SEND at Manston Primary School

At Manston Primary School, we work hard with staff, governors and parents/carers to meet the needs of all our pupils, as we recognise that each child is an important member of our school community.

We ensure that this support is initially implemented through quality first teaching, where our teachers plan, deliver and evaluate lessons which allow pupils with all SEND needs to meet their potential and succeed. We ensure that every child is treated as an individual and personalise teaching and resources where necessary. 

As part of this process, we also recognise that pupils may, at some point in their school life, have special needs.  The school carefully monitors children’s progress in order to ensure that individuals receive the appropriate curriculum support when they need it. This is monitored through regular pupil progress reviews, as well as half termly reviews with the SENDCo, Safeguarding and Welfare Officer and class teachers. It is our policy to support these needs through positive intervention and provision based on extensive knowledge, support and practice which ensures that the child has both specific targets and a range of opportunities for success. Staff then report reguarly to the Governing Body on how individual needs are being met and how SEND funding from the local authority is being spent. Individual families are able to access clear information about how funding is used to support individual learners. 

If your child is identified as having special educational needs or a disability (SEND), you will be invited to talk to the class teacher, the Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo) and Safeguarding and Welfare Officer (SGWO) also. You may also have your own concerns regarding your child’s progress or wellbeing, and this should first be discussed with your child’s class teacher. You may also wish to contact our SENDCo or SGWO. Arrangements will be made for a meeting where school will listen carefully to concerns and put appropriate actions in place. This may involve observation and assessment in school, additional support within the classroom or referral to external agencies such as Educational Psychology, the Seacroft Manston Cluster Support Team, Complex Needs Team, SENSAP (Special Educational Needs Statutory Assessment and Provision), Speech and Language Therapy, Behaviour Support Workers, Educational Psychologists, Visual or Hearing Impairment Team or the Area Inclusion Partnership. If there are other agencies already involved with your child when they start school, please let us know so that we can work with them to provide the best support for your child.

The following policies are also available on the school website and reflect the school’s commitment to inclusion, safety and wellbeing of children:

• Accessibility Plan
• Safeguarding & Child Protection policy
• Behaviour Policy

Local Offer

As part of the new SEND Code of Practice and legislation, Local Authorities have a duty to publish a Local Offer. This offer sets out information about the provision that they expect to be available in their local area across education, health and social care for children and young people who have SEN or who are disabled. This offer also includes pupils who do not have Education, Health and Care plans (EHC) plans.

Below, we have collated some 'Quick Guides' to common special educational needs. The individual guides include specific details about the conditions, as well as implications for the pupils and top tips for teachers and parents/carers. 

If you think your child may display tendencies of any of these educational needs, please contact the school office to arrange a meeting to discuss this further with Ms Roxby and Miss Thorpe. 

SEMH Support

In school, we work tirelessly to support the social, emotional mental health (SEMH) needs of our pupils. Our 'Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy' explicitly details the preventative measures and actions school takes to aid our pupils, and ensure they can reach their full potential.

This May Help: Advice for supporting your child's mental health has been created to support parents and carers who may have concerns about their child’s mental health. The central principle is to promote awareness of support and resources that are already available, with the aim of preventing situations escalating into a crisis stage and, ultimately, admission into services.

They have produced 16 films in total, covering 6 different topic areas – including safety (both physical and online), eating disorders and self-harm. Please explore the webpage below so that you as parents are as aware as possible, and also know that there is support available for instances when you may be faced with such challenges.

The link to the central webpage, entitled This May Help is here: Home | ThisMayHelp

Accessibility Plan 2022/2023

To be reviewed January 2024

Purpose of Plan

The purpose of this plan is to show how our educational setting intends, over time, to increase accessibility to the physical environment, the curriculum and written information so that all pupils/students with a disability can take full advantage of their education and associated opportunities.

Definition (Equality Act 2010) 

“A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities” Physical or mental impairment includes sensory impairments and also hidden impairments. In the DDA ‘substantial’ means ‘more than minor or trivial’. ‘Long-term’ means has lasted or is likely to last more than 12 months. 

The definition is broad and includes children with a wide range of impairments, including learning disabilities, dyslexia, autism, speech and language impairments, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), diabetes or epilepsy, where the effect of the impairment on the pupil’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities is adverse, substantial and long-term. All those with cancer or surviving cancer; HIV or Multiple Sclerosis are now included from the point of diagnosis. 

A significant number of pupils are therefore included in the definition. 

Aims and Objectives

Our aims are:

• Increase access to the curriculum for pupils with a disability
• Improve and maintain access to the physical environment
• Improve the delivery of written information to pupils

• total access to our setting’s environment and information,
• A broad, balanced and accessible curriculum,
• full participation in the school community,
• Fulfil our obligations under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001.

Our key objectives are to:

• Extend access to the curriculum for pupils with SEN;
• Monitor progress in improving inclusion;
• Implement a well-constructed accessibility plan that responds to individual pupil need and proactively plans for the future taking into account value for money;
• Improve physical access to school;
• Ensure that written information from the school is accessible to all.

Information from pupil data and school audit

The Disability Discrimination Act definition (see: Introduction, above) is broad and includes a wide range of impairments including learning disabilities, dyslexia, diabetes or epilepsy, asthma, arthritis and cancer. These impairments sit within the definition of disability when they are in the context of ‘substantial and long term’. Like most schools, we have pupils and staff of all backgrounds, needs and abilities.

Existing good practice

We aim to ask about any disability or health condition in early communication with new parents and carers. For parents and carers of children already at the school, we collect information on disability or health conditions through parent consultation meetings or arranging a meeting where the parent or carer can update on any changes. Measures put in place include

• Visual prompts and resources
• Disability awareness promoted through the curriculum and assemblies
• Continued staff CPD – specialised training where appropriate
• Individual risk assessments and Individual Health Care plans in place where  necessary
• Intimate care plans in place for pupils who need assistance by an adult
• Thorough risk assessments in place for individual pupils where necessary
• Disabled pupils are able to access a range of activities and clubs beyond the school day
• Specific computer software used to support the learning of pupils e.g. Units of sound, Number shark
• Regular Educational Psychologist service in place for early identification of need and advice
• Regular SaLT input and early intervention
• Liaison with professionals e.g physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Hearing Impairment Team,

Definition of Disability

According to the Equality Act 2010 a person has a disability if:

(a) He or she has a physical or mental impairment, and

(b) The impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. 

The test of whether an impairment affects normal day-to-day activity is whether it affects one or more of the following:

• Mobility
• Manual dexterity
• Physical co- ordination
• Continence
• Ability to lift, carry or otherwise move everyday objects
• Speech, hearing or eyesight
• Memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand
• Perception of risk of physical danger
• Medical
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health

A child’s ability to memorise, concentrate, learn, speak, move, make and maintain positive relationships, is central to their education. An impairment that has a long-term and substantial effect on a child’s ability to do these things may amount to a disability.

Principles

• Compliance with the Equality Act is consistent with our setting’s aims and equal opportunities policy and SEN information report.
• Our setting will:

• Not  discriminate against disabled pupils in their admissions and exclusions, and provision of education and associated services
• Not treat disabled pupils less favourably
• To take reasonable steps to avoid putting disabled pupils at a substantial disadvantage
  • Recognise and value the young person’s knowledge/parents’ knowledge of their child’s disability
  • Recognise the effect their disability has on his/her ability to carry out activities,
  • Respect the parents’ and child’s right to confidentiality
  • Publish an accessibility plan

• The setting provides all pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum that is differentiated, personalised and age appropriate.

Areas of planning responsibilities

• Increasing access for disabled pupils to the school curriculum (this includes teaching and learning and the wider curriculum of the school such as participation in after-school clubs, leisure and cultural activities or school visits)
• Improving access to the physical environment of schools (this includes improvements to the physical environment of the school and physical aids to access education)

• Improving the delivery of written information to disabled pupils (this will include planning to make written information that is normally provided by the school to its pupils available to disabled pupils. The information should take account of pupils’ disabilities and pupils’ and parents’ preferred formats and be made available within a reasonable timeframe

Access to Physical environment

Access to Curriculum

Access for inclusion to school community

Access to written information, guidance and support

SENDIASS

SENDIASS are a service which offers support to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents and carers to help with any concerns or questions. They do this by providing a free, impartial and confidential service through their website and online resources. You can also contact then through their helpline 0113 3785020.

Further information is displayed below.

What are the admission arrangements for pupils with SEND?

Children with an Education, Health and Care plan that names the school must be admitted. This will reduce the number of places available for applicants. This is not an oversubscription criterion.

The admission of pupils with an Education, Health and care plan is dealt with by a completely separate procedure. This procedure is set out in the 1996 Education Act. Details of this separate procedure are set out in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice

If you click on this link it will take you to the Leeds City Council webpage for the local offer for SEND pupils. This also offers advice on Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH). 

Further details on our admission policy can be found here.