Many children, at some point during their time at school, need a little extra support in order to make progress with their learning. Most of these children will have extra help arranged for them in school, using a differentiated teaching approach, and classroom resources. Some children, however, may have ‘special educational needs’.

What are ‘special educational needs’?
Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty, which requires them to have special help. A child has learning difficulties if he/she finds it much harder to learn than most children of the same age do, or if he or she has a disability. Their special educational needs may fall into one or more of the following areas: Communication and interaction; Cognition and learning; Social, emotional and mental health difficulties; Sensory and/or physical. If your child is considered to have special educational needs (SEN) then further help is required. This help is called special educational provision.

What ‘special educational provision’ is given at Long Crendon School?

The graduated approach
All children make progress at different rates, and it is the responsibility of the Class Teacher to respond to all pupils’ needs with quality first teaching. The majority of pupils will respond to good or better teaching and will make progress, but there are a minority of children who need extra provision.

If normal good practice within the classroom does not result in progress then the class teacher, in conjunction with the SENCo will begin to review the child’s access to the curriculum. This is the graduated approach, as detailed below.

No SEN  →    SEN Support   →    EHC Plan

SEN Support
The decision to begin SEN support for a child is not taken quickly or lightly. Where a teacher has specific concerns (and may have tried ‘booster groups’) they will discuss these concerns with the SENCo. The teacher and SENCo will then discuss these concerns with the child and the parents/carers in a planning meeting, and SEN support may begin.

Upon beginning SEN support, the teacher will complete an SEN Support Plan for the child in liaison with parents/carers and the child as appropriate. This plan details the child’s strengths and barriers to learning, and also shows targeted interventions for that child. These interventions may be small group or 1 to 1 depending on need. Small targets will be set for each barrier, with clear success criteria. The child will know of these targets in an age appropriate way, and these targets will also continue in class work as directed by the teacher.

Our approach to SEN support follows the recommended cycle: ASSESS – PLAN - DO – REVIEW.

The teacher will meet with all staff providing SEN support to review targets at regular intervals. A child’s learning will be assessed and then the team will plan appropriate targets and support.

Statutory Assessment
The special educational needs of most children will be met through SEN Support. Some children, however - those with severe, complex or long-term learning difficulties or disabilities - will need to have extra support arranged for them by the LA. Following this Statutory Assessment, the LA may decide to issue an ‘EHC Plan’. This plan describes the area(s) in which your child has needs and includes details of extra resources that are required to help the school support your child further. The support for your child will usually take place at the school but may on occasions involve working with other professional organisations.

Working in Partnership with Parents/Carers
You will be invited to all review meetings and kept fully informed as to the progress of your child. You are encouraged to support your child and take part in the review and target setting process

What is inclusion?
All pupils at Long Crendon School receive an inclusive education. Whatever a child’s ability, they have an entitlement to be educated in a mainstream school whether or not they have SEN. A copy of the school’s Special Educational Needs Policy can be found below.

To contact our SENCO, please contact the school office on 01844 208225 or SEND@longcrendon.bucks.sch.uk

Useful links

A really warm welcome to you, my name is Madeline Poote and my role here at Long Crendon School is the SENDCo (Special educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator) and pastoral lead.  This means that I work closely with the headteacher and with all staff, parents and carers to ensure that we identify any child with additional needs.  We then make adjustments and implement strategies and support to ensure that their needs are met in school.

I have worked in a wide range of schools and have loved gaining experience  teaching all year groups in a primary school and being part of the leadership team.  I became SENDCo in 2011 after returning to work following the birth of my first child, I now have three children of my own.  I have completed the National SENDCo Award, which ignited a real passion for inclusivity and the mental health and well being of children.  I feel passionately that all children are incredible and it is important that they all feel this way no matter what their barriers to learning may be.  I believe that all children should shine regardless of their ability in whatever area of the curriculum they enjoy.  A barrier to learning is like a gate that needs to be opened and by removing this barrier it is then that the child can run free in the meadow the other side and truly flourish!  

We are an inclusive school and aim to ensure that a child who needs additional support is happy with the support they receive, for example, some children enjoy going out of the classroom to work with an adult or in a small group, whereas another child may prefer to stay in the classroom. It is vital that we build on a child’s self-esteem and by working closely in collaboration with parents and the child we can achieve this successfully.  At Long Crendon School we cater for individuals by creating a personalised SEN Support plan which outlines the key outcomes we are focusing on and a plan of how it will be achieved.  This is agreed with parents and we have regular SEN review meetings with parents to discuss progress towards these outcomes.  The communication with parents is high priority because working in collaboration we know brings the most positive outcomes.

It is a huge privilege to spend our days working with these amazing young people.  At Long Crendon School we have a team of extremely committed teachers and learning support assistants who work closely together to ensure that every child can shine.  We gain expertise from outside agencies and professionals such as the speech and language service, educational psychologists, CAMH’s (Child and adolescent mental health team), specialist teaching service, Family Support service, School nursing team and recently we have worked very closely with the PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) on developing strategies for managing more challenging behaviour.    All of these services and many others work closely with us on planning the support we provide and we are extremely committed to ongoing SEND training and development for all staff.

If you have a concern about your child, for example, you may have a history of dyslexia in your family and have considered if your child is dyslexic, or perhaps your child has angry outbursts at home or struggles to come into school each day.   Whatever your concern please communicate with your child’s class teacher in the first instance in person, by telephone or email.  The teacher will welcome a discussion with you because by working together as a team, we can ensure that support is implemented for your child and early intervention is vital to achieve the best outcomes.  The teacher will approach me for further support if this is required.