Bawdsey Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Experience of including people with special educational needs and disabilities

Staff

Mrs Butler is in charge of monitoring, organising and assessing provision for individual children with special educational needs and disabilities throughout the school. She has an annual budget with which to fund additional equipment, books or staffing. All teachers monitor the needs and progress of all the pupils in their class, and differentiate learning tasks to ensure that the curriculum is appropriate and accessible to every pupil at Bawdsey CEVCP school. Teaching assistants are able to provide extra support within the classroom or with the delivery of additional programmes to individuals or small groups of pupils.

Admission

Bawdsey CEVCP school is inclusive.  All pupils whose parents or carers wish for them to attend are welcome. When children start school with a known disability or condition, or already have an EHP plan in place, the school will be able to get equipment, staffing and processes in place in readiness for their arrival, having liaised with pre-school providers and care agencies.

If a child begins part-way through the school, or there is an undiagnosed disability or condition, extra help and equipment is put in place as soon as possible.

Inclusion

The staff of Bawdsey CEVCP School aim to include every child in every activity, adapting aspects if necessary.  All after-school clubs are open to children of all abilities, and trips are carefully risk-assessed and adapted if necessary. Sports and ICT competitions are, however, selective. 

Additional help from other agencies

When it is deemed to be necessary, and with the agreement of parents or carers and the pupil, referrals are made to:

Advisory teachers

Speech and language therapy (SALT)

Physiotherapy

Occupational therapy

Behaviour outreach services

Dyslexia outreach services

Educational psychology

Child Mental health services

Team around the child (TAC)

Additional support for learning in school

Pupils with additional needs can be supported with differentiated tasks or with additional adult help within the classroom.  There are some schemes, book-based or computer-based which can be used to support children who are not making the required progress in maths, writing or reading.  These usually involve the child working 1:1 with a teaching assistant for 10 minutes a day.  Teachers and teaching assistants also work with small groups outside the classroom to boost understanding in specific areas.

Additional support for emotional, mental and social needs is provided by the availability of adults (pupils are reminded often to talk to adults in school about problems), the school buddy system and the school ethos of supporting one another.

Transfer from pre-school and to high school

Our aim is to make these times of transition as smooth as possible, and so Mrs Simoes liaises with pre-school providers.  Children have visits with and without their parents in the term before they start school.

Liaison with the high school is thorough.  All pupils have plenty of visits, and pupils with additional needs are offered extra visits. Mrs Butler also speaks with the high school SEN department about pupils on our SEN register.

Working with pupils and parents

Staff are approachable, and parents are invited to make an appointment for a chat when they have concerns about their child’s well-being or progress.  If staff and parents are concerned, additional help can be put in place and monitored carefully.  A pupil passport is used for the children and parents to put forward their views. This should then be reviewed at least twice a year.

Accessibility

The school grounds and buildings are all on one level, and there are 2 entrances which have ramp access to the doors.  There is also one toilet suitable for wheelchair users, and a shower.

Adaptations are made when necessary to the learning environment for individual children, with the use of large computer keyboards, pencil grips, writing slopes, coloured paper, etc.

 

Linked team for Statutory Assessment and EHCPs: 

Suffolk Coastal Family Services Team (SENDSS@suffolk.gov.uk)

Contact

Mrs K Butler

Telephone

01394 411365

Email

admin@bawdsey.suffolk.sch.uk

Conditions Supported

Autistic spectrum conditions
Communication difficulties

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