Special Educational Needs Policy

September 2025

Compliance

This policy complies with the statutory requirement laid out in the SEND Code of Practice 0 – 25 (June 2014) 3.65 and has been written with reference to the following guidance and documents:

· Equality Act 2010: advice for schools DfE (Feb 2013)

· SEND Code of Practice 0 – 25 (June 2014)

· Schools SEN Information Report Regulations (2014)

· Statutory Guidance on Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions (April 2014)

· The National Curriculum in England Key Stage 1 and 2 framework document (Sept 2013)

· Safeguarding Policy

· Accessibility Plan

· Teachers Standards (2012)

This policy has been created by St Catherine’s SENDCO, with the SEN Governors in liaison with the SLT, all staff and parents of pupils with SEND.

Our Vision and Intent

To have a fully developed workforce that has the desire, skills and knowledge to meet the needs of all of our pupils regardless of the level of difficulty that an individual pupil or family has. We are committed to doing all that we can to provide an inclusive, welcoming and flexible environment, curriculum and ethos that enables us to work together with families to ensure all children flourish.

Implementation

Staff and leaders implement our vision and intent for SEND via:

· Our belief that ALL pupils can thrive and achieve

· The quality of our daily offer where we know each small interaction counts and has the potential to have an impact

· Our passion to be judged by the quality and success of our provision for the most complex and most vulnerable learners and families

· Strategic, clear and well informed planning and that is well understood and therefore implemented by all staff linked to well organised review cycle

· The early and accurate identification of need leading to well-planned provision and clear outcomes for all children.

· High quality, on-going CPD accessed by all levels of staff that has led to a confident and well-informed workforce.

· Classrooms, learning areas and culture that are aspirant, welcoming and inclusive

· Excellent relationships with other agencies that are focused around each unique child.

Impact

· We are “experts” in our pupils

· All pupils are safe, settled and ready to learn

· All pupils make at least good progress according to their needs

· Attendance for ALL pupils is at least good

· Exceptionally low exclusion rates

· Exceptionally good feedback from parents and children with SEND

· Outstanding reputation for SEND within Sheffield and beyond

1: Introduction and definition

The named person (SENCO) for managing the setting’s response to ensuring that the provision we make for children and young people with SEND at St Catherine’s is Emma Lear. She works alongside assistant SENCOs:

Emma Porter – EYFS

Jodie Ng – Y1/2

Becky Puchalka – Y3/4

Definition of SEND

Students have special educational needs if they have a difficulty which calls for special education provision to be made for them e.g. which is additional to or different from differentiated curriculum plans. St Catherine’s Catholic Primary regards pupils as having a SEND if they:

a) Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of students of the same age;

b) Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for students/young people of the same age in schools within the area served by the LA

c) A child under compulsory age has special educational needs if they fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them (Clause 20 Children and Families Bill)

Students must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught.

2: Identification of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

The school uses the graduated approach as outlined in The Code of Practice 2015. To help with this process information is collated from a variety of sources which is then used to plan the next steps. At St Catherine’s we identify the needs for individual pupils by considering the needs of the whole child, not just the educational needs of the child. We will refer to the Sheffield Support Grid to identify the level of need that a child/young person is presenting with and the appropriate support that could be put into place.

3. Provision

Provision for SEND at St Catherine’s is characterised by

· early identification and intervention

· removing barriers to learning - adopting a holistic approach

· the early and close involvement of parents

· good communication

· tracking and monitoring of pupil's progress

· focus on outcomes for children and not just hours of provision/support

· raised aspirations of and expectations for all pupils with SEN

· close working relationships with outside professionals

· class teachers retain responsibility for pupils with SEND and their provision

· smooth transition for all pupils with SEND

4. Liaison with feeder settings/schools

Feeder settings/schools are contacted throughout the year prior to transfer. Information is shared, including from any outside professionals working with the children, about any child who has been identified as having, or previously having, a SEN. Where practicable the SENCO/Inclusion Leader will attend meetings to ensure a smooth transition is made. Relevant information is disseminated to teaching staff before transfer.

5. Individual diagnostic assessments

Individual diagnostic assessments are used for children where there are concerns. Skills in literacy and numeracy will be carefully looked at together with progress, both previous and present. We work with Learning Support Services, Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology Services and The 0-5 SEND Team to gather information and undertake assessments that help us plan support and provision for individual children.

6. Pupil Progress and SEND Review meetings

Each school holds regular meetings where the progress of every child is looked at and talked through. Where there are initial concerns about a child's progress the next steps to accelerate progress will be planned for by the class teacher and SENCO. This information will be shared with parents and the child, will be monitored on a termly basis, at individual SEND Review meetings, held between the SENCO, class teacher and parent.

7. Staff observation

Members of staff consult with the SEND Team if they notice pupils who may need specialist help during the school year. Evidence for that concern must be produced, with clear information about what the class teacher has already tried to do to support the pupil.

8. Referrals by parents or carers within school

Any parent/carer may express concern. Once information is gathered the process is the same as for staff referrals.

All parental referrals are acted upon.

9. The Sheffield Support Grid

This is a document that supports the identification of, levelling of and provision for SEND. There are four broad categories of need - detailed below:

Communication and Interaction (C&I)

Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism

Cognition and Learning (C&L)

Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD)

Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD)

Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) This includes a range of conditions such as dyslexia (difficulties with reading and spelling); dyscalculia (maths); and dysgraphia (writing).

A discrepancy between achievement and general intellectual ability that may indicate that a child or young person has a SpLD.

Social, mental and emotional health (SMEH)

A wide range and degree of mental health problems might require special provision to be made. These could manifest as difficulties such as;

Problems of mood (anxiety or depression),

Problems of conduct (oppositional problems and more severe conduct problems including aggression),

Self-harming,

Substance abuse,

Eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained,

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD),

Attachment disorder,

Autism or pervasive developmental disorder,

An anxiety disorder,

A disruptive disorder or, rarely, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Sensory and/or physical needs (S/PD)

Visual Impairment (VI)

Hearing Impairment (HI)

Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI)

Physical Disability

Dyspraxia/ Developmental Coordination Disorder

Other factors may impact on progress and attainment but may not be an SEN. These will need considerations making for and include;

· Disability ( the Code of Practice outlines the “reasonable adjustment “ duty for all settings and schools provided under current Disability Equality legislation – these alone do not constitute SEN)

· Attendance and Punctuality

· Health and Welfare

· EAL

· Being in receipt of Pupil Premium Grant

· Being a Looked After Child

· Being a child of Serviceman/woman

10: A Graduated Approach to SEN Support

We follow the Graduated response (as detailed in the SEN Policy ) where we assess, plan, do and review the programme of provision for each individual child, increasing or decreasing the SEN support as determined by their progress. Every child who is on the SEND register has a Support Plan which documents all this information. Children with higher needs may also have an new Extended Support Plan, or an EHCP. Each of these documents are reviewed on a termly basis. The termly review process allows for school, parent and child views to be gathered and allows for all stakeholders to discuss successes together. If it is felt that a child’s need is escalating or that they require additional provision, we follow the Local Authority SEND processes – these include panels of SEND professionals who will consult on and quality assess EXSPs with a view to changing provision or requesting as assessment for an EHCP

11. Ongoing Provision in the Classroom

Universal Provision – Ordinarily Available Provision:

Wave 1 - Quality First Teaching by all teaching staff

Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.

· High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN.

· Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching.

School regularly and carefully reviews the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered.

Wave 2

Wave 2 is initiated where pupils have failed to make adequate progress as identified by the SENCO through the assessment arrangements available in school. If teachers and parents agree to interventions that are additional to or different from the schools differentiated curriculum then a move to SEN Support will be agreed and the pupil will be entered onto the schools SEN register.

Provision from within the schools resources is identified to help meet the student’s needs. Interventions may include;

· additional learning programmes such as literacy and numeracy

· smaller group sessions

· appropriate teaching groups/sets

· group support on a regular basis

· booster class where appropriate

· emotional support

· additional staff training

· One Page Profiles/Person Centered Planning tools

· APDR plans (Assess, Plan, Do, Review)

When a child is placed on the SEND register they are monitored through termly reviews. These reviews may be held more frequently than every term, depending on the needs of the individual pupil. These review cycle will follow the assess, plan, do and review cycle

Assess

SEND students may be identified through the teachers’ observations and assessment, SEND areas of need (see SENCO) standardised assessments (Baseline, SATs, etc.), progress checklists, target setting, parental/carers concerns or the students own observations or by external agencies.

Plan

Where it is decided to provide a pupil with SEND Support, the parents must be notified. The teacher and the SENCO should agree in consultation with the parent and the pupil the interventions and support to be put in place, as well as the expected impact on progress, development or behaviour, along with a clear date for review. All identified SEND pupils will have a tracking grid completed, this will be updated each year by the class teacher with support (if needed) from the SENCO.

The class or subject teacher should remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis. Where the interventions involve group or one-to-one teaching away from the main class or subject teacher, they should still retain responsibility for the pupil, working closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved, to plan and assess the impact of interventions. The SENCO should support the class teacher in the further assessment of the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses, in problem solving and advising on the effective implementation of the support.

Review Process

Provision Maps are to be reviewed at the end of a strategy and/or intervention, with input from the student, parent/carer, teachers, and learning support staff and outside agencies (if applicable). If a pupil has a Support Plan, EXSP or One Page Profile in place these will also be reviewed and updated at these time.

Students with an EHCP have set short term targets which have been established after consultation with the parents/carers and the individual student and include targets identified in the statement of SEND. These targets will be set out in the Support Plan and be implemented, at least in part and as far as possible, in the normal classroom setting. The delivery of the interventions will continue to be the responsibility of the class teachers. All statements will be reviewed annually with the statement review taking place in school. The parents/carers, the young person and involved professionals will be invited to consider the progress made by the young person in achieving targets set and whether any amendments need to be made to the statement. Students participate in their Annual Reviews by:

· Attending their review meetings

· Offering their opinion and advice in the setting of targets

· Discussing their achievements/concerns/issues in advance of the review meeting with parents/carers or others as appropriate.

Wave 3

Where pupils fail to make adequate progress, despite additional provision at Wave 2, the school seeks advice and involvement from external support services. These external support services can be called upon to provide specialist assessments, advice on teaching strategies or materials, short term support or training for staff.

Extended Support Plans

If a pupil’s needs fall in Level 3 or above on the Sheffield Support Grid it may be appropriate to complete an Extended Support Plan, which would collate all of the child’s strengths and needs and also plan outcomes and support to help the pupil to progress. It may also be appropriate in some cases to complete a EXSP for a child where there are particular concerns or anxieties around their progress. These anxieties may come from home, school or another agency supporting the young person.

Statutory assessments/Education, Health and Care plans

If a pupil fails to make adequate progress and has demonstrated a significant cause for concern, the school and/or the parents may decide to request that the LA undertakes a statutory assessment. This may lead to the pupil being provided with an Education, Health and Care plan.

The SENCO is responsible, on a daily basis, for providing support and monitoring and ensuring that pupils with EHCPs receive a specified amount of support. The process of target setting, monitoring and reviewing remains the same as at Wave 2.

12. Local Offer

St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School will cooperate generally with the local authority and local partners in the development and review of the local offer. This can be found at www.sheffield.gov.uk/localoffer, searching for the school's name.

13: Criteria for exiting the SEN register

Where pupils make sufficient progress based on the Assess, Plan, Do and Review cycle it may be agreed that a pupil needs no further additional support and may exit the SEN register. Further additional support can be requested again at any point.

All children who have been identified as having an SEN at any point in their school careers are recorded on the schools 'cohort overview', which is kept updated by the SENCO and shared at the start of each new school year so that all teaching staff are familiar with the needs (past or present) that their current pupils have. This information is also shared with the secondary school.

14: Supporting Families

School have liaised with the Local Authority to produce a Local Offer entry for St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School. This can be found in the Sheffield Directory at www.sheffielddirectory.org.uk

It is the school’s statutory requirement to provide a SEN Information Report; Regulation 51, Part 3, section 69(3)(a) of the Act which can be found at www.stcatherines.academy/

St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School endeavours to support pupils with SEN through signposting families to other agencies and services that may be of help e.g. MAST team, Family Fund, Short Break Grants, support groups, training opportunities as appropriate.

All the schools within St Clare’s Catholic Mat are committed to ensuring that all children have quality transition experiences as they move through our schools. We work closely together to ensure that all children with SEN have bespoke packages of support at this time.

15. Admissions

St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School will ensure it meets its duties under the Schools Admissions Code of Practice by:

· Not refusing admission for a child that has named the school in their EHC plan.

· Adopting fair practices and arrangements in accordance with the Schools Admission Code for the admission of children without an EHC plan.

· Considering applications from parents of children who have SEN but do not have an EHC plan.

· Not refusing admission for a child who has SEN but does not have an EHC plan because the school does not feel able to cater for those needs.

· Not refusing admission for a child on the grounds that they do not have an EHC plan.

16. Access arrangements

St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School follows national guidance about supporting children to access exams and other assessments. This is overseen by the Senior Leadership Team within school.

17: Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions

The school recognises that pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. Some children with medical conditions may be disabled and where this is the case the school will comply with its duties under the Equality Act 2010.

Some may also have special educational needs (SEN) and may have a statement, or Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan which brings together health and social care needs, as well as their special educational provision and the SEND Code of Practice (2014) is followed.

Further information about the arrangements in place in school to support pupils with medical conditions can be found in the separate policy for this.

18: Training and Resources

We ensure that all staff have access to a variety of training over each school year.

The SENCO plans this training around the changing needs of the children that we have in our school. We invite specialists into schools to support and train staff on an ongoing basis and utilise information from parents about how they would like their child to be supported.

In school, the annual Appraisal systems will identify areas of training needs for any staff working with children with SEN. All staff have access to high quality training which is sometimes provided by external providers such as Speech and Language, Educational Psychologists, the Autism Team.

We have a number of specialist Teaching Assistant, who work in areas such as Speech and Language, Life Skills, ASD and Nurture.

What training have the staff supporting children with SEND had?

All teachers and TAs have had training on dyslexia, ADHD, ACES, ASD and Team Teach
A number of TAs have worked 1:1 with the Educational Psychology Teacher and the Teacher for pupils with a Specific Learning Difficulty on how to deliver a range of strategies to support literacy and numeracy needs.
The Speech and Language Therapist has delivered 1:1 training to some TAs.
The Lodge Leads have undertaken a three-day ‘Train the Trainer’ course on ASD
The Lodge staff have received bespoke SCERTS CPD as part of the Citywide SCERTS project, as well as CPD on Low Arousal techniques and Early Communication.

· Resources are allocated to support children with identified needs as identified above.

· This support may take the form of differentiated work in class, support from a Teaching Assistant (TA) in focused intervention in groups, or for individuals.

· Where necessary specialist equipment, books or other resources that may help the child are purchased, following the advice from outside professionals wherever possible.

19: Roles and Responsibilities

The Role of the Governing Body

The governing body, in cooperation with the head teacher, monitors the schools general policy and approach to the provision for children with SEN, monitors the appropriate staffing and funding arrangements and maintains a general oversight of the schools work.

The governing body:

· does its best to ensure that the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has special educational needs.

· ensures that the teachers in the school are aware of the importance of identifying, and providing for, those pupils who have special educational needs

· ensures that a pupil with special educational needs joins in the activities of the school together with pupils who do not have special educational needs, so far as is reasonably practical and compatible with the child receiving the special educational provision their learning needs class for and the efficient education of the pupils with whom they are educated and the efficient use of resources

· has regard to the SEN Code of Practice when carrying out its duties toward all pupils with SEN.

· ensures that parents are notified of a decision by the school that SEN provision is being made for the child

The Role of the Headteacher

· Ensure that those teaching or working with the pupil are aware of their needs, and have arrangements in place to meet them

· Ensure that teachers monitor and review the pupil’s progress during the course of the academic year.

· Cooperate with local authorities during annual EHC plan reviews.

· Ensure that the SENCO/Inclusion Leader has sufficient time and resources to carry out their functions.

· Provide the SENCO/Inclusion Leader with sufficient administrative support and time away from teaching to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in a similar way to other important strategic roles within the school.

· Regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for pupils at risk of underachievement, as a core part of the school’s performance management arrangements.

· Ensuring that teachers understand the strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and possess knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered.

The Role of the SENCO

· Be a qualified teacher.

· In collaboration with the Headteacher, the SENCO, and governing body, determines the strategic development of the SEND policy and provision at St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School with the ultimate aim of raising the achievement of pupils with SEND need.

· Managing the Inclusion team.

· Liaising with and advising colleagues on all matters relating to SEND.

· Contributing to the continuing development and training of school staff

· Overseeing the review and maintenance of statements/EHCPs, EXSPs and records for all SEND students.

· Overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEND Policy.

· Co-ordinating provision for SEND students.

· Organising and maintaining the records of all SEND students.

· Liaising with parents/carers of SEND students in co-operation with class teachers

· Liaising with all feeder schools when SEND pupils leave the school.

· Contributing to the continuing development and training of school staff.

· Liaising with external agencies including the LA officer with responsibility for SEND and the educational psychology service, health and children’s services, voluntary bodies and others as relevant/appropriate.

The Role of the Class Teacher

· Plan and review support for their pupils with SEN, on a graduated basis, in collaboration with parents, the Inclusion Leader and, where appropriate, the pupil themselves.

· Set high expectations for every pupil and aim to teach them the full curriculum, whatever their prior attainment.

· Use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious.

· Plan lessons to address potential areas of difficulty and to ensure that there are no barriers to every pupil achieving.

· Ensure SEND/PP children are receiving tailored homework (where appropriate)

· Update intervention records termly.

· Update Support Plans termly.

· Attend termly SEND reviews with SENCO and parents.

· Print off half termly data and place in achievement tracking files.

· Complete pupil progress record sheets before PPR

· Identify individual children not making progress and inform Inclusion leader/Headteacher.

· Update TA timetables, class provision map and Support Plans (where appropriate) after PPR.

· Ensure any changes to timetables/updated Support Plans etc. are given to the Inclusion leader

20: Reviewing the Policy

This policy will be reviewed regularly as we move into the New Code of Practice, with an annual review also taking place.

21: Complaints

As parents are involved throughout the implementation of SEN provision it is hoped that there will be no cause for complaint. However if a parent has a complaint the following procedure takes place:

1. Make an appointment to discuss this with the class teacher. The class teacher investigates and gives the parent a date for a follow up appointment if necessary.

2. If not satisfied, an appointment to discuss the complaint with the SENCO/ Headteacher will be made

3. If still not satisfied, an appointment with the governor with responsibility for SEN and the Chair of Governors will be made.

4. If the problem is unresolved, the parent may contact the Local Authority about the matter.

5. At any time the parent may seek help from the Parent Partnership Service (see below).

If you do not agree with any decisions made, you have the right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal. There is a booklet “Resolution of Disagreements” to help parents and staff to follow codes of good practice in resolving disputes. It is in the Special Educational Needs toolkit.

A copy of ‘Special Educational Needs – Code of Practice’, published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, is available in school for reference.

Contact details for SSENDIAS - Sheffield SEN & Disability Information Advice and Support Service (previously Sheffield Parent Partnership)

North Wing, Moorfoot
City Centre
SHEFFIELD

S1 4PL

Email: ssendias@sheffield.gov.uk

https://www.facebook.com/SheffieldSENDIAS/

0114 273 6009

22: Further reading

A copy of the Sheffield Support Grid, alongside lots of other information and guidance is available on https://www.learnsheffield.co.uk/Partners/Inclusion-Task-Force/

The Local Offer:

SSENDIAS - Sheffield SEN & Disability Information Advice and Support | Sheffield Directory