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Parenting for Lifelong Health has developed a suite of online parenting resources during COVID-19. It includes information on topics like keeping calm and managing stress, talking about Covid-19, learning through play and much more.

You can access the resources at: https://www.covid19parenting.com/

The Hertfordshire Autism Quality Offer

The Hertfordshire Autism Quality Offer aligns with the SEND Quality Offer - Hertfordshire’s statement on high quality provision and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The Autism Quality Offer describes the special educational provision that settings are encouraged to have available for children and young people who have autism or social communication needs and includes links to resources and training available to settings across Hertfordshire

https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/local-offer/media-library/documents/policies-and-procedures/autism-quality-offer-summary.pdf

SEN Information Report - School Offer 

Oaklands Primary School SEN School Offer September 2022

SENCo (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) Mrs Thompson

Contact: Via class teacher or school office: admin@oaklands.herts.sch.uk

1. How does the school know if my child needs extra help? What should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?

• We receive information from pupils’ previous schools / early years settings.
• The progress of all pupils is monitored regularly by class/subject teachers within their daily teaching through formative assessment. The senior leadership team conduct monitoring within half-termly pupil progress meetings. We do this so that when a pupil is not making expected progress in a particular area of learning the school can quickly identify the need for additional support. This will then be discussed with parents/carers and the pupil concerned.
• If parents/carers have concerns about the progress, attainment or social and emotional wellbeing of their child they should, in the first instance, make an appointment to speak to the class teacher to discuss their concerns. The class teacher will then liaise with our SENCo (Mrs Thompson) and/or our Mental Health Lead (Mrs Andreas) as appropriate.
• If teachers have concerns about the needs of a child, they will alert the SENCo via a SEND initial concerns form and discuss their concerns with the child’s parents.  A graduated approach of Assess, Plan, Do and Review will then commence which involves pinpointing the child’s struggles, putting recommended strategies in place to support and monitoring the impact. This is then reviewed with parents and next steps considered together. This is all detailed on the class and individual provision maps.

2. How will the school staff support my child?

• Our class provision maps shows the range of interventions in place in our school which may be used when we identify a need for additional support.
• When the school identifies the need for additional intervention (to enable a pupil to make expected progress), the parents/carers will be informed of the planned support and may be invited to a meeting at the school to discuss this further. If the pupil meets the criteria for special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), an individual education plan (provision map) will be created, detailing the exact support the pupil will receive and will list individual targets. The plan will be co-produced with the child and their family. This is used to detail EHCP objectives,
• We will monitor the progress, every half term, of all children receiving additional support to ensure that the provision we have put in place is having the impact we are expecting.
• Governors are responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the provision in place for pupils identified with SEND and they will receive a report from the SENCO on the progress of pupils with SEND at the end of the academic year.
• The types of interventions that we offer at Oaklands are listed below:
• Social Skills: Staff are trained to use social stories to support independence, organisation and to build self-esteem. We also run protective behaviour workshops and have staff trained to deliver the Step2 program. Lego therapy is used to guide children’s understanding of social norms and provide solutions to real-life scenarios
• Access to a supportive environment including the use of IT, pre-teaching of strategies and vocabulary, use of recording devices, modified equipment, prompt cards, clearly labelled resources and visual timetables.
• Access to internal and outreach programmes for example Speech and Language Therapy (SALT), Specific Learning Disabilities base (SpLD) and the Communications Disorder Team. We also actively train our support staff to support and deliver intervention to pupils with ASD, speech and language needs, literacy or maths difficulties.  
• House Meetings and Buddies – we use these strategies to build relationships and self-esteem between pupils in vertical year groups.
• Strategies to reduce anxiety / change behaviours: we employ a play therapist to work with children demonstrating behavioural or emotional challenges. We also offer reduced timetables to children starting reception where appropriate and promote clear communication through teachers meet and greet at the start and end of each day. Anxiety mapping is also used to identify and reduce triggers throughout the school day.
• Our consistent approach to positive behaviour management which is rooted in the Herts Steps approach where expectations are set with a new class contract each year.
• Strategies to support literacy and numeracy:
• Literacy: Little Wandle, SpLD base interventions such as Word Wizards and Skate Park spelling, Toe by Toe and Precision monitoring. 
• Numeracy: 1:1 Numicon booster sessions, DAN and UCAN math inventions.
• Communication with parents and professionals. We run two sets of parent’s evenings across the year and provide a school report at the end of the academic year. We work very closely with a range of external professionals including those from health (such as physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and paediatricians) and specialist teachers in their respective fields (such as hearing impairment, physical and neurological impairment, communication and autism). We also support parents to ensure that they understand any professional reports and offer regular liaison to parents of children with SEND. We also regularly review targets with the children, parents, class teachers and the SENCO.
• Access to medical intervention. We have strategies in place for the use of personal medication in addition to specific training for staff including epi-pen training and first-aid. We offer access to the school nurse and ensure health care plans are written for children with medical needs or children with significant needs and allergies.
• Oaklands Primary School has a designated Mental Health Lead (Mrs Andreas) who will use early identification and intervention to support pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Please see our Mental Health and Wellbeing page for further information.

*This is not an exhaustive list of all strategies and interventions used.

3. How will the curriculum be matched to my child?

• All teachers are provided with information on the needs of individual pupils so that they can plan the learning within our curriculum to ensure that all pupils are able to make progress.
• Differentiation is planned for groups and individuals according to need: for example, for a child who has speech, language and communication needs. Teachers will make reasonable adjustments to support pupils with SEND.
• We use Cherry Garden activities and targets to help demonstrate small steps of progress for some of our SEN children.

4. How will both you and I know how my child is doing? How will you help me to support my child’s learning?

• Annual reports and twice yearly Parents’ Evenings give all parents and carers regular feedback on their child’s progress. Individual Literacy and Maths targets and any behavioural, emotional or social difficulties are also flagged up at this time.
• When appropriate, parents/carers may be contacted mid-term to discuss the support that the school are providing and how they can help their child at home. This may be a phone call or a meeting. Pupils’ views will be obtained and when appropriate, they may attend all or part of any meeting.
• Parents of a child with an EHCP are entitled to up to an hour meeting each term with the class teacher or SENCo to review progress towards outcomes.
• Senco meetings, coffee mornings, training opportunities at school. Cherry garden access for SEN children.

5. What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?

• At Oaklands we support all pupils with their social and emotional development through targeted assemblies, circle time and our positive behaviour system. Additional support from specialist staff is arranged as needed for individual pupils, both in and out of the classroom.
• Our Positive behaviour Policy which includes guidance on expectations, support and consequences is fully understood and in place by all staff.
• Oaklands has 2 members of staff trained as a Herts Steps Tutors, with two further being trained in May 2023.
• We regularly monitor attendance, support pupils returning to school after absence and take the necessary actions to prevent prolonged unauthorised absence.
• Relevant staff are trained to support medical needs and in some cases all staff receive training. Pupils’ views are sought through our pupil voice activities, through weekly assemblies and fortnightly house-group meetings.
• We have a designated Mental Health Lead. Further information can be found on our school website Mental Health and Wellbeing page.

6. What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?

• All external partners we work with are vetted in terms of safeguarding and when buying in additional services we monitor the impact of any intervention against cost, to ensure a value for money service.
• Educational outside agencies include: Educational Psychology (EPS); Behaviour Support (BS); Outreach Services, including ASD; Raising Ethnic Minority Achievement (REMA), which includes English as an Additional Language and the Access to Education and Traveller team.
• Specialist health services such as Speech and Language Therapy (SALT); Physical and Neurological impairment team (PNI); Hearing Impaired Service (HI) and Visually Impaired Service (VI); Occupational Therapy (OT); Physiotherapy (PT); Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS); Behaviour Clinic, other health professionals
• We work with Social Services, Hertfordshire Family Support and the Community Police
• We also have a Family Support Worker who works to support all families with a variety of concerns, and can make referrals to specific SEND family support workers.

7. What training have the staff supporting children with SEND had or are having?

• We regularly invest time and money in training our staff to improve provision for all students, to develop enhanced skills and knowledge to deliver short term support interventions and individualised support and interventions.
• Senco sources training courses, staff suggest courses they may like to attend as part as continuous CPD.
• Our SENCO is a qualified and experienced teacher and completed her SENCO Award in December 2020.
• All of our teachers hold qualified teacher status and all staff members, including TAs and HLTAs, receive regular training to best support our pupils with SEND, for example in dyslexia, ASD, ADHD, speech and language and attachment needs.
• Most staff are AET and Mental Health Level 1 trained
• All staff are first aid trained with appropriate numbers trained to deliver paediatric first aid.
• Support staff have weekly briefings with the Senco. The briefings enable the Senco to give advice, listen to any issues, concerns and to provide safeguarding training.

8. How will my child/young person be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?

• Our Inclusion Policy promotes involvement of all of our learners in all aspects of the curriculum including activities outside the classroom.
• Where there are concerns for safety and access, a personalised risk assessment is carried out to consider what reasonable adjustments can be made to meet any additional needs. If appropriate parents/carers are consulted and involved in planning.

9. How accessible is the school environment?

• We have an Accessibility Plan in place and where feasible, make reasonable adjustments to improve the accessibility of our environment to meet individual needs. Our policy and practice adheres to The Equality Act 2010.
• We monitor the languages spoken by families in our settings and work to create an accessible and supportive environment.
• We work closely with outside agencies to act on any changes/ suggestions to support SEN children.

10. How will the school prepare and support my child to transfer to a new or the next stage of education and life?

• Transition from year group to year group within Oaklands is supported by a day with their new class teacher. This takes place in the second half of the summer term and focusses on relationship building and familiarisation with the new classroom. We also provide each child with a transition booklet to take home and discuss with their parents. Individualised versions are created for pupils who require it.
• We work closely with feeder and `moving on` schools. Our Reception teachers visit nursery settings and complete home visits (virtually when required) and we offer several ‘stay and play’ sessions to our new cohort entering Reception. We share information with Secondary settings to support pupils’ learning and well-being at transition meetings.
• Further support is provided as necessary for those with SEND including additional visits to the new setting, both individually and as part of an enhanced transition programme for identified pupils.
• Parents of SEn children are consulted and asked to highlight any needs and requirements for their childs transition. 

11. How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?

• Our finances are monitored and audited regularly and we utilise resources to support the strategic aims of our setting as well as individual learner needs.
• We seek to ensure a ‘value for money’ service, therefore all interventions are evaluated for impact as we assess the progress that pupils make during any additional intervention.

12. How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

• Inclusive practice is clearly defined in our setting and we expect all staff to deliver this.
• Should additional support be required, this is undertaken after discussion with the relevant staff, the pupil and their family as necessary. All interventions are monitored for impact and outcomes are defined at the start of any intervention. The SENCO oversees all additional support and regularly shares updates with the Headteacher, staff team and reports non-specific child overviews to the SEN Governor Elin Gillard.

13. How are parents involved in the school? How can I be involved?

• We work in partnership with parents to support each child’s well-being, learning needs, progress and aspirations.
• We operate an open-door policy to allow parents to contact their child’s class teacher with ease.
• Parents are invited to become involved in school-life through a number of means e.g. the Fundraising Committee, Parents' Forum and on-going invitations to school events throughout the year.
• We host events to model our approaches to learning in various subjects. This gives parents the confidence to support their child’s learning at home.
• Our Governing Body includes Parent Governors and co-opted community representatives.
• Our SEND governor is Elin Gillard (Please note all communications regarding children's SEN needs must come via the school and not the SEND governor).
• We have a Parents' Forum who meet once every term to provide input into strategic school decisions.

14. Who can I contact for further information?

• In the first instance, parents/carers are encouraged to talk to their child’s class teacher. For students with SEND, further information and support can be obtained from the SENCO Mrs Thompson.
• In addition to the school’s SEN offer there is also a local authority SEN offer. Details of this can be found at : The Hertfordshire Local Offer
• The local area DSPL (Developing Special Provision Locally) http://www.dspl5.co.uk/ also offer provision
• SENDIASS support parents and help them to navigate through the SEND world Home (hertssendiass.org.uk)
• Parents should use the school Complaints Policy (see policies section) if they are dissatisfied with SEND provision