Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

The SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities) Information Report contains information about who to contact if you have concerns about your child, the opportunities we provide for children with SEND and the ways in which parents are involved in the decisions relating to their child with SEND. The SEND Information Report can be found below. This report will be reviewed and updated every year.

You can view this document, and our SEND Policy, on our Policies page by clicking here.

Here is our SEND Information Report (Autumn 2024):

1.  Who can I contact if I have concerns that my child may have SEND?

In the first instance, parents should speak to the class teacher about their child’s progress. However, if further information is required, please contact:

Mrs Diana Delaney, SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator) - senco@wransom.herts.sch.uk

Mr Tony Plunkett, Headteacher - head@wransom.herts.sch.uk

Having spoken to those above, should you wish to make a complaint, you can refer to our Complaints Policy on the school website.

 

2.  How does the school know if children need extra help?

At William Ransom School we believe in early identification of SEND, with the vast majority of pupils who require extra support being identified within their first years at the school.

Judgements will be made about the needs of children based on:

• Information provided to the school by parents
• Records provided to the school by previous settings
• Continuous assessment of each child’s academic progress and general development, by the class teacher
• Observations by the SENDCo
• Diagnostic and tracking tools, eg, WellComm language assessment, Individual Assessment of Early Learning Development (IAELD)
• The views of the pupil

Early Years staff visit pupils in their previous settings and speak to staff there about any concerns that may have arisen. Parents have several scheduled opportunities to speak to the Reception class teachers, prior to starting at William Ransom, and are encouraged to speak to the SENDCo, should they wish to, if they have concerns about their child.

Termly meetings between the class teachers, the headteacher and SENDCo (Pupil Progress Meetings) are used to analyse the progress and general development of all children, looking at both current levels and progress made and identifying those who may fall below the expected levels in either respect.

In the event of a child having very high level or complex needs, it may be appropriate to apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The application and subsequent support will be agreed by parents and school staff through discussion.

 

3.  How will school staff support my child?

All pupils will receive high quality teaching in the classroom, which aims to both stretch and support pupils of all abilities. In some sessions, teaching assistants are available for general support.

For those children who require more support, a variety of small group, paired and individual learning opportunities are offered, with interventions tailored to a wide range of needs and run by teachers or trained teaching assistants. The amount of time spent on a particular intervention is entirely determined by individual need. Parents will be informed if their children are receiving additional support or have been included in an intervention group.

Pupils themselves are regularly consulted about the support they receive and that which they feel would help them most. These views are recorded on an individual ‘Pupil Passport’. In addition, children’s views are regularly sought through pupil voice activities.

 

4.  How will I know how my child is doing?

There are scheduled opportunities for all parents to meet with their child’s class teacher twice a year and a written report is provided at the end of the academic year. In addition, we operate an ‘open door’ policy whereby parents can arrange a meeting with their child’s teacher, the SENDCo or headteacher, via the school office, at any time.

More frequent parent meetings may be arranged for children with SEND, which may include the SENDCo, headteacher or support staff as deemed appropriate by either school staff or parents.

Home-school books will be provided for a small number of children.

Parents of children with an individual Learning Plan will be invited to discuss the targets set each term, and the progress made towards those targets, while those with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) will attend an annual review as well as interim meetings.

For those children whose needs are additionally supported by outside agencies, parents will be invited to meetings with relevant external professionals, where possible.

The school uses ‘Provision Map’, an online program, to track children’s progress and interventions. Parents can log into the system to see their child’s Learning Plans and Pupil Passports.

 

5.  How will the learning and development provision be matched to my child’s needs?

The school uses the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycle (known as the ‘graduated response’) to constantly review children’s progress and make decisions as to the most appropriate form of support for the future, where relevant. Barriers to learning are identified and ways to overcome these are identified and acted upon. Targets, carefully matched to children’s ability, are set and reviewed with input from parents and, where possible, pupils.

In addition to classroom adaptations, which are marked on teaching plans and individual Pupil Passports, a wide range of group of paired and individual support opportunities are available at the school, tailored to meet individual needs. These are regularly reviewed by the class teacher, support staff and SENDCo, using the graduated response model.

A close working relationship with parents is strongly encouraged and ensures the best outcomes for children.

 

6.  What support will there be for my child’s overall wellbeing?

The positive wellbeing of all children is paramount at William Ransom and, without this, successful learning cannot take place. There is a strong behaviour policy in school and the children respond well to this. In addition to PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) education sessions in all classes, to include work on resilience and mindfulness, the ‘Zones of Regulation’ framework is used across the school to support children to identify and manage their emotions. Teachers ensure that children have opportunities to speak to them privately about anything that is affecting their wellbeing and the Sycamore (SEND and Wellbeing) Office has an open door policy for children who wish to talk through any issues or difficulties with an adult, at any time of the day.

In addition to this, children with SEND may be supported through a wide range of small group and individual wellbeing interventions, often tailored specifically to an individual child’s needs. We are fortunate to be working closely with the Mental Health Support Team (MHST), who are based at the school.

 

Children’s medical needs will be dealt with sensitively, on an individual basis, and always through consultation with parents.

The opinions and concerns of children with SEND, and their parents, are sought regularly and individual support may be put into place on the basis of these.

Parents of some children with SEND may be able to access support from a ‘Family Support Worker’ through Hitchin Partnership.

 

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

The school is able to access specialist support from a variety of external agencies, depending on the needs of individual children.

In recent years, we have accessed support from the following services:

• NHS Speech and Language team
• SEND Specialist Advisory Service
• Outreach team at Woolgrove Special Needs Academy
• Educational Psychology Service
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
• Mental Health Support Team (MHST)
• Family Support Workers
• Hitchin Primary Outreach Support Service (HPOSS)
• Virtual School
• Hearing Impairment Team
• Visual Impairment Team
• Physical and Neurological Impairment Team
• Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Paediatricians from the Child Development Centre (CDC).

 

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

The SENDCo, Diana Delaney, has been in role for many years and provides regular training to school staff on the various areas of need currently in the school. Both she, and the Assistant SENDCo, Wendy Buckingham, who is the Autism Lead and also has a wealth of experience, attend meetings with, and regular training courses run by, external professionals to improve their knowledge of SEND.

Staff are keen to increase their understanding of SEND, in relation to the children they are working with and many access training opportunities offered by the DSPL (Distributing Specialist Provision Locally) team or the Local Authority on a wide range of topics. All staff receive training from external professionals on Autism, our most commonly arising area of need in the school. In addition, some members of staff have recently attended training relating to Dyslexia, Speech and Language, Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment and Medical Needs, as well as training to deliver specific interventions and to administer medication.

Individual staff will attend further training as needs arise in school and as their role requires it, in relation to specific children.

 

The school has a very active Mental Health Team, led by Diana Delaney (Senior Mental Health Lead) and Nicole Airey (Mental Health Lead) who offer training to staff as well as many individually tailored support opportunities to children.

 

9.  How will you help me to support my child’s learning?

All parents are encouraged to attend ‘Information Evenings’ where information is shared about the learning that takes place in different areas of the curriculum. In addition, there are specific information-giving sessions for Reception-aged children and a ‘Meet the Teacher’ opportunity as the children move to their new class at the end of each academic year.

Children’s individual targets will be made clear on the annual written report each year as well as at parent consultation meetings which are offered twice a year. Parents of children with a Learning Plan will be invited to discuss targets and parental support termly. Parents of children with SEND may meet more regularly with the class teacher and/or SENDCo at either the teacher or parent’s request.

Class teachers will be happy to tell you how you can further support your child’s learning at home. For children with SEND, this may take the form of following up, or pre-learning, in relation to class lessons, and many children with SEND will need ‘overlearning’ of concepts. In some cases, parents may be asked to practise specific areas such as phonics or speech sounds.

There are many courses available, sharing ways that parents can support their children with SEND and these are detailed on the school website, within the weekly DSPL newsletter for parents.

If you are ever unsure how to support your child at home, please contact the class teacher or SENDCo who will be very happy to help.

 

10.  How will I be involved in discussions about and planning for my child’s education?

At William Ransom School we aim to work closely with parents at all times to ensure the best outcomes for children. This is particularly important in the case of children with SEND. Parents will be supported to navigate the complex SEND systems for support. Extra support will be discussed at times of transition and the school SEND Team are happy to attend appointments with parents, if requested.

In addition to parent consultation meetings and meetings to discuss learning plans, as mentioned above, parents can make an appointment to discuss any area of their child’s learning at school at any time. Parents of children with SEND will always be informed if their child is to start on an intervention programme. Parents can discuss these, or any other aspect of their child’s development with the SENDCo at any time.

For the parents of children with greater levels of SEND, requiring an EHCP, parents will be involved in drawing up the initial plan and amending it at each annual review.

 

11.  How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?

The needs of all pupils will be taken into account when planning school trips and other activities outside the classroom. Staffing will be organised according to levels of need, risk assessments will be written, and any necessary equipment will be taken. Where appropriate, adjustments will be made to plans, parents’ views will be sought as to the best arrangements for individual children, and the parents themselves may be invited to join the trip. Staff at the site of the visit will be informed of needs and asked to make adaptions as necessary.

 

12.  How accessible is the school environment?

William Ransom complies fully with the Equality Act and, where necessary, reasonable adjustments are made for any child with SEND.

Despite the split-level nature of the school buildings, all parts of them are accessible by wheelchair. The school has three disabled toilets.

If parents wish to see the Accessibility Plan and/or the Equality/Diversity Scheme, they should contact the school office.

If there is a need to offer support to parents whose first language is not English, the school would access support from the Hertfordshire County Council Translation and Interpreting Service.

Should there be a need to make the building more accessible for people with a disability, the school would seek advice from Hertfordshire County Council.

 

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

Before starting at William Ransom School, parents of children with SEND will be encouraged to speak to the headteacher, SENDCo and proposed class teacher in order to make arrangements to ensure a smooth start. It may be appropriate for the child to visit the school more often than the two visits organised for all children.

Each year, with a change of class within the school, many of our children with SEND are given a booklet containing photographs and information about their new class which they can look through over the summer holidays with their parents. Additional visits to the new class and year group are arranged, as appropriate, and relationships are formed with the child’s ‘new teacher’, prior to the start of the year, when needed.

At the time of transfer to secondary school, we meet with the SENDCo and Head of Year 7 of the next schools to discuss the needs of children. Learning Plans and current targets are shared and all relevant records are passed on, as well as information about necessary day to day adjustments. Some children will need more visits to their new school than their peers and these will be arranged through discussion with parents and the new school. Parents who would like to choose or consider specialist provision for their child’s secondary education will be supported by the SENDCo in this.

 

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

The school’s SEND budget is primarily used to employ support staff to work with children, although money is also used for staff training and general SEND resources, as well as more specialist equipment.

Children with complex needs may receive additional funding, through their EHCP or from Local High Needs Funding (LHNF) and there is a 5-point scale for this. Children are allocated a funding level by the Local Authority, based on the information provided by parents, school staff and external professionals and this determines the amount of money to be paid to the school to meet the child’s support requirements.

 

15.  How is the decision made about how much support my child will receive?

All school resources are allocated according to need, and decisions about support are made by the headteacher in collaboration with the SENDCo, class teachers, support staff and parents.

Current data, along with staff observations and parental concerns will be used to determine how much support individuals will receive and the form that support will take. Occasionally, external professionals will offer advice about levels of support required by individual children.

Sometimes, the support a child will require will take the form of resources or equipment, rather than adult intervention.

 

16.  Where can I find out about the local authority’s local offer of services and provision for children and young people with SEND?

The ‘Local Offer’, published by the Local Authority and detailing provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people in the area who have SEND or are disabled, can be found at:

https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/local-offer/the-hertfordshire-local-offer.aspx

 

This report has been written by the headteacher and SENDCo, in collaboration with teaching and support staff and in consultation with parents and Governors.