We monitor the progress of all pupils very carefully. Class Teachers and Teaching Assistants are always evaluating how children are getting on through observation, evaluating lessons,  marking, formal testing and assessments. We have Pupil Progress meetings each half-term where the needs of all children are discussed with the senior leadership team.

We hold two Parent open days/ evenings over the school year – one in the Autumn Term and one in the Spring Term. A written report is available to all parents in the Summer Term. However, should we need to see you at any other time we will contact you directly. If your child has been identified as having any special needs we will make sure that you are informed as soon as possible. We know that early identification and parental involvement are crucial to ensuring that your child reaches their full potential.

Please let us know as soon as possible if you have any concerns.  This could be asking to see the Class Teacher at the end of the day; meeting with the Headteacher or SENCO; ringing school on 0115 9320741 or emailing the SENCO.

We take any concerns that you may have very seriously.

Depending on the needs of your child, we will then set up regular meetings with you. At these meetings we will discuss how well your child is doing, share any targets we are working on, discuss how you can support your child at home and set future goals.

It is important that we take into account the views of all the people involved with your child, and of course the child themselves, when deciding on the amount of support they need.  Your child’s Class Teacher knows them best in school and has overall responsibility for their progress. They will identify when a child in their class is not making the progress expected. At the beginning of each term each Class Teacher plans what extra support and provision the children in their class may need. We record this on a Provision Map. These show what interventions individual children may need; how often they will need it; and who will be delivering it. Interventions can be delivered 1:1 or as part of a small group. We write provision maps for English, Maths and Social and Emotional Needs. These are working documents and we change them depending on the needs of individual children. Lots of children are included on our Provision Maps, although this does not necessarily mean that they have special educational needs.

Sometimes children require more specific targets which are designed to meet more individual, special needs. In this case we will write an Individual Education Plan (IEP). This is just a record of targets that we want the child to achieve, with details on how we are going to help them achieve it. These are reviewed regularly and, if necessary, new targets are set.

Your child’s Class Teacher will have already contacted you if your child needs an IEP and you will be invited to all review meetings. The SENCO will probably be involved at this point too.  With your permission we may want to involve specialist outside agencies to provide further advice or support. 

 We have access to a wide range of specialist outside agencies. These include:

• Speech and Language Therapists
• Educational Psychologists
• Health Professionals – School Health, Paediatricians, CAMHS
• Support Service for Physical Impairment; Visual Impairment or Hearing Impairment
• Multi Agency Teams – Family Resource Workers, Children Centre Workers
• Behaviour Support Service
• Autism Outreach
• Social Care
• Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists

Four broad categories of SEN have been identified in the SEND Code of Practice (2014). These give an overview of the range of needs and allow us to plan what action is needed. Your child may have needs in one or more of these areas.

1. Communication and interaction
2. Cognition and learning
3. Social, emotion and mental health difficulties
4. Sensory and/or physical needs

The document below shows you what is available for each of the above areas, in each year group, throughout school.

SEND provision

At Dallimore, we have very successful nurture provision onsite. We have five members of staff with a THRIVE practitioners licence, and all staff are trained in the use of the Thrive Approach when dealing with children who may be showing signs of distress and struggling with their self-regulation. As result, we are able to offer support to children throughout school in either a small group or 1:1 environment. Children with various needs attend Thrive.  Their needs can range from being very timid and shy, to children who are overly loud and boisterous. Sometimes children need a quiet place to talk or they may just need to learn how to share and play effectively with others.

Leanne Smith, Katie Reynolds, Emma Hardy and Ardelle Chapman provide a caring, safe and supportive environment to a wide range of children. Indeed, both the Thrive Room,Thrive Zone (sensory room) and The Den are for children with and without special educational needs. 

If the Class Teacher refers your child to Thrive, you will be notified of this and will have an opportunity to discuss what this will mean. The team run an ‘open-door’ policy where everybody is welcome to visit, join in or just come in for a chat about their child.

Our curriculum is designed to ensure that all children, including children with SEND, are able to make good progress and learn the key knowledge and concepts identified by subject leaders. Our curriculum is ambitious for all children. To ensure that all children have the best possible chance of being successful with the curriculum, learning is broken down into small steps in each subject and component parts of learning are mapped out to ensure that children are well-prepared for the next lesson in the sequence of learning. Regular retrieval practice is a key feature of lessons to ensure children secure knowledge in the long-term memory. Planned checks for understanding are built into lessons to ensure that children are confident with the new content taught within a particular lesson. Opportunities in lessons are provided for children to rehearse and secure new knowledge. 

To support your child's needs, we recognise we need to be responsive to information about learning, then adjust teaching to better match your child's needs. This is known as adaptive teaching. 

Principles of Adaptive Teaching:

• We recognise that children are likely to learn at different rates and to require different levels and types of support from teachers to succeed.

• We seek to understand children’s differences, including their different levels of prior knowledge and potential barriers to learning, as this is an essential part of teaching.

• We adapt teaching in a responsive way, including by providing targeted support to pupils who are struggling. We know this is likely to increase pupil success.

When required, different ways of teaching are in place so that all children are fully involved in everything we do. This may involve things like using more practical activities or the use of a range of visual aids. Each class has at least one teaching assistant (TA) who works alongside the class teacher to ensure all children are supported to reach their full potential.

We respond to the needs of individual children. For example, this could be through using dyslexic friendly fonts, providing over-sized copies of worksheets, using coloured paper and IWB backgrounds, providing individual word and number lists, special pens/pencils or a sloping writing board. Some children may need a visual timetable or an individual reward chart.

We are an inclusive school and all children have access to activities outside the classroom. This includes PE, residential trips, sporting activities, after-school and lunchtime clubs. If your child requires additional adult support or special equipment please let us know.

We are happy to follow any advice from outside specialist agencies.

All school staff are part of an annual Performance Management cycle. This means that they are allocated a manager who will help them set pupil and personal targets for the upcoming school year and arrange for any training that they may need. The Teaching Assistants (TAs) are managed by the Deputy Headteacher; the Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistants (SENTAs) are managed by the SENCO and teaching staff are either managed by the Head, Deputy or a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

We regularly access training from the County Council and the Support Service for Special Educational Needs (SSSEN). 

The SSSEN run courses and workshops on a variety of subjects including dyslexia, supporting language development, Maths interventions and English interventions.  Our staff have always found these to be very informative, and they have had a positive impact on teaching practices in school.

We also run staff meetings across the year where new interventions are discussed and appropriate training is given.

It is important that all relevant information is passed on to your child’s new teacher. During the Summer Term we have allocated meeting times for teachers to discuss their new classes with the current staff.  All children spend time in their new classroom with their new teacher before they break up for the summer holidays. If needed, we do arrange extra visits or more opportunities for the children to spend time with their new teacher. Child passports may also be created.

Pupils moving to secondary school often require a careful transition. We communicate regularly with the local secondary school and invite their staff to any relevant meetings about the children in Year 6. Representatives from Kirk Hallam Community Academy make themselves available to Year 6 parents at the Parent Evening held during the Spring Term. Again, additional visits to the new school can be arranged for the child and their parents if this is required.

The school budget received from Derbyshire LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND. Different children will require different levels of support to help them achieve their full potential. The Headteacher will decide on the deployment of resources and staff for children with SEND, in consultation with the SENCO and governors.

Some children will have gone through the Statutory Assessment Process and have a statement of special educational needs or an Education Health Care Plan (EHC plan). The local authority may provide additional funding for these children depending on the level of need identified.

Our school is fully compliant with DDA requirements. We have an up-to-date Accessibility Policy.

The school is mainly on one level, although there are some steps and a ramp between the top and bottom playgrounds. There are two disabled toilets located in the KS1 block and just outside the school hall.

We ensure that all equipment is accessible to all children. Extra-curricular activities are also accessible to all.

We complete risk assessments when appropriate, to ensure all children can access off site and residential trips.

Local Authorities are required to publish and keep under review information about the services that are available for the children and young people with Special Educational Needs aged between 0 and 25. This is the ‘Local Offer’.

The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It is an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area. 

Complaints procedure

If you have any concerns or complaints regarding the welfare of your child, please do not hesitate to contact us. An appointment will be made with the Headteacher or SENCO who will be able to advise you on the correct procedures.