SEND Local Offer Sections
- What school leaders and governors do to make sure that all children feel welcome, feel included and achieve their potential?
- Skills, Knowledge and Expertise of school staff
- The contribution that specialist services and teams make to the progress and well-being of children with SEN/D
- How we identify, assess and plan support
- How we review your child’s progress
- How we make sure that teaching and support helps your child to learn and make good progress
- How we make sure that children with SEN/D enjoy a broad and balanced curriculum
- How we make sure that our school and classrooms are safe, accessible and stimulating
- How we work in partnership with parents and carers
- How we listen and respond to children and young people with SEN/D
- How we support children joining our school and leaving our school – and making transitions
- Personal Development and Safety
Section 1
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – What school leaders and governors do to make sure that all children feel welcome, feel included and achieve their potential?
Q. What funding does the school have for my child with SEN/D?
A. We receive funding from the Local Authority at the start of the financial year for supporting children with SEN/D. School leaders have the responsibility to use the funding to meet the different needs of our children.
Q. How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?
A. We have to make sure that we use this funding as effectively as possible. Our SENDCO consults parents/carers, the child and the class teacher before making a decision about each support programme. We review with parents/carers how well each child is doing and agree changes if we need to.
Q. What happens if my child’s needs change as he gets older?
A. The starting point is to discuss these changes with the SENDCO. If the level of need is becoming higher, parents can work with the school and request an assessment for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). You can find more details about assessment for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) on the Camden local Offer website: www.localoffer.camden.gov.uk
Section 2
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – Skills, Knowledge and Expertise of school staff
Q. How do you make sure that staff new to the school are able to meet my child’s needs?
A. All staff new to the school have an induction programme which includes a meeting with the SENDCO. We provide detailed information about the range of pupils in her/his class, personal support and detailed guidance on how to provide high quality teaching and support. We use the knowledge of parents/carers to do this.
Q. Will there be someone in the school who understands my child’s needs as soon as she starts?
A. As soon as we know that a child is coming to our school with particular needs, we review our provision and provide relevant ongoing training. In particular, we will provide relevant training and guidance for your child’s class teacher on meeting her needs.
Q. Will my child with an Education Health and Care Plan have a key worker – what does the Key Worker do?
A. Yes. We will allocate a Key Worker at the start of the school year or when a SEND support programme is put in place. The Key Worker will coordinate provision and monitor the achievement and well-being of your child.
Section 3
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – The contribution that specialist services and teams make to the progress and well-being of children with SEN/D
Q. Will I be able to meet the speech therapist who is working with my child?
A. If your child is receiving support from a specialist team, you will be able to meet a member of the team to discuss your child’s progress.
Section 4
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we identify, assess and plan support
Q. If my child has been assessed as having a SEND, what happens next?
A. Class teachers regularly assess the progress of the children in their class and if they have any concerns, they will talk to the SENDCO and discuss what the next steps will be. Sometimes this will mean extra support from the class teacher and/or teaching assistant or through a small group intervention. Sometimes we will involve a specialist service.
Q. Will my child have a personal plan?
A. All children with SEN/D will have a personal plan: we use a variety of approaches. When we have assessed your child’s needs we will meet with you and agree a plan and short term targets for progress. The targets will focus on the most important areas of need.
Q. What should I do if I think my child has a SEND?
A. You should contact the school and ask to talk to your child’s class teacher. They will then talk to the SENDCO about possible next steps. The SENDCO will always talk to you about your concerns and may begin an assessment of needs. If there is an agreement that your child has a special educational need the school will work with you to plan a programme of support.
Q. I am a carer of a boy in Year 5 – he has been looked after (LAC) for three years. I think that he may have special educational needs. Who do I talk to about this?
A. Arrange a meeting with our SENDCO. They will assess his needs and make provision which will help him to make progress. We will also make sure that we work closely with the school’s designated teacher for LAC and with services and link workers to make sure that we “join up” our support.
Section 5
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we review your child’s progress
Q. What should I do if I am worried about how my child is progressing and how often will I be able to discuss my child’s progress?
A. You will be able to meet your child’s class teacher each term at the parent consultation meetings. Teachers and/or the SENDCo/Leadership team may also arrange separate meetings other than these. If you have concerns and worries about your child at any time, or just want an update on how things are going please contact your class teacher and we will arrange a meeting to discuss things. We can also respond to particular questions over the phone or by email if you would find this helpful.
Section 6
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we make sure that teaching and support helps your child to learn and make good progress
Q. How can I help my child with learning at home?
A. We will make sure that when we meet we will share your child’s the next steps in learning. Teachers are happy to meet with parents/carers to offer guidance on how to help their children at home with reading, writing and mathematics. Our school website contains links to useful sites which can help with home based learning.
Section 7
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we make sure that children with SEN/D enjoy a broad and balanced curriculum
Q. What happens if my child is not making progress in reading? Is there any extra support?
A. We provide additional support through a variety of approaches. These include targeted literacy support in the classroom and in one to one and small group teaching sessions. We always consult you when we are planning to do this and we report back on your child’s progress.
Q. Will my child miss out on important lessons in the classroom if they are taken out for an intervention?
A. We will always try to make sure that a child does not miss important parts of a lesson. For interventions that require removal and are ongoing we attempt to vary the time each day or week to avoid the same lessons being missed. We also attempt to build these interventions around topics or subject areas going on in the class so they complement each other.
Q. How will my child get involved in extra-curricular activities?
A. The curriculum includes a wide variety of clubs and activities that take place before, during and after school. We monitor the attendance of our most vulnerable children at these activities. If a child needs help to get involved we provide that help.
Q. My child has an EHCP and works very slowly. Are there any special arrangements to support him during the SATs?
A. Yes, with advice from our Educational Psychologist, we provide specially tailored access arrangements to ensure that he will be able to show what he knows and can do.
Section 8
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we make sure that our school and classrooms are safe, accessible and stimulating
Q. How accessible is the building for a child who uses a wheel chair?
A. We are not accessible for wheel-chair users but can accommodate them in EYFS as this phase is located on our ground floor. The age of the building and layout would make KS1 and KS2 inaccessible to a wheelchair user. We will always make reasonable adjustments to accommodate any accessibility needs.
Q. My child has a visual impairment- will the school be able to meet her needs?
A. We work closely with the Camden Sensory Advisory Service to make sure that we provide the right kind of support and specialist resources needed for a child with visual impairment to access the curriculum. We also provide training for support staff and teachers when they have a child in their class with a visual impairment.
Q. What specialist resources and equipment are available for my child?
A. We aim to provide a service that meets your child’s needs. For example, if your child requires Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy, we can arrange for the delivery of this support in our school. We will endeavour to provide any specialist equipment recommended by professionals working with a child that will be of benefit to them in school.
Section 9
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we work in partnership with parents and carers
Q. Who do I talk to in the school if I have questions about my child’s SEN/D?
A. The first person to talk to is your child’s class teacher who will always be happy to meet you, listen to your concerns and discuss how well your child is making progress in day to day lessons; about friendships and personal development.
Q. How do I raise concerns about my child?
A. If you have questions or concerns about the particular special educational needs of your child, the school’s SENDCo will listen carefully to your concerns, explain the different ways in which the school supports your child and when possible and appropriate come to an agreement about changes to provision and/or support. It will also be possible to meet members of the specialist services who are working with your child – the SENDCo will organise this meeting.
Q. How will you make sure I am involved in planning and reviewing?
A. We review every child’s progress each term and we will invite you to come to the school to discuss progress and next steps with the SENDCo. The SENDCo keeps a careful record of all meetings and an overview of records, provision and the progress of your child.
Q. What can I reasonably expect from the school?
A. We will involve you when we are assessing your child’s needs; when we are planning support and when we are reviewing progress. We make sure we tell you what is happening in terms of support for your child and how well they are progressing. We keep records of our work with children with SEN/D which you can look at and contribute to.
Q. Where can I find information about how the school works in partnership with parents and carers of children with SEN/D?
A. You will find information and support in several places, for example:
- our SEND policy on the school’s website – click here to go to policies page
- our weekly newsletter often contains information about meetings with teachers, presentations about how to help your child, and learning that has been going on in school that week.
You will also find lots of information about how different services in Camden provide help and support to children with SEN/D and their parents – on Camden Local Authority web site http://www.localoffer.camden.gov.uk
Q. How can you help me to help my child at home?
A. We will provide you with any help you need to be able to support your child at home. We will also send home books every day. We provide logins to a number of home learning internet based learning tools as well as a number of links to support learning on our website. We hold curriculum meetings every term to go through what your child will be learning.
Q. Is there a special service in Camden that supports and advises parents about issues such as assessment and provision?
A. Yes. It’s called the Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS).
It is funded by Camden Local Authority but is totally independent in terms of giving advice. You will find information on the website
Tel: 020 7974 6264
You can also contact the new Camden Service – Independent Supporters – who work directly with young people and the parents of children being assessed for an EHC plan. There is more information on these links to the KIDS organisation:
Q. What if I am unhappy about my child’s provision or progress?
A. We always work hard to make sure that our parents are happy with what we provide for their child. However, we will address worries, concerns and complaints as soon as possible through face to face meetings where we will listen carefully to your concerns.
If you feel that we have not been able to address your concerns satisfactorily, we have a complaints policy and procedure that you will find on our website (click here to go to the policies page) or from our office.
If you would prefer to speak to an independent adviser, you may wish to talk to Camden’s Parent partnership adviser on 0207 974 6264
Camden uses a SEND mediation service – details below.
http://www.kids.org.uk/Event/sen-mediation-service
Section 10
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we listen and respond to children and young people with SEN/D
Q. Who can my child talk to if they are worried about something?
A. We make sure that every child has at least one adult with whom they can talk and share any worries or anxieties.
Q. What should I do if my child says that they do not want to come to school?
A. Talk to your child about any worries or concerns they may have. The first point of contact is the class teacher, who can address any concerns your child has shared or use their relationship with your child to encourage them in to the class. The class teacher will seek appropriate support if the issues are wider.
Section 11
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – How we support children joining our school and leaving our school – and making transitions
Q. What happens when my child – who has an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) – moves on to secondary school?
A. We invite parents and the Secondary school SENDCo to take part in the Annual Review of the Education Health and Care Plan in year 6. We then provide extra escorted and supported visits to the secondary school: these involve a tour of the school and a meeting with the form tutor. We then discuss with the secondary SENDCO any extra support for each child depending on her or his needs.
Q. Who do I talk to about my child moving between Reception and Year 1 and between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2?
A. It depends on your child’s needs. The starting point would be your child’s current class teacher. You might then want to talk to the SENDCo
Q. What might change about my child’s support when he moves to secondary school?
A. Our SENDCo will make sure that the Secondary school is fully aware of his needs and explains what was most effective and successful for him in the primary phases of education. The Secondary school will then plan a programme of support suitable for the secondary curriculum.
Q. How do I find out about who the new point of contact will be in the new school?
A. You should request a meeting with the school’s SENDCo as soon as possible after your child starts secondary school. The SENDCo holds all the records on children with SEN/D new to the school and s/he will let you know who the Key Worker will be for your child.
Section 12
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – Personal Development and Safety
Q. Who will watch out for my child at playtimes to make sure they are safe and well?
A. We have a well-trained team of Playground Assistants who organise games and activities at lunchtime. A very important part of their role is to keep a close eye on everything that is happening at lunch and break times and intervene if any child is feeling worried or sad. A member of the teacher staff is always on duty at playtimes, also ensuring no children are ignored or upset.
