Special Needs Report (including Local Offer)

“Special Education Needs and Disability Information” –

Or - What you need to know to help you decide if this school is for you when your child has additional needs

• Southill is a half form entry Lower School set in a beautiful village location.
• Teachers meet the needs of all the children in their class through differentiation.
• At Southill we monitor every child’s progress half termly. It is through this monitoring that we are able to identify children who are not making expected progress. 
• Where children are identified as needing further intervention they will take part in small group work focusing on their particular needs.
• If a parent has any concerns about their child’s progress or needs the first point of contact is their class teacher. If this does not put your mind at rest then a further meeting can be arranged between yourselves, the class teacher and SENCo. Your child may attend if it is appropriate.
• If a child is identified as needing further support they may have their needs planned for through a support plan (SP). This identification of further support may result from observations of a child's interactions in the classroom, assessment of their work, from liaison with their previous school or nursery, liaison with external agencies, a health diagnosis or from concerns raised by parents/carers.

Types of needs that may need extra support include where a child...

• Is having difficulties comprehending conversations and instructions
• Is having difficulties with reading, writing or maths.
• Is finding it difficult to concentrate and pay attention.
• Has physical needs or impairments.
• Is struggling with their behaviour.

At this stage, parents are invited to a meeting with their class teacher and the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) to discuss how their child’s needs can best be met. This may include adaptation to the curriculum or learning environment if required. Your child may attend if it is appropriate.

Targets are set and review meetings take place once a term from then on. If a specific special educational need is identified the child may be identified as being SEND.

A child has SEND where:

• Their learning difficulty or disability requires a provision that is different from or in addition to what is normally available for a child of the same age.
• They have a physical or mental impairment or disability that has an adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
• They have physical or mental impairments including sensory impairments that affect sight or hearing.
  What Central Bedfordshire offers can be accessed through the Central Beds website which can be found through the hyperlink in this local offer link.

At Southill we have a governor dedicated to supporting and challenging the provision given to children with special educational needs or disabilities.

At the end of each year, or when changing schools, the children are prepared for the new challenges through transition activities. What these are will depend on the needs of the child. These will be discussed with their parents at their review meeting.

Sometimes it is necessary to seek advice from other agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy Provision or the school nurse. Other agencies that we, at Southill, have referred children to include Jigsaw (a behavioural support service) and CHUMS (for emotional support). You can also seek diagnosis and support from the Child Development Centre.

To ensure that everyone knows how best to support any child with an additional need they have a “communication passport” made for them.

Our SENCo is Miss Chloe Bell 

She can be contacted on 01462 813312 or by emailing senco@derwentschool.co.uk

Access and the curriculum

We are committed to providing an environment that enables full curriculum access that values and includes all pupils, staff, parents and visitors regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs. We are committed to taking positive action in the spirit of the Equality Act 2010 with regard to disability and to developing a culture of inclusion, support and awareness within the school.

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or rehabilitation support. Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers. (SEND Code of Practice 2015).

We offer an inclusive curriculum that all pupils can fully participate in. Where applicable we work closely with parents to plan their child’s involvement in school trips.

The school is all single story and all teaching areas within the School can be accessed by wheelchair.  More information on this area can be found in our accessibility policy. Where appropriate, modifications have been made to the auditory/visual environment to meet the needs of particular pupils. We work with external agencies to secure particular equipment or resources such as Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Hearing Impaired Service and the Visually Impaired Service.

All staff  within the federation have received additional training on supporting children with additional needs including:

• Behaviour, autism, speech and language support, physical health needs and sensory processing amongst others.

In addition some of our members of staff have taken part in training linked to the specific needs of children at Southill. This has included Sensory training run by NHS Physiotherapists and ASD training run by Outside In (an ASD charity) as well as behaviour training run by Jigsaw.

If you have any concerns about the provision for a child with special needs at Southill please contact the Headteacher in the first instance on 01462 813312 or by e-mailing southill@southillschool.co.uk  You may also wish to refer to our complaints procedure which can be found in the policies section of the website.

This report which was updated in September 2023 should be read in conjunction with our SEN policy and our accessibility policy.

Additional support can be found at CBC Parent and Young Person Partnership Service on 0300 300 8088

Central Bedfordshire SEND Local Offer Information Booklet

The new co-produced  local offer website was launched and October 2021 following workshops held with multi-agency organisations, professionals, parents and carers  and young people. Parents/carers, young people and our staff have worked together to make the information in the Local Offer relevant and informative.

The Local Offer sets out in one place what information on support and services are available to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) from birth to 25 ,  as well as how to access these services and organisations . We want to continuously improve our SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Local Offer to ensure that it is meeting the needs of local families and individuals .

The SNAP PCF survey conducted in early 2022 outlined the need for further work to improve the reach of our local offer and as a result Central Bedfordshire Council agreed steps , as outlined in the SNAP Action Plan, to address this.   As a result Central Bedfordshire Council and SNAP PCF have worked together to co-produce a Local Offer SEND Information booklet to share with families .

• This is available as an electronic version , and has been distributed widely to our colleagues in education, health , care and our third sector partners .
• Hard copies will be placed in all schools, early years settings , children’s centres , libraries , along with designated  health settings through the Spring Term.

The Local offer can also be found online at www.localoffer.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Use the ‘Recite Me’ tool bar at the top of the page to enable you to access the pages in your own language

Links to Local Services: