SEND Information Report 2022/2023
1. The kinds of special educational needs for which provision is made at
Grace Owen Nursery School, which is one of 7 Early Years Centres of Excellence for SEND in Sheffield, caters for children with a wide range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) as defined by the SEND Code of Practice (2014).
These are:
· Communication and Interaction
· Cognition and Learning
· Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
· Sensory and Physical Needs
We endeavour to be a highly inclusive setting which strives to meet the individual needs of all children and their families. We work in partnership with children, families and other agencies to provide the best possible outcomes for all our children, including those with a range of additional and complex needs. We are committed to:
• promote and support the delivery of inclusion, particularly for vulnerable families
• lead and develop a working together model across the sectors to achieve strong working relationships and consistency of high quality early learning
• develop consistency of assessment across the sectors to secure early identification of additional needs
• develop a model of moderation to secure consistently high quality accurate assessment and tracking processes across the sectors for children from birth years to 5 years
• develop an effective transition model with high quality information sharing that ensures children are ready for school and schools are ready for children
• develop high quality information sharing across the city, within localities and communities to meet the needs of all children and their families
• be at the forefront of the latest research, policy and practice and ensure that this is disseminated across the sectors
2. The school’s SEND policy and the arrangements for supporting pupils with SEND have been updated to ensure they are fully compliant with the regulations of the 2014 Children and Families Act and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 0-25 years, June 2014.
We get to know each child and their family as they settle into nursery and as time moves on. We can then work together to identify needs, strengths and interests. This means we can work in partnership to meet any needs by adapting our curriculum and supporting a child with extra interventions e.g. if a child has a delay in their communication development or is a late walker we can spend extra time with them as they play, encouraging these skills. We work closely with families to ensure continuity between home and nursery.
If a child then needs further support the school SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and/or Disability Co-ordinator), Suzanne Howarth, will help the family and staff to put a Support Plan in place to provide regular more targeted support. After again reviewing progress together, we (the family and nursery staff) may then choose to seek advice from specialists outside the school such as Speech and Language Therapists or an Early Years Inclusion Teacher or a Physiotherapist. We only refer children to these specialist services with the full agreement of the family. There are a wide range of services that offer support in addition to those named above. Here of some of the main services we work with regularly
· NHS Speech and Language Therapy Services
· The Early Years Inclusion Team
· The Autism Team
· Services for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children
· Sheffield Vision Support Service
· Physiotherapy Services
· Occupational Therapy Services
· Educational Psychology Team
· Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
· Any other medical and specialist services as needed
Some children will come to nursery with special educational needs and/or disabilities already identified and specialist support in place. We work in close partnership with these services to ensure each child can achieve their full potential. At this point children will be placed on the school’s SEND register.
3. This is how we make provision for children with special educational needs/disabilities, whether or not pupils have EHC Plans.
(a) how we evaluate the effectiveness of provision
· Ongoing monitoring of children’s communication, speech and language development
· The use of observations and assessment, sometimes using documents such as the ESCAL communication tracker or Locke and Beech tracker
· Monitoring of attendance and behaviours
· Discussions with families and children, where appropriate
· Feedback from practitioners, especially key people
· SENCo review of interventions
· Leadership meetings to monitor support and progress of all children with SEND
· Sharing information with governors about our SEND work
(b) how we assess and review the progress of children with special educational needs/disabilities;
· Termly reviews for families with child’s key person
· Children’s progress is analysed and group information is shared with all practitioners in order ensure we put the most effective strategies in place
· Children with SEND have a Support Plan or Extended Support Plan/ My Plan or an EHCP with individual targets. These are monitored and reviewed by practitioners, the SENDCo, family and the child where appropriate, at least termly
· Some children with more complex needs may also be put onto the Sheffield Support Grid document. This is the document used by school and the Local Authority to plot out a child’s needs and the provision in place to meet them
· Annual reviews, including multi- agency input, take place for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This enables all professionals working with a child to provide feedback alongside family views and practitioner’s assessment in order to determine progress towards targets and set next steps
· A small number of children may require closer monitoring and frequent reporting to families; this could be in the form of additional home/school books, telephone contact and letters as appropriate
(c) How we teach children with special educational needs/disabilities;
· Practitioners in each room are responsible for the progress of children with SEND in their class and therefore the reasonable adjustment / differentiation within class, in order that all needs in the class are met
· Practitioners work within their room teams to remove barriers to learning and enable pupils with SEND to access the curriculum and make progress
· External agencies working in nursery include: Speech and Language Therapists, Educational Psychology Service, CAMHS, the Autism Team, the Visual Impairment Team, the Hearing Impairment Team, the Early Years Inclusion Team, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, The Helena Team and MAST professionals
· Information on individual pupils with SEND is held electronically in a secure database on the school’s network and some in folders, stored in a locked cabinet in an office locked at night. This information is accessible to the SENDCo and SLT and is regularly updated
· Children are taught in their rooms for the majority of their time unless they need a quiet space to concentrate and focus for short periods on targeted work
(d) How we adapt the curriculum and learning environment for children with special educational needs/disabilities;
· Learning is planned to be experiential and utilise visual, auditory and kinaesthetic methods of learning with resources, including staffing deployed as appropriate for children’s needs
· The building is accessible all on one floor, with the use of a disabled toilet and showers if necessary
(e) We have additional support for learning, available to children with special educational needs/disabilities;
· Provision is allocated according to need and follows the “Assess, Plan, Do &Review” process laid down in the revised Code of Practice 2014
· Where gaps or barriers to learning are identified and additional support is required we individualise support
· Further details are available in our accessibility plan.
(f) Support that is available for improving the emotional and social development of children with special educational needs/disabilities.
We provide support for children to improve their emotional and social development in the following ways:
· Trauma Informed Schools approach
· Circle time activities
· Personal, Social and Emotional Development activities
· We have a strict anti-bullying policy. This can be found on our school website.
4. Our SEND co-ordinator is Suzanne Howarth
Tel: 0114 2722541
senco@graceowennurseryschool.org
5. Our team are experienced and trained in relation to children with special educational needs/disabilities and we know how to secure specialist expertise needed.
All staff have received training related to SEND. This includes sessions on:
· Communication, Speech and Language strategies and interventions e.g. choices, waiting, labelling and running commentary, LEAP and the use of visuals
· Intensive Interaction
· Attention Autism
· Autism Education Trust Level 2
· Makaton
· Some staff BSL
Suzanne attends SENDCO Network meetings every term.
All members of staff working directly with children with additional needs will have, or will be supported to develop and enhance skills to meet the learning and cognition needs or any other needs the child may have. Practitioners wishing to gain specialist skills and knowledge will be supported to do so. We are currently working on a project to develop a whole school total communication approach.
6. How we use equipment and facilities to support children with special educational needs/disabilities.
We will seek to provide equipment and facilities for pupils with SEND e.g. walking frames or specialist toys for children with visual impairment.
We can also make applications to the LA for Early Years High Needs SEND Funding and apply for DAF in order to buy equipment for the benefit of children with SEND.
7. Our arrangements for consulting families of children with special educational needs/disabilities about, and involving them in, the education of their child.
Grace Owen operates an open door policy and actively encourages families to engage with the key person, class and wider school community.
Review documents are used by practitioners including a SEND review form detailing family and staff input as well as targets and the child’s one page profile. We continually review the way in which SEND meetings take place in order to improve the quality and outcomes of family, child and practitioner reviews.
Families are routinely invited to:
· Termly family consultations
· Termly SEND review meetings
· Annual Review meetings
· Further meetings on request/as required
· Transition meetings where required (see below)
Children with SEND and/or other vulnerabilities will also receive extra transition support when moving rooms or going to another setting. This is to ensure families meet new practitioners and to share what has worked well and to provide continuity into the next class or setting.
8. Our arrangements for consulting children with special educational needs about, and involving them in, their education.
· Pupil voice and feedback is mainly accessed through careful observations of the child and discussions with their family.
· Where appropriate discussions with the child may also take place.
9. Arrangements made by the governing body relating to the treatment of complaints from families of children with special educational needs/disabilities concerning the provision made at the school.
· As per our open door policy families are encouraged to first speak with their child’s key person.
· Alternatively, families are able to speak with our SENDCo or Headteacher as required.
· Families are also able to contact the school’s Governing Body; contact details found on the school’s website or through the office.
10. Working with other agencies
External agencies working in school include:
Speech and Language Team, Educational Psychology Service, CAMHS, Autism
Team, Visual Impairment Team, Hearing Impairment Team, Early Years Inclusion Team, Occupational Therapist and MAST professionals.
11. Here are the contact details of support services for the parents of children with special educational needs/disabilities, including those for arrangements made in accordance with clause 32.
· The point of contact in school regarding SEND is the SENDCo, Suzanne Howath, Assistanthead@graceowennurseryschool.org
· The school’s “Local Offer”, produced for prospective and existing families, is found on the Local Authority’s website, Sheffield Directory http://www.sheffielddirectory.org.uk/kb5/sheffield/fsd/home.page
· Other contactable professionals in school: your child’s key person, school’s
Designated Safeguarding Lead, Leonie Matthews, and the Headteacher, Nancy Farrow -(0114) 2722541
· Contact numbers for routine services are listed below
o School’s Local Authority Educational Psychologist (0114) 250 6800
o Early Years Inclusion Team (0114) 273 6411
o MAST workers (accessed through Family Common Assessment Framework – 0114 2053635)
12. Our arrangements for supporting children with special educational needs in transferring between phases of education.
· We welcome children into school through a series of visits for them and their families, tailored to their individual needs and circumstances. This gives them chance to settle and enables their key person to get to know them/their family and their routines and needs.
· Foundation Stage Transition: In the summer term, prior to moving to school a transition meeting will be organised with the new teacher and SENCo from the school the child is moving to and visits planned as needed according to the child/family’s needs. Some of these may be supported by key people from nursery
· A similar process would take place if a child moves to another setting at any other point in the year.
13. Information on where the local authority’s local offer is published
To locate the Local Authority offer, follow
http://www.sheffielddirectory.org.uk/kb5/sheffield/fsd/home.page
If you wish to discuss your child’s needs further, please contact one of the following:
· Your child’s key person
· SENDCO/Assistant Head: Suzanne Howarth
· Headteacher: Nancy Farrow
Please call into the office to arrange this or contact us by phone or email.
Telephone: 0114 2722541
Email: enquiries@graceowennurseryschool.org
See our SEND policy here.
