The School Local Offer

This utilises the LA Local Offer to meet the needs of SEND pupils as determined by school policy and the provision that the school is able to provide.

Please click on the arrows to find out more:

Question 1 – Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s difficulties with learning/ Special Educational Needs or disability (SEND)?

The Class Teacher

Responsible for:

Checking on the progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and letting the Special Education Needs/Disabilities Coordinator know as necessary.
Writing Pupil Personal Learning Plans (PLP), and sharing and reviewing these with parents once each term and planning for the next term. Personalised teaching and learning for your child as identified within the school’s provision.
Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND.

The Inclusion Manager (SENDCo) - Mrs D Matthews (NASENCo – National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordinator)

Responsible for:

Developing and reviewing the school’s SEND policy
Coordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
Ensuring that you are:

i) involved in supporting your child’s learning

ii) kept informed about the support your child is getting

iii) involved in reviewing how they are doing.

Liaising with all the other people who may be coming in to school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.
Updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring that all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that records of your child’s progress and needs are kept.
Providing specialist support for teachers and support staff in the school so that they can help children with SEND in the school to achieve the best progress possible.

The Head Teacher – Mrs A Charlton

Responsible for:

The day to day management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND.
The Head Teacher will give responsibility to the SENDCo and class teachers, but is still responsible for ensuring that your child’s needs are met.
The Head Teacher must make sure that the Governing Board is kept up to date about issues relating to SEND.

The SEND Governor – Mrs G Bramley

Responsible for:

Making sure that the necessary support is given for any child who attends the school, who has SEND.

School contact telephone number 0191 340 1931

Question 2 – What are the different types of support available for children with SEND in our school?

a) Class Teacher input via excellent targeted classroom teaching (Quality First Teaching).

For your child this would mean:

That the Teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
That all teaching is built on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
Different approaches to teaching are in place, such as practical learning, so that your child is fully involved in learning.
Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the Inclusion Manager or outside agencies) are in place to support your child to learn.
Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has a gap or gaps in their understanding/learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.

b) Specific individual and group work

Intervention which may be:

Run in the classroom or in an alternative area of the school.
Run by a Teacher or a Teaching Assistant (TA).

Types of interventions that the school offers are:

Early Talk Boost and Talk Boost which is a targeted and evidence-based intervention programme, which supports language delayed children in Reception and Key Stage One (KS1) to make progress with their language and communication skills.
This intervention is delivered by a trained Teaching Assistant/Curriculum Support Assistant three times a week in a small group.
Narrative Pack (Black Sheep Press) which is a targeted intervention to support the development of children's speech, language and social skills.
This intervention is delivered by a trained Teaching Assistant.
Blast which is a targeted intervention to boost language and listening skills within Early Years.
This intervention is delivered by a trained Teaching Assistant.
Precision Teaching which is a targeted and evidence-based intervention programme programme to meet the needs of an individual child or young person who is experiencing difficulty with acquiring or maintaining some skills.
This intervention is delivered by a trained Teaching Assistant three to four times a week 1:1.

c) Specialist groups run by outside agencies e.g .Speech and Language Therapy

This means they have been identified by the SENDCo/Class Teacher as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:

Local Authority central services such as the ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) Outreach Team or Sensory Service ( for students with a hearing or visual need)
Outside agencies such as the Education Psychology Service (EPS).
South Tyneside Foundation Trust Community Child and Adolescent MentalHealth (CAMHS) Services.

What could happen?

You will be asked to give your permission for the school to refer your child to a specialist professional e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologist and CAHMS. This will help the school and yourself understand your child’s particular needs better and be able to support them better in school.

The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations as to the ways your child is given support:

d) Specified Individual support

This type of support is available for children whose learning needs are, severe, complex and lifelong.

This is usually provided via a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by professionals as needing a particularly high level of individual or small group teaching.

This type of support is available for children with specific barriers to learning that cannot be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups (“Including All Children” documentation from LA).

Your child will also need specialist support in school from a professional outside the school. This may be from:

Local Authority central services such as the ASD Outreach Team or Sensory Service ( for students with a hearing or visual need)

Outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapy (SALT) Service

For your child this would mean:

The school (or you) can request that Local Authority Services carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s needs. This is a legal process which sets out the amount of support that will be provided for your child.
After the request has been made to the ‘Panel of Professionals’ (with a lot of information about your child, including some from you), they will decide whether they think your child’s needs (as described in the paperwork provided), seem complex enough to need a statutory assessment. If this is the case they will ask you and all professionals involved with your child to write a report outlining your child’s needs. If they do not think your child needs this, they will ask the school to continue with the current support.
After the reports have all been sent in, the ‘Panel of Professionals’ will decide if your child’s needs are severe, complex and lifelong. If this is the case they will write an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). If this is not the case, they will ask the school to continue with the current level of support and also set up a meeting in school to ensure a plan is in place to ensure your child makes as much progress as possible.
Education Health Care Plan will outline the support your child will receive from the LA and how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short term goals for your child.
An additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups that include your child.

Question 3 – How can I let the school know I am concerned about my child’s progress in school?

If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should speak to your child’s Class Teacher initially.

If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress, you may speak to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator(SENDCo) who is Mrs D Matthews.

If you continue to be concerned following this discussion you may speak to the Head Teacher who is Mrs A Charlton.

The school SEND Governor, Mrs G Bramley, can also be contacted for support.

Question 4 – How will the school let me know if they have any concerns about my child’s learning in school?

Question 5 – How is additional support allocated to children and how do they progress in their learning?

The school budget, received from Sunderland LA, includes money for supporting children with SEND.

The Head Teacher decides on the deployment of resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in consultation with the school Governors, on the basis of needs in the school.

The Head Teacher and the SENDCo discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including:

- the children getting additional support already

- the children needing additional support

- the children who have been identified as not making as much progress as would be expected

They will then decide what resources/training and support is needed to best support the pupils.

Schools identify the needs of their pupils on a school provision map. This identifies all resources/training and support that is currently available and is reviewed regularly and changes made as required to reflect pupil need.

Question 6 – Who are the other people providing services to children with SEND in this school? School provision

School provision
Teaching Assistants/Nursery Nurses
Attendance Officer
Local Authority Provision delivered in school
Autism Outreach Service
Educational Psychology Service
Behaviour Support Teams
Sensory Service for children with visual or hearing needs
Language and Learning Service
Parent Partnership Service
Health Provision delivered in school
Additional Speech and Language Therapy input to provide a higher level of service to the school.
School Nurse
Occupational Therapy
Physiotherapy

Question 7 – How are the teachers in school helped to work with children SEND and what training do they have?

The SENDCo's job is to support the Class Teacher in developing provision for children with SEND and in providing additional support and advice for Class Teachers.

The school provides training and support to enable all staff to improve the teaching and learning of children, including those with SEND. This includes whole school training on SEND issues such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Speech and Language difficulties.

Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class e.g. from the Autism Outreach Team (AOT) service.

Question 8 – How will the teaching be adapted for my child with SEND?

Class Teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class, and will ensure that your child’s needs are met.

Support staff, under the direction of the class teacher, can adapt planning to support the needs of your child where necessary.

Specific resources and strategies will be used to support your child individually and in groups.

Planning and teaching will be adapted on a daily basis if needed to meet your child’s learning needs.

Question 9 – How will we measure the progress of your child in school?

Your child’s progress is continually monitored by his/her class teacher. The Class Teacher and SENDCo will also check that your child is making good progress within any individual work and in any group that they take part in.

His/her progress is reviewed every half term in reading, writing and mathematics at pupil progress meetings.

At the end of key stage one (i.e. at the end of year 2) all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATS). This is something the government requires all schools to do and are the results that are published nationally. At the end of EYFS all children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals and this is reported to parents.

If your child is in Year 1 or above, a more sensitive assessment tool (PIVATS) can be used, which shows their attainment in more detail if this is required.

Children may have a Personal Learning Plan which will be reviewed, and a future plan made which will follow on from previous outcomes.

The progress of children with an EHC Plan is formally reviewed at an Annual Review, with all adults involved with the child’s education.

Question 11 – How is Grindon Infant School accessible to children with SEND?

Question 10 – What support do we have for you as a parent of a child with a SEND?

The Class Teacher is regularly available to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have and to share information about what is working well at home and school so similar strategies can be used.

The SENDCo will be available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have.

All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.

Personal progress targets/PLP’s will be reviewed with your involvement.

Homework will be adjusted as needed to your child’s individual needs.

A home/school contact book may be used to support communication with you, when this has been agreed to be useful for you and your child.

Question 12 – How will we support your child when they are leaving this school? OR moving on to another class?

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.

If your child is moving to another school:

We will contact the school SENDCo/Inclusion Manager and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child.

We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible.

When moving classes in school:

Information will be passed on to the new class teacher in advance and a planning meeting will take place between the new teacher and current class teacher. PLP s will be shared with the new teacher.

Children will spend time in their new classrooms with their new teachers/assistants to familiarise themselves before they move classes.

In Year 2- Transition to Junior school:

The SENDCo will discuss the specific needs of your child with the SENDCo of their Junior school.

Your child will be supported through transition to develop their understanding of the changes ahead.

Where possible your child will visit their new school on several occasions and usually staff from the new school will visit your child in this school.

Question 13 – What Emotional and Social Development support we have for a child with a SEND?

We recognise that pupils with SEND may well have Emotional and Social Development needs that will require support in school.

The emotional health and well-being of all our pupils is very important to us. Class teachers and all staff continually monitor the emotional health and well-being of all our pupils.

We run nurture groups for pupils who we feel need additional social and emotional support.

We have a robust Child Protection/Safeguarding Policy in place and we follow National & LA Guidelines.

We have robust Behaviour and Anti-Bullying policies in place that are reviewed regularly.

For further information on any of the above or to arrange a visit to the school please contact the school office on 0191 340 1931.