At Sandal Primary School we pride ourselves on our inclusive culture and ethos, and value all children as individuals. We are committed to providing children with nurture, positivity and encouragement, to achieve a sense of belonging. We believe that strength lies in differences and that all children have a positive contribution to make to the world.
Furthermore, we are committed to the process of inclusion and endeavour to provide full access to the national curriculum for all children, including those with special educational needs or a disability (SEND). We will encourage all pupils to achieve their full potential and ensure they have full access to all areas of school life. We will seek to identify the needs of our pupils, so that the provision is very much tailored to meet individual needs through a range of teaching strategies, in a supportive learning environment.
Overall, we want our children to be nurtured, to grow as individuals and succeed in life.
If you have any questions, queries or concerns regarding your children and SEND needs please contact our SENCo.
Miss Christina Sperduto
SENDCo & EYFS Leader
- christina.sperduto@sandalprimaryschool.co.uk
- 01274 598115
- Phone
SEND explained
What do we mean by special educational needs and disability?
Special Educational Needs and Disability (often shortened to SENDor SEN) describes the needs of children and young people who have a difficulty or disability that makes learning harder for them than most children or young people of the same age or have a disability which makes it harder for them to make use of and join in with activities that are generally available for all children.For these children and young people (CYP) with SEND extra support should be put in place to meet these needs which should be ‘different from and additional to’ that which is available to other pupils.The extra support put into place should match the needs of each child or young person.There are a wide range of special educational needs which can impact on a child or young person’s ability to engage with learning and make progress. The SEND Code of Practice groups these needs into four broad categories to support identification of needsand ensure that the right support is put into place.It is likely that individual CYP will have needs which overlap these areas or his/her needs may change over time.
What do we mean by disability?
The Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as a physicalor mental impairment that which has a long term and substantial adverse effect on a child or young person’s ability to carry out day to day activities including attending school. This definition includes children and young people (CYP) who may have a sensory impairment such as those affecting hearing and sight or long term health conditions such as epilepsy.CYP with a disability do not always have difficulties with learning but schools and other settings have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that they are able to fully engage with learning and other activities offered by their education setting.
What are the four broad areas of need?
The SEND Code of Practice four broad areas provide an overview of the range of special educational needs. It is likely that individual CYP will have needs which overlap these areas or his/her needs may change over time.Communication and InteractionThis area includes speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), which could mean difficulties with speech production, the understanding of language, the expression of language or a combination of all three. It also includes difficulties with the social use of language.Children with a diagnosis of autism or autistic spectrum disorders,have needs in this area.Children with communication and interaction difficulties may or may not also have learning difficulties.
Cognition and Learning
This area includes general learning difficulties (which may be moderate or severe), profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) and specific learning difficulties (SpLD).Assessments by professionals such as educational psychologists will determine whether a child has a moderate learning difficulties (MLD) or severe Learning difficulty (SLD).A SLD usually includes diagnoses such as Down Syndrome and other genetic conditions.Children with PMLD have very complex learning needs, in addition to SLD they may have physical disability, sensory impairments or a severe medical condition. Children with PMLD will usually be placed in specialist provision.SpLDs include: dyslexia (difficulties with reading and spelling), dyscalculia (difficulties with number and calculation), and dyspraxia (or ‘developmental coordination disorder’, difficulties with motor planning). People with one or more SpLDs have a ‘spiky profile’ of attainment, with areas of strength (sometimes very high) and areas of need.All children in this category have a form of learning difficulty.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
This area includeschildrenwho may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which can impact on their outward behaviours. They might be isolated or withdrawn or display challenging behaviour.Such behaviours may be indicative of underlying mental health difficulties (such as anxiety or depression), or emotional issues (such as disordered attachment).Some children have disorders such asADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) orADD(Attention Deficit Disorder) which affect how they behave.It is crucial to look for the underlying causes of any difficulties with behaviour and/or emotional state, and aim to support these, rather than just dealing with the presenting behaviour.For some children withSEMHdifficulties, the nature of these difficulties will mean that they have difficulties with learningas a whole.
Physical and Sensory Needs
This area includes sensory impairments, such as visual impairment (VI) and hearing impairment (HI), as well as physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy. Children with these disabilities will usually access support from specialist education and health services.It also includes children with sensory processing difficulties and can be linked with an Autism or ADHD diagnosis. These children do not necessarily have ‘learning difficulties’, in that their cognitive functioning may be average or above; some children do have associated learning difficulties.