The Head teacher: Mrs Marlow, is responsible for:

• The day to day assistance in all aspects of school life, this includes the support and provision for children with SEND.
• The Head teacher will give responsibility to the SENCO and class teachers, but they are responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
• Making sure the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.
• Ensuring our school follows statutory guidance for all pupils including children with special educational needs and or with a disability.

The SENCO: Mrs Jess Fitzgerald, is responsible for:

• Coordinating support for children with special educational needs and /or with a disability (SEND) and developing the school’s SEN Policy to make sure all children have access to high quality teaching and provision.
• Supporting teaching staff in the identification of special educational needs, providing guidance and practical advice to remove barriers to learning and deploying support staff appropriately.
• Reviewing your child’s progress and planning ahead for your child
• Liaising with other agencies who may be coming into school to help support your child’s learning, for example: Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology, School Nurse etc.
• Monitoring provision and the impact of interventions.
• Providing specialist support and training for teachers and support staff in the school so they can help pupils with SEN to achieve the best possible outcomes in school.
• Applying for or reviewing Education Health Care Plans for children with more severe or complex needs.
• Ensuring that you are involved in supporting your child’s learning.

The SEN Governor is responsible for:

• Making sure that the school has an up to date SEND policy.
• Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all children in the school.
• Making sure that the appropriate and necessary support is made for any child who attends the school who has SEN and/or disabilities.
• Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to children with SEND in the school and being part of the process to ensure your child achieves his/her potential in school.

The Class Teacher is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all children have access to good teaching and that the curriculum is adapted to the individual needs of all learners (also known as differentiation.)
• Monitoring the progress of all children in their class and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help that may be needed (this could be things like targeted work, additional support, adapting resources) and discussing amendments with the SENCO as necessary.
• Keeping you informed about the support your child is getting.
• Planning for and reviewing provision with support from the SENCO, phase leaders and the leadership team, contributing to the assessment process which informs Pupil Progress Meetings.
• Ensuring that all members of staff working within school are aware of children’s individual needs and /or conditions within their class, and what specific adjustments need to be made to enable all pupils to be included and make progress.
• Ensuring that the school’s SEN Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with SEND.

The Learning Support Assistant is responsible for:

• A Learning Support Assistant (LSA) may be allocated to a pupil with exceptional special educational needs and/or disabilities or they might be trained to deliver group or individual interventions. Their role is guided by your child’s class teacher and the SENCO. Whilst they take a very valuable role in your child’s education, we would prefer that questions regarding your child’s learning and progress are directed initially to the class teacher and/or SENCO.
• We welcome daily dialogue between parents and LSAs about how your child is getting on at school and we do actively encourage this continued feedback.

Pupils will be identified in school through:
• Discussions between parents, class teachers and or the SENCO.
• Discussions from pupil progress meetings.
• Further assessments may be necessary when progress and attainment are significantly below age related expectations.
• Families may be referred to or by other agencies such as the school nurse, speech and language therapist or the Educational Psychology service for more specialised support and advice.
St Catherine’s C of E VC Primary school fully complies with expectations laid out within the SEND Code of Practice. If you would like to find out more about the code, please follow the link below:
Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25years

• Share your concerns with the class teacher.
• Make an appointment to speak with the SENCO.
• Be actively involved in sharing information about what is working well and what might need to change.
• Attend all parent teacher consultations.

Maintaining regular contact with school is very important at this stage. You will be asked to share your ideas on how best to support the needs of your child, and your child will be invited to share their ideas too.

Contact details can be found by following the ‘Who can I contact for further information?’ tab on the home screen.

• Through quality teaching.
• Contributing to Pupil Support Plan.
• Focused small group teaching / interventions.
• Use of LSAs to support learning or adapted resources.
• Taking advice from senior teachers, the SENCO, or specialist advisory support depending on the individual child’s needs.
• Maintaining close relationships with parents and carers.
• Keeping the Head teacher and Governors informed.
• Teaching small group interventions or in some instances 1:1 support.

The amount of support offered will depend on the needs of each individual child. Sometimes it may also be necessary to involve a specialist from an outside agency. Parents and carers will be fully informed and involved at each stage of the process.

• You will receive a written annual report on your child’s attainment and progress at the end of the Spring term.
• Regular attendance at parent consultation meetings, additional meetings with the SENCO can be arranged by appointment throughout the school year.
• Parents will be kept informed by letter when their child is receiving additional provision. The letter will include the name and purpose of the intervention, the name of the member of staff who is leading it, as well as the duration of the intervention.

Teachers also try to provide informal feedback at the end of the school day if something noteworthy has occurred and on occasions, work may be sent home for your child to share with you.

• The class teachers are responsible for monitoring and tracking the attainment and progress of pupils within their class.
• All teachers plan quality teaching to ensure all lessons are accessible to all children.
• Small group or 1:1 interventions are used where there is an identified need.
• The children are also invited to share their opinions.
• Termly pupil progress meeting information will be used to assess and current provision.
• Members of the SLT meet with the SENCO termly to review interventions, assess the effectiveness of current provision and to make the necessary changes for the next term.
• The SENCO is responsible for creating a whole school provision map to demonstrate how the range of needs are being met across the school.
• SEN surgeries are in place for all school staff to make an appointment with the SENCO to discuss additional strategies or support, aside from pupil progress meetings.

Provision is organised in 3 waves:

Wave 1 – Quality first teaching – All pupils;
Wave 2 – Small group interventions – Some pupils;
Wave 3 – Individual interventions (usually with
involvement of outside agencies) – Few pupils.

• Reinforcing school values and British values.
• Reinforcing the Christian ethos of our School.
• Teaching of PSHE – Personal, Social and Health Education.
• Participation in class circle time and whole school assemblies.
• Valuing pupil voice – through school council and pupil feedback questionnaires.
• Modelling positive relationships between staff, pupils and parents and carers.
• Whole school policy and approach to behaviour and discipline.
• Promoting ‘Golden Rules’ and class learning charters.
• Involvement in extracurricular activities.
• Links with the Ark Children’s Centre.
• Access to a Family Support Worker by referral to HABs
• Play leaders support inclusive play in the playground.
• Peer partnerships.
• Counselling and play therapy sessions for pupils with an identified need.
• Nurture Group.
• Protective Behaviours training.
• Use of ‘Starving the Anxiety / Anger / Stress Gremlin’ for pupils aged 7-11 years old. • Information regarding medical conditions will be handled sensitively, in line with our policy, and the appropriate staff will be informed of specific needs.
• The SENCO will support families by signposting external services such as PALMs – Positive behaviour, Autism, Learning disability and Mental health and CAMHs – Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health services.

• The SENCO attends courses on reforms to SEND and implementing the SEND Code of Practice and keeps the staff update with current thinking.
• Staff maintain regular attendance at cluster meetings.
• Staff INSET is provided to update staff on changes to the SEND Code of Practice and best practice.
• Staff INSET on provision mapping to plan provision for all pupils in each class.
• A skills audit for support staff has identified strengths within our support team and these needs can be used to match the needs of our pupils.
• Teachers and LSAs attend any relevant courses for continued professional development.
• The SENCO is a qualified teacher and has achieved the National SENCO Award.
• A dedicated LSA has an additional responsibility for EAL pupils.
• A dedicated LSA leads our Speech and Language Therapy provision. We currently have a further 2 LSAs undertaking specialist speech and language training; to support verbal children on the autistic spectrum and to support children ages 3-5 years old.
• Training and advice is ongoing with Bonneygrove SpLD base for children with Specific Learning Difficulties. (SpLD)
• Regular support from Speech and Language Therapy team, Educational Psychologist, Communication Autism Team, Visual Impairment team, Middleton School Outreach and the Behaviour Support Teams from Andrew’s Lane Primary Support base or Rivers ESC.
• All staff have current ‘Safeguarding’ training, ‘Emergency First Aid’ and ‘Step On’ training.

• SENCO advice.
• Educational Psychologist. SpLD Base, Middleton School Outreach, Autism Advisory Service, Visual Impairment Team (A referral is required to access these services and this has to be done through the SENCO.)
• Health services – School Nurse and Speech and Language Therapy (some referrals can be made via your GP.)
• Bonneygrove SpLD Base – working with or providing advice to support children with specific difficulties in English and Maths.
• Third Space Learning – ICT based support.
• Counsellor.
• Play therapy support.
• Access to Family Support Workers through HABs, based in Wormley C of E Primary School.
• Nurture groups – run by our Nurture and Behaviour lead on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Support from external agencies is only available upon referral, before this is able to happen there is a period of time where school based assessments will need to take place, the views of the child and the parents or carers will also be sought to ensure everyone is fully informed and working towards the same goal.

• Parent consultation meetings.
• SEND surgeries.
• Access to a Family Support Worker via a referral to HABs.
• Home learning.
• Links from the school website to enhance learning.
• Parent workshops – – Some workshops are held in school and are organised by school staff, however some are advertised workshops organised by local services, such as Middleton School, SPACE, The Ark Children’s Centre or HABs and these usually take place within the local area.
• Your Child’s Annual school report will also suggest ways to support your child in their learning.
• Curriculum meetings to inform and provide tips or guidance.
• Activities may be sent home for you to overlearn with your child at home.

For a few children an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) may be required, again the views of the child and the family are central to putting together a coordinated plan that involves advice from education, health and social care. An EHC Plan replaces the previous Statement of Special Educational Needs. Before an EHC Plan can be devised, there is a period of time where evidence of your child’s severe, complex or lifelong need will be collected. A meeting will take place with all the people involved in your child’s care, including yourself, and the final decision is made by the local education authority.Sometimes it may also be necessary to apply for extra funding to meet the needs of a few pupils, this is known as Exceptional Needs Funding (ENF.)

• The individual needs of some children will be shared with supervisory staff at playtimes and lunchtimes to ensure their health and wellbeing.
• Play leaders are used during longer periods of play to engage with younger children and encourage social skills such as sharing and taking turns.
• Before a trip can take place, the appropriate risk assessments will be carried out to identify and problem solve any individual issues which might arise.
• Reasonable adjustments will be made, in all areas of school life, in order to meet the needs of all children.
• Where necessary parents will be involved in the decision making process.
• Please access our Learning Outside of the Classroom policy for more information.

• St Catherine’s is an accessible school, which complies with the Equality Act 2010.
http:/www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
• The school Accessibility Plan is updated on a regular basis according to need. This document can be accessed via the school office upon request.
https://www.stcaths.herts.sch.uk/keyinfo.html

Class teacher
Via the school office on 01992 463214

SENCO: Mrs Fitzgerald Via the school office on the above telephone number or by email:
senco@stcaths.herts.sch.uk

Head teacher Via the school office on the above telephone number or by email:
admin@stcaths.herts.sch.uk

SEND Governor Please contact the school office for the current SEND Governor’s contact details.

SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs or Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Services.
Tel: 01992 555847

KIDS East HUB – Offers information and support to parents and carers of disabled children and young people aged 0-19yrs in Hertfordshire.
Tel: 01992 504013

We are a welcoming and open school. We always aim to resolve any problems that occur from time to time within school, however, should it be required; a copy of the complaints procedure is available from the school office. It is also good to hear when things are working well, so please be sure to share positive comments with us too.

Nursery to Reception:
• Settling visit, opportunity to meet the teacher and have lunch in the school dining room;
• Session with parent/ carer prior to start – additional visits as necessary;
• Information evening;
• Transition booklet with photographs of the setting.
• Meetings with appropriate outside agencies.
Reception to Year 6:
• Information meeting/ letter home;
• Meet the new teacher and classroom sessions;
• Open evenings;
• Handover meetings;
• Meetings with appropriate outside agencies.
Secondary transfer or transfer to another setting:
• Open evenings;
• Taster days;
• Specialised secondary transfer transition sessions – appropriate to the needs of the child, to support and promote emotional wellbeing;
• Maps/ photographs to increase familiarity.

• All classrooms are equipped with interactive ‘Clever Touch’ technology.
• Each classroom is equipped with a variety of resources to support phonics, reading, writing and mathematical concepts.
• Other topic based equipment is centrally stored to allow access to all.
• Allocation of resources for each subject is based on budget allocations, which is decided by the Head teacher and Governors.
• Funds and resources are allocated according to the level of need.

In exceptional circumstances additional funds can be applied for for individual pupils, this is called Exceptional Needs Funding (ENF).

• Pupil progress meetings will track the progress of all pupils and will identify groups or individuals that would benefit from intervention.
• Progress is measured against Age Related Expectations (ARE) as defined by HfL (Herts for Learning – Hertfordshire’s education advisory service.) Pupils are assessed to be working above ARE, broadly within ARE or below ARE. Sometimes pupils may be lower attaining, but not have a special educational need. More information about how SEN is defined can be found in our SEND policy on our school website.
• Early identification and intervention is our aim at St Catherine’s. Supporting our children in the early years of their education to get the best start in their individual learning journey.
• Parents and carers will be involved if it is felt an intervention is needed or if outside agencies become involved in planning or delivering provision.

All additional support children receive will be recorded on a whole school provision map and impact of this support on the children’s progress or development will be measured at regular intervals.

Information regarding the Hertfordshire Local Authority SEND Offer can be found at:
http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/healthsoc/childfam/specialneeds/

Hertfordshire’s Local Offer is the door to finding information and support available for parents/carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

What do we mean by special educational needs and or disability?
You will also find our key SEND strategies, Hertfordshire 0-25 Integrated Commissioning Strategy and Hertfordshire County Council SEND Strategy 2015-2018 in the Local Offer as well as a range of services such as short breaks, transition, Education Health and Care Plans and more.

If you need to speak to someone directly or require help to find the information you want, contact: SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs or Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Services or KIDS HUBS We are keen to know your thoughts about the Local Offer so we can continue to improve it. Please email
localoffer@hertfordshire.gov.uk
with your comments.
Further information
Helping families without internet access
If you know someone who would like to use the Local Offer but they cannot access the internet, ask them to contact their local library, or children’s centre. Find your local library here or your local children’s centre here. If you need further assistance, you can call the customer service centre on 0300 123 4043.
Other Local Authorities’ Local Offer
You can find more information and documents about the Hertfordshire SEND Local Offer here.

National Autistic Society – Information on what Autism is, and offers: support, advice, resources and courses.

British Dyslexia Association – Information on what Dyslexia is and offers information to support co-occurring difficulties at home and at school.

I Can – Information to support speech language and communication needs.

Dyspraxia Foundation – Information to support dyspraxia. NHS information on dyspraxia and developmental coordination disorder can also be accessed here

Young Minds – Information and support where there may be concerns about mental health.

CHIPS Playschemes – CHIPS offer activities for children with SEND both term time and during school holidays.

Space – Information to support children and their families with Autism, ADHD or related condition. SPACE meet regularly in the local area to support making connections and building relationships with others.

HABS – HABs offers support and advice directly to families living in the Hoddesdon or Broxbourne area. The service includes: parenting courses, family support advice, Autism advice, as well as term time and school holiday activities for children.

ARE – Age Related Expectation
CAMHS – Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health Services
EHCP – Education and Health Care Plan
EHM – Early Help Module
ENF – Exceptional Needs Funding
EP – Educational Psychologist
HABS – Hoddesdon and Broxbourne Settings
HfL – Herts for Learning
ICT – Information Communication Technology
LSA – Learning Support Assistant
OT – Occupational Therapist
PALMS – Positive behaviour, Autism, Learning disability and Mental health Services.
PT – Physiotherapist
SALT – Speech and language therapist
SENCo – Special Educational Needs Coordinator
SEND– Special Educational Needs and/ or Disability.
SENDIASS – Special Educational Needs and Disability Information and Advice Support Service
SLT – Senior Leadership Team
TAF– Team Around the Family
VI – Visual Impairment