I am Mrs Ayres and I am the SENDco at Goldsmith Primary Academy. I have taught here at Goldsmith, for over 15 years. As well as my teaching qualifications and experience, I also hold the National Award for SEN Coordination.
My job is to support the identification of children with special educational needs and coordinate provision for children with SEND. Part of my job includes liaising with parents of children with SEND and with other providers, outside agencies, educational psychologists and external agencies. I ensure every child’s inclusion in our school community, enabling them to Dream, Rise and ASPIRE.
At Goldsmith Primary Academy we are determined to meet the educational needs of all our pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs, to encourage independence and full participation in the life of the school. Working within the guidelines of the SEND Code of Practice and the Equality Act, it is our intention that pupils with Special Educational Needs are identified and provision made to meet these needs is made as early as possible. We ensure our provision is regular and often and you will see our in school slogan: "Too much water would drown the plant. Little and often does the job!" We have high aspirations for our SEND pupils and expect all pupils with SEND to make progress from their starting points. We are an inclusive school, supporting pupils to ensure they achieve both their personal and academic potential.
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At Goldsmith Primary Academy, we ensure special educational provision for pupils that is “additional to and different from” that provided within the differentiated curriculum to respond to the four areas of need:
We implement a graduated approach to supporting all pupils with Special Educational Needs in school. We use a four stage cycle to identify and support pupils with Special Educational Needs:
All staff have high expectations of all pupils including those with Special Educational Needs. All pupils receive High Quality Teaching. Teachers use their knowledge of pupils' needs to provide appropriate scaffolds and resources to ensure pupils with SEND make progress and aspire to achieve the highest possible outcome. A range of resources are available to staff within classroom SEND toolkits, in addition to the central SEND resource area.
Pupils with SEND have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) drawn up by the class teacher and shared with the pupil and parents. To support targets outlined in the IEP, pupils may be included in intervention groups. The length of time of the intervention will vary according to need and wherever possible, intervention happens inside the classroom. The targets and interventions will be regularly reviewed by staff, parents and the pupil to ascertain the effectiveness of the provision and to inform future planning.
The SENCO and staff at Goldsmith Primary Academy work alongside other agencies such as:
An Educational Psychologist is allocated to our school. She works directly with pupils whose needs are felt to be quite considerable and have not responded well to the interventions previously put in place for them. To help understand the pupil’s educational needs better, the psychologist meets with parents and gives feedback after the assessment has been completed. She offers advice to the school and parent/carers on how to best support the pupil in order to take their learning forward.
Pupils in EYFS are assessed upon entry using a Trust agreed baseline assessment. If they enter 2 year old provision the 2 year old check will also take place. Reception also completes the statutory Reception Baseline Assessment within the first 6 weeks of the Autumn term or within the first 6 weeks that a child enters Reception. Further assessments are made termly to assess their progress and development. Due to the importance of Language development in EYFS, Nursery and 2 year old Provision also screen using Wellcomm at data entry points. In Reception Neli screening takes place in Autumn 2 and after the 20 week program children are screened once more. Reception children are also screened using RWI Phonics screen half termly.
NTS assessments are completed termly, and standardised scores are monitored for progress. For those SEND pupils who are not yet working at the level required to score within the NTS assessment, further assessment is completed by the SENCO using York Assessment of Reading Comprehension (YARC) and the Sandwell Early Maths Assessment.
Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and/or Individual Behaviour Plans (IBPs) are reviewed termly in order to measure progress towards individual targets.
Pupil Progress Meetings are held each half term. At these meetings, the class teacher will meet senior leaders including the SENCO to discuss the progress of individuals in their class. This shared discussion may highlight areas that require further support which can then be planned for.
Most pupils with SEND have their needs met and make progress. However, some pupils may not make the progress expected of them. When this happens the SENCO will request that the Local Authority carry out an Education Health and Care needs assessment, which is a detailed assessment of a pupil’s special educational needs in accordance with the Children and Families Act 2014. Following the assessment, The Local Authority may issue an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC plan). An EHC plan is a legal document which describes; a child or young person’s Special Education, Health and Social Care needs, the help that will be given to meet those needs, and what the child or young person will be able to achieve as a result of the support.