Supporting our most Vulnerable Learners (inc. SEND)
At Brierley, only our best will do (for every child)
Roles and Responsibilities:
Name |
Job Title |
Responsibilities |
|
Mrs H Cunningham |
Assistant Head/SENDco/DSL responsible for the progress of our most Vulnerable Learners (including SEND and Looked After/Previously Looked after children) |
To liaise with teachers, with external agencies and to co-ordinate action plans, full overall responsibility for children in school. |
|
Mrs C McIntosh |
Headteacher/DSL overall responsibility for our most Vulnerable Learners (including SEND, Looked After, Previously Looked After and Disadvantaged children) |
To oversee the whole school development of SEN provision. |
|
Mrs J Faddes
|
Assistant Head and DSL |
To support Mrs Cunningham and oversee the whole school development of SEN provision. |
|
Mrs S Copeland
|
Governor |
To work in conjunction with SEN co-ordinator as governor with specific responsibility for SEN. |
Brierley Primary is proud to be a warm and welcoming school where we value the uniqueness of everyone and work with our community to develop the full potential of every child. All staff provide a safe, secure and accessible learning environment where each child is valued and their individuality celebrated. Inclusion at our school recognises a child’s right to, and provides for, a broad, balanced, relevant and challenging curriculum appropriate to their individual abilities, talents and personal qualities. We are committed to making our best endeavours to meet the special educational needs of pupils, ensuring that they achieve the best possible education. Every teacher is a teacher of every child, including those with SEND. We identify all children across the school that need special consideration to support their physical, social, emotional or intellectual development.
If any child has additional needs, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), in consultation with teaching staff, parents and child will formulate a plan to meet the child’s needs. These plans and the needs of the individual child are regularly reviewed and modified where necessary with consultation with parents, child and outside agencies if necessary. Sometimes, this plan may be developed, as a means of providing the right kind of help within a specific focus. The teachers at this school are committed to providing a curriculum to match the range of learning needs in every class. However, it is sometimes beneficial for a child to spend some time with a teacher or teaching assistant on a one-to-one basis, outside the classroom context. This is not done on an ad-hoc basis, but as part of a carefully designed programme of support. Parents are kept fully involved in this process.
We also acknowledge that some children are more able and we will encourage them to develop their potential.
Mrs Cunningham is the Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) at Brierley Primary School. Mrs Cunningham organises support for children from across the school that need extra support with aspects of their learning and development. This work is in addition to the interventions being carried out by teachers and our experienced teaching assistants.
Levels of Support:
Some children are supported in school with an EHCP (Education Health Care Plan).
Other children are being supported through school based plans. At Brierley, we have a clear system of identifying children with SEND, including a 'First Concerns' register where intervention and support are put into place to support the children as appropriate.
Here at Brierley, we have adopted the Cheshire East Toolkit for early and accurate identification of children with SEN. We firmly believe in the early identification of developing learning and social needs and ensuring that provision is used where possible to close any gap from forming. We take a proactive, not a reactive approach to closing any gaps.
Interventions
We have committed to a programme of interventions at Brierley that offers additional support to children on an individual basis to ensure they are able to achieve to the best of their ability.
A number of our interventions are nationally accredited including:
Fisher Family Trust Wave 3 Literacy/Maths
Attention Bucket
Precision Teach
ELSA
WELLCOMM - Speech and language toolkit
Other examples include:
Lego Therapy
Social Stories
Sensory Group
Intensive Interaction
Starving the Anxiety Gremlin
Sailing the Anxiety Boat
Starving the Anger Gremlin
Cool Kids
Bespoke gap planning interventions for maths, English and reading.
EAL
(English as an Additional Language)
At Brierley we are proud to have 25 different languages spoken by parents and children within our school community. We believe it is a great opportunity to have these many different cultures and languages.
EAL means English as an Additional Language. Whether your child is a confident speaker of English as well as their home language or if they have very little English they will still be considered to be an EAL learner.
We assess our EAL learners according to their English language skills as well as how they are performing within the national Curriculum. This is so we can make sure we give your child the best support we can to achieve to their full potential.
All staff in school are equipped with strategies to support children with English as Additional language and work help to develop secure teacher / parent partnerships to support their child’s learning journey. A child having EAL does not automatically mean that they have SEN however staff ensure additional support is in place such as:
- Providing translation opportunities
- Using visuals to support with learning.
- Pre-teaching where possible
- Celebrating their culture within the classroom.
What can you do?
Being able to speak more than one language is a wonderful opportunity for a child. Being literate in a home language has been shown to support a child’s development of English language rather than hinder it. Keep speaking and reading with your child in your home language as well as encouraging them in their English language learning.
Links:
If you would like to find out more about how to support your child in their English Language Learning you may find this site useful:
https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/eal-programme/guidance/parental-involvement
Support for Parents
If you require additional support with managing behaviour or wish to discuss a potential SEN need, there is support available from your nearest Family Hub. Family hubs support children and young people from 0-19 (or up to 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities). Please visit the following website for more information regarding Family Hubs here https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/livewell/care-and-support-for-children//family-hubs/family-hubs.aspx
You can also find more information about what is on offer by joining the Cheshire East Family Hubs South on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CECFamilyHubsSouth/
The nearest Family Hub to Brierley Primary School is Monks Coppenhall Family Hub:
Monks Coppenhall Family Hub
Remer Street
Crewe
CW1 4LY
Contact Details:
Email: mcccadmin@cheshireeast.gov.uk
Phone: 01270 371 240
Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 4.30pm
Supporting with Behaviour
Consistency with behaviour is encouraged. If you are struggling to manage your child’s behaviour at home, please refer to the school’s behaviour policy in the policy section of the website. In the files below, you can download a copy of our school ‘faces’ behaviour system to use at home with your child.
Children tend to prefer a routine and like to know what their day will look like. If your child requires additional support with this, school advises using visual timetables, visual checklists or now and next boards for additional support. Templates of these are all available to download in the files section below.
Toileting Support
If you require further support with toileting, school advises you contact your health visitor. In addition to this, the following websites may be of interest to you:
Sensory Support
If you require further support or guidance with a potential sensory concern, please refer to the following websites:
Sensory processing disorder explained for parents https://sensoryprocessingexplained.com/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2020/07/sensoryprocessingbook-FINAL-tavlvy.pdf
Supporting children with sensory preferences https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/kids/life-skills/joining-in-with-sensory-differences/
Support with feeding https://sosapproachtofeeding.com/
SPOTSS service https://www.mcht.nhs.uk/our-services/community-services-ccicp/sensory-processing-occupational-therapy-support-service-spotss
For further guidance and information, please refer to the Cheshire East Livewell site:
Further Links for Support
- www.autism.org.uk – The National Autistic Society website, the main UK charity for supporting people with ASD and their families (contains lots of useful advice and resources)
- www.attentionautism.com – For more information on Attention Autism and how you can support your child to develop attention and turn-taking skills
- www.widgit.com/resources - Symbolled resources for different topics and areas of life, including resources for fire safety and about visiting the doctors/dentists
- www.special-needs-kids.co.uk – An information directory for parents and carers
- www.iassnetwork.co.uk – Advice and support for parents of children with SEN
- www.autismuk.com – Lots of information on ASD
- www.downs-syndrome.org.uk – Advice and support, including booklets to help with independent toileting, sleeping and managing behaviour
- www.autismspeaks.org – A comprehensive site, with a useful resource library
- www.oneplaceforspecialneeds.com/main/library_social_stories.html - A really useful set of social stories to share with children, covering topics ranging from coping with a new baby in the family to getting a haircut to making friends. The National Autistic Society website also provides guidance on writing your own personalised social stories
Useful, fun websites with highly visual games for using with your children to consolidate early skills:
Please find our Local Offer in the files below.
If you have any worries, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Cunningham for an informal chat: hcunningham@brierley.cheshire.sch.uk
SEN Jargon Buster!
