Grasmere Primary School London N16

At Grasmere we welcome and value all children and strive to deliver a fully accessible social and academic curriculum. We rejoice in the richness and diversity of our school community within Hackney. We continue to adapt our systems and structures: curriculum, building, attitudes and values in order to make our school an inclusive and welcoming environment.

Statement of aims

• To encourage all our children to develop the confidence, self-respect, understanding and awareness of cultures, religions and values that lead to respect for each other;
• To enable all our children to reach the highest levels of achievement of which they are capable;
• To provide all our children with a broad and balanced education;
• To assist all our children to acquire the knowledge, competencies, experiences and skills which will enhance their life-chances;
• To raise the expectations and aspirations of children, to expand their horizons and foster an awareness of the range of opportunities available;
• To equip our children with the knowledge, understanding and independence of mind which is essential to overcoming prejudice and stereotyping;
• To cultivate in all our children an understanding of rights and responsibilities such as would enable them to defend their own rights and have due regard to the rights of others.

At Grasmere we believe that :

• Inclusion in education involves the process of increasing the participation of students in, and reducing their exclusion from, the cultures, curricula and community of our school;
• Inclusion involves restructuring the cultures, policies and practices in our school to respond to the diversity of our students;
• Inclusion is concerned with the learning and participation of all students vulnerable to exclusionary pressures;
• Inclusion is concerned with improving our school for staff, parents and the wider community;
• Diversity is not viewed as a problem to be overcome, but as a rich resource to support learning for all. Cultural and ethnic diversity enhances and enriches our school community;
• Inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society;
• All children are entitled to have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and this must be planned to take account of their learning needs and be relevant;
• All children need adequate and appropriate resources to support their learning;
• All children are entitled to an education that balances their individual needs as citizens with the needs of community and wider world.
• We provide a secure and structured learning environment with clear standards of acceptable behaviour and consistent procedures for dealing with what is not acceptable (see behaviour and discipline, and monitoring policies);
• We seek to develop a full and active partnership with parents/carers, governors, pupils and the local community by involving them in the life of the school and enabling them to influence and enhance the schoolís positive development;
• Parents/carers and governors have every opportunity to know the school and its staff and develop trust and confidence in it;
• Inclusion involves regular and relevant professional development for staff and support staff. In-service training record and teaching is monitored by the Head Teacher and the Deputy Head on a regular basis.

1. Information about the school the schoolís special educational provision:
We recognize that a child has Special Educational needs if s/he has a learning difficulty or ability, which is significantly greater than the majority of children of the same age.

We believe that all children are vulnerable to stress caused by personal circumstance and most experience behavioural or emotional disturbance at some time during their school career. Some children will show persistent patterns of disturbance over long periods, and this will be regarded as a special need.

Children may be said to have Special Educational Needs if they are not reaching their full potential due to behavioural, intellectual, physical, emotional or social reasons, or a lack of resources or provision to meet identified needs.

The objectives of our Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Policy ensure that:

• All children are given equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum and that each childís achievements are valued.
• We identify and assess children with SEN as early as possible.
• All teaching staff are aware of the procedures for identifying children with SEN (as stated later in this policy).
• There is involvement of parents and pupils at every stage.
• In order to support children with SEN, we provide differentiation, intervention groups and individual targets and strategies that are additional to and different from the work undertaken within a normal classroom setting.
• Clear, factual and up-to-date records follow the child through their primary school career and are passed on to their secondary school when necessary. This information can be found in individual files in the SEN room and in the ëSEN Classroom Fileí in each classroom.
• We raise staff awareness and expertise through 3 SEN staff meetings per year and additional SEN INSET with outside agencies. Each member of staff and their support colleagues have a 1:1 meeting with the SENCO once a year.
• There is adequate resourcing for SEN.
• We maintain close links with support services, other schools and agencies.

2. The Schoolís SEN Co-ordinator:

The person responsible for coordinating the day-to-day operation of the SEN and Inclusion Policy is Tracey Atkins.
The SEN designated governor is Mary Leaming.

3. Arrangements for coordinating provision for children with special educational needs.

The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is responsible for:

• The day-to-day running of the SEN and Inclusion Policy, in conjunction with the Headteacher.
• Liaising with and advising all staff members, teaching and non-teaching.
• Co-ordinating the provision for children with Special Needs.
• Co-ordinating, along with the Head Teacher, and the Deputy Head, using the Integris Database System, an efficient system for identifying and monitoring children with SEN.
• Co-ordinating the assessment of and keeping records for children with Special Needs.
• Contributing to in-service training for staff.
• Liaising with the SEN Governor of the school formerly twice a year.
• Liaising as necessary with regard to ëlooked after childrení for whom she is the named person.
• Liaising with and making referrals to outside support services, agencies and voluntary bodies, including the School Medical Service, the Educational Psychology Service, Learning Support Service, Donald Winnicott Centre, the Education Welfare Service, Child & Family Consultation Service, and Social Services. We have had links with the Primary Pupil Referral Unit as a consultation service.
• Assisting class teachers to draw up Individual Education Plans (I.E.Pís) in consultation with other staff members (e.g. EMAG, LSA), parents and pupils.
• Maintaining close links with all parents of children with special educational needs.
• Co-ordinating SEN reviews, fixing short term targets and organizing Annual Reviews for children with Statements.
• Producing written reports following Annual Reviews and referrals.
• Liaising closely with the Headteacher with the writing and implementation of the SEN and Inclusion Policy. The Head Teacher, Deputy Head, EMAG teacher and the SENCO meet every _ term to discuss EMAG and SEN issues.
• The SENCO is not a member of the Senior Management Team but is invited to SM meetings at appropriate times to inform and discuss SEN issues.

The Headteacher, Mark Derrington, is responsible for:

• Overseeing and assisting with the efficient implementation of the SEN and Inclusion Policy.
• The allocation and effective use of the SEN budget.

Each class has a record of the children in their class who currently have SEN. This is kept in the ëSEN Classroom Fileí. Copies are up-dated as and when a child moves from one stage to another or a new child is identified. Complete copies of these SEN information sheets are kept by the SENCO who delivers copies to the Acting Head and Deputy.

Once a child has been identified as having a Special Educational Need, formal records begin to be kept following an initial meeting to discuss the needs with the childís parents. These pro-formas are kept in individual files, arranged by year group, in the filing cabinet in the Special Needs Room. Records are accessible to all teachers and professionals in consultation with the SENCO.

IEPís are also kept in the individual childrenís files in the Special Needs Room, with a copy to the relevant support staff, the teachers involved and the parent/carer. Quick reference IEPs for each class are in a separate section at the front of the ëSEN Classroom Filesí.

Class teachers of statemented children have an up-to-date copy of the current statement in their ëSEN Classroom Fileí. Any Educational Psychology Reports for children at ëAction Plusí stage, are also kept in the ëSEN Classroom Fileí. Duplicates of all these are kept in the childís individual files and in a file marked : ìStatements and EP Reports ñ At-a-glanceî. All in the SEN room.

4. Admission arrangements:

The schoolís admissions arrangements are published separately and are in line with Hackneyís Admission Policy.

5. SEN specialists and special units:

The school has no special unit.

The SENCO : is a trained Classroom and Reading Recovery teacher and has attended a four-day course organized by the British Dyslexia association on Specific Learning Difficulties. There is also a Special Needs Assistant who provides 30 minutes of Quality Time to seven specific children in the school. We are in the process of arranging another Special Needs Assistant to do _ day a week with additional children.

We have specialist support for Autistic Spectrum Disorders once a week from Gillian Bird who works with a small group of children in Y4 and offers advice.

6. Facilities for children with special educational needs

• Grasmere has a stair lift offering access to the first floor for adults and children with mobility difficulties; there is an additional stair lift to the mezzanine floor. We have also installed an Evacu-chair.
• There are ramps to all infants and nursery classrooms, secure gates in the playgrounds, raised door handles, uni-taps and sink steps in the infant and nursery classrooms and cloakrooms.
• One of the ground floor toilets is specially adapted for wheelchair users and people with limited mobility.
• We have a ground-floor Medical Room for the administration of more complex medicines.
• We have created a one-hour fire-resistant room on the first floor.
• Specialist teachers (including ì15 minute a dayî parents and helpers) and other professionals have the use of the ëgroup roomí, the ëresources roomí and the library for withdrawing individual or small groups.
• Individual childrenís asthma relievers are stored in the general office for use as appropriate. There is a ëMedicinesí file in the office providing an up-to-date record of the date, time, doseage and specification of medicines administered to individual children throughout the school day. It also provides a record of written consent by the parents/carers.
• For more complex administration of medicines (eg. by an LSA), an individual childís record is kept in confidentiality in the Medical Room. All medicine regimens are provided by and consented by the parents/carers and confirmed by the relevant medical source (ie. the hospital). All staff who administer complex medicines are trained to work safely and effectively with children who have medical needs.
• Where special medication is required (e.g. Ritalin) the Headteacher will administer it ñ in the event of his absence the SENCO or class teacher will take responsibility and record the date, time and doseage in the ëMedicinesí file.

Information about the schoolís policies for the identification, assessment and provision for all children with special educational needs:

7. The allocation of resources to and amongst pupils with special educational needs:

• The school has one reading recovery teacher, funded by the school.
• There is one part-time EMA Co-ordinator (0.2) who undertakes the following : working with bilingual pupils, monitoring EMAG in the school and appropriate administrative tasks.
• 13 Teaching Assistants (including 7 LSAs allocated to Statemented children) work in classrooms to support individual children, small groups and class teachers.
• The Teaching Assistant in each class runs the relevant Literacy and Numeracy Intervention programme. A complete list of Intervention programmes at Grasmere can be found in the SEN file in the SEN room.
• Grasmere has support from one Learning Mentor who floats as necessary between 3 individual children in the school supporting their behaviour and learning.

8. Identification, assessment arrangements and review procedures:

Grasmere uses the Hackney SEN profiling system (as set out in the new Code of Practice ñ January 2002) to record the identification and assessment of children with special educational needs. We aim to identify children with special educational needs as early as possible in their school career. To this end the SENCO meets each class teacher at the beginning of the year and more times as necessary (informally) to discuss any problem that might have arisen and any change in the needs of the class. All children listed on the SEN profiling system are offered a review of their SEN stage at least twice a year and more times if short term targets dictate. Parents/Carers, teachers, support staff, Senco and pupils are all invited to participate in the setting of short term targets and the evaluation and review of the Special Educational Need. In some cases, relevant professionals from outside agencies are also invited to contribute.

Once a class teacher has expressed concern about a child, the SENCO advises the class teacher and support staff to begin to make a written record of the childís progress, behaviours, motivations and idiosyncracies. This is listed in Grasmereís SEN profile as ìunder classroom observationî. This stage is reviewable. If the class teacher then reports to the SENCO that a variety of strategies compliable with good classroom practice (eg. using additional adults in the room, EMAG, Reading Recovery, intervention group or small group activities, discipline procedures set out in the discipline policy, reward systems, re-grouping dynamics etc etc) have not helped the child to make progress, and the class teacher is still concerned after a period of monitoring, a decision will be made for the class teacher to meet with the parents for consultation. A decision may be reached at the meeting to begin ëSchool Actioní of the special needs profiling system where the proceedings are recorded and filed.

The following explanation of ëSchool Action and School Action Plusí comes from the New Special Educational Needs Code of Practice issued November 2001, DfES 581/2001.

School Action : (Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 5.43)
Grasmere will meet the needs of all the children at ëSchool Actioní. Any resources and/or extra support will be funded by the school. (See Section 9 of this policy).

After a period of ëunder classroom observationí (mentioned above) and evidence that a variety of strategies have not resulted in a particular child making adequate progress : (Grasmere adheres to section 5.56 of the current Special Educational Needs Code of Practice). The SENCO and the class teacher will consult the classroom targets and assessments (see Assessement Policy). If they still feel that the child will need support, resources or a learning style that is ìadditional to and different fromî (DfES 581/2001) the usual differentiated curriculum within that classroom, then a meeting will be arranged with the SENCO, the class teacher, parents/carers and other professionals involved with the child to seek additional information that may inform teaching and learning. 3 or 4 new targets and associated strategies will be discussed regarding the specific difficulty and an Individual Education Plan will be drawn up. This will place the child onto ìSchool Actionî and the relevant documents and notes from the meeting will be filed as such. . Grasmere currently uses the LEA IEP format plus ëIEP Writerí where available.

ëSchool Actioní is reviewed involving all the relevant adults and the pupil and take place as regularly as the IEP targets dictate. It is the SENCOs responsibility to monitor the success of the targets and arrange appropriate ëSchool Actioní review meetings. It is the responsibility of the class teacher and the support staff to adhere to the IEP and the plan of action set out at the previous meeting. Grasmere sets a limit of a minimum of 2 meetings per year with one as a consultation during Parents Evening. If the difficulty lies with behaviour as well as learning and the child requires strategies ëadditional to and different fromí those set out in the Grasmere discipline policy, then the targets may be reviewed more regularly. Depending on the circumstances, advice from Educational Psychology may be sought at this stage.

ìSchool Action Plusî : (Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 5.54)
During a ìSchool Actionî review and evaluation of the current IEP, and in consultation with the parents/carers, class teacher, SENCO and relevant professionals, the decision may be made that the child requires further help from external services. The parent/carer will be asked to consent to outside involvement. The criteria for a request of external support by the LEA or other outside agencies would be if the relevant adults agreed that despite the individualized programmes over a period of time, the child has not made adequate progress : (Grasmere adheres to section 5.56 of the current Special Educational Needs Code of Practice). Grasmere will consult with the school Educational Psychologist and where external agencies are involved, Grasmere will provide the childís records from their individual files. External involvement may include specialist assessment to inform further IEP targets, resources and support still to be conducted within a classroom setting. It is the responsibility of the class teacher and support staff to deliver the IEP. The parents will also be consulted and invited to consent if further referrals (ie. health, psychological) are deemed to be necessary. Any individual programmes and advice will be incorporated in the childís IEP or school routine. All the evidence for involvement with the child is recorded and filed.

Request for Statutory Assessment : (Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 5.62)
If, after advice from the EP or other professionals, the school and the parents consider that help is needed from outside the schoolís resources the SENCO requests that a Statutory Assessment be made for the child. The school will provide written evidence of every stage of the profiling system plus reports and assessments from outside agencies. The Educational Psychologist involved with the school will also provide evidence for Statutory Assessment referral for the child.

The Pre-Assessment Panel will consider the evidence and may ask for further information and views from the adults involved. Should the PAP (Pre-Assessment Panel) decide against statutory assessment it is then up to the school to look again at provision for the child and to formulate new strategies & IEP’s.

If the PAP agrees to proceed with Statutory a decision will be made whether or not to issue a Statement of Special Educational Needs. The Authority then makes provision dependent on the particular needs of the child.

9. Arrangements for providing access for pupils with SEN to a balanced and broadly based curriculum, including the National curriculum:

Our policy is to provide access for all children to the National Curriculum. Different ability groups and different needs will be catered for through differentiated planning. Classrooms are organized and managed with this in mind. School policies are inclusive and there is a shared ethos of inclusion that permeates all policies e.g. School trips should be planned (School Trips Policy) to include all pupils.

From ëSchool Actioní, children with SEN are supported from within the schoolís resources. These are, as previously outlined:

• Curriculum differentiated by class teacher
• Teaching Assistants supporting individual work
• Intervention Groups run by Teaching Assistants
• Learning Mentors
• Special Needs Assistant
• EMAG teacher
• Reading Recovery teacher
• SENCO run Language Groups
• Teaching Assistants trained in 15 minute a day
• IEPís assist class teachers and helpers in differentiating the curriculum and are initiated with the SENCO, the parent, the pupil, the class teacher and the support staff.

10. The inclusion/integration of children with Special Educational Needs within the school:

At Grasmere we are committed to Hackneyís policy of inclusion where we believe that we can meet a childís Special Educational Needs appropriately. To this end we have had extensive building work carried out to provide access to all areas of the building,(see section on facilities) the sports areas and the new constructions in the garden.

We believe that inclusion is successful when there is adequate and appropriate support for the child, the parents and the school. It is a priority of ours to ensure that a child with special educational needs has the right support and to this end, we work hard to maintain links with health and education professionals. We are in regular contact with the Learning Support Service, Educational Psychology Service and the Donald Winnicott Centre. We have links with Brighthouse and seek to share good practice with other local schools if a particular programme is run there (eg. Brain Gym at Tyssen).

The school is committed to the process of developing inclusion as a whole school and will involve pupils, parents, staff, governors, other professionals and the local community in this process. We commit ourselves to ongoing training in special needs, inclusion and Disability Equality.

11. Criteria for evaluating the success of the schoolís SEN and Inclusion Policy:

The policy is reviewed where there are changing circumstance and at least every year. The next planned review will be Spring 2003.

Termly meetings between staff and the Head Teacher or Deputy Head are held to discuss individual professional needs and other development areas as a monitoring device. The SEN Governor visits the school to monitor the progress and provides feedback to the Governing body. The Governors report on the success of this policy in their Annual Report to Parents.

Monitoring :

• The Head Teacher and the Senco will monitor effective communication between staff, parents and SEN co-ordinator through regular SEN meetings and reviews including evaluations and the setting of new targets. Reviews are at least twice a year including Statemented children who also have an Annual Review with all professionals involved with the childís learning. There are also informal meetings, phone calls and ad-hoc letters home to parents to report on successes.
• The Senco and the Class Teachers will monitor that the IEPís address the needs of the children through regularl meetings to analyse, evaluate and re-set targets using different strategies. Information on how to motivate and move the children forward will be received from all professionals involved, parents/carers, teaching staff, and pupils themselves.
• The Head Teacher, Deputy Head and Senco will monitor the identification of children early in their primary school career through Y1 Reading Recovery screening, target setting and End of Year Reviews. (Full Assessment details for the Early Years is in the Assessment Policy)
• The Senco and the Head Teacher will monitor the effective use of SEN resources through consultation with professionals, such as CENMAC, and parents of children on the SEN profiling system.
• The Head Teacher and the Governors will monitor the success of the SEN and Inclusion Policy with parents/carers through questionnaires, regular Governorís meetings and through the complaints procedure set out below.

In addition the success of the SEN and Inclusion Policy will be reflected in the following:

• The results and analysis of the London Reading Test.
• The results and analysis of SATs and teacher assessment.
• The views of staff, parents and the Governing body.
• The results and analysis of Reading Recovery pupils.
• The number of children whose needs are perceived to have been met and who move down or off the profiling system

12. Arrangements for considering complaints about special educational provision within the school

We aim for a close working partnership with parents and, if parents are anxious about any aspect of their childís education, they can approach the school.

Informal complaints can be discussed with the class teacher by appointment.

Formal complaints can be discussed with the SENCO and/or the Headteacher in the hope that a satisfactory resolution can be found.

The Governor with responsibility for Special Needs may be consulted.

A committee of the Governing body may be convened to hear the complaint.

If parents are dissatisfied after these stages they can make a written complaint to the school governors or they can contact the school complaints officer at Edith Cavell.

Information about the schoolís staffing policies and partnership with bodies beyond the school.

13. The schoolís arrangements for SEN and Inclusion in-service training:

We recognize that teaching and non-teaching staff will need regular in-service training on aspects of special needs and inclusion in order to update policy and inform practice. Each term we hold one twilight INSET for teaching staff for SEN training/information as well as discussion during the school day. Child protection, behaviour and discipline and SEN policies will be reviewed regularly.

INSET needs are reviewed regularly. Staff meet termly with the Headteacher to identify their individual INSET needs, review their previous targets, and discuss any other development areas.

All staff at Grasmere who work with children with Special Educational Needs and are expected to attend meetings, briefings and professional development organized by the school or by the Learning Support Service (This includes meetings of the SENCO network). The Head Teacher meets regularly with LSAís on an informal basis and at least once each term on a formal basis. The headteacher also meets regularly with all other ancillary staff.

A record of the inñservice training programme to support special educational needs is maintained.

14. Use made of teachers and facilities from outside the school, including support service:

• Our Education Psychologist is Marie McAlinden. Our allocation of EP time is 2 days per term to make individual assessments, meet with parents, meet the SENCO and discuss individual children.
• The schoolís Education Welfare Officer, in consultation with the Head Teacher and the Deputy Head.
• The school currently employs a part time EMAG teacher/coordinator and each class has a classroom assistant to provide support for children for whom English is an additional language and other underachieving ethnic groups.
• The school Medical Officer and School Nurse, Maureen Barclay, regularly monitors children who are on the ëAt Risk Registerí and those children whose health has given cause for concern.
• There is regular communication between the school and Social Services, The Child Protection Team, The Child Health services (including the Donald Winnicott Centre), Hackney Special Needs Section, The Learning Support Service, Hackney Education Literacy Project (in particular Reading Recovery and 15 minutes a day).

15. Arrangements for partnership with parents:

The teaching and support staff of these classes visit all parents of children new to the Nursery and Reception at home. We believe that parents are partners in their childís learning and they are invited to share assemblies, work alongside children in the classrooms and accompany children on visits, thus supporting co-operative and collaborative learning. Parents are asked into school three times each year for a teacher/parent conference.

Parents are involved at every stage of the SEN Profiling System. We believe it is essential to have a good dialogue with parents of children with special educational needs and value the information and insight they can provide us with.

Where children are on special programmes (e.g. Reading Recovery or 15 minutes a day), we invite their parents in to observe a lesson so they are better able to assist their child at home. Our IEPís often include actions that parents can carry out at home.

Where necessary, we arrange for translators to attend meetings or we have written notices translated into other languages.

We encourage parents to contact us with details of any medical condition, which might affect their childís education, and to plan with us to meet any such needs. We particularly ask parents to contact us after their children have had hearing or vision tests or school medicals. Likewise, we inform parents/carers at all times of any intention we have of making referrals.

16. Links with other mainstream schools and special schools, including arrangements when pupils change schools or leaves school:

Grasmere has established close links with our nearest secondary school, Stoke Newington School where, occasionally, our pupils attend special classes or events. In recent years many of our year 6 pupils have chosen to go there when they leave. Details are published annually as part of the school brochure.

When children on the profiling system transfer to Secondary School the SENCO and Year 6 teacher invite the SENCO of that School to visit Grasmere, meet the child in this environment and to attend any Annual Reviews. All the SEN profiles are passed on to the receiving school. This has been extremely successful, as we have been able to set joint targets, which will continue through, to the secondary school.

When a child transfers to another Primary School the SEN profiles and child protection concerns are passed on. The SENCO will make contact with the SENCO of that school if further information is needed. When a child transfers from another Primary School to Grasmere, the SENCO will contact the SENCO of the previous school to ensure continuity of learning and provision.

If a Statemented child is going to a special school we make arrangements for that child to visit the school beforehand-if possible with the Head or the SENCO. Similarly, if we are to receive a statemented child from a special school we would hope to both visit and receive a visit from the pupil before s/he started with us and to work in close co-operation with that school.

17. Links with health and social service, educational welfare services and any voluntary organisations:

Our school nurse is in regular contact with the Headteacher and SENCO, she visits the school regularly to keep informed and to screen any children who need to be seen. The School Doctor visits three times a term and will make referrals to outside agencies where concerns are noted at medicals. We have links with John Scott Health Centre, The Child and Family Consultation Service, Barton House Health Centre, Donald Winnicott Centre, The Young Peoples Health Advisory Service, Social Services, Hackneyís Educational Psychologists and the Drugs Education team from St Leonardís. We have recently become a member of the ëHealthy Schools Action Zoneí.

Our EWO visits the school regularly to monitor attendance and punctuality. She visits parents where necessary.