SEND
Our Philosophy
At Carfield Primary School, we are committed to Inclusion; the pupils are at the heart of everything that we do. We recognise that everyone is different, that our approach and services must be suitably planned and flexible to meet demand effectively and efficiently. Our strategic vision is one that is ambitious and has been developed with all stakeholders – pupils, parents, staff and governors.
At Carfield Primary School, we firmly believe that the journey through school life should be fulfilling, enjoyable, memorable and valuable. We believe that all children should have their needs met within a safe, accessible and nurturing environment.
We strive to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all that is inclusive and engaging whatever their gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, needs or abilities so that individuals thrive and achieve their potential. The curriculum is inspiring, creative and challenging; a rich blend that provides the children at Carfield Primary School with a good knowledge and understanding base, as well as a strong skill set for their futures.
Our core values form the heart of our provision:
- Resilient
- Respect
- Relationships
We are proud of our inclusive and nurturing approach. We celebrate strengths and the things that make us unique, whilst identifying and targeting areas to improve. For those whose needs require additional targeted provision, support and/or resources then they will be added to our SEND register and an individual support plan of assess, plan, do and review cycle(s)will be implemented. Every teacher is a teacher of special educational needs. Therefore we endeavour, as a team, to meet the needs of each individual through reasonable adjustments and targeted approaches, as per the SEND code of practice. All of which is done in collaboration with pupils, parents, staff and where appropriate external services.
Positive learning behaviours are encouraged and promoted to enable pupils to get the best out of each and every day. We promote high expectations and aspirations from all individuals. Everyone is encouraged to contribute positively – to our school, the local community and beyond.
Our goal is for individuals to be all-rounded, life-long learners. We believe that this combination enables pupils to succeed now, in the next phase of their learning and for future success.
You can find lots of information about SEND at Carfield Primary School in our SEND policy and SEND information report in the Policies page.
Inclusion Team
Bethan Arthur
BA, PGCE, NPQSL & SENDCo
Bethan is our Special Needs Coordinator.
Bethan has experience working in diverse primary schools in Sheffield and London. She also has a wide range of teaching experience across EYFS, KS1 and KS2.
Bethan is very passionate about supporting pupils with special needs and facilitating teachers to effectively plan and provide for children who struggle in school. Bethan has recently completed a diploma in Trauma Informed Practice and because of this, she has a broad understanding of the impact of trauma and how to effectively support children and adults who may have experienced trauma in their lives.
Our Learning Mentor
Kay Johnson
Our Learning Mentor
Kay is our learning mentor.
Kay has substantial experience supporting children with their social, emotional and mental health, whilst also engaging children by supporting their behaviour for learning.
Within this role, Kay liaises closely with the Local Authority and external agencies to ensure all support provided at Carfield Primary School is appropriate, high-quality and administered in a timely manner.
Assistant Special Needs Coordinator
Rebekah Pillar, BA
Assistant Special Needs Coordinator
Evolve (Our Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Nurture Provision)
Abigail Curtis
Nurture Lead in Evolve
Abigail is very passionate about supporting children with their social, emotional and mental health needs across school. Abigail works in Evolve, which is our Nurture provision. In Evolve, Abigail helps children learn about growth mindset, emotional regulation, communication and social skills. In Evolve, we follow the six principles of nurture and integrate a trauma-informed approach.
Evolve (Our Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Nurture Provision)
Millie Wilkins
Millie Wilkins is our Nurture assistant in Evolve
Millie works closely with all of the teachers throughout the school to ensure the children get the best possible support. Millie has working in diverse schools across Sheffield, Chesterfield and Leeds. Millie has lots of teaching experience across Early Years, KS1 and KS2. Millie is very passionate about supporting children with special needs and social emotional and mental health needs. Millie is Level 2 qualified in Forest School.
Thrive Lead
Rhona Grifflow
Rhona is our Thrive Lead
Definition of SEND
A pupil has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. They have a learning difficulty or disability if they have:
- A significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of the others of the same age
- A disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools
Special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools.
The Four Areas of SEND
How do staff in school identify SEND?
The school uses the graduated approach as outlines in “The Code of Practice 2014”. To help with this process information is collated from a variety of sources which is then used to plan the next steps.
At Carfield Primary School we identify the needs for individual students by considering the needs of the whole child, not just the special educational needs of the child.
We believe that pupil’s needs should be identified and provided for as early as possible and our SEN monitoring systems are set up to do this effectively. We identify the needs of a child by looking at the whole child not simply the special educational need. We identify children with potential barriers through the following:
- Termly Pupil Progress meetings.
- Termly analysis of data identifying children who are not making expected progress and exploring any possible barriers to learning.
- Concerns raised by parents.
- Concerns raised by class teachers.
- Health diagnosis through a hospital.
- Liaising with our bought in Educational Psychologist.
At the point of any concerns a Record of Concern monitoring form will be filled in and discussed with parents and a daily monitoring period of 4-6 weeks will start. The purpose of this period of monitoring is to work out what action the school needs to take to support your child, not to fit them in to a category. When deciding whether special educational provision is required, we will start with the desired outcomes, including the expected progress and attainment, and the views and the wishes of the pupil and their parents. We will use this, along with our monitoring forms, to determine the support that is needed and whether we can provide it by adapting our core offer, or whether something different or additional is needed.
I am worried my child has SEND, what do I need to do?
Your first point of contact should always be your child’s class teacher. Please make an appointment to discuss your concerns and your teacher will be able to talk these through with you, offer help and advice and make an initial plan of support if required. This may include a meeting with our SENDCo who may wish to talk to you and your child as well as visit the classroom to observe your child. We may then decide upon a more formal plan of school based support or start a referral process to outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapy service to gain further support with assessment and advice. We will always keep you updated throughout this process.
If you remain concerned following discussions with your class teacher then you can make an appointment to speak to our SENDCo, Bethan Arthur.
If you have any further questions, please get in touch with Bethan Arthur who will be happy to give you any help or advice needed.
Our SEND policies can be seen on our Policies page.