and other professional reports.

Generally, we apply for an EHC assessment if:

the child has a life-long disability which means that they will always need support to learn effectively.
the child’s needs are multi-faceted/complex and affect many areas of their life.
the child’s attainment and rate of progress across the curriculum (not solely in one area) are so far below age related expectations, despite Quality First Teaching, OAP and professional recommendation being implemented, that additional on-going funding will be needed to support their learning across settings.

When a child receives an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP), we implement a robust review process to monitor their progress and ensure that their needs are met effectively. This process includes:

Termly Reviews: These take place every term to assess the child’s progress against the outcomes in their EHCP. Adjustments to support and provision are made as necessary in collaboration with the Class Teacher, SENDCo, parents, and, where appropriate, the child.
Statutory Annual Review: Held in the Summer term, this review evaluates the EHCP's overall effectiveness and ensures that it remains relevant and appropriate for the child’s needs.
Transition Review: For children in Year 1 and Year 5, a Transition Review replaces the Annual Review and is held in the Spring term. This review focuses on preparing for the child’s transition to the next phase of their education.

These reviews provide structured opportunities to reflect on progress, celebrate achievements, and plan collaboratively for the child’s continued development and success.