Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Our SEND co-ordinator (SENCo) is: Mrs Stephanie Field and she is supported in school by Mrs Rebecca George, Deputy Head Teacher and Inclusion Lead.
Our SENDCo ensures that we
- work in partnership with parents, pre-school settings and external agencies (where necessary) to support early identification of special educational needs
- deliver excellent teaching to all of our pupils but particularly to those that have SEND so that their progress is strong from their individual starting points.
- deliver targeted interventions and one-to-one support as necessary so that children are able to keep up with their peers. There is a strong focus on same day catch up interventions in EYFS and Key Stage One, especially for Reading.
- signpost families to the support on offer through the Local Authority and other networks
- liaise effectively and efficiently with a range of external professionals
We use the services of the following specialists:
- Educational Psychology – Dr Anita Soni
- Pupil and School Support – Mr Gareth Fowler
- Communication and Autism – Mrs Tracey Jones
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 require Hill West Primary School to publish certain information regarding our provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). At Hill West Primary School, we hope parents and carers of current and prospective pupils find the following information helpful. We encourage all interested parties to contact the school for more information.
At our School we know that every child is unique. They each have their own individual gifts and talents. Some children have additional needs, that in the main, can be supported through highly effective quality first teaching. However, other children may require additional support to learn successfully. For those children with more complex and significant needs, we may involve external agencies to support class teachers.
We make provision for pupils who have any of the following needs:
- Cognition and learning – children who find learning, thinking and understanding harder than most other pupils
- Communication and Interaction – children who find it difficult to interact with others and the world around them
- Social, emotional and mental health difficulties – children who find it difficult to manage their emotions and behaviour in a way that affects their everyday life
- Sensory and/or physical needs – children who have a disability that may make it difficult for them to manage their everyday life without changes to the physical environment or support through a range of personalised resources.
| School and Local Context versus National Context | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| % of SEND Support at HW National | 10.7 12.6 | 10.5 12.8 | 11.3 12.6 |
| % of SEND EHC Plan at HW National | 0.2 1.6 | 0.5 1.8 | 0.5 2.1 |
We identify and assess pupils with SEND in a variety of ways. We know that children need additional help if:
- Concerns are raised by parents/carers, teachers, or the pupil’s previous school
- There is a lack of progress in the child’s learning
- There is a change in the pupil’s behaviour
- The pupil asks for help because they have become ‘stuck’.
We also use the following to inform our assessments:
- Observations
- School based test results/teacher assessments
- Information from parents/carers
- Information from the pupil
- Specialised assessments carried out by one of our external agencies
- Information from a previous school or Nursery setting
- Results from end of Key Stage assessments
- Discussions with the Class Teacher and Teaching Assistant
In line with the SEND Code of Practice, the school takes a graduated response to identifying children with additional needs, with a key focus on early identification where possible. We work together with parents/carers at all stages of the graduated response. Our pupils with SEND are set personal learning targets specific to their needs; these are derived from the four areas of the code of practice and informed by learning continua for speaking and listening, reading, writing and mathematics. We evaluate the effectiveness of our SEND provision by regularly reviewing the personal learning targets through the individual continua. Our expectation is that all children make at least expected progress from their starting points by mastering criteria identified for them on their continua.
Within school, we also use a range of standardised assessment tests to inform classroom practice.
Pupil progress is shared with parents in a number of ways:
- During parent consultations
- Interim learning profiles
- Work sharing evening
- End of year reports
- On-going use of continua
- Child centred reviews
- Termly celebration of work cards
On-going training and support from the SENCo and our external agencies, means that all school staff have the knowledge and confidence to support pupils with SEND through quality first teaching strategies, using a tailored and personalised approach to meet the individual needs of the pupils in their class. Where a pupil requires additional support to ensure that their needs are met, small group or individual support is used. This is often referred to as an intervention. The effectiveness of interventions are continuously evaluated and reviewed.
We adapt the curriculum for pupils with SEND in the following ways:
- Providing additional resources
- Using alternative methods of recording (ICT, recording devices, pictorial, using scribes)
- Providing specialised equipment
- Using a language and literacy toolkit to assess the next smaller steps in learning
- Same day catch up interventions
- Personalising learning through planned, longer term interventions
Parents of children with SEND may find the following additional services helpful:
- Birmingham Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Services (SENDIASS) 0121 303 5004
- Autism West Midlands 0121 450 7582
- Bereavement Counselling – Winston’s Trust 0845 2030405
- Birmingham Families and Safeguarding Team 0121 308 1888
- Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service 0121 465 5400
- Educational Psychology Service 0121 303 1792
- Edward’s Trust 0121 456 4838
- Barnardos 0208 550 8822
For more information regarding the our School’s SEND provision, please contact Mrs Stephanie Field, via email Stephanie.Field@atlp.org.uk
For further information about SEND services available in Birmingham please follow the link below which will take you to Birmingham’s local offer.
