At different times in their school life a child may have a Special Educational Need (SEN). 

Definition of SEN

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. 

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty if he or she:

• Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or
• Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions. SEN Code of Practice (2014, p 4)

Definition of disability

Many children and young people who have SEN may also have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is’…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.  This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: ‘long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’ SEN Code of Practice (2014, p5)

Types of SEN

In the Code of Practice, SEN and provision falls under four categories:

• Communication and Interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health
• Sensory and/or Physical

This includes a wide range of needs such as:

• Moderate learning difficulties and global delay
• Autism and social communication differences
• Specific learning differences e.g. dyslexia and dyscalculia
• Speech and language difficulties
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
• Visual or auditory difficulties
• Anxiety, anger and depression

How is SEN identified?

When a child is making significantly slower progress than their peers or is struggling to achieve their predicted potential they could be considered to have Special Educational Needs (SEN).

In partnership with the Class teacher, SENCO and parents we will look for any barriers to learning.

Barriers could include:

• Absences or lateness
• Changing schools or moving house
• Difficulties in speaking English
• A temporary illness or injury e.g. broken arm
• Worries or concerns such as a family bereavement
• Being a young carer

We know that children who experience these types of issues may be vulnerable students but this does not mean they would be identified as a child with SEN.

The learning of all children at Halstead Community Primary School is regularly and rigorously assessed.  School leaders check books, observe lessons and monitor the achievement of the children.

We also use formal assessment to monitor progress:

• Phonics screening in Year 1
• SATs in Year 2 and Year 6
• NTS Rising Stars Tests
• SpeechLink
• Boxall Profile

After collecting information on progress and attainment and following agreement with parents; a child experiencing long term and complex barriers to their learning will be placed on the SEN register.

The Pioneer Academy Trust Mantra confirms the commitment to ‘Putting children first’ and ‘pupils succeed in a supportive environment’. This is translated into practice at Halstead Community Primary School.

All pupils are given quality first teaching. This means that class teachers are well trained; lessons are well planned, exciting and differentiated to ensure that all pupils can access the learning at their own level.

For pupils with SEN this could mean that they are given a slightly different task to achieve or are using visual clues or equipment to help them complete their task. Some may require additional support from the class teacher or teaching assistant as part of a small group, pair or individual.

As part of our budget we receive ‘notional SEN funding’.  This funding is used to ensure that the quality of teaching is good or better in the school and that there are sufficient resources to deploy additional and different teaching for pupils requiring SEN support.  The amount of support required for each pupil to make good progress will be different in each case and the interventions we offer that pupil are detailed on class provision maps.  In very few cases a very high level of resource is required.  The funding arrangements require schools to provide up to £6000 per year of resource for pupils with high needs, and above that amount the Local Authority should provide top up to the school. The top up is accessed through an online “High Needs Funding” application made by the school, but the amount provided is at the discretion of the Local Authority.

All clubs, trips and activities offered to pupils at Halstead Community Primary School are available to pupils with special educational needs either with or without an Education, Health and Care Plan.  Where it is necessary, the school will use the resources available to it to provide additional adult support to enable the safe participation of the pupil in the activity.

At Halstead Community Primary School, we actively support pupils to develop emotional resilience and social skills, both through direct teaching, for instance during PSHE and circle time, and indirectly with every interaction adults have with pupils throughout the day. 

For some pupils, with the most need for help in this area, we also can provide the following:

• consistent positive behaviour strategies detailed in our behaviour policy
• a time-out space for children to use when upset or agitated
• personalised behaviour strategies according to need
• Draw for Talk
• CBT
• Lego therapy
• training in the development of social skills through programmes such as “Talk Boost”
• referral to external support agencies such as the Bromley mentoring and befriending service, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMs) or other services accessed via the Common Assessment Framework (CAF)/ Kent Family Support Framework.

Pupils in the early stages of emotional and social development because of their special educational needs will be supported to enable them to develop and mature appropriately.  This will usually require additional and different resources, beyond that required by pupils who do not need this support.