Additional Educational Needs Policy
AEN Co-ordinator: Mrs Emma Impett
Chairman Of Governors:Mrs Zahida Parveen
Headteacher: Ms Kath Barham
Reviewed:October 2007
Reviewed by:Mrs EmmaImpett
Next review date:October 2009
Contents
Section A: School Arrangements
1. Definitions and aims
2. Roles and responsibilities
3. Co-ordinating and managing provision
4. Admission arrangements
5. Specialisms and special facilities
Section B: Identification, Assessment and Provision
1. Allocation of resources
2. Identification, assessment and review
3. Curriculum access and inclusion
4. Evaluating success
5. Complaints procedures
Section C: Partnership within and beyond the School
1. Staff development and appraisal
2. Link with other agencies, organisations and support services
3. Partnership with parents
4. The voice of the child
5. Links with other schools and transfer arrangements
In the writing of this policy, reference was made to :
· Every Child Matters 2006
· SEN Code of Practice DfES 2001
· The Education Regulations 1999
· Inclusive Schooling: Children with SEN DfES 2001
· National Curriculum DfES 2001
· SEN and Disability Act 2001
· The Human Rights Act
· Index for Inclusion
Section A: School Arrangements
1. Introduction
This policy document is a statement of the aims, principles and strategies to ensure the effective and efficient provision for children with Additional Educational Needs (AEN) at Birchington CE Primary School.
LA guidelines and the DfES Code of Practice 2001 have been taken into consideration in the formulation of this policy. Children have AEN if they have a learning difficulty or specific strength which calls for special educational provision to be made for them (also see Gifted and Talented policy). Additional educational provision means: “For children of two or over, educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age in schools maintained by the LA, other than special schools in the area.”
This document provides a framework for the identification of and provision for children with Additional Special Educational needs. It is written for the benefit of all members of the school community to ensure that the potential of every child is maximised, irrespective of ability, disability, race, gender and social origin and to enable equality of access to the curriculum in an environment where every child is valued and respected.
Aims
· To identify at the earliest opportunity all children who need special consideration to support physical, sensory, social, emotional, communication or cognitive development.
· To ensure that these children are given appropriate support to allow every child full access to the National Curriculum in a positive framework.
· To ensure that these children are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
· To involve parents, pupils and others in developing a partnership of support, enabling them full confidence in the strategy as adopted by the school.
Objectives
· To provide a broad, balanced and suitably differentiated curriculum relevant to pupil needs, through all staff sharing responsibility for AEN.
· To demonstrate that meeting the needs of children’s learning and/or behaviour is part of high quality mainstream education.
· To plan for any pupil who may at some time in their education have special educational needs.
· To promote self-worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independent learning at all age levels.
· To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement
· To identify, monitor and support pupils who will need extra resources and/or teaching help as early as possible.
· To work in partnership with the child’s parent/s and other external agencies to provide for the child’s special educational needs.
· To regularly review the policy and practical arrangements to achieve best value.
· The provision for AEN pupils offers them opportunities to enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well being.
2. Roles and Responsibilities
All members of the school community work towards the school aims by:
· Using school procedures for identifying, assessing and making provision for pupils with special educational needs.
· Sharing a commitment to inclusion and a partnership approach to provision.
Governors
The governing body in co-operation with the Headteacher:
· determines the school’s general policy and approach to the provision for children with additional educational needs.
· establishes the appropriate staff and funding arrangements.
· maintains a monitoring oversight of the school’s work.
· reviews annually the AEN policy.
· reports annually to parents on the effectiveness of the school’s work on behalf of children with SEN.
The governing body has appointed a governor who takes particular interest in and monitors the school’s work on behalf of children with additional educational needs.
Headteacher
· has strategic responsibility for overseeing the provision for children with special educational needs.
· keeps the governing body fully informed on AEN matters.
· in conjunction with the management team is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the success of this policy and ensuring that necessary revisions are undertaken
· will work closely with the AEN co-ordinator(AENCO), with whom regular meetings are scheduled.
AENCO
Is responsible for:
· the daily implementation of the school AEN policy
· liaising with and advising teaching staff and teaching assistants on AEN matters
· managing teaching assistants.
· co-ordinating the provision for children with AEN
· overseeing the records of all children with AEN
· contributing to the in-service training of staff
· liaising with parents and external agencies including the LA’s support and Educational Psychology Service, Health and Social Services and voluntary bodies
· monitoring the delivery of IEPs /GEPs
All teaching and non-teaching staff are involved in the development of the school’s policy and must be fully aware of the school’s procedures for identifying, assessing, monitoring and making provision for pupils with special educational needs. Teachers under guidance from the AENCO have responsibility for managing the work of the TAs.
3. Co-ordinating and managing provision
The AENCO has a key role in determining the strategic development of the AEN policy and provision in the school in order to raise the achievement of children with AEN.
The AENCO will work full time and will be a member of the Senior Management Team.
The governing body has appointed Mrs Emma Impett to the position of AENCO.
4. Admission Arrangements
This school strives to be a fully inclusive school. It acknowledges the range of issues to be taken account of in the process of development. All pupils are welcome, including those with additional educational needs, in accordance with the LA Admissions policy. According to the Education Act 1996, (Section 316), if a parent wishes their child with a statement educated in the mainstream, the LA must provide a place unless this is incompatible with the efficient education of other children, and there are no reasonable steps that can be taken to prevent the incompatibility. (See also Appendix C in “Inclusive Schooling” for arrangements for admission of pupils with a statement of SEN.)
5. Specialisms and special facilities
The school and site are almost fully accessible to wheelchair pupils and there is a disabled toilet in the main building. The school has an accessibility plan which is reviewed annually and is available to view from the school office.
Section B: Identification, Assessment and Provision
1. Allocation of resources
The AEN budget is determined each year according to PLASC data. This aims to distribute available funds as equitably as possible between schools according to relative levels of need based on socio-economic and Additional Educational Needs(AEN) factors.
· The base budget covers teaching and curriculum expenses as well as the cost of the AENCO.
· The delegated AEN budget covers the additional support required.
· Specific funds that were allocated to pupils with statements of SEN are now included in the delegated budget.
· Additional funds/resources may be accessed through the Local Cluster Group (Thanet 1).
The AENCO in consultation with the Head Teacher is responsible for the use of these resources and the deployment of the designated support staff. The AENCO will collaborate effectively with other staff to ensure continuity of provision. There is a separate budget allocated to address AEN issues.
Action to meet pupil’s SEN aims to promote independent learning and tends to fall within four broad strands:
· Assessment, planning and review.
· Grouping for teaching purposes.
· Additional human resources.
· Curriculum and teaching methods.
This may include development of practice through training and collaborative work with other schools, planning, review and liaison time, improved staff-child ratio and use of alternative resources.
2. Identification, Assessment and Provision
This follows a graduated approach as required by the 2001 SEN Code of Practice. The National Curriculum Inclusion Statement emphasises the importance of providing effective learning opportunities for all pupils and offers three principles of inclusion:
· Setting suitable learning challenges.
· Responding to pupil’s diverse needs.
· Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment.
The new Code does not assume that there are hard and fast categories of SEN but recognises four broad areas:
· Cognition and learning (General learning and Specific learning Difficulties).
· Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties.
· Communication and Interaction (Language and Autistic Spectrum Disorder).
· Physical and Sensory.
The following assessments are used as part of the school’s assessment process to identify SEN in addition to the assessment and tracking routinely conducted by teachers:
· Early Years Profile including Speech Link
· Key Stage 1 SATS (Yr.2)
· QUEST (Reading and Number screening test. Beginning of Yr.3)
· Cognitive Abilities Tests (Years 4 & 5)
· Key Stage 2 mini SATs
The graduated approach:
School Action
The school arranges the additional and different provision required to enable children to make adequate progress. This is the key indicator to determine the graduated response. A Group Education Plan (GEP) will usually be devised. Individual Education Plans (IEPs) may on occasions be necessary.
The class teacher makes appropriate arrangements for differentiating the curriculum and providing additional support for the child. Class targets are set with a date for review.
School Action Plus
If there is inadequate progress at School Action, the class teacher in conjunction with the AENCO, will assess the child’s difficulties using a range of assessments. An IEP will usually be devised. The IEP may suggest alternative strategies, learning programmes, modifications to the curriculum and/ or extra support for the child, individually or in small groups. This will involve the support and advice of outside agencies such as Specialist Teacher Services, Educational Psychology and health Services.
Statutory Action
For a very few children the help given by the school through Action Plus may not be sufficient to enable the pupil to make adequate progress. It will then be necessary for the school, in consultation with the parents and any external agencies already involved, to consider whether to ask the LA to initiate a statutory assessment. This may lead to the issuing of a statement of special educational need in which the LA determines the special educational provision which the child’s learning difficulty calls for.
Parents are kept informed at all stages of intervention. This partnership and the exchange of information with external agencies is particularly important in order that the needs of the majority of pupils with SEN are met effectively.
3. Curriculum access and inclusion
Pupils with SEN will have full access to a balanced and broadly based National Curriculum, with the opportunity to join in all the activities of the school.
Different teaching strategies are used depending upon the nature of the child’s needs.
This school strives to be an inclusive school, engendering a sense of community and belonging through its
· Inclusive ethos
· Broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils.
· systems for early identification of barriers to learning and participation.
· High expectations and suitable targets for all children.
4. Evaluating Success
The success of the school’s AEN policy and Provision is evaluated through:
· Monitoring of classroom practice by AENCO and subject co-ordinators.
· Analysis of pupil tracking data and test results for a) individual pupils and b)cohorts
· Value-added data for pupils on the AEN register
· Interpreting data collated for the AEN pupils identified and discussing progress with other staff
· Termly monitoring of procedures and practice by AEN Governor
· School self-evaluation, using a variety of approaches
· SBR meetings
· The Governors’ Annual report to parents
· The SEN moderation process
· The School Plan/AEN Development Plan
5. Complaints
Any complaints regarding the AEN policy or the provision made for children with special educational needs should be addressed in the first instance to the class teacher. If parents need further advice they are welcome to arrange a meeting with the AENCO. If they feel their child’s needs are still not being met they should make an appointment to see the Headteacher. If however, parents are still concerned they may contact the governor responsible for AEN and/or the Partnership with Parents Service who may allocate an individual parent supporter or refer to the mediation service. The school will inform parents of these services.
SECTION C: Partnership within and beyond the school
1. Staff Development
The auditing of training needs and performance management targets is based on the TTA National Standards for AENCOs and specialist teachers of AEN and the School Development Plan.
· AENCOs, teachers and TAs will attend AEN courses which are of interest and have a particular bearing on children they are supporting.
· Staff are given regular opportunities for INSET to develop their confidence and skills in working with AEN children. Governors will be in formed of school based training and are invited to attend. Staff will be involved in developing practices which promote whole school approaches to AEN.
· NQTs will access specific training and induction programmes.
2. Links with other agencies, organisations and support services
The school has arrangements for securing access to external support services for pupils with special educational needs. There is regular liaison and exchange of information between the AENCO and these services, particularly at School Based Reviews.
3. Partnership with parents
We aim to promote a culture of co-operation with parents, schools, TAs and others. We will do this through:
· Ensuring all parents are made aware of the school’s arrangements for AEN including the opportunities for meetings between parents and AENCO.
· Involving parents as soon as a concern has been raised. This may be done at a parent consultation or by personal appointment with the class teacher.
· Providing access to the AENCO to discuss the child’s needs and approaches to address them.
· Supporting parents understanding of external agency advice and support.
· Undertaking Annual Reviews for children with Statements of SEN.
4. The voice of the child
In this school we encourage pupils to participate in their learning by:
· Being involved in target setting and identifying teaching and learning strategies that work for them.
· Incorporating their views in every aspect of their education.
· Encouraging self advocacy and independence.
5. Links with other schools and transfer arrangements
· We will ensure that all transfers between schools are planned, monitored and supported to ensure successful outcomes for children.
· We will consult the LA and governing bodies of other schools, when it seems to be necessary or desirable in the interests of the co-ordinated special educational provision in the area as a whole.
· We will collaborate with all other support services and agencies involved with the child and with the parents and where appropriate make joint planning arrangements.
· We will collaborate with other schools within the cluster with a view to managing resources, sharing good practice and training.EI/SMT reviewed – October 2007
To be reviewed – October 2009
