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Updated: January 2023

All Ebor Academy Trust schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and are supported by the local authority (LA) to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. All schools are supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible. Please see below our current priorities following the Covid 19 pandemic at Haxby Road Primary Academy.

For our SEND Policy, Click here

  • Social and Emotional Well-Being

    In uncertain times, the wellbeing of our children comes first. We are committed to providing social and emotional interventions.

    The EEF state that:

    ‘On average, SEL interventions have an identifiable and valuable impact on attitudes to learning and social relationships in school. They also have an average overall impact of four months’ additional progress on attainment.

    SEL interventions are almost always perceived to improve emotional or attitudinal outcomes, not all interventions are equally effective at raising attainment. Improvements appear more likely when SEL approaches are embedded into routine educational practices and supported by professional development and training for staff. In addition, the implementation of the programme and the degree to which teachers are committed to the approach appear to be important.’

    Please contact the school office if you have a concern over your child’s social and emotional wellbeing. We have a dedicated team of professionals, who use will use SDQ’s and tracking tools, such as Boxall, to determine the right individual support.

  • Attainment

    At Haxby Road Primary Academy we believe there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to closing the attainment gap for children with SEND needs. Due to the period of national lockdown it is vital that we continue to work hard to create adaptable interventions that help our children make progress, from individual starting points.

    We are committed to a long-term programme to support our SEND children. We are planning a holistic, sustained evidence-based approach to reduce the attainment gap. 

    Therefore, every child will have a personalised support package outlined in their SEND plan. This will be closely monitored by the SENCO selecting interventions that suit the individual. Creativity will be at the heart of the intervention programme to ensure individual progress. Monitoring and assessment will take place in line with our Ebor cycle to ensure the interventions are closing the gaps and pupil voice will be central to ensure the children are content with any new changes to their learning. 

    List of interventions being used for closing attainment gaps due to COVID 19:

    • Elsa nurture groups to support wellbeing following the Pandemic
    • Building resilience art and craft therapy 
    • Bereavement art and craft therapy
    • Precision teaching to support Reading Fluency
    • Little Wandle keep up phonics sessions
    • Craft phonics – overlearning / over teach for retention difficulties
    • Reading practice
    • Reading for real
    • Reading plus sessions
    • WELCOM
    • Singing therapy for Speech and Language
    • Mathletics 
    • Timestable rockstars
    • Number gym
    • Additive facts group

     

  • What is the Local Offer?

    The LA Local Offer

    • The Children and Families Bill was enacted in 2014. From this date, Local Authorities and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for the children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) aged 0-25. This is the ‘Local Offer’.
    • The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It will also be an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area.

    The School SEN Information Report

    This utilises the LA Local Offer to meet the needs of SEN pupils as determined by school policy, and the provision that the school is able to meet.

    Please see the local offer website for further family support: 

    https://www.yor-ok.org.uk/2014%20YorOK%20Website/families/Local%20Offer/parent-carer-support.htm

  • Our Environment

    At Haxby Road Primary Academy, we are committed to providing our pupils with a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum which is accessible to all and promotes inclusion. All our pupils are included in all aspects of school life and are equally valued in school. We create environments that are safe and calm so that our pupils feel comfortable to be in school and to enable them to flourish. Our staff work closely as a team to provide consistency of approach and strategies that we have in place for our pupils.

    Because all children learn in different ways, we have tailored our classroom environments so that they can meet a range of needs. All of our classrooms provide:

    • Visual supports (including dyslexia friendly, speech and language friendly and autism friendly approaches)
    • A distraction free learning zone
    • Sensory Processing strategies (movement breaks, noise reducing headphones, move and sit cushions, fiddle toys etc)
    • Access to multi-sensory and hands-on learning
    • Use of IT and alternative methods of recording where needed
    • Use of de-escalation strategies
    • To Emotion coaching and daily check ins using Zones of Regulation to support understanding of emotions
    • A preventative rather than reactive approach
    • Positive praise – and lots of it!
    • Staffing ratios appropriate to the level of support needed.
  • Identification and Intervention

    Every teacher here at Haxby Road is working towards the achievement of every child through excellent quality first teaching. We call this our Universal offer. If any child is struggling in class for any reason, strategies and or intervention will be put in place at a Targeted level to support with this after discussions with parents/carers. Advice would be sought from the SEN team and progress would be tracked to see if these strategies were proving to be successful.

    If a child is still struggling in school and needs additional support, it may be that they need more Specialist level intervention and resources putting in place. Again, parents would be very much involved in this discussion and would work with the school to plan this. At this stage, your child would be receiving ‘SEN Support’ and the SEN Team would be closely involved to support staff, your child and the family. The majority of children at this level with have some Assistant Teacher Support. Each child’s support package will look different depending on their level of need. As we are keen to promote independence and develop young people’s life skills for the future, where a child has AT support, we discourage the concept of 1:1 ‘velcroed’ support. Through careful planning, we will ensure that each child’s needs are met through a balanced approach of 1:1, group work and monitored independent time.

  • SEN Support: defining SEN and SEN provision

    The new SEN Code of Practice defines children as having special educational needs (SEN):

    A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

    A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

    • has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or 16
    • has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions .

    The SEN Team and the Pupil and Family Support Team oversee the provisions and interventions we have in place for all our pupils at Haxby Road. Along with the Senior Leadership Team, they monitor the effectiveness of provision through observations and data analysis and provision will be adjusted as required to ensure pupils are fulfilling their full potential. Children will always be supported to engage in activities available to pupils who do not have SEN.

    Because we understand that Early Identification is key, we have a dedicated Early Years SEN worker (Caroline Wilkinson) to work with staff to help identify children with any additional needs and advise on intervention as this early stage. This is done in liaison with the SEN team.

    We work closely with individuals and other agencies to help us identify the right support for each child, including:

    • Emma Truelove, Educational Psychologist
    • CAMHS (Child Adolescent Metal Health Service)
    • Speech and Language Therapists (both in school and in clinic)
    • Other Health Professionals
    • Physiotherapists
    • Occupational Therapists
    • CYC Specialist Teaching Teams
    • Physical and medical
    • Autism
    • Early years
    • Hearing Impairment
    • Dyslexia outreach support
    • Speech and Language outreach support
  •  
      By clicking on each area below you will see more detail and examples of interventions that we run for our pupils. Some children will need support in more than one area of need so we will personalise their learning to encompass this. At Haxby Road Primary Academy, we strive to support children with a wide range of special educational needs in each of these areas.
  • 1. Speech, Language and Communication

    6.28 Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social communication at different times of their lives.

    6.29 Children and young people with ASD, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism, are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can impact on how they relate to others.

    Communication and Interaction Interventions

    • Delivery of individual speech and language programmes
    • Time to Talk
    • Talk Boost
    • Talking Partners
    • ELKLAN strategies – mind maps, task plans, modelling, limited use of language etc.
    • Pre teaching vocabulary
    • Well Comm 0-5yrs
    • Every Child a Talker (ECAT)
    • Communication Toolkit.
  • 2. Cognition and Learning

    6.30 Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.

    6.31 Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

     Learning and Cognition Interventions

    • Phonics Boosters/Rapid Phonics
    • Rapid Reading/1:1 reading
    • IDL (Indirect Dyslexia Learning)
    • Reading/writing/ Sentence and punctuation boosters
    • Handwriting intervention – multi-sensory or alternative methods
    • Precision Teaching (bespoke to child’s need)
    • Reading Squad
    • Early Literacy Support (ELS)
    • TT Rockstars
    • Spaced Out
    • Numeracy Booster
    • Number Gym Booster
    • Big Maths Quiz
    • Numicon
    • Pre Teaching
    • Use of specialist equipment – ICT equipment, coloured overlays and books, pencil grips etc.
  • 3. Social Emotional and Mental Health difficulties

    6.32 Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

    6.33 Schools and colleges should have clear processes to support children and young people, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour so it does not adversely affect other pupils. The Department for Education publishes guidance on managing pupils’ mental health and behaviour difficulties in schools – see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link.

    Social, emotional and mental health interventions

    • The Hub
    • ELSA provision or mentors by trained ELSAs (Emotional Literacy Support Assis tants)
    • Lunch Clubs
    • Circle of Friends
    • Peer Buddies
    • Worry Box
    • Use of visual prompts and timetables
    • The Samaritans Mental Health Toolkit
    • The Island Mentors Service
    • Young Carer Group
    • Wellbeing worker (CAMHS)
    • 1:1 HUB support
    • Nurture Group
    • Sensory Circuits
    • Personalised learning plans
    • Regulation visual cards
    • Emotion coaching
    • Zones of regulation
    • How to tame your meerkat
  • 4. Sensory and/or Physical needs

    6.34 Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or habilitation support. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties. Information on how to provide services for deafblind children and young people is available through the Social Care for Deafblind Children and Adults guidance published by the Department of Health (see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link).

    6.35 Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.

    Sensory and Physical interventions

    • Handwriting intervention – multi-sensory or alternative methods
    • Busy Fingers boxes
    • It’s in the bag
    • Delivery of 1:1 Physio and OT programmes
    • Use of sensory resources and strategies
    • Adapted PE sessions
    • Early movement sessions (Tiny Steps)
    • Sensory circuits
    • Fine and gross motor skill development
  •  
      All pupils with SEN at Haxby Road have a document in place that is jointly written by parents, the child and professionals. Depending on the level of need, this may be called a ‘Condensed My Support Plan’, a ‘Full My Support Plan’ or an ‘Education Health Care Plan.’ An EHCP is a statutory document that is written alongside the SEN Panel at the Local Authority.
  • Family and Pupil Engagement

    Communication is key

    We pride ourselves on strong links with parents/carers and the child. We will always keep you in the loop when planning provision and intervention for your child. We have introduced comprehensive documentation for all our pupils receiving SEN Support that is written and reviewed jointly with parents and pupils. We know that by working together, we have a much greater chance of getting it right for your child. There are dedicated sections within your child’s plan for parents/carers and pupils to complete. We welcome yours and your child’s input into their plan, not just at their review meeting, but on a more regular basis as things arise. 

    In addition to the review process, we seek parent and pupil voice every term to help us improve our systems to support children with additional needs in our school. Your views matter to us and we strongly believe that if parents and carers are the true experts in their children and therefore we welcome a joint partnership to meet needs. 

    We hold termly SEND café’ to provide opportunities to update parents on current priorities in school and to provide opportunities to network with other parents and carers of children with additional needs. 

    There will always be a member of SLT on the gate to welcome children and parents and be there to provide extra support – follow up any issues as they arise. The SENDCO meets parents every Wednesday and is available via email, formal meetings or a telephone call to support our families. In addition to this, the wellbeing team are there to support parents with the SEND process.

  • Workforce & Training

    As part of Ebor Academy Trust, we are committed to providing high quality training and support to all our staff. We have an experienced Academy Specialist for SEN who has dedicated time to work with our schools and our workforce. Our staff access in house specialist training as a well as a wide range of external courses from other professionals and agencies.

    Examples of recent staff training would include:

    • The SEND process of identifying need’s in our school
    • Reading progress for SEND children with a precision teaching focus group SEMH Trauma and attachment focus group 
    • How to deploy Assistant Teachers effectively 
    • Communication friendly classrooms and environments
    • Supporting pupils with Selective Mutism and Stammering S&L 
    • Autism visual support aids training through the Specialist Teaching Team 
    • Emotion coaching with the Head Teacher in ERP Lucy Battersby 
    • Zones of regulation training for all staff
    • Waves of teaching and closing the attainment gap through differentiation and a personalised planning approach
    • Bereavement in children online training 
    • NELI speech and language training
    • Little Wandle Phonics training 

     

    We also work closely with the Wellbeing Service to support pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and ensure our staff have the knowledge to work with and meet the needs of our pupils. The Wellbeing Team provide regular safeguarding and wellbeing training to all staff

    We work on a flexible and personal approach and therefore we train individual staff to support the needs of our pupils e.g. a Teaching and Learning team have undertaken online training to support with Bereavement.

    Within our school, we have a team committed to inclusion to ensure that all children are happy and safe and are achieving both academically and socially. We also benefit from having an Enhanced Resource Provision on site for pupils with Communication and Interaction difficulties and ASC from all over the City of York. The specialist staff from the ERP share their expertise across the whole school and provide training, general advice for our staff.

    Our Senior Leadership Team carry out weekly learning walks in all of our classrooms which ensure that advice and support is given regularly to staff which means we are confident that our pupils are receiving the best possible support and teaching. In addition to this the SENDCO observes all children on the SEND register weekly and sends a weekly training update to all staff. The SENDO also provides ‘top tips’ to parents through a weekly email to support the needs in our school and regular newsletter updates.

    All staff in school are made aware of individual children’s specific needs and training/ support will be put in place as needed. We seek advice from the Speech and Language therapist, the Specialist EYFS teaching teams, The Autism Teaching Team and the Educational Psychologist and use this to underpin our training calendar. 

    All staff undertake a handover and where needed any additional training will be considered to help ease transitions for children with additional needs.

  • The SEN team

    Mrs H Ferguson – SENDco Monday and Tuesday

    Get in touch

    • If you have any concerns about your child, please see the class teacher as the first point of contact. You can also contact the SENCO – Mrs H Ferguson  on 01904 806620 or h.ferguson@ebor.academy.

    If you have any complaints about the SEN provision in school, please contact Laura Robinson, Head of School on 01904 806620 or l.robinson2@ebor.academy.

  • Other links you may find useful