SEND

The Governors and Staff of St. Paulinus Primary School, Dewsbury commit themselves to live as a community with Christ at its centre, characterised by living Gospel values within the Catholic Church. They commit themselves to provide the best possible education for every child in the school, according to their needs and affirming their achievements.

The School Offer has been developed by the SEND with the involvement of the SEND Governor, all school staff, parents and pupils.

 

At St Paulinus our designated SEND Co-ordinator is: Miss Chloe Douglas

Kirklees Local Offer

Kirklees Local Offer

KIAS (Kirklees Information Advice Service)

A free support service to families of SEN children.

Kirklees SEND Sports

Kirklees SEND sports and leisure activities can be found here:

External Support

You can find more about Kirklees SEND services here:

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

A SEN charity providing a support network and information about local SEN activities and services.

Code of Practice 2014

The SEND Code of Practice 2014 can be found here:

What is our ethos towards Additional Needs?

Here, at St Paulinus, we have a whole-school approach towards SEND policy and practice. Pupils identified as having SEND are, as far as possible, fully integrated into mainstream classes. Every effort is made to ensure they have equal access to the National Curriculum and that they are integrated into all aspects of school life including trips, residentials and after school activities/ clubs etc. The SEND Code of Practice makes it very clear that ALL teachers are teachers of pupils with additional needs.

 

Please be reassured that all teachers take responsibility for identifying pupils with SEND. They will then work in collaboration with the pupil themselves, their parents and the Special Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo) to ensure that every pupil requiring different or additional support are identified and provided for as early as possible.

 

Assessment and daily interactions with both pupils and parents are the processes by which pupils with SEND can be identified; whether or not a pupil is making appropriate progress is seen as a significant factor in considering the need for SEND provision.

 

Who should you talk to if you think your child needs some extra help?

In the first instance, you should arrange a meeting with your child’s class teacher to discuss your concerns. If necessary, they will in turn arrange a meeting with the SENDCo.

How will we identify a child who has additional needs?

Early identification of pupils with SEND is a priority. Assessment data considered will include:

 

  • information from parents
  • records from pre-school/ nurseries or previous schools
  • evidence obtained via teacher observation/ assessment
  • child’s performance in National Curriculum subjects
  • standardised screening or assessment tools providing reading, spelling and maths
  • reports from external agencies, such as Educational Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Portex, Speech and Language Therapy.
How will we support a child with additional needs?

School will work together with pupils and their parents using the assessment information from class teachers to design appropriate differentiated programmes for pupils identified with SEND including:

 

  • providing personalised targets
  • identifying a need for support within the class
  • ensuring on-going observations/ assessments provide regular feedback on achievements which will then inform the next steps in learning
  • Involvement of parents and the child throughout to create joint home-school learning approach.

 

It is important to stress that the pupil and their parents will be at the centre of this procedure, with both parties being fully involved and informed at each and every step.

What provision is available at St Paulinus Catholic Primary School to support a child with additional needs?

In line with the Code of Practice (2014) a graduated approach to meeting the needs of pupils is taken in school. Pupils and their parents are at the centre of this and fully involved at each and every stage. There will be a focus on pupil well-being as well as academic achievement.

SEND support is implemented and regularly reviewed using the ‘graduated approach’, outlined below. You should be involved at every stage of this process:

  1. Assess: the class/subject teacher and SENDCO alongside parents, analyse a pupil’s needs before identifying them as needing SEND support
  2. Plan: the class/subject teacher and SENDCO alongside parents, agree the support to be put in place. The support will usually be set out in a school-based SEND support plan
  3. Do: the class/subject teacher remains responsible for working with the pupil on a daily basis. Pupils may also receive additional interventions outside the main curriculum, but the focus should be on integrating all pupils and continuing to use high-quality, differentiated teaching.
  4. Review: the class/subject teacher and SENDCO alongside parents will review the effectiveness of the support regularly and agree any changes where needed.

 

The type of support provided for pupils is set out within the wave system below:

 

When will you have the opportunity to discuss your child's progress?

The progress of children at every stage of the above graduated approach will be tracked using Provision Mapping, assessment data and observations. Those children that have a Learning Plan, My Support Plan or Educational Health Care Plan will have reviews with full involvement of the child and the parents every term.

 

This is an addition to the twice yearly Parents Evenings which we provide to discuss your child’s progress.

What specialist services/expertise are available for pupils with additional needs?

Although we don’t have specialist teachers on the premises, our pupils do have access to a designated Speech and Language Therapist and Educational Psychologist. In addition to this we are currently working with colleagues in the professions of occupational therapy, hearing impairment, behaviour support, counselling services at CAMHS and Northorpe Hall as well as working with colleagues from Specialist Provision.

What are our access arrangements?

At St Paulinus we are committed to providing an accessible environment which values and includes all pupils, staff, parents and visitors regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs. We are committed to challenging negative attitudes about disability and accessibility and to developing a culture of awareness, tolerance and inclusion.

 

 

Full copies of the school Accessibility Plan  2023-2026 can be found add in link to accessibility plan here.

What types of SEN do we provide for?

St Paulinus is committed to the early identification of SEND and recognises the four broad categories of needs in the SEND Code of Practice 2014. The Code specifies these areas of need as:

  • Communication and Interaction (including Autism Spectrum Disorder)
  • Cognition and Learning
  • Social, emotional and mental health difficulties (includes ongoing, persistent behaviour issues)
  • Sensory and / or physical needs.

medical needs

The governors, headteacher and staff of St Paulinus Catholic Primary School  wish to ensure that pupils with medical needs receive care and support in school. Pupils should not be denied access to a broad and balanced curriculum simply because they are on medication or need medical support, nor should they be denied access to school trips etc.

 

We have adopted the ChYPS policy and guidance Supporting Children and Young People with Medical Needs and outline below the detailed arrangements for implementing the policy in St Paulinus Catholic Primary School.

 

Roles and responsibilities

We have set out school / specific roles/duties briefly below:

 

The designated person with responsibility for children with medical needs is

Mrs Aqib

Her role is outlined as follows:

Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator

 

Other staff members with specific duties are outlined below:

 

Administration of Ritalin:

Headteacher or in the heateachers absence a member of the SLT (Senior Leadership Team)

 

Administration of Epi-Pen:

Trained persons as listed in separate document

 

Medical Policy:

Policy and Statement of arrangements for supporting children with medical needs.

 

Medical Updates:

Please complete a medical update form or an Asthma update form if your child’s health circumstances change.

 

1

Accessibility Plan

Map of St Paulinus Catholic Primary School

Main Entrance:

Ground level access to the hall through to Key Stage 1 Stairway and corridors to lower Key Stage 2 classrooms.

Key Stage 1:

Ground level access to the Early Years Unit (EYU), playground and car park. Dance studio and I.C.T. suite are also ground level.

There is a ground level corridor connecting Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 outside the main hall with a flight of stairs to access Key Stage 2.

Key Stage 2:

The lower corridor has 2 flights of stairs with upper landing to access upper Key Stage 2 classrooms.

Upper Key Stage 2:

Fire exit with descending stairs to school fire point.

Playgrounds:

Key Stage 1 Playground – Ground level

Key Stage 2 Playground – via one flight of stairs for the main concrete playground, plus a further flight of stairs to access the ball court and top field.

 

Click here to download a copy of the Accessibility Plan