Students at Beckfoot Nessfield Primary School have a range of difficulties within four main areas: Cognition and Learning; Communication and Interaction; Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Sensory/Physical Needs. Currently we have fewer than 40 children on our SEN register, which constitutes approximately 12% of our school demographic and is a mixture of children on SEND support (SEN K code) and those with EHCPs, as shown below:
| Cohort | Number on roll | Number of EHCP | Number of SEN K | Total number on reg | SEN % of the year group |
| Year 6 | 39 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 15.4% |
| Year 5 | 41 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12.2% |
| Year 4 | 45 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 22.2% |
| Year 3 | 39 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7.7% |
| Year 2 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 18.5% |
| Year 1 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 12.9% |
| Reception | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5% |
| Nursery | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total number of students | 254 | 5 | 29 | 34 | |
| % of the school roll | 2.0% | 11.4% |
The needs of the children with SEND may be long-standing and may have been identified by parents, health or education practitioners prior to admission to, or during their time at Beckfoot Nessfield Primary School. Special Educational Needs may also become evident to school staff who recognise that, despite adapted learning opportunities and adequate scaffolding to support learning, behaviour management or nurture support, levels of attainment are very low and/or little progress has been made by the child. Class teachers and/or the SENCo will then ask families, and any other agencies involved to meet, share information and plan any needed support.
Parents are always welcome to discuss any concerns about their child with the class teacher and/or the SENCo. As such the SENCo holds a weekly drop-in ‘clinic’ each Thursday morning, for which no appointment is necessary. School is bound by the SEN Code of Conduct Practice 2014 which outlines the processes schools must follow.
At Beckfoot Nessfield we place particular emphasis on early identification in the Early Years and we are developing staff skills to identify need as early as Nursery, if not before. During home visits, we encourage staff to look for signs that a child may have additional needs – in addition to discussion with our families who may have shared this information – to put the correct provision in place before a child even begins in the setting, thus starting the graduated approach (see below).
Evaluating provision is part of the graduated approach to supporting children with SEND that we have adopted here at Beckfoot Nessfield. This is a cyclical cycle whereby we:
- ASSESS a child’s level of need using a range of tools.
- PLAN any adaptations or changes and/or additional or different provision necessary to meet the child’s identified need/s and remove barriers to a child’s learning and participation. This may be written on a SEND Support Plan or an EHCP, depending on the level of need.
- DO – by the teacher working closely with teaching assistants and/or specialist staff, this planning is applied to the classroom and beyond.
- REVIEW the effectiveness of these planned strategies by removing identified barriers to child’s learning and participation through continuous monitoring by the teacher, support staff, SENCo and specialist teachers (where appropriate).
Provision is based on the SEND Guidance from Bradford MDC Department of Children’s Services – The Matrix of Need. Children with SEND, assessed beyond SEND Support, may have a My Support Plan, an Education Health Care Plan, or be allocated to a specialist provision/setting.
Regular learning walks are carried out by the SENCo and members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to ensure that the appropriate provision is in place for all students, including those with a special educational need. Depending on the area and the level of need, this provision may vary.
We use a variety of tools to evaluate the impact of provision at varying times throughout the academic year, including the support of external agencies where suitable. Some provision may be long-term and is evaluated through learning walks and during assessment points termly, other short-term provision may be evaluated using external tools, such as the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) or by creating Boxall profiles and comparing these to baseline assessments created prior to the provision starting.
By following the graduated approach, provision for children with additional needs is regularly evaluated and adapted (as above), in line with the progress (or lack thereof) a child is making on their learning journey. At Beckfoot Nessfield, we have introduced three teaching and learning cycles across the academic year, at the end of which, school staff will work collaboratively to hold pupil progress meetings, and review and plan for upcoming interventions, known as ‘Data Days’. Assessment weeks within school are followed by data-driven staff meetings and then Data Days within each cycle. Operating in this way will enable us to comprehensively unpick pupil data to identify gaps and spend time planning for next steps. Teachers will report to parents following each of these cycles, either in written format or during Parent/Teacher Consultations.
In addition to this, schools have a statutory duty to involve parents of children with identified SEND at least three times annually, which teachers are expected to arrange termly.
Senior Leaders in school, The Beckfoot Trust and OFSTED inspectors will also check that pupils with SEND are well-supported and that their progress is satisfactory.
Beckfoot Nessfield operates an inclusive culture with our Universal Offer, which is the standard expectation in every classroom, offering carefully organised and managed classroom environments, consistency of routines, precision planning, considered use of adults and scaffolding to support learning.
When the school identifies the need for additional intervention to enable a pupil to make adequate 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 (as above). ‘Additional intervention’ includes any intervention which is consistently required, and which is over and above that received by most pupils in the class. It also includes any group work which will be undertaken over a period of sessions. This intervention does NOT necessarily mean a child has Special Educational Needs; in most cases it is delivered as a part of our Universal Offer to target specific areas of development for children at the time.
If the pupil meets the criteria for special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), as outlined in the Code of Practice, a ‘SEND Support Plan’ will be created, detailing the exact support the pupil will receive.
It is the role of the SENCo to oversee the effectiveness of the provision offered by our school to meet the needs of pupils identified with SEND. Our school provision map shows the range of interventions in place in our school which may be used when we identify a need for additional support. This is not an exhaustive list; provision is tailored to the needs of the individual child and so will naturally vary depending upon the specific needs of each child.
Advice will be taken from external agencies where appropriate, and specialist staff from their services may come into school and become involved with the individual in line with assessment of needs or with addressing a particular need. Parental permission will be obtained prior to any outside agency becoming involved with a specific child.
It is clearly understood by staff at Beckfoot Nessfield Primary School that children do not all learn in the same way. Teachers and other staff are skilled in employing a range of teaching and learning strategies which enable them to meet the needs of all children.
Staff adhere to Quality First Teaching (QFT) strategies and teaching tips to support less able pupils and those with specific SEND needs, which are continually reviewed as part of staff CPD throughout the academic year and form part of our Universal Offer. Teachers are required to plan their lessons to meet the needs of all pupils and allow them to make progress and achieve any individual targets (precision planning). This is done by following the QFT practices and adapting the provision. For example, for a child who has Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN), teachers will use simplified language and/or visual prompts to support them to understand new vocabulary.
All teachers are provided with information on the needs of individual pupils in their care so that they can plan the learning within our curriculum to ensure that all pupils are able to make progress. Where a child is working significantly below age-related expectations, content may be taught from the curriculum suited to their cognitive ability, thereby allowing the child to achieve at a level appropriate to them. In addition to this, groupwork or 1 to 1 work will also take place where appropriate, as directed by the teacher. This may take place outside the classroom for a short period to access resources elsewhere and/or reduce distraction. Sometimes this is continual; sometimes it is a specific programme lasting a set number of weeks or sessions.
Classroom environments will be created and adapted to help individuals with a range of needs and abilities to develop independent learning skills, for example a visual timetable, drawer labels with pictures and accessible areas of learning.
Due to a growing need over the years, with various extensions, our school is set over three storeys, with stairs joining each ‘floor’. Both sets of stairs have lifts making the entire interior of the building accessible, although some areas around the exterior of the building are inaccessible such as stepped pathways around the rear of the school building. There are two accessible toilets within the school building.
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 adhere to The Equality Act 2010. Please see our Accessibility plan for more detailed information.
The school receives a budget to support the needs of all children in school, including those with SEND. In addition, a child’s need may be significant and complex enough to require high-needs funding which is provided by the Local Authority (known as top up funding). The funding is used in a variety of ways, e.g., purchase of specialist resources and equipment, employment of additional staff to provide intervention programmes, staff training from external providers etc. There may also be opportunity for school to apply for additional government funding, e.g., Disability Access Funding or Early Years Inclusion Funding, both of which are targeted at supporting children with additional needs aged 3 and 4.
The SENCo maintains information on the progress and welfare needs of children with SEND. The funding is managed by the Head Teacher, ensuring that available is spent wisely to support the needs children who require additional support. 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 promote involvement of all 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 if reasonable adjustments can be made to meet any additional needs. If appropriate, parents/carers are consulted and involved in planning, and may be asked to attend the visit (although we discourage this as much as possible to give children the opportunity to experience school-based activities without parental attendance/support).
The wellbeing of all our pupils is our primary focus at Beckfoot Nessfield Primary School. They are supported with their personal development throughout the school day, through the curriculum and any extra-curricular activities offered. We are a ‘No Outsiders’ school – which means we teach that everyone belongs at our school, there are no outsiders – of which we are very proud, and which was highly praised by a recent Ofsted visit.
We access mental health support through the NHS – the Mental Health Support Team – and the charity Place 2 Be. Mr French is the accredited Senior Mental Health Lead for our school. A wealth of medical expertise is also offered through the NHS/LA, such as School Nursing Team, Occupation Therapy and Educational Psychology to support each child’s overall wellbeing.
Additional support from specialist staff is arranged as required for individual pupils, both in and out of the classroom; and with their guidance, a tailored personal plan may be put in place for pupils with the highest need, for example those requiring a care plan for intimate care or specific medical requirements.
Our Behaviour Policy, which includes guidance on expectations, rewards and sanctions is fully understood and in place by all staff.
We regularly monitor attendance, support pupils returning to school after absence and take the necessary actions to prevent prolonged unauthorised absence.
Pupils’ views are sought through the school’s Junior Leadership Team (JLT) and other student leadership groups. We are currently reviewing how we collect pupil views with the possibility of creating a ‘focus group’ of children across school.
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. Please make initial contact via the school office, directly with Mr French through Class Dojo or through discussion at the drop-in clinic each Thursday morning.
- SENCo: Mr Matthew French
- Headteacher: Ms Linda Hanson
- Office: 01535 665 628
- Email: [email protected]
Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) is an experienced teacher and receives on-going SEND training in specific areas as part of his professional development. In addition to the LA training, SEN Coordinators from across the Beckfoot Trust maintain contact and attend regular meetings. This allows staff to undertake training, share resources, good practice, and work to continually support and improve the provision we can offer in our area and our school.
All our teachers hold qualified teacher status and all staff members, including support staff, receive regular CPD to best support our pupils with SEND, for example in dyslexia, autism, and SEMH and speech and language needs. Throughout the year, staff work collaboratively in deliberate practice to develop understanding and upskill themselves.
In recent years several members of staff have undertaken specific training, including, manual handling and hygiene, autism, behaviour management and nurture and attachment. We work closely with the school nursing team and other health colleagues to ensure the appropriate staff are knowledgeable of conditions which require specific medical or physical assistance in school.
In the past year, staff have received training from the SCILS team to better understand and identify SEMH needs, as well as training linked to medical needs, including epilepsy, allergies and administering medication. Further training is planned to develop understanding of specifically mental health needs as well as how to better support children with learning and cognition needs, such as dyslexia.
Equipment and facilities required by children with SEND is provided where possible by Beckfoot Nessfield Primary School through allocated SEN funding (SEN element 2 funding and/or EHCP top-up funding). This may be in conjunction with specialist services, such as occupational therapy, vision and hearing impairment team etc.
Annual reports and once termly Parent/Teacher Consultations give all parents and carers regular feedback on their child’s up-to-date academic levels, individual targets and any behavioural, emotional or social difficulties. When appropriate, parents/carers may be contacted mid-term to discuss the support that school are providing, and how they can help their child at home: this may be a phone call or a face-to-face meeting. Pupils’ views will be obtained and when appropriate, they may attend all or part of any meeting should you wish. Home/school communications can be made verbally with the class teacher at the start/end of a school day or through written communications via Class Dojo.
Occasionally, throughout the year, we hold specific information evenings which we invite parents to attend. Previous examples have included an introduction to the school for our new starters; a phonics information evening; a guide to the methods of teaching calculations in mathematics and an internet safety session to name but a few. In addition to information evenings, our SENCo also organises informal coffee mornings for families, known familiarly as Coffee, Cake and Collaboration, every few weeks with a particular focus, whereby an external professional may be invited in to share their expertise. Previous examples of coffee mornings have had a focus on anxiety (particularly linked to transition) led by MHST and EHCPs led by the school’s SEND caseworker who works for the LA.
See also section How do you check and review the progress of my child and how will I be involved? above.
Where appropriate, pupils are encouraged to evaluate their work within lessons, reflecting on their learning and achievements.
Pupils’ views are obtained as part of our termly monitoring and progress reviews. Children may attend all or part of any meeting which parents deem appropriate.
Pupil Voice will be obtained as a matter of course when applying for an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) as well as at assessment points throughout the year for SEND children, i.e., at the end of each of the three teaching and learning cycles across the academic year.
Arrangements for handling complaints from parents of children with SEN about the provision at school:
In the first instance, the following members of staff should be contacted:
- the class teacher
- the SENCo or another senior leader
If at this point, the complaint has not been resolved, Beckfoot Nessfield’s complaints procedure should be followed.
Specialist services and expertise available or accessed at Beckfoot Nessfield:
- Support from the Bradford SEN team
- SCIL team (Social Communication Interaction and Learning) – a team of specialist teachers, practitioners, access and inclusion officers
- Education psychology team
- School nursing service
- CYPMHS (Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service), previously known as CAMHS
- Support from Bradford NHS professionals, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy
Services and support for parents and families of children with SEND:
General:
- FYI Bradford – a free impartial service offering advice and, information and signposting to children, young people and families within the Bradford district.
- Bradford SENDIASS – for parents and carers for children 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the Bradford area.
- TREACLE.ME – this website signposts to all the support that can be accessed in the Bradford area
Other:
- AWARE – a parent run group supporting families with children and young adults on the autistic spectrum (formal diagnosis not required)
- The Hub of Hope app – the UK’s leading mental health support database
- CYPMHS (Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service), previously known as CAMHS
- The BREW project – a free service for children or young people (aged 5-17 years old to access a confidential and non-judgemental one-to-one support session via telephone, video call, face to face or walk-and-talk sessions.
We have very good relationships with our feeder settings and the settings that most of our pupils move on to; we share information to support pupils’ learning and well-being at key transition periods. Where possible, our staff visit the children at their pre-school setting prior to moving school. Early Years staff set up meetings with our staff and parents of children with specific needs prior to starting at Beckfoot Nessfield.
In the summer term, all children in school participate in transition events when they visit their new classrooms to work with their new teacher and teaching assistant. Particular attention is paid to children with SEND and children are given additional opportunities to meet with new teachers and visit new settings to make them feel most comfortable. One to one transition conversations are held between appropriate teachers so that more detailed information about the specific needs of the children can be passed on. Throughout Year 6, all pupils participate in a range of transition-preparation activities and opportunities are available for members of staff to provide support to parents and carers when needed.
Children with special educational needs will be given additional opportunities, prior to transfer, to become familiar with any new setting by making visits or having a photographic record of key people and places within any new building, for example. Parents and carers are involved in this process at every stage and accompany their child for as many visits as they wish.
If your child is moving to another primary school, we will contact the school SENCO and ensure they know about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child. Comprehensive records are passed on to the SENCo of the next school, both electronic and physical paper copies.
Transition meetings are held well before any transition points and may involve a team around the child, involving parents, current staff, external agencies and new personnel from the next setting or school.
Contact details of relevant support services:
Information about Short Breaks https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Content.aspx?mid=202
Information about Personal Budgets https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Content.aspx?mid=231
Information for Families – things to do https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Services/Early%20Years/default.aspx
Information about Preparing for Adulthood https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Services/preparing%20for%20adulthood/?mid=8
Preparing for Adulthood: visual pathway https://www.preparingforadulthood.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do.htm
Bradford range guidance https://bso.bradford.gov.uk/Schools/CMSPage.aspx?mid=3315
SENDIASS (LA contracted parent mediation service) https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Services/Details.aspx?mid=127
Bradford Local Offer https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/
Parents’ Forum for Bradford and Airedale https://www.pfba2.org.uk/
Social Care https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Services/Social%20Care/default.aspx
Health https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Services/Health/default.aspx Early Years https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Services/Early%20Years/default.aspx
The school is bound by the Bradford admission process which allocates places and offers advice regarding all admission and appeal related enquiries. School admissions follow the Fair Access Protocol and gives equal rights to all potential applications. For more information, visit https://bso.bradford.gov.uk/content/admissions
A child who already has an EHCP, will go through a separate process called Consultation, and this is done through the SEN team at the LA. Contact the School Admissions team by email at [email protected] or telephone 01274 439200