SEND Information Report
Intent for SEND children at Burnopfield School
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Every child with SEND will achieve well based on their starting points and end points during their time in our school. SEND children will fulfil their potential and access our full curriculum with suitable adaptations where needed.
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We endeavour to remove barriers to learning for our children by differentiating appropriately, giving correct support and making reasonable adjustments to our provision. We will develop the knowledge, understanding and skills of our SEND children and encourage them to apply what they know with increasing fluency and independence.
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SEND Information Report
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Our SEND Information Report – which is part of Durham County Council’s Local Offer – provides details about how we support children and young people with Special Educational Needs in our school.
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The SEND Information Report was reviewed and updated in September 2023.
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At Burnopfield we recognise that all pupils are entitled to a quality of provision that will enable them to achieve their potential. We believe in positive intervention, removing barriers to learning, raising expectations and levels of achievement and working in partnership with other agencies in order to provide a positive educational experience for all our pupils including those with a special educational need or disability.
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This SEND Information Report should be read alongside the school’s SEND Policy, the Equalities Information and Objectives and the Accessibility Plan.
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Key Contacts
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Mrs R Brunton – Headteacher
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Mrs B Marley SENDCO
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Mrs M Scott –Governor for SEND
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All staff can be contacted by the school office on 01207 270397 or by emailing burnopfield@durhamlearning.net
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SEND Admissions
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For information on the admission of pupils with a disability, please visit the School Admissions section of our website and view the Accessibility Plan in our School Policies section.
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If you would like to discuss your child’s SEN in more detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.
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The full range of local support available for children/ young people with SEND and their families within and outside of school can be found in the County Durham Local Offer
Our SEN Provision
There are four broad areas of special educational need, these are:
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Communication and Interaction
This area of need includes children with Autism and those with Speech, Language and Communication Needs -
Cognition and Learning
This includes children with Specific Learning Difficulties, Moderate Learning Difficulties, Severe Learning Difficulties and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties -
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
This includes any pupils who have an emotional, social or mental health need that is impacting on their ability to learn -
Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties
This area includes children with hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment and physical difficulties.
The kinds of SEN that are provided for:
At Burnopfield School we have experience of supporting children and young people with a wide range of need including:
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Autism
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ADHD
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Speech, Language or Communication Needs
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Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs
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Physical Disabilities
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Dyslexia and Dyscalculia
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Dyspraxia
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Sensory Integration Disorder
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Attachment Disorder
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Tourette’s Syndrome
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
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Pathological Demand Avoidance
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Down Syndrome
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Fragile X Syndrome
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The school provides data on the levels and types of needs to the Local Authority. This is collected through the school census.
Our approach to teaching children & young people with SEN
Burnopfield Primary School is an inclusive school. Inclusive education means supporting all pupils to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of school life alongside their peers. Our curriculum includes not only the formal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum / National Curriculum, but also a range of additional opportunities to enrich the experiences of all pupils.
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The curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for lifelong learning, personal growth and development of independence.
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For more details of our inclusive curriculum, please see the curriculum section of our website.
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If your child has Special Educational Needs our SENDCO will:
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Ensure the right support is put in place for each child.
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Advise other teachers and teaching assistants on how to help each child.
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Ensure each child has an up to date Special Education Needs Support Plan detailing how their needs will be met in school. A Special Education Needs Support Plan details what the school, the class teacher and the SENDCO plan to do to help individual children learn.
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Arrange training for staff so they understand each child’s needs.
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Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have.
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Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist /medical professional/ educational psychologist.
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Ensure all teachers are aware that children learn in different ways. Some need to work at a slower pace to ensure they fully understand one thing before they move onto something new. Some children will need individual tasks and timetables, some children will need things differentiated to suit their needs.
How we identify, assess and review children with special educational needs
Most children and young people in mainstream schools will have their special educational needs met through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.
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Early Identification of Need
A special educational need can be a number of different things. For example, a child may be having problems with reading, number work or behaviour, which can be helped by putting extra support in at school and by working in partnership with parents. It may also be due to a disability which makes it harder for a child to use the same educational facilities that the school provides for the majority of children. For some children this may be a temporary difficulty, while others may have a long term need for special help.
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Types of special educational needs can include:
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General Learning Difficulties – children whose learning progresses at a slower pace
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Social and Emotional Difficulties
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Cognition and Learning Difficulties (difficulties with reading, writing and spelling or maths)
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Communcation and Interaction Difficulties
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Speech and Language Difficulties
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Delays with gross or fine motor skills
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Other Physical or Medical Needs/Conditions
All of our children’s needs are identified and met as early as possible through:
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observation, assessment, target setting and monitoring arrangements (cycle of assess, plan, do and review)
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listening to, and following up , parental concerns
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listening to and taking into account the child’s views, wishes and feelings
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the analysis of data including baseline assessments linked to the EYFS to track individual children’s progress over time
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reviewing and improving staff understanding of a wide range of needs and effective strategies to meet those needs
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liaison with schools and other settings on end of year transfer
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exchanging information from other services across education, health, care and the voluntary sector
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involving an external agency, and the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) as a minimum, where it is considered that a special educational need may be significant and long term and may require more in-depth and frequently reviewed cycles of assess, plan, do and review.
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data on progress is stored and analysed through iTrack. Pupils' needs are discussed and decisions are taken as to which intervention is needed.
How we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for children & young people with SEN
We adapt the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with SEND:
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Examples of how we adapt our curriculum include;
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Changing the way activities are planned and delivered
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Matching activities to the ability/need of each child (differentiation)
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Adapting learning materials such as equipment and activities to suit each child’s needs
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Offer small group support to promote skills identified in the child’s Education Plan
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Including movement breaks for children who need them
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Providing visual timetables, prompt cards and other resources where needed
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More details on how we adapt information, our environment and curriculum can be found in the Accessibility Plan which you can find in the School Policies section of our website.
SEN Support
Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.
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This means that we will:
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Assess a child’s special educational needs
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Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
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Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
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Review the support and progress
As part of this approach every child with SEND will have an individualised SEND Support Plan that describes the child’s needs, outcomes & provision to meet those needs. Parents/carers and child/YP (where appropriate) views are integral to this process.
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A small percentage of children and young people with significant and/or complex needs may require an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.
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Children with complex difficulties in any/more than one of the four areas MAY be eligible for an EHCP assessment. This should be discussed in detail with the SENDCO. The process of applying for an EHCP takes up to twenty weeks and requires a vast amount of evidence to be submitted to the LA. Currently we have four children in our school who have an EHCP. An EHCP does not mean the child receives one to one support in school, but some children do need extra support across the day including unstructured times . Each case is dealt with on an individual basis.
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For more detailed information see the Local Offer
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Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN
If teachers have a concern about a child this is recorded on a short note.
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A short note is shared with parents who can respond to the teacher’s concern and add their own (if applicable).
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If children receive more than one short note across the year it is discussed with parents whether they may need a SEND Support Plan.
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In agreement with parents, the child will then be placed on SEND register and given a plan with outcomes on.
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Children may be taken off the SEND register if they make progress or their needs change, this will always be discussed with the parents.
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How we respond to parental concerns
We always encourage parents to come in and discuss any concerns with us face to face. Children who are working with number of agencies will have termly review, even if they don’t have an EHCP so that parents have a chance to discuss any concerns about the provision their child is receiving. All parents of children with SEND are invited in three times a year to speak to staff. We strive to ensure access to appropriate high quality teaching, differentiation and intervention for all of our SEND children. All planning is monitored by the SLT, books are collected in frequently and learning walks take place daily across the school to ensure high standards for all of our learners, including those with SEND.
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For further information please view or download our Accessibility Plan which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.
How children with SEN engage in all activities?
We enable all children to engage fully in all aspects of school life. To do this, we:
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Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement including school trips
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Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
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Ensure every child has the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
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Ensure all children know and act on our Equality Statement “All different, all equal”
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Discuss with our children what disability discrimination is how to report it
Support for Emotional & Social Development
We provide support for children with social and emotional issues at a school based level in the following ways;
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Nurture Group
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School Counsellor
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Lunch Club (and support at unstructured times )
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Pastoral Drop In sessions
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Mindfulness sessions
Looked After Children with SEND
We have a Designated Teacher for Looked after Children (Mr Mark Robertshaw) who works closely with the SENCO to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEND.
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The Designated LAC teacher (and SENDCO when needed) review the child’s progress through the PEP process with the relevant Local Authority and carers.
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If the child also has a SEND Support Plan / EHCP this can be reviewed at the same time.
How we evaluate the effectiveness of SEN Provision
We continuously ensure the provision has a positive impact on the outcomes for all of our children/young people. We do this in a variety of ways, including:
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Robust evaluation of policy and practice
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Book scrutinies of SEND children
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Pupil Interviews
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SLT and Governor monitoring
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Annual report to the Governors
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Learning walks by the SENDCO
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Performance Management objectives
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End of Key Stage data
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Internal data and Pupil Progress meetings
SEN Transition
How we support children/young people with SEN starting at our school
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We work closely with the school the child previously attended to make sure we have the correct support and intervention in place for the child as soon as they begin. The SENDCo attends all relevant transition meetings for the new child.
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How we support children/young people with SEN moving between classes in our school ​
Teachers have designated time to pass over information and strategies to the next teacher. Pupil Profile sheets highlight the child’s strengths and difficulties. We use consistent whole school strategies such as a visual timetable in each class to support our children with SEND.
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How we support children/young people with SEN leaving our school
We work closely with the Secondary Schools we feed in to at the end of Year 6. We arrange transition meetings and extra visits for children with SEND. The SENDCO ensures all relevant paperwork is passed to the next school.
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If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.
SEN Specialist Expertise
SENCO and SEN Staff
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Our SENCO is Mrs Beverley Marley, she holds the National SENDCo award (NASENDCO). The SENDCo works closely with the Pastoral Leader, Mrs Ferris.
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More details of the SENCO’s role can be found in the SEND Policy which you can find in the School Policies section of our website.
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External Specialists and Other Bodies
The school enjoys good working relationships with a wide range of people who provide services to children with SEND and their families.
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The external specialists may:
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Act in an advisory capacity
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Extend expertise of school staff
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Provide additional assessment
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Support a child directly
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Suggest statutory assessment is advisable
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Consult with all parties involved with the child
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These include:
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SALT
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Autism and Social Communication Team
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Occupational Therapy
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EWEL (Emotional Wellbeing and Effective Learning Team)
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School Nursing Service
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How We Secure Specialist Expertise
Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEND.
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This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
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Buying time with outside agencies to provide advice and support
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Buying recommended resources and equipment
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If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
​Our notional budget for 2023/24 is £162,000.
Consulting with our SEN Pupils, Parents & Carers
Consultation with Children and Young People with SEND
Teachers/SENDCO and Support Staff will work with children and young people to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes. The provision is planned and interventions are allocated to individual needs. The children take an active role with setting their outcomes and discussing them with the class teacher/SENDCO. The children have regular meetings with staff to discuss their progress and support.
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The SENDCO carries out pupil interviews with groups of SEND learners
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Where appropriate children contribute to their own reviews
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Mrs Carson leads on Pupil Voice across the school for all groups of learners
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The school received the Investors in Children award for their work on pupil voice.
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Consultation with parents and carers of children and young people with SEND
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We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support. Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.
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There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:
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Termly parents/carers evenings;
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Ongoing discussions with a class teacher and/or SENDCO;
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An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have;
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Through regular reviews of their child’s SEND Support Plan/EHC Plan.
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We provide a termly questionnaire for parents of children with SEND which is shared with during the review of the child’s support plan/EHCP. The SENDCO provides details of responses on the Friday letter.
Compliments, Complaints & Feedback
We are always seeking to improve on the quality of education we provide for children with SEND and are keen to hear from parents about their child’s experience.
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We would also like your views about the content of our SEND Information Report. If you would like to comment please complete the online form in the Contact Us section of our website.
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Compliments are always greatly received and can be passed on either directly to staff and the SENCO, or formally recorded via our regular questionnaires to parents or in the form of a letter to the Head Teacher. These positive comments will be published on this area of our school website.
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We hope that complaints about our SEND provision will be rare, however, if there should be a concern the process outlined in the school Complaints Policy should be followed.
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Further information can be found in the Complaints Policy in the School Policies section of your website or by visiting the Durham County Council Local Offer website.
How we prevent pupils with SEN or disabilities being treated less favourably than other pupils
We are an inclusive school and are proactive in ensuring that children with SEN or a disability are not treated less favourably than other pupils.
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We do this through clear and open communication with parents to help us understand the needs of all pupils. We ensure we seek advice from other professionals where appropriate and follow recommendations. We ensure all staff have adequate training to meet the needs of the pupils they are working with.
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Our school regularly reviews the curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of all pupils. We use resources tailored to the needs of pupils who require support to access the curriculum and adapt teaching to ensure all children are included. We ensure any school trips are accessible by all children in a class and any activities that are arranged in school are accessible to all.
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To find out more about how we ensure we are inclusive please see our Accessibility Plan and Equality Policy below.
Key Policies for SEND
All of our school policies can be found on this website but the most important ones for parents of children with SEND are listed below: