At Greenacres Primary School, we are committed to the early identification of SEND. We will assess each pupil’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, which will take into account information from parents and previous settings, where appropriate.

Each class teacher, subject leader and members of SLT closely track and monitor the progress of all of the children in our school every term, through a range of assessments, such as NFER assessments, observations, phonic screening tests and half-termly Read, Write Inc assessments to monitor early reading. Class teachers will also carry out daily assessments within each lesson as part of the assess, plan. do, review cycle of teaching and learning. As part of our normal teaching arrangements, all pupils will be provided with additional support and/or strategies to support them if the progress monitoring indicates that this is necessary; this will not imply that the pupil has a special educational need. The SEN code of practice specifies that high Quality First Teaching (QFT) with differentiation and personalised support, needs to be the first reaction to possible special education need (SEN). Strategies teachers may adopt to provide high quality first teaching is outlined in our Wave 1 Provision Offer (this can be found on the SEND section of the school website).

If a child is experiencing difficulties, despite receiving QFT strategies, a meeting will be held with the Class teacher and SENCO to discuss implementing strategies from our Wave 2 Provision Offer, and the child will be moved onto our monitoring register. The class teacher will inform the parents and offer strategies to support the child at home. At this tier, children will be supported and monitored through an in-class monitoring plan (CMP). These plans are reviewed regularly throughout the term by the class teacher, and monitored by the SENCO.  These plans follow the cycle of Assess > Plan > Do > Review. The principle of early identification and intervention underpins our approach to identifying those pupils who need extra support.

If a child is continuing to face difficulty, despite receiving enhanced support from our wave 2 provision offer, a formal meeting will be held with the SENCO, teacher and parents, and, if appropriate the child or young person, to discuss adding the child to the SEN register. Children at this tier need educational provision that is additional to our Wave 1 and 2 Provision offer. This is special educational provision. This is identified if progress of the child is:

•    significantly lower than age expected standards on entry,
•    slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline,
•    fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress,
•    shows a widening of the attainment gap,
•    or negatively impacted due to social, emotional and mental health needs.

When a pupil has been identified as having special educational needs because special educational provision is being made for them, the pupil (or parent on a pupil’s behalf) will be consulted and involved in the arrangements made for them as part of child-centred planning. A child on the SEN register will have a Pupil Centred Plan (PCP) created, which will follow the cycle of Assess > Plan > Do > Review and will be closely monitored by the SENCO. 

Where appropriate, the SENCO will access the support of external agencies for individual pupils. If progress is not being made after two cycles of plan do review, then either other interventions are implemented or a referral is made to an outside agency such as an LSAT from Telford and Wrekin, Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Sensory Inclusion, Bee U.  Parents can also request an assessment by visiting their GP.