Many children during their school life encounter difficulties, either of a general nature or with one or more specific areas of the curriculum. The school will use a range of strategies to remove these difficulties or barriers to learning. Pupils who continue to have difficulties in learning may have an Additional or Special Educational Need which the school can support through the use of inclusive teaching and specialist services such as the specialist teaching and learning service (STLS), speech and language therapy (SALT) and occupational therapy (OT). An additional educational need may be in learning, communication interaction, physical and/or sensory and social, emotional, social or mental health difficulties.
At St. Mary’s C.E Primary Academy, every child matters and we aim to ensure every child succeeds. We have well developed monitoring systems that assess and track all children’s progress. This ensures that barriers to learning are identified quickly. The school has an Inclusion Leader and SENCo, as part of the Inclusion Team. They work closely with class teachers and teaching assistants to plan appropriate levels of support to meet the needs of the children identified as having additional needs. Should your child be identified as having additional needs, your child will be included on the School’s Additional/Special Educational Needs Register, in line with the SEN Code of Practice 2014. The School will then work with you to identify appropriate support.
Our team consists of:
- Kirsty Gardiner – Inclusion Leader
- Jess Ramsden – SENCo
- Rebecca Everitt – SEN HLTA
- Sandy Harrison – Nurture Coordinator
What should I do if I think my child may have Special Educational Needs or a disability?
At St. Mary’s C.E Primary Academy, we would encourage you initially to talk to the class teachers about your concerns. This meeting will be recorded on a meeting form and a copy given to the SENCo. All staff can be contacted through the school office either by letter, email or a phone call. A request to meet with the class teacher can also be made in their learning logs.
Some parents prefer to share concerns with the Pastoral Support Advisors Mrs Boushall, Mrs Bull or Mrs Harrison, or the Family Liaison Officer, Mrs Milton, who are based in the mobile near the Nursery. Each of these members of staff can arrange meetings with the class teachers and can be seen at the start and end of the school day.
If you have a high level of concern about your child or information from either health professionals or private consultations then you may wish to talk to Mrs Ramsden, the SENCo or Miss Gardiner, the Inclusions Leader. They can be contacted in the same way as above.