Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND)
Definition of Special Educational Needs
“A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty calls for special educational provision, that is provision that is different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age.” The New Code of Practice 2014.
At Halsall St Cuthbert's CE Primary School we value all God’s children and ensure that those with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) get the support they need to make excellent progress in a caring and fully inclusive environment, ensuring they experience life in all its fullness. We believe in celebrating everybody's strengths and supporting everyone to improve. We therefore strive to include all children in whole class learning as much as possible, providing our pupils with Quality First teaching approaches which give them the self-confidence needed in order to maximize their potential and develop skills to work independently. If this isn't possible, we provide focused interventions and support to meet the child's needs. We have a graduated response to SEN and work with families to best support them and their children.
We provide support for pupils across the four areas of need as laid out in the SEND Code of Practice 2014:
· Communication and interaction
· Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
· Sensory and/or physical needs
· Cognition and learning
The categories are used in order to plan additional provision for children who need support; however, identification of a specific type of need is not necessary to put a support plan into place. Equally, the identification of a type of need does not automatically call for the implementation of SEND support. It will often be the case that children have needs across more than one category, and our priority is to gain a good understanding of how the pupils learn to ensure provision is appropriate, rather than focussing on the category of need.
We have experience of working with and meeting the needs of children with Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, Specific Learning Difficulties (for example Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, Dyscalculia or Dyspraxia) and Autistic Spectrum Disorder. We also have experience of catering for children with food allergies, specific medical needs (e.g. cerebral palsy, diabetes, ITP) and school is also accessible to wheelchair users.
For any questions involving SEN or medical needs, please contact the school office either by phone (01704 840253) or email (bursar@halsall.lancs.sch.uk) or the SENDCo by email (senco@halsall.lancs.sch.uk).
Lancashire’s Local Offer
Here is the link to the Local Offer for the Lancashire Local Authority, which can help you to understand what services you can expect, and what is available from a range of agencies:
https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities