Mrs R Sparkes DDSL
Our SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities Coordinator.)
You can contact them through the main school office or:
EmailOur vision for children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND) is the same as for all children. We strive to ensure access for all to educational excellence in preparing children and young people for their futures, seeking to continually improve attainment and progress for all and secure the highest levels of achievement appropriate to the individual learner.
SEND Aims
- To ensure accurate identification of all pupils requiring SEND provision as early as possible
- To ensure that all SEND children have access to a broad and balanced curriculum
- To provide a differentiated curriculum appropriate to the individual’s needs and ability
- To ensure that SEND pupils take as full a part as possible in all school activities
- To ensure that parents of SEND pupils are kept fully informed of their child’s progress and attainment
- To ensure that SEND pupils are involved, where practical, in decisions affecting their future SEND provision
- Communication and Interaction
- Cognition and Learning
- Social, Mental and Emotional Health
- Sensory and/or Physical Needs
The Government provides some advice for parents and carers about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities which you can access here https://www.gov.uk/children-with-special-educational-needs
View our SEND policies here
We are committed to ensuring that pupils with medical conditions are fully supported in school so that they can:
- Play a full and active role in school life;
- Access and enjoy the same opportunities at school as any other child, including school trips and physical education;
- Remain healthy and safe;
- Achieve their academic potential.
If a student has a medical need, they will have a Care Plan, which is compiled in consultation with parents and one of our medical assistants. The plan is discussed with all staff who are involved with the student and is added to the student’s profile, so staff can access it.
Staff receive regular medical training delivered by the school medical assistant and are aware of where they can access further information as required.
Where necessary and in agreement with parents, medicines are administered in school but only with signed parental consent and with medicines in the original packaging.
We welcome students with special educational needs or disabilities and support students across four teams. Students are organised into the teams during their transition from their previous school and it is based on the student’s main area of need. An Area of Need leader will monitor their academic progress and attendance whilst ensuring that the student’s needs were been met both through teaching and structured interventions.
Cognition and learning needs
What is it?
Students with learning difficulties have academic attainments which are significantly below those of their peers due to a slower rate of learning. They will have difficulty acquiring and applying basic literacy, numeracy and language skills.
What does it look like?
Children may have difficulties with:
- Spelling and Reading
- Writing and Number
- Working memory
- Learning and processing new information
- They may also find it difficult to concentrate for longer periods of time
- They may have ‘Specific Learning Difficulty’ such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia
- Children may have diagnoses such as Down’s Syndrome or Global developmental delay.
What can Montgomery offer?
In liaison with class teachers and parents, the SENCo will support staff to provide the most appropriate level of support.
Social, emotional and mental health needs
What is it?
Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways.
What does it look like?
Children may:
- Become withdrawn or isolated
- Display challenging behaviour or disruptive behaviour
- Develop anxiety or depression
- Have an eating disorder such as anorexia
- Have other disorders which include attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) or attachment disorders.
What can Montgomery offer?
In liaison with class teachers and parents, the SENCo will support staff to provide the most appropriate level of support.
Communication and interaction needs
What is it?
Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs 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.
What does it look like?
Children may have:
- A stammer
- Difficulty expressing themselves and making themselves understood
- Difficulty understanding language or following instructions
- Lack of understanding of social situations
- Lack of imagination
- A diagnosis of Autism (ASD)
What can Montgomery offer?
In liaison with class teachers and parents, the SENCo will support staff to provide the most appropriate level of support.
Sensory and physical needs
What is it?
Sensory needs extends from deafness or visual impairment through to lesser levels of loss, which may only be temporary. Some children and young people with a physical disability which requires additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.
What does it look like?
Children may have:
- Visual impairments
- Hearing impairments
- Gross motor difficulties
- Fine motor difficulties
- Your child may require the use of a wheelchair
- Conditions such as cerebral palsy or arthritis
- Physical injuries
What can Montgomery offer?
In liaison with class teachers and parents, the SENCo will support staff to provide the most appropriate level of support.
How do you prioritise mental health in school?
At Montgomery mental health awareness is integrated into the curriculum as well as being taught discretely in PSHE lessons. During Oracy lessons children are taught the vocabulary and skills necessary to express their emotions effectively. Children at Monty understand the importance of being responsible of their emotions and during PSHE lessons and events such as 'Children's Mental Heath Week' are given strategies for dealing with negative emotions. Teachers encourage dialogue surrounding mental health and emotions with the children incidentally through role play, story telling and the wider curriculum.
How will the school help prepare my child’s transition to another phase, class or secondary school?
When moving classes in school:
- Information will be passed on to the new class teacher and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher. All IEP’s and pupil profiles will be shared with the new teacher.
- If your child would be helped by a book or a passport to support them understand moving on then it will be made for them.
- During the Summer term you child will have an opportunity to meet their new class teacher during transition afternoons.
In Year 6:
- Your child will do focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead.
- Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.
If your child is moving to another school:
- We will contact the school SENCo and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.
- We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.
How will the school support my child’s emotional well-being?
Should a child need support for improving emotional and social development the following may be offered:
- Additional adult support and interventions delivered in class - 1:1 or in a group, to develop positive attitudes to learning, and out of class to address social and emotional issues which affect children’s learning progress.
- Friendship groups
- Use of peer modelling and mentoring.
- Use of talk partners during whole class and group learning sessions.
- Pupil Voice/Junior leadership team
- Buddy systems for support during playtimes and lunchtimes.
- Consistent implementation of the school’s behaviour policy.
- Home/school diaries to ensure daily communication between home and school
- Referral will be made to one or more of the following agencies: the educational psychologist, CAMHS, Behaviour support services or FCAF
You can read more about the interventions here.
How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
A range of strategies may be used to enable all children to access the curriculum. For your child this would mean:
- Teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
- Use of a range of teaching styles which recognise the individual learning styles of the children in the class.
- Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENCo or outside agencies) are in place to support your child to learn.
- Differentiation of the curriculum to match learning to ability.
- Using a range of resources which suit different learning styles.
- Peer group support through mixed ability grouping, paired reading and “buddy” systems.
- Use of positive behaviour modification strategies within the classroom and as part of the whole school Behaviour Policy.
How does the school monitor my child’s progress?
All teachers, the SENCo and support staff carry out an ongoing process of assessment, planning, actioning and reviewing that recognises each child’s strengths as well as areas for improvement. Based on these assessments, targets will be set for your child. These targets will be addressed during daily teaching sessions.
Longer term, targets will be set by the class teacher during reviews. These will be reviewed during parent evenings.
Children participating in an intervention will be assessed using an alternative assessment systems and re-assessed at the end of the intervention to monitor their progress.
How will I know if the school is supporting my child?
Teachers will communicate with parents the range of support their child is receiving and are always available should you want a more indepth discussion at any point in the year.
Those children who are invited to attend additional interventions outside or regular school hours will be invited through a formal letter.
During parent evenings teachers will discuss the range of support your child is receiving and their progress. An Individual Support Plan will be shared with you detailing this and you are invited to contribute and discuss any changes or amendments you may wish to make.
What should I do if I think my child has SEND?
We encourage parents to raise concerns with the school. If you feel your child is having difficulties, talk to your child’s class teacher and please bring in any supporting documentation to the school office. The teacher can best inform you of your child’s progress and after discussion and agreement, put in any additional support for your child.
You can find school contact details here
Mrs Sparkes is the school SENCo and will liaise between teachers, parents and other professionals to ensure your child is well supported. Please feel free to arrange an appointment should you wish to discuss your concerns further.
How does the school know if my child needs additional support?
A child with SEND is defined as:
- having significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age
- having a disability, which either prevents or hinders the child from making use of facilities of a kind which are provided for children of the same age in a mainstream schools
The teacher will raise a concern with the SENCo and parents. Following this, in discussion with the SENCo (Mrs Sparkes) and the adults who work with the child, the children's needs will be identified and suitable provision will be put into place.
Any of the following may indicate a concern:
- Parents/carer
- Child
- Teacher/subject leaders referral
- Support from outside agencies
- Health/Medical assessments
- Records – transferred from another school or setting
- Pupil tracking
