Special Education Needs and Disability Information
SENDCo: Ms Michelle Munns | E-mail: inclusions@mcps.school
Our Ethos and Values
At Miers Court Primary we are proud to be an inclusive environment, welcoming children with a range of learning and physical disabilities to our school. We work hard to get to know every child in our care and do what we can to support children’s individual learning needs. We work well as a team and include children, parents and other professionals as part of this. All staff have high expectations of children and set challenging learning targets. We have clear plans to support children in achieving these goals and provide parents with details of these. We run a range of specific, targeted and effective interventions but believe that children are best supported by high-quality inclusive teaching. We believe in early identification so that the right support can be put in place as early as possible. We want every child to reach their potential and want to support children and their families in removing any barriers to achieving this.
The SENCO
Michelle Munns is the person that co-ordinates provision for children with special educational needs or disabilities. She can be contacted at school on 01634 388943. Ms Munns would be happy to meet with you, by appointment, to discuss your child and any learning needs they may have.
SEN and Disability Policies and the New Code of Practice
From 1 September 2014, the government introduced a new SEN Code of Practice.
The SEN and Disability policy was developed with parents and other stakeholders.
Medway Local Authority sets out basic expectations of what schools should do to support pupils. This is Ordinarily Available Provision. This document sets out the school’s responsibility to meeting the needs of children with SEN&D.
How we support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
We believe that the early identification of pupils with additional educational needs is vital as this enables the child’s needs to be assessed and provided for accordingly. Our teachers are trained in many areas of special educational needs and specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Speech and Language difficulties.
The vast majority of children will have their educational needs met through high-quality inclusive teaching and adaptations to the curriculum and learning within the classroom.
In some cases, even if a special educational need has not been identified, we put in place extra support to enable the pupil to catch up or keep up with their peers academically, socially or physically. These may be in the form of additional in-class support or a special outside of class provision called an ‘intervention’.
We currently offer the following types of intervention: booster classes, ELS (phonics) small group and 1:1 interventions, 1:1 reading, reading groups, maths groups, Speech and Language Link programmes, BEAM, Clever Fingers, specific programmes, designed by speech therapists, OT and physiotherapists, social skills groups, as well as other interventions we have designed ourselves.
The range and type of interventions are constantly changing or being added to.
Please speak to your child’s class teacher if you would like any further information about the provision we have in school.
Access to Outside Services
As a school, we can currently make referrals to outside professionals including:
- Medway Emotional Support Team
- MCH School Nursing
- MCH Speech and Language Therapy
- Fortis Trust – for support with behaviour and learning
- The Rowans AP Primary Outreach
We also use our funding to pay for an educational psychologist, speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist to assess children in school when the need arises.
We would always discuss the need for outside agency involvement with parents before arranging this.
Further Information and Support
As a school, we are committed to working to support the whole family. Miss Bradley (Home School Support Officer) works closely with Ms Munns and Mrs Fordyce (Principal) and between them have a wealth of knowledge in order to support families. Please have a look at the linked Miers Court pages below.
Find Out More
Key Vocabulary
| ADD | Attention Deficit Disorder |
| ADHD | Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder |
| ASC/ASD | Autistic Spectrum Condition /Autistic Spectrum Disorder |
| DCD | Developmental Coordination Disorder (sometimes called Dyspraxia) |
| DLD | Developmental Language Disorder |
| COP | Code of Practice |
| EAL | English as an Additional Language |
| EP | Educational Psychologist |
| HI | Hearing Impairment |
| KS | Key Stage |
| LEA | Local Educational Authority |
| MLD | Moderate Learning Difficulty |
| NC | National Curriculum |
| OT | Occupational Therapy |
| SEMH | Social Emotional Mental Health |
| SEND | Special Educational Needs & Disability |
| SLT/SALT | Speech and Language Therapy/Therapist |
| SpLD | Specific Learning Disability |
| SLT(A) | Speech and Language Therapy Assistant |
| VI | Visual Impairment |
| SENDCO | Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator |
| CAMHS | Child and Adolescent Health Services |
Newsletters
We will be sharing newsletters in Terms 2, 4 and 6. Each newsletter will have a different focus.
Useful Links
Information
- A Guide to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities for parents and carers, summing up the SEND Code of Practice:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-parents-and-carers - Medway's Local Offer
https://www.medway.gov.uk/localoffer - "My Autism and Me video"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/15655232 - Medway School Nursing Team (parent referrals)
School nursing - Medway Community Healthcare - ADHD in Children
ADHD in children and young people - NHS - NHS ASC Guide
Autism - NHS
Support
Frequently Asked Questions
How does MCPS support a child with SEND?
High Quality Inclusive Teaching: The class teacher uses high expectations and varied teaching methods to involve the child in learning.
Special Educational Provision: This is any support that is "additional to or different from" what is ‘ordinarily available’ to other students.
The Graduated Approach: A four-step cycle of "assess, plan, do, review" is used to manage and monitor support.
Specialist support: Schools can involve specialist services like educational psychologists or speech and language therapists to assess a child's needs and recommend support.
What does ‘ordinarily available’ provision mean and what does it look like at Miers Court?
The development of our ordinarily available provision is at the heart of creating an inclusive school and enabling our pupils to flourish in the classroom. Our ordinarily available provision is available to all, and children do not need a diagnosis to access any available provision. We work on the principle that if something benefits one child, it can benefit all.
As part of our ordinarily available provision, classroom environments are designed to be calm and organised, with minimal visual noise, clutter or anything that could cause sensory overload.
A variety of resources are freely available should a child require them, such as: wobble cushions, ear defenders, pencil grips, writing slopes, fidget tools etc.
If a child requires support such as a movement break or sensory circuits these are also considered part of the ordinarily available support in school.
The ‘Zones of Regulation’ run throughout the school, and all children are taught to be able to identify how they are feeling and devise strategies to support them when they are feeling sad, anxious or angry.
Visuals are also commonplace in all classrooms, with each class having a visual timetable and key vocabulary with images where required.
Alongside high quality adaptive teaching, these provisions or adaptations enable the majority of children to access the curriculum and thrive in a nurturing environment, without the need for multiple interventions outside of the classroom.
Does my children need a diagnosis to access additional support?
Support at MCPS is based on need, not a diagnosis. This means that we endeavour to give all children the support that they need, regardless of if they have a diagnosis or not. You may also find that the provision they receive after a diagnosis remains the same, as our learning environments are designed to support all children, including those under the umbrella for neurodiversity and if they need additional interventions, the majority of these will already be in place.
What is an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)?
This used to be called a Statement of SEN. About 1% of children in mainstream schools have an EHCP. Many children with an EHCP require specialist provision (special school) and an EHCP allows a parent this choice. Without an EHCP, children cannot attend a special school.
An EHCP is a legal document. It sets out a child’s needs, the provision needed to meet those needs, and the school placement. It covers children from birth up to the age of 25.
Most children and young people will have their needs met without one, and will be able to access lots of support without an EHCP.
What is an EHCP for?
The purpose of an education, health and care (EHC) plan is to:
- make special educational provision to meet the special educational needs of the child or young person
- secure the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care
- prepare them for adulthood as they get older.
My child has a diagnosis. Do they need an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)?
The short answer is, not necessarily. The majority of children can have their needs met without one.
How can you apply for an EHCP?
Both school and parents can apply for an EHCP.
Parents can apply for an EHCP for their child by completing a form from Medway Council website:
It is important the parent knows the school’s view, because school provides a significant proportion of the evidence to the Local Authority. School and parent should be in agreement that specialist approaches are needed to enable the child to make progress. It is not about lots of diagnoses necessarily, although any diagnosis is supportive.
A school can also make a request for an EHCP with the support of a parent. The SENDCo will discuss this with you before making the application.
It is worth noting that quite a few outside agencies are giving the wrong message to parents about EHCPs. E.g. your child has an ASD diagnosis – have you considered an EHCP? This advice is often given without recourse to the severity of need that an EHCP justifies. Please speak to the SENDCo about this.
Can my child have an EHCP?
This will be dependent on the level of SEND that your child presents with and support needed at home and at school.
If you would like to discuss this further, please contact the SENDCo.
My child needs extra support, what happens next?
Class teachers, with the support of the SENDCo, will assess the additional support that your child needs, through the ‘Plan Do Review’ cycle. They will then put together a plan of additional targeted support that may be needed. This will be provided by the adults and resources that we have available in school.
I think my child has autism or ADHD. How can they be assessed?
The SENDCo can refer a child to the Community Paediatrician through the School Nursing Service. There is a lengthy referral form to complete and both parents and school need to provide information for this.
However, the waiting times for an appointment via Community Paediatrics are still significant, with the current wait time for an assessment being between 4-5 years.
However, the ‘Right to Choose’ pathway is currently still open, which can be accessed via a GP referral. The SENDCO is unable to refer directly to Right to Choose, but is able to support with any paperwork sent from the Right to Choose provider.
If this is something you are concerned about, please make an appointment to discuss this with the SENDCo.
I think my child has speech and language difficulties. What can we do?
As a school, we subscribe to the Speech and Language Link programme, which consists of screeners and then intervention programmes.
The screeners can identify speech sounds that the child might be muddling/substituting, or which areas of language (e.g. instructional, vocabulary, concepts, pronouns etc) they may have difficulty with. It helps us determine how severe a problem there may be, but it is a computer-based snapshot and it is important to talk to you as a parent and glean information from the teacher.
We also purchase time with a private Speech and Language Therapist who can assess a child in school. She meets with parents as part of this process. Once we receive reports back from her, we will send a copy home to parents.
If we think a child meets the NHS Speech and Language Therapy threshold, then the SENDCo can refer to them as well.
I think my child is dyslexic. Can you assess them?
We are unable to diagnose dyslexia, as this can only be done by a BDA registered assessor, but alongside our universal provision, we do have additional support in place with children with Literacy difficulties or specifically, Dyslexia.
Again, these interventions are based on need, and children do not need a formal diagnosis to access them.
Please discuss your concerns, in the first instance, with your child’s class teacher.