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Introduction

Our SEN Information Report provides details about how we support pupils with Special Education Needs in our school.  This was last reviewed and updated in September 2022.  This should be read alongside our SEND policy, Equality Scheme and Accessibility Plan.

At Holt Farm Infants we recognise that all pupils are entitled to a quality of provision that will enable them to achieve their potential.  We believe in positive and early intervention, high expectations, identifying and removing barriers to learning and working in collaboration with external agencies to provide a happy and positive educational experience for all our children.

Key Contacts

Mrs. Danielle Browne is the designated Special Needs Coordinator and holds the National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCo).  She can be contacted via the school office on 01702 544058 (Monday to Wednesday) or by email, on Daniellebrowne@holtfarm-inf.essex.sch.uk.

Sasha Egan is our designated SEN Governor.

SEND Admissions

For information on the admission of pupils with a disability, please visit the School Admissions section of our website alongside the Accessibility Plan. 

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Essex Local Offer

The full range of local support available for children/young people with SEND, both inside and outside of school, can be found in the Essex Local Offer 

South Essex Extended Services

Holt Farm Infants is proud to be a member of South Essex Extended Services, which is a local service, commissioned by individual schools in order to provide holistic support to their children and families.  Through this, we can access family support workers, specialist teaching advice, Educational Psychologist support and a range of support groups.  

LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN WITH SEN

Mr Goodier is the designated member of staff for looked after children who works closely with the SENCO to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEN.

SLT, Teachers, SENCO and Support Staff at Holt Farm Infant School will work closely together with our children to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes. The provision is planned and interventions are allocated to individual needs. Regular PEP and One Planning meetings would be held to discuss progress and support.

SEN TRANSITION

How we support children/young people with SEN starting at our school

New starters for Reception children are provided with the following opportunities:

• Welcome Meeting for parents
• Open Evening for families to view the school
• Welcome packs sent home
• Introductory phone calls home from the class teacher
• ‘Stay and Play’ visits to the Learning Garden for parents and children, prior to starting
• Children visits to their new class for a story by their new teacher

We have a very flexible approach and additional visit opportunities can be arranged. Our SENCo and Early Years lead will also contact the preschools and arrange additional visits and attendance at any One Planning or Team around the Child meeting held at the previous setting, where appropriate.

How we support children/young people with SEN moving onto new classes in our school

Transition from each Year Group is supported so that the children have met with their new teachers and are familiar with the new classroom environment and organisation. Structured handover meetings are scheduled between staff members towards the end of the summer term, to share all relevant information.

How we support children/young people with SEN leaving our school

We work in partnership with our partner junior school to provide an enhanced level of transition for those who we feel would benefit from this. This may take the form of additional visits for pupils, one to one / small group meetings with junior staff.

The period of transition depends on the individual needs of the pupil. If it is felt appropriate, primary school colleagues will attend One Planning meetings or Annual Reviews to meet the current class teacher, parents and most importantly the pupil. We have found arranging joint meetings with the junior SENCo/class teachers particularly useful in easing any worries or concerns parents and pupils may have. We are keen to involve parents/carers as much as possible in their child’s transition.

SEN SPECIALIST EXPERTISE

SENCO and Staff

Our SENCO is Mrs Danielle Browne and she can be contacted by phoning the school on 01702 544058 or sending an email to daniellebrowne@holtfarm-inf.essex.sch.uk

More details of the SENCO’s role can be found in the SEN Policy or our SEN Information Report, which can be found in the school policies section of our website.

School staff are signposted to any relevant training, via either via the LEA or via local providers such as South Essex Extended Services, as and when needs arise.

External Specialists

The school enjoys good working relationships with a wide range of people who provide services to children with SEND and their families.

The external specialists may:

• Act in an advisory capacity
• Extend expertise of school staff
• Provide additional assessment
• Support a child directly
• Suggest statutory assessment is advisable
• Consult with all parties involved with the child

These include:

• Essex Local Offer
• LEA Inclusion Partners
• Specialist Teachers for the visually or hearing impaired
• Essex LEA Educational Psychology Team
• South Essex Extended Service (EP, attendance and Family Support/Counselling, specialist teachers for ASD)
• Health Agencies
• Looked After Children-virtual school
• Medical Practitioners, eg GPs, paediatricians
• Occupational therapy
• School nursing team
• Continence Team
• MHST (Mental Health Support Team)
• Speech and Language Therapy Team (SaLT)
• CAMHS/EWMHS

How we secure specialist expertise

Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEN and is monitored by the Headteacher. We pay into South Essex Extended Services annually which is part of our local Delivery Group (LDG) to enable us to have a higher level of SEN Support than is normally available to schools. This provides access to appointments with an Educational Psychologist and enables us to make referrals to Family Support Workers and to access additional support for parents.

Our additional needs budget is used to support children and young people with SEND by:

• High adult:child ratio teaching groupings for phonics and maths.
• Teaching assistants to support within the classroom
• Targeted provision including literacy and maths, social skills, speech and language, fine and gross motor skills, emotional resilience.

If a child has complex special educational needs, we may also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes; this may be short term via IPRA (Individual Pupil Resourcing Agreement) to support transition or medical needs, or long-term, via an EHC Plan.

CONSULTING WITH OUR SEN PUPILS, PARENTS & CARERS

Consultation with Children and Young People with SEND

Teachers, the SENCO and support staff will work with children and young people to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes.  The provision is planned and interventions are allocated to individual needs. The children’s views are held at the centre of our person-centred planning.

Consultation with parents and carers of children and young people with SEND

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support.  Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.

There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:

• Termly parent/carer meetings

• Ongoing discussions with a class teacher
• Contact with the SENCO is welcomed via telephone, email, visit to the school or appointment.
• Regular reviews of their child’s One Planning/EHC Plan.

Compliments, Complaints and Feedback

• We are always seeking to improve on the quality of education we provide for children with SEN and are keen to hear from parents about their child’s experience.
• We would also like your views about the content of our SEN Information Report. If you would like to comment please contact the SENCo via daniellebrowne@holtfarm-inf.essex.sch.uk
• Compliments are always greatly received and can be passed on either directly to staff and the SENCO, or in the form of a letter to the Head Teacher.  These positive comments will be published on this area of our school website.
• We hope that complaints about our SEND provision will be rare, however, if there should be a concern, the process outlined in our Complaints Policy should be followed.

Support for Emotional & Social Development

In order for children to achieve well, we have a strong focus upon pastoral care. Other than our dedicated SENCO, knowledgeable teaching and support staff and a committed headteacher, we also have access to the Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service (ECFWS). This is a partnership between Virgin Care and Barnardo’s which delivers 0-19 Children’s Public Health Services such as health visiting and school nursing which is commissioned by Essex County Council. They lead groups based in school to support children in team and friendship skills as well as focusing on activities that encourage- self-regulation by increasing emotional awareness.

We offer Social Skills groups in school which teach children the basic skills, resilience and emotional vocabulary they need to meet challenges, overcome frustration and persevere so that they can function appropriately at school and home. We also have staff trained in the ‘Drawing and Talking’ programme which offers a safe method of working with children (5y+) to support underlying emotional difficulties that may be affecting their learning, behaviour, self-esteem and relationships. Early Intervention addressing mental well-being is crucial in being able to improve the lives of children who, when suffering from emotional pain or trauma that is left untreated, may go on to develop more serious mental health issues. This short-term, time-limited, person-centred therapeutic playwork approach is intended to complement rather than replace the work  that CAMHS or other specialist therapies offer.