Queen Margaret Primary Academy values the contribution that every child can make and is supported by the local authority to ensure all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress. The school seeks to raise the achievement, remove barriers to learning and increase physical and curricular access to all. All children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) are valued, respected and considered equal members of the school. As such, provision for pupils with SEND is a matter for the school as a whole. All teachers are teachers of pupils with SEND. The governing body, Headteacher, SENCo and all other members of staff are responsible for ensuring good teaching of children with SEND. This local offer is in line with the school SEND policy which can be accessed below or by contacting the school office.
Queen Margaret Primary Academy encourages children of all abilities to reach their full potential. We are totally inclusive and we welcome all children. Where a child has a recognised special need or disability we will make reasonable adjustments to meet those needs to ensure your child thrives in our mainstream setting. Our school is fully accessible and while supporting our children, we will also encourage independence skills.
Each child’s progress is closely tracked. If, despite all the extra support, your child is still struggling to meet their expected targets, it is possible your child has special education-al needs.
Assessments by the teacher will quickly identify if your child is having difficulty in a particular area of learning and lessons will be adapted to meet your child’s needs. Our SENCo will suggest appropriate additional targeted support to help your child make better progress. This could be extra small group work or 1:1 support using specialist published materials.
All children benefit from our carefully designed Behaviour Policy. However, if your child is struggling with their behaviour, the teacher will discuss this with our SENCo, Nurture Practioner and Head who will arrange appropriate support, such as:
If we think your child could possibly have special education needs, the class teacher will meet with you and the SENCo to identify your child’s difficulties to create a ‘My Plan’ and be placed on the SEN list. This will ensure your child is monitored closely and receives appropriate ongoing additional support. We will:
Your child’s class teacher and the school’s SENCo are your key points of contact to discuss your child’s difficulties.
Our SENCo and Nurture Practitioner are both on hand to listen and offer advice to families and children in all areas or signpost to the relevant professionals.
Our Nurture Practitioner can provide 1:1 time with your child. The school will also draw on the support of outside support services where needed.
Our SENCo ensures that all staff are trained and are kept updated to support children with specific needs.
Through good communication between you as carers, the teachers, TAs and SENCo, most children with SEN will make progress in their learning or behaviour. We endeavour to achieve this through the use of targeted support. We have a number of interventions on offer that are chosen specifically to suit you child’s needs. However there are a few children, who despite a lot of extra support, make little progress in their learning or struggle to modify their behaviour. Our SENCo will then request advice and support from outside agencies.
Through referral we can seek advice from:
Some of these children will benefit from an individual risk assessment and/or Education, Health and Care Plan.
A minority of children will have complex SEN needing significantly higher levels of support. Should your child continue to make little or no progress and the support, advice and guidance from outside agencies has been implemented it may be necessary for SENCo to make a request to the local authority to undertake a My Plan Plus assessment of your child’s needs following discussion with you as parents and all the agencies involved. The local authority will then draw up an EHC Plan for the child which will provide a personal budget which could fund additional support in school. The EHC Plan will ensure long-term support for your child and will be reviewed annually. Please refer to SENCOSPOT for further information or please do speak to our SENCo.
A tiny minority of children with an EHC Plan may still struggle significantly to access the mainstream school day. On this rare occasion the school will work with the County SEN Casework Team to assess whether our school can continue to meet the needs of the child and discuss with parents and outside agencies whether a special school should be considered as a more appropriate setting. We work closely with Alderman Knight Special which provides an ‘In reach Service’ which allows children to access their environment one morning per week.
We work closely with other schools, secondary and pre-schools to ensure a careful transition plan is arranged when your child moves schools. Parents are always involved at every step. If you would like to speak to our SENCo about what we can offer you and your child in terms of support, please contact our School Reception.
