Students at Beckfoot Heaton School have a range of difficulties within four main areas: Cognition and Learning; Communication and Interaction; Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Sensory/ Physical needs.
See table below:
| Main Need | Number of students | Percentage of SEN | Percentage of school |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speech, Language and Communication (Including ASD) | 78 | 40% | |
| Cognition and Learning | 55 | 31% | |
| Social, Emotional and Mental Health | 31 | 24% | |
| Sensory/Physical need (including Visual and Hearing) | 11 | 5% | |
| TOTAL | 173 |
(Correct as of September 2023)
The SEND Code of Practice: January 2015 states:
A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she: has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
The needs of children with SEND may be long standing and have been identified by parents, health or education practitioners prior to admission to Beckfoot Heaton Primary School.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities may also become evident to teachers and other members of school staff who recognise that, despite receiving differentiated learning opportunities, bespoke provisions or nurture support, levels of attainment are very low and/or little or no progress has been achieved. Class teachers and/or members of the Inclusion Team will then ask parents/carers and any other agencies involved to meet, share information and plan any needed support.
Parents are always welcome ask for an appointment to discuss any concerns about their child with the class teacher and/or a member of the Inclusion Team.
The SEND Code of Practice categorises SEND needs in the following four areas; Cognition and Learning, Communication and Interaction, Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Sensory and/or Physical.
If a concern around a special educational need is highlighted (by either an adult in school or a parent), the following process is followed to ensure that the child accesses the support and provision needed to maximise their chances of achieving their potential:
- The concern is shared with the SENDCO and the Inclusion Team. Subsequent observations and or further conversations with parents may take place to further understand and identify the needs
- If/when appropriate, a referral is made with the parent to place the child on the Special Educational Needs register as either SEN support or SEN support
- For those children on the SEN register at SEND Support or higher, an Individual Support Plan (ISP) is produced demonstrating provisions in place, outside agency involvement/referrals and SEND assessment information is shared with parents
- As part of the graduated approach (assess, plan, do, review), the ISP will be a working document which is regularly reviewed, updated and shared with parents at least 3 times a year
Once a potential SEND need has been identified, Beckfoot Heaton will employ the graduated approach to meeting the pupil’s needs by:
- Establishing the pupil’s needs through ‘in-house’ assessments and referrals to external agencies where necessary
- Planning, with the pupil’s parents/carers, the interventions and support to be put in place, as well as the expected impact on progress, development and behaviour, along with a clear date for review
- Implementing the interventions, with the support from the SENDCO, Inclusion Team and involved professionals
- Reviewing the effectiveness of the interventions and making any necessary changes Regular learning walks are carried out by the SENDCo and Leaders in school to ensure that the appropriate provision is in place for all students with a special educational need. Depending on the area and the level of need, this provision may vary.
At Beckfoot Heaton Primary School, parents are always welcome to make an appointment to discuss their child’s progress with the class teacher and/or a member of the Inclusion Team. Effective partnership with parents is paramount to ensure the continuing development of each child.
The progress of every child is tracked at 3 points across the year, parents/carers and children are involved in reviewing progress, through written reports and parent meetings. There are a number of ways that children with special educational needs will be assessed every term depending on their need:
• Children working within their year group expectations will be assessed as part of the whole school assessment method
• Children working below age related expectations will be assessed using the end of year expectations for the year group that they are working within
• Children working in the key stage below will be assessed against the pre key-stage standards (PKSS)
• Bespoke professional assessments will be requested by the SENCo as required e.g. Autism team/ Speech and Language/ Dyslexia/ ADHD etc
Parents of children who are not making expected progress are invited to meet class teachers, sometimes alongside Leaders or members of the Inclusion Team, to discuss the areas of challenge and agree on how home and school can work together to achieve the outcomes set.
Children with an ISP are regularly reviewed, and progress and provisions are shared with parents (at least 3 times a year). At these times, there is an opportunity for parents to contribute to the review. These are led by the class teacher in consultation with the child, parents, members of the Inclusion Team and any other agencies involved.
The Inclusion Team are responsible for organising the Annual Review of the Education Health and Care Plans and meetings to involve other agencies in supporting children and their families. All children with an EHCP have an EHCP pathway to track the progress they are making towards the targets outlined in section F of the EHCP.
High Quality teaching: ‘Special educational provision is underpinned by high quality teaching and is compromised by anything less.’ (SEND Code of Practice January 2015 p25)
The Class Teacher is the first point of contact for parents and is responsible for quality first teaching, day to day differentiated planning and delivery of the appropriate curriculum to meet the needs of all the children in the class. Teaching Assistants are allocated to each year group and are deployed as needed to meet the year group needs.
Additional support may be short term, for a few weeks to overcome a particular issue, or longer term for more complex needs. Provision in this area is continually reviewed and developed to meet the needs of our SEND children; support could be a visual timetable, access to a timetabled individual workstation in the classroom, small group work, an individualised programme such as additional phonics, Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistant led provisions such as pre-teaching, Individual Support Plan (ISP) targeted learning or Lego Therapy, in-school Speech Therapy, child counsellor support, ‘in-house’ SEND assessments and advice and support from the external agencies we maintain close links with, or specialised furniture/equipment.
Children who have needs identified as ‘SEND Support’ or above from the Bradford Matrix of Need, or have an Education, Health and Care Plan, may be supported in small group or one to one work by a range of school staff including Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistants, Inclusion Support Leaders, Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistants, Learning Mentors and accredited volunteers. The children may access provision in the Elm Class, Forest school or 4D area to support achieving their outcomes.
The Inclusion Team work with teaching staff to ensure the provision for all children with SEND, in or out of the classroom, meets their individual needs. They are responsible for liaising with other involved agencies, advising school staff and overseeing the support and progress of children with SEND across the school.
Specific support plans for children are shared with appropriate staff to ensure children are well supported and their needs met.
Within all lessons, the learning tasks are differentiated and structured to ensure that children make good progress whatever their needs or ability. Children with SEND may use enhanced resources and scaffolds or have additional adult support in small groups or one to one, to enable them to achieve their specific outcomes.
Children identified as ‘SEND Support’ and above on the Bradford Matrix of Need have an Individual Support Plan (ISP), outlining the overview of the child’s SEND needs, external support over time, current external agency involvement and information regarding provisions in place to meet their needs including targets for Speech and Language if appropriate.
The outcomes for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan are set through the formal process of Statutory Assessment and Annual Review. Children with an Education Health Care Plan also have an EHCP Pathway to support the end of key stage outcomes outlined within the plan in Section F. Advice and support from other health and educational professionals involved are incorporated into the ISPs and Learning Pathways. Some children with an Education, Health and Care plan may access alternative provisions to meet their specific needs such as the Elm Class and specific provisions led by our Health Care Support Worker such as Physiotherapy.
Beckfoot Heaton Primary School is built on a mainly flat site, with level access from the outside on all main doors. There are two short flights of stairs between Key Stage 1 and 2, one of which provides access for wheelchairs by means of a ramp. A small mezzanine area is not accessible by those who are unable to climb stairs.
Outside spaces have ramped paths enabling ease of access to all areas. Our Forest School woodland has a DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant pathway enabling access to much of the area, even in wet weather. We may make further reasonable adjustments to ensure school is accessible for children and parents and carers.
We have a hygiene room with a shower, adjustable changing bed and ceiling hoist and two disabled toilets. Children are supported in their use of these facilities by key adults, to minimise the child’s dignity or discomfort. A Health Care Support Worker and school health carer and several first aiders are available throughout the day. We also have a mobile hoist which is used to support children in different areas of school.
Children with SEND may have additional access to facilities for example in the woods for Nurture provision or the 4D space to help develop language skills.
Every term, teachers in the school review the progress of children in their class. Following these progress meetings teachers and leaders identify how resources should be allocated to improve the progress of certain groups or individuals. This may take a variety of forms to support needs under one or more of the following headings: cognition and learning, communication and interaction, social, emotional and mental health and sensory and physical.
The school receives funding through the Pupil Premium Grant for children who are eligible, and this funding is allocated in a responsive way to purchase resources, staffing and additional provision to help children make progress.
If a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan then additional money is allocated to ensure that strategies listed in the EHCP are put in place. For example, this may be to fund additional staff time to deliver daily speech and language programmes or to buy equipment for children with physical needs.
All school activities on site and school visits are planned with consideration to the need of the specific group of children involved. Provision at clubs such as homework, film, sports, music is adjusted to enable all to children to participate.
Risk assessments are carried out and procedures put in place to enable all children to participate safely. The needs of individual children may be covered by a separate risk assessment prepared in consultation with parents, the Inclusion Team and appropriate advisory agencies.
At Beckfoot Heaton Primary School, we aim to provide an emotionally secure environment to help and support all the children and their families. Every child’s well-being is at the heart of everything that we do. Relationships with class teachers are a priority and children know who they can speak to if needed. Reasonable adjustments are made to ensure that all children feel valued, safe, secure and happy in class.
Strategies to develop the emotional and social wellbeing of the children are integrated into all aspects school life and the curriculum and all staff are involved in identifying signs of anxiety or social, emotional and behavioural needs. Out of school hours activities such as Sports, Music and Homework clubs are adapted for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to ensure they can participate fully and are supported by Inclusion staff if necessary. SEND children may have extra provision to help achieve outcomes, for example Nurture time in the woodland or time in the 4D space to develop language skills.
Staff support families in understanding children’s needs and putting strategies in place to make a difference and meet agreed outcomes. Each child with identified Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities at SEND Support and above, have an Individual Support Plan detailing the provisions that will be accessed to support the child’s development. Where appropriate, the school works with external agencies to seek advice and support for what actions we should take. At other times we may make referrals to these agencies so that additional support can be put in place. We are also able to offer Counselling for identified children in school when necessary.
The SEND team at Beckfoot Heaton consists of the following members of staff:
| Name | Role | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Davina Blanshard-Jones | Assistant Head/SENDCo | 01274 363070 |
| Louisa Sugden | Assistant Head for Safeguarding and Families | 01274 363070 |
| Laura Burgin | Deputy Head Outcomes and Standards | 01274 363070 |
| Jess Green | Health Care Support Worker | 01274 363070 |
| Janet Robertshaw | Clinical Lead Practitioner for the Trust | [email protected] |
SENDIASS | Barnardo’s (barnardos.org.uk)
Staff at Beckfoot Heaton Primary School undertake continuous professional development based on the requirements within their role, whole school outcomes or specific needs of individual children or groups of children. Examples of recent training focused on the needs of children with SEND are:
- Training to support children with Autism and Social Communication difficulties
- Precision teaching to support children with learning needs
- Alphabet Arc to support children with learning needs
- Blank Level questioning
- Inclusive classrooms
- Least intrusive intervention strategies
- Self-regulation
- Relational development
- Colour Coding to support language development and learning needs
- Ongoing professional dialogue with external agencies
- Lego therapy to support children with communication or social, emotional or behavioural needs
- Manual handling training to support children with physical difficulties
- Hoisting training
- Catheter training
- Tracheostomy awareness and training
- Speech and Language training to support learning for all children with additional needs such as Blank Levels and Makaton
- Specific training from the nursing team to meet the needs of children with medical needs
- Mental Health Champion
- The sharing of good practise and expertise across the TRUST schools for example SEND support from Special Schools
At Beckfoot Heaton Primary School, we work closely with a wide range of external professionals and organisations. We also have a Health Care Support Worker, employed through the NHS, who works closely with identified children and families, ensuring that Health Care plans are accurate and medical needs are met, including working with Bradford Physical and Medical Team and external medical professionals, seeking advice and resourcing appropriate, necessary equipment.
At Beckfoot Heaton Primary School, parents are always welcome to make an appointment to discuss their child’s progress with the class teacher and/or a member of the Inclusion Team. Effective partnership with parents is paramount to ensure the continuing development of each child.
We ensure this by:
- Providing an annual report on their child’s progress over the year
- Involving parents in the review process (at least 3 x a year) for those children with an Individual Support Plan
- Organising an annual review for those children with an EHCP
- Discussions with parents of students with SEN including meetings with the SENDCo, the Inclusion Team and Team around the child meetings
- Meetings with the SENCo
Where appropriate, children with SEND are consulted and involved in their education. This is done through a number of methods listed below:
- Pupil voice questionnaires
- Pupil voice interviews
- Involvement in the ‘Team around the child’ – children know who their trusted familiar adults are
In the first instance, the following members of staff should be contacted:
• the class teacher
• the SENCo or a senior leader
If at this point, the complaint has not been resolved, Beckfoot Heaton’s complaints procedure should be followed. It is in everyone’s interests for complaints to be resolved as quickly as possible and the SEND complaint procedure follows the complaints policy which can be accessed in the policy section on the website.
If the complaint refers to:
- a pupil who is undergoing assessment for an EHCP,
- or a decision not to issue an EHCP,
- or an EHCP,
- or disability discrimination,
- or social care
- or health
The guidance in the SEND Code of Practice (2014) will be followed alongside Bradford’s SEND systems and strategies. Please contact the office for further information or if you wish to make a complaint.
The facilities and expertise of these agencies/services are available to meet the needs of our children and families:
Specialist school staff for Inclusion comprise of:
Deputy Head for Outcomes and standards, Assistant Head for Safeguarding and Families, Assistant Head & SENDCo, Inclusion Support Leaders, Health Care Support Worker, Clinical Lead Practitioner for the Trust, Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistants (SENTAs), Learning Mentor, Forest School practitioner, Family Administration Officer and Child Protection Officer.
The Inclusion Team work with a wide range of education, health and care services including:
- Weekly input from a commissioned Speech and Language Therapist.
- Educational Psychologist
- EEWP Team – Emotioal Educational Well-Being Team
- City of Bradford Department of Children’s Services Learning Support Services –Social Communication, Interaction and Learning Team (SCIL): Autism Team, Cognition and Learning Team, Early Years Team and
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health Team. Low incidence Teams: Hearing Impairment Team, Visual Impairment Team and Physical and Medical Team
- Portage Team
- Community Paediatricians
- Child Development Centre
- Community Nursing Team
- Continuing Care Team
- CDC (Child Development Centre)
- School Nursing Team
- Specialist Nurses
- Paediatricians
- Occupational Therapists
- Physiotherapists
- Children’s Therapy Services
- CAHMS · School Counsellor
- Children’s Social Care
- Families First
- SENDIASS
Services and support for parents and families of children with SEND:
General:
- FYI Bradford – a free, impartial service offering advice, information and signposting to children, young people and families within the Bradford district. https://fyi.bradford.gov.uk/
- Bradford SENDIASS – for parents and carers of children and young people 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the Bradford area. https://www.barnardos.org.uk/what-we-do/services/bradford-sendiass
- TREACLE.ME – this website signposts to all the support that can be accessed in the Bradford area. https://www.treacle.me/
Other:
- AWARE – a parent-run group supporting families with children and young adults on the autistic spectrum (formal diagnosis not required) https://aware-uk.org/
- The Hub of Hope app – the UK’s leading mental health support database
- CAMHS ((Child and Adolescent Mental Heath Service)
- The BREW project – a free service for children or young people (aged 5-17 years old to access a confidential and nonjudgemental one-to-one support session via telephone, video call, face to face or walk-and-talk sessions.
Parents and all pre-school children are invited to visit school several times prior to admission to familiarise themselves with the building, facilities and staff. Admission plans are made with parents and involved agencies for children who have previously been identified as having SEND.
In the summer term, all children in school participate in transition events when they visit their new classrooms to work with their new teacher and teaching assistant. Transition conversations are held between appropriate teachers and leaders so more detailed information about the specific needs of the children can be passed on; the Inclusion Team are part of these professional dialogues when necessary. Children with SEND may require additional transition support and this will be planned in consultation with staff, parents and other agencies involved.
Throughout Year 6, all pupils participate in a range of transition preparation activities and opportunities are available for members of staff to provide support to parents and carers when needed. We have firmly established links with local secondary schools: during the Summer Term they are invited to come into school to meet their new Year 7 pupils prior to the Local Authority Transition Day. The SENDCO also meets with all receiving secondary school SENDCOs to discuss individual needs to ensure a successful transition into Year 7. Additional support, visits and transition meetings, are planned for children with SEND as and when necessary.
For further information about the Beckfoot Trust SEN and Disabilities Policy please click here
Details of the Local Authority’s own Local Offer can be found at http://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/thelocaloffer.aspx
The school is bound by the Bradford admission process which allocates places and offers advice regarding all admission and appeal related enquiries. School admissions follow the Fair Access Protocol and gives equal rights to all potential applications. For more information, visit The Admissions Team | Bradford Schools Online.
Contact the School Admissions team by email at [email protected] Or telephone 01274 439200 for information or to book an appointment with Bradford Admissions staff – Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5pm, and Fridays 8.30am to 4.30pm.