Special Educational Needs and Disability
- Works closely with the Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team, Class Teachers and Teaching Assistants to co-ordinate provision for children across the school.
- Manages the Teachers and Teaching Assistants working with individual or small groups of children with additional needs.
- Manages the Teaching Assistants working 1-1 with children with Education Health and Care Plans and those assigned with High Needs Funding.
- Maintains a register of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and monitors the progress of the children on the SEND register.
- Has responsibility for the day to day operation of the SEND Policy and Information Report.
- Liaises with the Specialist Teaching Service and Educational Psychology Service to gain advice and support for children who are at risk of underachievement or have SEN.
- Works closely with parents of children with SEND.
- Applies for Education Health and Care Plans and High Needs Funding for children when appropriate.
- Refers children for assessments by specialists as necessary, including Community Paediatrics, Speech and Language Therapy Service, Occupational Therapy.
To contact the SENCO team either phone us on 01892 523006 and select option 2, or email: senco@st-james.kent.sch.uk
All teachers at St James’ are teachers of SEND, managing all the needs of the individual children in their class. Within the classroom, the teachers will provide support for children’s specific needs through Quality First Teaching. All classes have Teaching Assistants supporting them.
In addition, Teachers and Teaching Assistants run a range of groups outside the classroom to support progress. These are monitored and change according to the needs of the cohort of pupils, but include:
- Talk Boost (developing speech, language and communication)
- Speech Link (articulation practice)
- Little Wandle Phonics Keep Up, Catch Up and SEND groups
- Maths Groups
- Writing Groups
- Lego Therapy Groups
- Jump Ahead and BEAM (fine and gross motor development)
- Sensory Circuits
- Time to Talk
- Reading Dog
The SEND Governor
The school allocates a Governor with responsibility for SEND at St James' Primary School. Judi Hamill is our current SEND Governor and reports to the Governing Body on the school’s SEND provision. She meets with the SENDCO at least 3 times a year for monitoring including visiting the classrooms and intervention groups.
Identification and assessment
At St James’ Primary School we identify children with additional needs as early as possible in order to put in provision to support them with their learning. We carry out Baseline Assessment with all children and Language Link and Speech Link assessments when appropriate. Class Teachers monitor and track progress of all children continually. Tracking documents are completed and shared with the Senior Leadership Team for analysis three times per year. The SLT including the SENDCO meet with the Class Teachers three times a year to discuss the children’s progress. Children with additional needs may be identified at any stage in their school life. Children who are working Below the Programme of Study in Year 1 will continue to work on the Development Matters Early Years Curriculum until they have achieved the Early Learning Goals. Children who are working Below the Programme of Study in Year 2 and above will be assessed using the P Scales.
Useful links
Should you need to find out more about the provision Kent provides for children with SEN, please follow this link to the Local offer: https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educational-needs
Another useful website to support you and your child if they have any special educational needs is the IASK website: https://www.iask.org.uk/parents-and-carers/
