Special Educational Needs
The new regulations for Special Education Needs and Disability came into law on 1 September 2014.
Special Educational Needs
The changes in the Children and Families Bill affect the way children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are supported in schools. The new approach began in September 2014 and places pupils at the centre of planning. The key principles of the new legislation are:
- Young people and their families should be involved in discussions about the support they need, so they can share their knowledge and feed back to the school on the young person’s progress.
- Education, health and care plans (EHC) will replace statements of special educational needs. New assessments for additional educational needs followed the EHC guidelines from September 2014. (Existing statements will remain in force until all children and young people have completed the transition, which will be within three years).
- School Support has replaced School Action and School Action plus as a single school-based category for children who need extra specialist support.
Almondsbury CE Primary School has adapted to these changes and looks forward to working with pupils and parents/carers to ensure fully inclusive access to our education.
Local Offer
At Almondsbury CE Primary school we strive to enable all children to fully achieve their potential at school. In order to do this, many steps are taken to support them through their learning journey. Quality teaching is vital; however for some children there are occasions when further additional support may be needed to help them achieve their targets.
Some children need increased support to access learning because:
- they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age;
- they have a disability as defined under the Equality Act, which affects their ability to access and benefit from the educational opportunities generally enjoyed by children of the same age.
We will try to ensure that all barriers to equal access in our school are removed or overcome. We monitor and track progress of all children so that the support provided is as effective as possible. We welcome the full engagement of parents and carers and where necessary seek support and advice from specialists outside school to ensure we develop and maintain a range of flexible resources to meet the needs of all children.
The school’s core Christian values of love, hope and respect are fully embedded and
integral to all aspects of daily life. The caring Christian environment enables children
to feel safe and secure which contributes to them learning well and thriving.
(SIAMS inspection report 2014)
Our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator is Mrs Samantha McDowall. She is aided by the Headteacher Mr Paul Smith and the SEND Governor Mrs Sue Hewson. They all support the class teachers to aid the learning of all children who are judged to have Special Educational Needs or Disability.
Disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are particularly well supported by very focused and well-targeted teaching. This ensures that their progress is sustained and continues to improve.
(Ofsted inspection report, 2017)
We are very proud of the progress that the children who are deemed to have SEN make during their time at Almondsbury CE Primary School.
If you wish to speak to someone regarding our provision for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities please contact the following members of the team:
SENCo - Mrs Samantha McDowall Email : Samantha.McDowall1@almondsburyprimary.co.uk
Headteacher - Mr Paul Smith
SEN Governor - Mrs Sue Hewson
This link takes you to the Local Authority SEND Offer: