Welcome to our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities information page. Hopefully you will find everything that you need. Should you require any additional information or have any questions please see Mrs Hermiston (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) in the first instance, then Mrs Patton (Headteacher) should you require any further support.

admin@soa.dsat.education

What are SEND?

Children have additional educational needs if they have a learning difficulty that calls for additional educational provision to be made for them. ‘Children have a learning difficulty if they:

• Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age. 
• Have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local authority.
• Are under compulsory school age and fall within the definitions above or would so do if special educational provision was not made for them.’ (Code of Practice September 2014)

There are now four broad areas of SEND, these are:

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

Some children may have needs in one or more of these areas.

What changes have been made in line with the new Code of Practice 2014?

The Department for Education have changed the way disabled people and those with special educational needs are supported. They have introduced a number of changes to the Special Educational Needs statementing process which became law in September 2014 through the Children and Families Act. 

All staff in our school have been informed of these changes through training and we have made changes to the way in which we identify, monitor and record SEND information. For example, we have moved away from IEPs and we now use 'Support Plans'. These plans contain all the information that we have within school so please ensure that the pupil data held in the office is up to date. Statements will continue to be held in this form up until the next Annual Review. Following the review, we will report the outcomes back to the authority and, in line with their transition process, they will transfer them across onto a 'Education and Health Care Plan'. If your child is currently on a Statement you should have received additional guidance from the authority. If this is not the case, please contact Mrs Barratt.

How do we identify, assess and monitor additional needs?

At St Oswald's Church of England Academy we follow a graduated support procedure. This consists of:

1. Assess
2. Plan
3. Do
4. Review

This is a cycle of provision that we utilise at each stage of the process.

What happens if the school feel that my child has additional needs?

First of all any concerns and/or issues that have become apparent to school staff will be discussed with the parent/guardian. Should these concerns remain then guidance will be sought from the Special Educational Needs Coordinator. Together we will formulate a plan of action, with timescales for review. These plans usually follow the following steps.

STEP 1

Many pupils can experience delay in their learning and may not be making expected progress for a variety of reasons. We, as a staff, know our children and families well. Should a child be flagged up then we will endeavour to find out if there are any external factors that need to be considered. At this stage the class teacher, will complete a ‘Cause for Concern’ form where triggers, information and action points are noted. This will then be shared with the SEN team and a clear timescale will be set as to the next decision.

At this stage the child may have further differentiated work prepared for them by their class teacher in conjunction with the support staff. Parents will be kept fully informed.

STEP 2

Following a ‘Cause for Concern Review’ a decision will be made as to the next steps that need to be taken. This will be done in conjunction with the child, parents, class teacher and Special Educational Needs Coordinator. Either the child will be taken off of the register and continue with class differentiation or they will be added to the Additional SEND Support register. Once a potential additional need is identified, action will be taken to put further targeted and effective support in place. A ‘Support Plan’ will be completed, with specific targets set and progress monitored at least three times per term. In addition, planned reviews will take place with the pupil and family member termly, with informal updates completed more frequently.

STEP 3

Should classroom teachers and/or the Special Educational Needs Coordinator have evidence that certain children are still not making good progress then the SENCo will arrange intensive additional SEND support in any or all of the four areas. This may include directing staff towards one-to-one support for certain lessons or activities. It may also include referrals to external specialist services and teachers with additional specialist qualifications may be called upon to provide guidance, assessment, support and/or provision. Following this there may be intensive specific programmes to be followed by all adults coming into active learning situations with the child. All of the above information will continue to be recorded on the 'Support Plan'

STEP 4

Should children still not be making appropriate progress then the formal assessment procedures for an Education Health and Care Plan will be started by the SENCo in conjunction with the Parents, Headteacher and other Specialist Services. The legal assessment procedures outlined in the Local Offer by Doncaster Local Authority will be followed. We will then respond accordingly to the feedback and allocation of funds (if given).

So what provision is available at St Oswald's Church of England Academy?

Our Local Offer provides information on the provision that we offer at our school. Doncaster's Local offer booklet provides information about what different serivces are available in the area.  A copy of this booklet can be found here.

http://www.doncasterchildrenandfamilies.info/thelocaloffer.html

Our Local Offer

If you require paper copies of any of the documentation on this website, please do not hesitate to ask.

SEND Graduated Approach – May 2021

Our school follows the SEND Graduated Approach, set out by the Local Authority, to respond to pupils’ needs across the four broad areas of need identified in the SEND Code of Practice (2015)

The identified areas of need are Cognition & Learning, Communication & Interaction, Social, Emotional & Mental Health and Physical & Sensory.

Our SEND pupils’ are identified within the 4 graduated approach bandings;

The 4 bandings are built into every learner’s Educational Support Plan (ESP) so their level of need can be constantly reviewed and shared with parents and professionals.

The continuum of need used to identify our SEND pupils is used alongside the Early Help Thresholds for help and intervention to ensure all of our pupils’ and their families are receiving the most appropriate support and provision.

Our Vulnerable/SEND pupils’ are identified within the Early Help 4 levels of need;

There are a number of useful contacts which can be accessed during the period when the school is closed:

PDF of A-Z of Helplines & Support

Early Help is a way of ‘thinking’ and ‘working’ through a collaborative approach between services with families. It is about prevention and earlier intervention, by providing support to families when a need is identified or as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life. This can be from the point of conception through to the teenage years, to prevent or reduce the need for statutory services.

Early help can also prevent further problems arising, for example, if it is provided as part of a support plan where a child has returned home from a period of care, or protection through Children’s Social Care. It is about working with the family by identifying their strengths whatever they may be and involving wider family members and friends building resilience to sustain change and to find their own solutions in the future.

Find out more on the Doncaster Safeguarding Children Partnership  website, where you can fill in an online form  if you have a concern about a child or have an Early Help enquiry. If you need information or advice about a child or young person before completing the form, call Early Help from 8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, on 01302 734110.

Doncaster School Nursing Team PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SERVICE SHOULD NOT BE USED IN RESPECT OF CORONAVIRUS QUERIES

Our Doncaster school nursing team is a group of experienced qualified nurses and support workers who support young people aged 5-19 years and their families to stay healthy.

We work in partnership with other health service and education providers, and other wider social care and voluntary services for children young people and families.

Telephone: 01302 566776

Families Information Service

Families Information Service provides information, advice and guidance for parents, carers, practitioners, children and young people on a wide range of services and activities/events available in Doncaster and beyond.

• Freephone: 0800 138 4568, operates Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, outside of these hours there is an answer phone service
• Email: fis@doncaster.gov.uk

SEN Team Doncaster

The Service aims to provide a range of appropriate educational opportunities and additional resources for children and young people with special educational needs to enable their needs to be met in an inclusive setting.

• Telephone number: 01302 737209 / 737210 / 737211   (Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 5 pm)
• Fax number: 01302 737342
• Email: sen@doncaster.gov.uk

DONCASTER PARENTS VOICE

Doncaster Parents Voice ( DPVoice ) is run by parents of children with a variety of additional needs, we exist to support families with disabled children whenever they need us for support.

• Email: Dpvoice@doncastercarers.org.uk
• Telephone: 01302 637566