SEND

SEND information Report 2024-2025

Introduction 

Welcome to our SEND information report which is part of the Norfolk Local Offer for learners with Special Educational Needs and/ or Disability. All governing bodies of maintained schools have a legal duty to publish information on their website about the implementation of the governing body`s policy for pupils with SEND. This information is updated annually. 

Please click here for a link to the Norfolk Local Offer 

Key Staff 

Principal	James Grimsby
SENDCo(s) (as the role is transitioning)	Lucy Morley/ Carolyn Saddleton
ELSA Practitioner  (emotional literacy support)	Michelle Barnes
SEND Governor	Lucy Thomas

If you want to speak to Lucy about our provision or have a concern about SEND please contact her via the school office (01553 672385) or email Lucy at lucy.morley@nwt.eastern-mat.co.uk  

The best time to contact Lucy is on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. 

Our Approach to Teaching Learners with SEND  

At North Wootton Academy we believe in participation for all. We want all children to participate in the full range of learning and opportunities provided by the school. We aim to create an inclusive culture in our school and respond positively to the diversity of the children`s backgrounds, interests, experience, knowledge and skills. To do this we consider the individual child and their needs as voiced by the child and their parent/carer. 

We aim to create a learning environment which is flexible enough to meet the needs of all our children. We value high quality first teaching for all learners and actively monitor teaching and learning in our school. This is facilitated through a rigorous performance management structure for experienced staff and a detailed mentoring program for Early Career teachers. Regular observations of teaching and scrutiny of books are carried out by the Principal, Deputy Principal, SENDCo and subject leaders, with written and verbal feedback used to support the development of teacher knowledge. 

Accessibility 

North Wootton is on a level site with easy access to all areas, both inside and outside, for children with mobility or visual problems. There is a special toilet and bathroom facility with an electric changing table.  Ramps have been installed where needed to allow access to classrooms. Handrails and steps are available in the pupil`s bathrooms where necessary to enable children to use the facilities as independently as possible. 

For more information about the school`s `Accessibility Plan` click here. 

How we identify children with SEND. 

At different times in their school career, a pupil may have a special educational need. The Code of Practice states: 

`A child has SEN (Special Educational Needs) if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if they: 

1. have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than most others of the same age: or 

2. have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools. 

If a learner is identified as having SEND, we will provide provision that is `additional to or different from` the normal differentiated curriculum, intended to overcome the barrier to their learning. 

Process 

   Once a member of staff or parent has a concern around a particular child the following process is begun. 

•  In class differentiation is a focus, manipulatives are used more fully, alternate approaches are implemented, for 6 weeks. 

• If there are still concerns talk to the SENDCo to agree interventions for the next half term and discuss these with the parents/carers. 

• After three cycles of Assess, Plan, Do and Review if there continue to be concerns  parents permission is sought to add the child to the Special Needs Register and agree the next steps for that child e.g. the referral to outside agencies. 

• Referral for an Education, Health and Care Plan is carried out after a considered amount of time if progress is still a concern. 

SEND Profile 

Our SEND profile for September 2024 shows that we have forty-nine children on the SEND register which equates to 15% of the school population. This includes thirteen children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP`s). There are an additional two children who have an EHCP assessment currently being completed and one child whose application for an EHCP is under review. 

The SEN code of practice divides SEND into the following 4 areas: 

• Communication and Interaction (C&I) 

• Cognition and Learning (C&L) 

• Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH) 

• Sensory/Physical needs ( 

Children may have a special educational need which is incorporated in more than one of the above areas and indeed their need may change over time. At North Wootton Academy we currently support children with-in all four of the above SEND categories. 

Children with Cognition and Learning difficulties might:  

· learn at a slower pace.  

· have difficulties with memory and organisation. 

 · have a specific difficulty with literacy (e.g. dyslexia) or numeracy (e.g. dyscalculia). Communication  

Children with Communication and Interaction difficulties might: 

 · have speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) that make it more difficult for them to communicate with others. They might have difficulty saying what they want to, or understanding what is said to them. 

 · find the social side of school difficult. It may be difficult for them to understand social rules, which could make conversations and play challenging. Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are likely to find these things especially difficult.  

 Children with Social, Emotional or Mental Health difficulties might: 

 · behave in ways that disrupt their learning because of underlying mental health difficulties, such as anxiety or depression. 

 · do things that impact their health and wellbeing, such as self-harm or eating disorders.  

· have difficulties with friendships which leave them feeling isolated. 

 · have disorders such as attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attachment disorder that could impact their SEMH. 

For the school`s full Behaviour Policy click here. 

 Children with Sensory/Physical difficulties might: 

 · have vision impairment (VI). 

• Have a hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) that requires specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. 

 · have a physical disability (PD) requiring support and equipment to access the opportunities available to their peers.  

• Have a medical condition affecting their learning. 

Click here to see the school`s policy on Managing Children`s Medical Needs.  

In September 2024 the children on the SEND register are in the year groups as detailed in the table below. 

Year Group	EHCP/STATEMENT	SEND SUPPORT
EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage)	5	3
YR1	0	3
YR2	0	3
YR3	1	10
YR4	2	2
YR5	3	5
YR6	2	10
	13	36

The pie chart below outlines the percentage of pupils with SEN at North Wootton who are identified with each of the four broad categories of need.  

· Cognition and Learning 36.7%  

· Communication and Interaction 38.8%  

· Social, Emotional and Mental Health 16.3%  

· Physical and/or Sensory 8.1%. 

 

Children may have a special educational need which is incorporated in more than one of the above areas and indeed their need may change over time. 

More information about the areas of need can be found in the SEND Code of Practice 2014 on pages 97-98. 

Assessing SEND at North Wootton. 

Class teachers, support staff, parents/carers and pupils themselves will be the first to notice a difficulty with learning. We believe it is crucial to identify these needs as early as possible. Once a concern has been identified there will be discussion between some / all the following as appropriate: 

• Class teacher 

• Pupil (dependent on the age and ability of the child) 

• Parents/carers 

• SENDCo 

• Previous establishments if appropriate 

• Other agencies who are already involved with the pupil e.g. speech and language service. 

At North Wootton we ensure that the assessment of special educational needs directly involves the child, their parents/carers and the class-teacher. The SENDCo will also support with the identification of barriers to learning. 

As part of our provision for pupils with special educational needs we may decide to seek advice from specialist teams. Those available include: 

• Speech and Language Therapists 

• Occupational Therapists 

• Physiotherapists 

• Educational Psychologist through a company called `Respectrum` or through the local education authority. 

• Clinical Psychologists 

• Specialist Learning Support Teacher to assess and identify specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia (Respectrum) 

• Community Paediatricians – these are accessed through a referral from a GP backed by the school. 

• Support from the Autistic Support Team and the privately run `Respectrum` team who support children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. 

• Support from the school nursing team. 

• Support from the Virtual School Sensory Support Team for children with vision or hearing needs. 

• Support from the Virtual School for Looked After Children where appropriate 

• Access to laptops etc through the `Access through Technology` Team. 

• Access to support for children who have been involved in situations concerning domestic abuse through the `Pandora Project`. 

• Support for children with SEMH difficulties through the `Wellbeing Team` or `Schools and Communities Team`. 

• Support from the epilepsy nursing team 

• Support from Norfolk`s `Just one Number`. This can be accessed by professionals and parents and provides support for medical, wellbeing and social needs. 

If there are shared concerns around a child having ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) the SENDCo will support parents to access assessments through their GP and the `Right to Choose` initiative. 

Support for children with SEND 

At North Wootton we employ full and part-time teaching assistants (TA`s) who support children in class. Some also have more specialist training and/ or experience and deliver intervention programmes either on a 1:1 basis or with small groups of children. As part of our provision we use the following interventions:  

• Sensory Circuits (to develop physical skills and prepare children psychologically for learning) 

• WELCOMM (speech and language support – early years) 

• Daily diary writing 

• Sandford maths 

• ELSA (emotional literacy support) which promotes the emotional wellbeing of children) 

• ELKLAN (speech and language support) 

• Precision Teaching of letter sounds, key words, numbers etc 

• Makaton communication 

• Ready to Progress Maths. 

We also use support staff in the afternoons to follow up on any subject based difficulties identified in the morning lessons. 

Some teaching assistants work more closely with children who have high levels of special educational need. This includes individual and small group support. 

What we do to support learners with SEND at North Wootton 

At North Wootton every teacher is required to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of the children in his/her class in line with the expectations set out in The Teacher Standards 2012.  

 For this to happen staff receive training and support to ensure that they provide good wave 1 provision (quality first teaching). They also identify and deliver wave 2 support (short term support interventions) alongside other support staff where appropriate.  Wave 3 support (individualised support and interventions for the higher need pupils) is implemented by support staff under the guidance of the class teachers, SENDCo and school Principal. All interventions are monitored for impact with assessments at the beginning and the end of each block of support. 

Recent training has included: 

• Staff training package bought from Andrew Whitehead covering Dyslexia, ADHD and SEND in the Early Years. 

• Deaf Awareness training  

• Support for writing SMART targets (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time – based) 

• PECS – Picture Exchange Communication System (specific staff only) 

• Moving and Handling training for children with mobility difficulties 

• Support for children with epilepsy 

• CALL Scotland online training materials 

• Makaton communication 

All children who are on the school`s SEND register have a SEND Support Plan. This contains details about the individual learner`s needs, strategies to help them, outside agency involvement, parents views and individual targets. These targets are set termly and reviewed with the child, parents and all staff working with the child each term. 

As part of our provision teachers will use various strategies to adapt access to the curriculum including: 

• breaking tasks down into small steps 

• using technology to record ideas and knowledge to ensure children`s difficulties with written work do not impact unnecessarily on all areas of the curriculum  

• use of a visual timetables 

• use of writing frames 

• use of behaviour reward systems 

• adults used to scribe ideas 

• use of coloured pens to highlight text 

• use of yellow highlighters to aid writing 

• use of voice activated technology e.g. google docs 

Each learner identified as having SEND, is entitled to support that is `additional to or different from` a normal differentiated curriculum. The type of support is dependent on the individual learning needs and is intended to overcome the identified barrier to learning. The support currently offered is detailed on a provision map which describes the interventions offered, when they will take place and by whom. This is reviewed regularly and changes according to the needs of the learners at that time.  

Tracking Learning 

All children on the Special Needs Register have individual targets set for them following the Assess, Plan, Do and Review system outlined in the Special Needs Code of Practice (2014). The targets are set using the school- based progression document. These targets are the basis for daily 1:1 or small group sessions and are assessed every half-term as a minimum. They are recorded in the child`s SEND Support Plan. This also contains details about the individual learner`s needs, strategies to help them, outside agency involvement, parents views and children`s views. 

A weekly record of targets covered and outcomes is kept by the Teaching Assistants working with the children. 

Should this tracking highlight continuing or widening gaps in a pupil`s learning the SENDCo will have discussion with the parents about the need for support from external agencies. This may lead to the application for an Education Health and Care Plan if it is considered appropriate.  

The role of Parents 

We work closely with parents and operate an open door policy to encourage parents to contact teachers easily. Children with an EHCP have an annual review that involves parents/carers, school staff, outside agencies (if applicable) and the child`s EHCP co-ordinator. As part of the review the opinions and ideas of the child are also collected and recorded as a `One Page Profile`. In addition to the yearly review there are termly twenty- minute parent teacher meetings to discuss the children`s targets and a written report at the end of the year.  

For children on the SEND Register who do not have an EHCP, targets are sent home termly, and parents and carers are offered a twenty -minute meeting to contribute to and discuss them. 

In addition, children with significant special needs have a daily diary which is written by support staff to enable parents/ carers to know what their child has achieved that day. 

Parents/carers are actively encouraged to contact class teachers and the SENDCo via the office or by email to discuss any questions or concerns. 

We also offer regular curriculum awareness sessions on phonics, maths etc to give parents information to help support their children at home.  Parents are also encouraged to join the Parent Teacher Association and attend the range of events they organise. Parent help in the classroom, for trips, pedestrian training etc is also encouraged.  

Looked After Children 

It is recognised that a high percentage of children who are being looked after by the local authority have learning needs. At North Wooton the SENDCO is also the Designated Teacher for Looked After Children and this ensures that any needs are identified early and strategies put in place to overcome them.  

Funding for SEND 

All school including North Wootton receives funding directly into their budget to support the needs of learners with SEND. The amount of money is calculated using `proxy indicators` which include levels of deprivation and previous attainment. The amount we have received for the financial year 2024 – 2025 is £77832. The first £6000 spent supporting a child`s needs must come from this budget. In addition, as a school we can and have, applied to the Norfolk Virtual School for SEND for additional `top up` funding to support children with an EHCP and those without an EHCP who have considerable needs. Decisions on the distribution of the SEND funding is decided by a panel of people (which is made up of Local Authority staff and SENDCo`s).  This funding is used to support children through the following: 

• providing specialist equipment e.g. writing slopes, reading rulers, coloured overlays 

• providing specialist support from outside agencies 

• providing additional 1:1 adult support for individuals with high level needs both academic and medical. 

• providing support for groups to develop learning, ease transitions etc 

How do we find out if this support is effective? 

Monitoring progress is an integral part of teaching and leadership at North Wootton. We follow the `assess, plan, do, review` model, also known as the `graduated approach` to ensure that interventions are effective and our provision meets the needs of pupils with SEND.  

Data is recorded termly or after an intervention is completed and this is reviewed by the Principal, senior staff, including the SENDCo and governors.  

Class teachers are responsible for monitoring the progress of the children in their class/set to help to identify where progress is causing concern. All children on the Special Needs Register have individual targets set for them. These are set using the school- based progression document. These targets are the basis for daily 1:1 or small group sessions and are assessed regularly. 

The SENDCo monitors data for all children on the SEND register at least termly to ensure appropriate provision is in place. Book scrutiny`s and pupil interviews are also used to ensure the appropriateness of provision. 

Other Opportunities for Learning 

At North Wootton all learners have the same opportunity to access the wide range of extra-curricular activities. These are offered on a half-term or termly basis and details can be found on the school website and via emails sent directly to parents. School will endeavour to adapt the provision if necessary or provide the support needed. 

The Equality Act 2010 places specific duties on schools not to discriminate, harass or victimise children with characteristics defined in the Equality Act and to make `reasonable adjustments`. 

The Equality Act 2010 definition of disability is: “A person has a disability for the purpose of this act if (s)he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day-to day activities”. 

The definition of disability in the Equality Act includes children with long term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and cancer. Children with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and those with SEN. Children may therefore be covered by both SEN and disability legislation. 

For more information about the Equality Act, please click here. 

Preparing for the next step 

We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition to and from North Wootton Academy. To this end the SENDCo and Early Years staff, make visits to pre-school providers and do `Home Visits` during the term before the children start school. This enables staff to meet the children on familiar ground and to gather as much information as possible from the providers. We also offer extra transition visits in addition to those offered to all children, for any child with a special need. These visits may be with their parents and/or with their pre-school staff if it is felt these would be beneficial. 

Transition meetings for parents and staff from school and pre-school are also held so that information, records, concerns etc can be shared and strategies put in place to ease transition. Transition booklets with photos of staff and the indoor and outdoor learning environments are made and sent to as many pre-school providers as possible. Children with SEND will receive their own copy so that parents can refer to it during the long summer break.  

Please click here for more information on the school`s admissions policy. 

If children leave North Wootton, other than at the end of Year 6, we ensure records are transferred and if there have been particular issues we contact the receiving school to discuss these. 

At Year 6 when children transfer to High School there are good links with the three main High schools in King`s Lynn and transition systems are in place. Transition meetings are held either as part of an annual review of an Education Health and Care Plan or in addition to these if necessary. Records are passed on and visits from High School Staff enable a more informal transfer of information. These visits also enable the children to meet staff they will have at High School which can be very reassuring for them. All High Schools have transition visits as standard from between two days and a week and in addition extra visits for children with special educational needs are arranged if needed. 

When children move classes/ phases within the school there are systems in place to ensure they are prepared for the changes they will encounter. These include taking photographs of staff and different areas of the school they will be using and having extra visits to the classrooms, playground, lunch hall etc. 

Have your say 

This SEND report declares our provision for our children with SEND. However, to make it effective we need the views of parents/carers and to this end we ask that you engage with our annual process to `assess, plan, do and review` our SEND provision by contacting us with your views! 

This year we will have a particular focus on the ways we engage with families. We are looking for family members and children who would be willing to get involved and discuss what more we could do to work in partnership with families. If you would be willing to be part of these discussions and/or work with us in any of the following ways, we would love to hear from you.  

· Share your story of being a child with SEN or a family member of a child with SEN at North Wootton Academy. This could be reassuring to other parents so that they know they are not alone. Families and children also may have useful tips for others about how to get the best out of the school system, based on their own experiences of North Wootton Academy School. 

 · Give feedback on SEN information provided by the school to make it as parent-friendly as possible. This could include this SEN Information Report, the school website SEN area and newsletters etc.  

 · Suggest ways we could improve the way we work with families e.g. the introduction of an informal SEND Surgery where families could meet each other and the SENCo/SEN governor to talk about SEN provision and any concerns you may have.  

We would love to hear any other ideas you have. Please email using the addresses below: 

office@nwt.eastern-mat.co.uk  or Lucy.Morley@nwt.eastern-mat.co.uk 

Useful Links to support services for the parents of pupils with special educational needs: 

The Norfolk SENDIASS (Information, Advice and Support Service)  

The Norfolk SENDIASS provides information, advice and support to children, young people and parents/carers about SEND. This includes health and social care where it is linked to education. It is a free, dedicated, confidential and impartial service based in Norwich. You can contact the service by calling 01603 704070, or emailing norfolksendiass@norfolk.gov.uk. You can also find more information on their website: https://www.norfolksendiass.org.uk/about-us/about-us/ 23  

The Norfolk Local Offer  

The Local Offer sets out the local services available to support children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers. It includes all the information about education and health and social care in one place. To access the Norfolk Local Offer click on this link: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/children-and-families/send-local-offer 

Just One Norfolk  

Just One Norfolk is the single point of access for all Norfolk Healthy Child Programme services. Your call might be for an appointment change, or you might have a parenting question or a worry about your child's physical or emotional health. 

• Just One Norfolk  

• Visit: https://www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/ 

• Phone: Just One Number on 0300 300 0123  

• Text: Parentline on 07520 631590