Smitham Primary School

If you are concerned about your child and would like to talk to someone, please contact your child’s class teacher who will be happy to meet with you. Your child’s class teacher knows your child well and will be able to talk to you about what support your child already receives and suggest ways to enhance your child’s learning and development.

If, having done this, you feel that you would like to discuss your concerns further, then please contact the Inclusion Lead. You can do this via the school office (in person or by phone 020 8 660 4399 or email office@smitham.croydon.sch.uk)

• When a child has been identified as having a special educational need or disability before they start our school, we work with the people who already know them and use the information already available to identify what their needs will be in our school setting
• If a teacher is concerned about a child with no previous SEND history, they will contact you to discuss the relevant issues and implement ways of working together to support your child
• A range of measures and information will be used to support identification.
• Where a child continues to make little or no progress, despite support matched to their need, the Inclusion Lead will discuss with you SEND support which can then be put in place
• Difficulties with social and emotional wellbeing may also trigger a need for additional support

All children receive high quality teaching, differentiated to their individual needs.  For children with additional needs and disabilities, this could mean that they are given a slightly different task or given different strategies/equipment to complete the task. Some children may require support or guidance from the class teacher or a teaching assistant as part of a small group, pair or on an individual basis. Our teachers are skilled and supported to adapt teaching to meet the needs of each class.  Their planning takes into account the individual needs and requirements of all children through:

• learning differentiated to the needs of the child, ensuring that all children can experience success and challenge
• grouping arrangements that maximise learning opportunities for all
• support staff used flexibly to help groups and individuals with a long term goal of encouraging and developing independent learning skills
• where required, more specific and personalised interventions to develop key areas of their learning 

• integrating resources and strategies as recommended by specialist agencies

The school continually looks to provide the most appropriate and up to date support for all children. This support includes:

Reading/phonics- we have a range of reading support available for children across all year groups.  This may take the form of one-to-one reading, reading support from our teaching assistants trained by a Reading Recovery teacher, Lexia (a computer based reading programme), reading comprehension groups and additional phonics groups.

Writing- depending on the age and ability of the children we run fine motor skills groups, handwriting groups, guided writing groups based on the teaching in the classroom and/or provide resources to aid writing, e.g. pencil grips or writing slopes. We also deploy additional teachers /teaching assistants who target writing in key year groups.

Mathematics- maths support can be given in a variety of ways including one-to-one support, guided numeracy groups based on the teaching in the classroom, maths workshops and/or the use of targeted maths resources. We also deploy additional teachers /teaching assistants who target numeracy in key year groups.

Speech and Language Therapy- we have regular visits from our link local authority Speech and Language Therapists who develop care plans for specific children and model interventions to trained teaching assistants who carry out the support according to needs.  Children’s communication skills may be developed within the classroom, in small groups or individually.

Occupational Therapy- we have visits from local authority Occupational Therapists who develop care plans for specific children under their service and model interventions to teaching assistants who carry out the support according to needs.

SEND Teaching Assistant support – some children might need some additional support from an adult to help them achieve academically or to help them manage physical, medical or behavioural needs.  We have a team of trained SEND teaching assistants who are deployed across the school to offer this support.

Wellbeing, social and emotional support – we know that children cannot learn until they are emotionally ready to do so.  The following provision supports this:

ELSAs - we have two ELSAs (see roles and responsibilities above), regularly supervised by an Educational Psychologist, who offer social and emotional support. They work with children on a one-to-one basis or in a small group to develop their emotional and/or social skills. They are also trained in Drawing and Talking and LEGO Build to Express.

Learning Mentors - we have a learning mentor who usually works with children of all abilities who need help to overcome difficulties that are getting in the way of their learning. The learning/behaviour mentor develops one to one supportive relationships and also works in group settings.

The school works with a number of specialist agencies to seek advice and support to ensure that the needs of all children are fully understood and met. These include:

• Outreach Support from Specialist Provisions
• CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
• Children’s Centres
• Community Paediatricians
• Education Welfare Service
• Educational Psychologist
• Occupational Therapy
• Parent Partnership
• School Nurse
• Croydon Children’s Services (Social Care)
• Special School Outreach Support
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Virtual School for Children who are Looked After
• Family Resilience Service

A full range of the support available can be found in the Croydon Local Offer for pupils with SEND: http://www.croydon.gov.uk/education/special-educational-needs/sencroydon/SEND-croydon

• The Inclusion Lead actively engages in a range of opportunities to share best practice and keep abreast of current, local and national initiatives and policy to support children with SEN and/or disability
• The school also seeks advice and guidance from local special schools and other relevant agencies to help school staff develop provision for children who have the most complex needs
• Specialised training for teachers and support staff is an important part of ensuring that they have the appropriate skills and knowledge to support the needs of children with SEN and/or disability

• The class teacher is regularly available to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and school, so that similar strategies can be used
• The Inclusion Lead is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have
• All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report
• SEN Support Plans will be reviewed with your involvement every term
• Homework will be adjusted as needed to your child’s individual requirements
• A home-school contact book may be used to support communication with you.

• Some children with SEN and/or disability can become particularly anxious about transition. As a school we try to make this as stress free as possible for both you and your child
• When moving between classes a transition meeting will take place between the current teacher and support staff and the new teacher and support staff. A transition program can be personally devised for your child and may include opportunities to visit the new class, meet key staff and/or use a transition photo book
• When moving to secondary school, the Inclusion Lead will attend the local authority transition meeting for vulnerable children. Successful arrangements and interventions currently used to support your child can be shared with the receiving school and additional visits to the new setting may be planned to help your child become familiar with the setting and to reduce any anxieties

Smitham Primary School and Nursery is located within the London Borough of Croydon however we also work closely with the services offered by Sutton and Surrey councils. All the information in this SEND Information Report is applicable to any child who attends our school irrespective of where they live. To see the Local Offers for Surrey and Sutton or to contact either of these councils please use the links below:

Sutton: http://localoffer.sutton.gov.uk/

Surrey: http://new.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/special-educational-needs-and-disability-send/our-local-offer-support-and-advice-for-children-and-young-people-with-send