SEND is an abbreviation for Special Educational Needs and Disability.

A child or young person has a special educational need or disability if they:

•  have a learning difficulty or disability which makes it much harder for them to learn than other pupils of the same age.

•  they require special educational provision to be made for them – this means that they are getting support which is additional or different to other pupils of the same age.

If school is concerned about your child, it may be because we feel that your child is not making the progress in their learning that we would expect of a pupil their age or that your child is having difficulties in one of the 4 areas outlined below:

Communication and interaction needs

Children and young people might:

•  struggle to talk or say what they want to.

•  find it hard to understand what other people are saying.

•  find conversations and play confusing or challenging.

Cognition and learning difficulties

Children and young people might:

•  learn at a slower pace than others.

•  find the curriculum difficult.

•  struggle with organisation and memory.

•  have a specific difficulty, for example, in literacy or numeracy.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

Children and young people might:

•  find relationships difficult.

•  appear withdrawn or isolated.

•  behave in ways that affect their learning.

•  do things that impact on their health and wellbeing.

Sensory and/or physical needs

Children and young people might have a disability such as:

•  a visual and/or hearing impairment.

•  a physical difficulty.

Please contact your child’s Class Teacher through the school office on 01723 360239 or admin@st-martins.n-yorks.sch.uk. Your child’s class teacher will pass on your concerns to the SENDCO.

If you require further support or advice please contact Mrs Sarah Cliffe the SENDCO on 01723 360239 or senco@st-martins.n-yorks.sch.uk.

At all steps we will work closely with you in order to ensure that we fully understand your child’s needs, what type of support they require to make good progress and we will follow the Graduated Approach cycle of ‘Asses, Plan, Do, Review’.

In partnership with you, we will create an Individual Support Plan with targets that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. Working with you, as a whole team around your child, we will assess your child’s needs, plan the appropriate support, intervention and provision.

After an agreed and appropriate period of time we will review and measure the impact of the support through various methods which will depend on your child’s area of need.

If you child hasn’t made sufficient progress after two cycles of the ‘Assess, Plan, Do and Review’ of the Graduated Approach the SENDCO will refer your child to services within NYCC for specialist assessment and support.

•  If you child is receiving SEND support your child will remain on the SEND list until the team working with your child agrees that sufficient progress has been made, your child’s barriers to learning have been removed and your child no longer requires additional or different support to pupils of the same age.

•  If you child receives support through an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) you child will remain on the SEND list for as long as the EHCP is in place.

The school will provide support in various forms, depending on your child’s need, to both your child and you as a family.

The school will support your child in a holistic manner taking all aspects of the child’s development and life into account.

The SENDCO and Class Teacher will meet with you at regular intervals.

The SENDCO will be able to support and meet with you as needed.

The SENDCO will support you with communications with outside agencies and other professionals involved with your child’s care.

When your child is moving into a different class the SENDCO, current class teacher and next class teacher will meet with you and any other professionals involved in your child’s care for a Transition Meeting early on in the last half term of the school year. During this meeting all key information will be shared with the next teacher and strategies to support transition discussed e.g. your child may require extra visits to their new classroom, extra time getting to know the new staff or specialist equipment to be installed.

When your child is moving to a new school the SENDCO and Class Teacher will meet with the SENDCO and staff of the next school to communicate all of your child’s needs and successful strategies employed to support your child. The SENDCO will also support you with any meeting you may require with the new school’s SENDCO.

Please visit the NYCC Local Offer Website page using this link: SEND local offer | North Yorkshire County Council

Please visit the SENDIASS North Yorkshire Website page using this link: SENDIASS North Yorkshire | North Yorkshire County Council

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service, North Yorkshire (SENDIASS North Yorkshire) works with parents, carers children or young people that live within the county. It is a free confidential and impartial information, advice and support service that must be arm’s length to all other services including the Local Authority. This service is specifically for children and young people from 0-25 years with special educational needs and / or disabilities, their parents and carers.

SENDIASS North Yorkshire provides impartial information and advice about what the law says, information about the local authority’s policies and procedures and about the policy and practice in education, health and social care.

If you would like to get in touch with SENDIASS North Yorkshire you can call their advice line on 01609 536923 or you contact them on their email Info@sendiass.org