At Coley Primary School provision is made for children who have needs related to Cognition & Learning, Speech, Language & Communication, Emotional Health & Mental Health and Sensory & Physical Needs. All schools in Reading have the same special educational needs and disabilities duties as laid out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years 2014, and are expected to provide support for children and young people who have additional needs. Admission arrangements for all pupils are detailed in our Admissions Policy.

At Coley Primary School, all class teachers meet formally with the Headteacher and SENCo termly to discuss the needs of all the pupils in their class. In these meetings there is a sharp focus on identifying children who are presenting as having needs that are additional to and different from their peers. Our staff are vigilant at supporting and raising any concerns. Should a teacher have concerns between these meetings they will seek the guidance of the SENCo and speak to parents. We also have rigorous monitoring in place that tracks the progress all our learners make in all areas of the curriculum and identifies clearly the next steps. We use data and other forms of assessment & observation to identify additional needs and celebrate achievement. Parents & carers are encouraged to speak to the class teacher and SENCo about any concerns they have. Provision maps are reviewed and updated on a termly basis to ensure interventions and extra support are having a positive impact for meeting children’s needs and accelerating their progress. See SEND and Inclusion Policy.

Please see our SEND and Inclusion Policy and Wave Provision map. The Wave 1 Provision map outlines the support and provision that every pupil can expect at Coley Primary. http://www.coleyprimary.reading.sch.uk/specialeducational-needs-and-disabilities

We have rigorous monitoring in place that tracks the progress all our learners make across the curriculum and identifies the progress made. We discuss progress made by individual children during termly Pupil Progress meetings. We use data, observations, book and pupil sampling to identify additional needs and celebrate achievement. Along with internal moderation we have external moderation along with other schools within the Local Authority who validate our data. Our Governors also scrutinise our data on a termly basis. SEND provision is monitored through observations, book looks, learning walks and termly provision map reviews. The School Improvement Plan and termly data booklet outline the actual and targeted outcomes and specific focus re SEND provision and expectations.

As we have said above we have rigorous monitoring in place that tracks the progress all our learners make across the curriculum and identifies the progress made. We discuss progress made by individual children during termly Pupil Progress meetings. We use data, observations, book and pupil sampling to identify additional needs, next steps and to celebrate achievement. Every term all the pupils take part in Coley Coaching where they discuss their progress, learning, barriers and successes with their coach – they also look at attitudes to learning and personal achievements setting themselves challenges and goals to support their learning. Children with SEND are coached by the SENCo and ELSA where we also focus on specific needs and strategies to support children with their learning and progress. We talk to all our pupils about how to keep safe and analyse incidents of behaviour, including bullying. Any incidents of bullying, although rare, are taken seriously and dealt with swiftly. Class Provision maps outline support and interventions that we provide for children and these are reviewed on a termly basis to ensure the provision is having an impact, children are making progress and where needed adjustments and changes are made.

Coley Primary’s aim is to ‘Learning Today for our Future Tomorrow’ – and this includes all children in our school. We provide a truly inclusive ethos and have been praised by outside professionals for our support of pupils with special educational needs. Staff are competent at differentiating the curriculum, have high expectations and understand the individual needs of the children in their classes. We believe in ‘Equity’, providing children with what they need to support their individual needs. We strive to remove barriers so all children can access purposeful learning opportunities and engage and include children in their own learning. We set challenging, aspirational targets in order to allow the children to ‘learn for their future’ and put appropriate supportive strategies in place.

Making variations and adaptations to support learners is embedded in our curriculum and practice. We have a tailored curriculum. Teachers set suitable learning challenges via a differentiated curriculum. We respond to children’s diverse needs (for example visual impairment). We listen and respond to pupil voice. Our Accessibility Plan is robust and we continually remind staff and learners about the Equality Act 2010. We value and respect diversity in our setting and do our very best to meet the needs of all our learners e.g. our building is accessible via ramps, a child with visual impairment has a separate monitor for use in class. Translators can be made available where required for both pupils and parents.

Having identified needs, we seek to match provision to the need/s. We define expected outcomes of interventions and then monitor the impact through regular meetings, provision maps and tracking of pupil progress. Our SENCo leads on this aspect for pupils with special educational needs and the Headteacher shares this information with governors. Children will be supported in a range of ways depending on their type of need and level of need, for example, smaller groups, pre teaching, access to specialist resources, intervention groups etc. Teachers set suitable learning challenges - varying and adapting the curriculum where required. As a school we respond to a wide range of needs and work closely with outside professionals in order to provide suitable support for the child’s needs.

We seek to make every experience as inclusive as possible both inside and outside the classroom. Coley Primary strives to remove barriers around access. Where there are concerns of safety and access which may affect the participation of a child, further thought and consideration, and where necessary a risk assessment, is put in place to ensure needs are met; where applicable parents/carers are consulted and involved in planning. In certain cases funding can be provided for visits. Visitors are invited into school linking to areas of learning. Medical needs will always be catered for. Individual risk assessments for physical and behavioural needs are completed, parents included as option to accompany children – where necessary. We also utilise First Language assessors where necessary

At Coley we have an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) who supports individual children who require emotional support on a short or long term basis. She also works with children individually and in groups to support them with social skills, feelings and friendships. She has also been trained in Draw Talk Therapy - Drawing and Talking helps children to safely process material in the unconscious that is associated with attachment and trauma: eg: moving house, new baby, parental separation. The Draw Talk helps a child to visually express unconscious worries and concerns that they would not be able to talk about that are deep within their mind. This brings these worries to a conscious level. Drawings enable children to express these complex feelings in a safe and symbolic way. We have a school council who share and promote the views of the learners and we actively promote the development of independence and resilience across the school. We have an effective, consistent whole school behaviour policy whereby all adults and children follow our ‘Diamond Rules’. All staff follow our school vision and values and have good working relationships with children in their classes and monitor well-being on an on-going basis. Independence is promoted via our curriculum and our whole school ethos. Identified children complete Behaviour Passports with the SENCo, sharing triggers, barriers to learning and the different strategies used to support each child with their academic, social and personal development. These are shared with the parents, all staff and class as needed. Every term all the pupils take part in Coley Coaching where they discuss their progress, learning, barriers and successes with their coach who acts as their champion – they also look at attitudes to learning and personal achievements setting themselves challenges and goals to support their learning. We are also a Therapeutic Thinking school (see section 5). We have developed a Therapeutic Team and teaching space to work with identified children, especially those with difficulties around SEMH – to support these children with both their emotional well-being and accessing learning in a space or environment within school better suited to their needs. This team consists of our Headteacher, Deputy Head/SENCo, ELSA, 2 Play workers and an LSA.

Mrs. Clare Budd 0118 937 5461. deputy@coleyprimary.reading.sch.uk

Many of our staff are trained to work in specialist areas of special educational needs. We encourage staff to continually update their skills and knowledge. We have access to advice and support from a range of external professionals such as Speech & Language therapists, Educational Psychologist, Sensory Consortium, Massage Therapy and Behaviour Support. A number of our LSA’s have been trained in Makaton signing. Many have also had hand massage training which they cascade throughout the school. All of our LSA’s have also taken part in Racing to English training as many of these strategies and resources can be used to support SEND learners who are both EAL and non-EAL. We have an HLTA trained in Lego Therapy and she is able to run Lego Therapy groups with different year groups to support SEND learners with giving and following instructions – this has proved very successful. Two LSA’s have also attended the ASD Network meetings and sharing good practice and practical ideas to support children with other staff. We have also had training for Sensory Circuits and this is having a good impact for a number of children with ASD and to support gross motor development and balance for identified children. Our ELSA regularly attends network meetings and shares good practice with colleagues. We work closely with Educational Psychologist who shares strategies to support staff, children and parents. Previously our Educational Psychologist has delivered bespoke training to our staff on developing and understanding children’s memory skills and retention. Our SENCo has great experience of supporting pupils with SEND including those with significant needs, and works closely alongside other professionals and other SENCOs in the Borough through SENCo networks. We regularly invest time and money in training our staff to improve quality first teaching (wave 1 provision delivery) and develop enhanced skills & knowledge delivery of wave 2 and 3 interventions across a range of SEND. All our staff are trained in the Therapeutic Thinking approach and as a school we understand how significantly adverse childhood experiences can affect children both behaviourally and emotionally. This is an Authority wide approach to inclusion across all services. We want all of our children to be safe learners but know at times they might need something different or an intervention to enable them to access learning. Our staff are trained in a range of strategies that are informed by an understanding of children’s mental health and well-being. We hold termly Mental Health surgeries with our Educational Psychologist and PMHW to discuss specific children and how they might best be supported both at home and at school.

Resources required to support children with SEND are purchased through the SEND budget. We follow recommendations from other professionals and resources are bought to match and support children’s needs. We are a well-equipped school and resources/provision are reviewed termly to assess their impact in meeting a child’s needs. We can negotiate and share resources with outside agencies for example – resources from Massage Therapist to support with setting up of sensory circuits. Each case is considered separately and specifically for each child. When required we can also apply to Brighter Futures for Children for ‘top-up’ funding to support identified children.

We regularly involve parents and families in discussions about their child’s learning. We also carry out an annual pupil, parent and teacher survey and act on survey findings. Class teachers & the SENCo are pleased to meet with parents to discuss individual arrangements for getting involved and welcome feedback on this. We facilitate this through: Parent meetings, termly curriculum letters/newsletters meeting with SENCo if a parent wishes, an SEND Parent Workshop and information on the school website. As a school we have an ‘open door’ policy and the SENCo and staff are widely available to meet with parents both formally and informally. Parents are also invited to meetings with other professionals working with their child/ren.

All children are encouraged to share their views about their learning through pupil conferences and school council. Class teachers discuss next steps and targets with identified children so they take ownership of their learning and share their aspirations. Coley Coaching takes place every term where children (Children with SEND meet with the SENCo) discuss their progress, learning, barriers and successes with their coach who acts as their champion – they also look at attitudes to learning and personal achievements setting themselves challenges and goals to support their learning and progress. We feel that it is important to invest time in helping children to understand their needs and feelings and understand those of others. Some children create a Behaviour Passport with the SENCo which clearly outlines what they are good at, find tricky, the best ways to support them in class and outside, how to communicate with them and how they communicate, what could happen when they are finding things difficult and possible triggers and solutions to behaviours and needs. These are shared with all staff and the child’s parents.

Procedures to be followed are: 1. Informal discussion with the SENCo and Headteacher (where it is hoped that the complaint will be resolved). 2. If attempts fail to settle the complaint informally, the complaint should be put in writing to the Headteacher. 3. If you are then unhappy with this resolution you can then write to the Clerk of the Governors (Miss Emma Goldring – bursar@coleyprimary.reading.sch.uk ) for presentation to the Governors. The written notification should make it quite clear exactly what the complaint is about. 4. If the person making the complaint is not satisfied with the outcome, they are able to make a formal complaint to the Local Authority.

We work with many external agencies and professionals, for example: Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapy, Behaviour Support, Massage Therapy, Play Therapy, the Children’s Action Team and outreach from specialist providers. For children who have Education Health Care Plans, other relevant bodies are involved via the person centred Annual Review meeting. The local authority’s local offer is also used in gathering relevant information for children with SEND. Reading Information, Advice & Support Service for SEND is a very good resource for signposting parents to for support, advice and information. http://www.readingiass.org The SENCo is also happy to support parents and carers with advice on accessing support from external agencies.

Reading Information, Advice & Support Service for SEND (IASS) is a very good resource for signposting parents to for support, advice and information. http://www.readingiass.org iass@brighterfuturesforchildren.org 0118 937 3421 SEND Team 0118 937 2674 sen@brighterfuturesforchildren.org Brighter Futures for Children Autism Berkshire 01189 594 594 contact@autismberkshire.org.uk https://www.autismberkshire.org.uk/ Alafia (Acre Family Support Team) 0118 951 0279 http://rva.org.uk/organisation/alafia/ Parenting Special Children admin@parentingspecialchildren.co.uk www.parentingspecialchildren.co.uk 0118 9863532 For more Family Support please go to the Family Support page on Reading’s Local Offer website. Reading Borough Council 0118 937 3777 (opt 2) www.readingfis.org www.readingsendlocaloffer.org SEND Guide for Parent Carers. This is a quick and easy guide for parent carers of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The guide has been put together with parent carers (Reading Families Forum) in partnership with other services, to help families access information on local SEND services for children, young people with additional needs. SEND Guide for Parent Carers | Reading Services Guide

Induction is important to us and we invest time in welcoming our learners and their families in a way that makes them feel a part of our setting. We work well with our partner schools. Children who may benefit from additional arrangements at transition points are identified by class staff and the SENCo and arrangements with schools are organised. Individual arrangements are made depending on the child’s needs, such as additional visits, photo books, social stories etc. New settings, or next phases (eg: Secondary School) are well informed via transition meetings etc. All children experience a ‘Transition Day’ each July in preparation for change and home visits take place in the Foundation Stage. (also see Transition Policy: http://www.coleyprimary.reading.sch.uk/policies/)

The LA Local offer can be found at: http://www.reading.gov.uk/localoffer You can also email disc@reading.gov.uk for more information & guidance.

For children with an Education Health and Care Plan, annual review meetings are held with parents and where possible, professionals working with the child to review specific outcomes. These meetings are family and child-centred taking into account views and recommendations of all those involved including other professionals. For other children in school with identified SEND we hold termly parent teacher meetings to review outcomes, discuss progress and areas to develop further, support and achievements. The SENCo and class teachers are available to meet with parents as part of our school ‘open door’ policy as required.