Special Educational Needs & Disabilities
Local Offers for Leicestershire and Warwickshire
SEND Coordinators - Mrs D. Moore and Mrs H. Pegley - 01455 238640 - [email protected]
Our School's SEND Policy and Information Report
FAQs
Should my child be on the SEND register?
The SEND register is designed to be a fluid document. Students receiving additional support are typically placed on the SEND register and may be removed if support is no longer required. Transition information from nursery settings, as well as information from parents and external agencies, may be used to determine whether a student should be placed on the register. If you have any questions about your child's SEND status, please contact the SEND Team.
I think my child needs an EHCP – what are the next steps?
The most direct route is to complete a parental request with the Local Authority. They will have six weeks to decide whether an assessment will take place. It will be useful for you to collate your own evidence prior to the application. The school will be asked to provide evidence separately once the application has been submitted.
The Local Authority may suggest an application for intervention funding. This is time-limited funding (typically 12 months or less) and does not provide the same support as an EHCP, which can be in place until age 25.
The link for applications is shown below. If you choose to apply, please let the SEND Team know so they can begin to collate evidence when contacted by the Local Authority.
Click here to access the parental request form.
I think my child has ADHD – what are the next steps?
The school cannot assess or make a diagnosis for ADHD. This can only be completed by health professionals.
You may find it helpful to create a timeline of difficulties you have observed before making an appointment with your GP,
The next step is to make an appointment to speak to your GP. After this, the school will be asked to contribute to this process.
I think my child has Autism – what are the next steps?
The school cannot assess or make a diagnosis for Autism. This can only be completed by health professionals.
You may find it helpful to create a timeline of difficulties you have observed before making an appointment with your GP,
The next step is to make an appointment to speak to your GP. After this, the school will be asked to contribute to this process.
I think my child has dyslexia – what are the next steps?
The school cannot formally assess or make a diagnosis of dyslexia. This can only be carried out by a specialist dyslexia assessor.
If you have concerns about aspects of your child’s learning, we can send home a questionnaire to identify strengths and difficulties in different areas of learning, such as reading, comprehension, and spelling. It also asks about family history and early developmental milestones. This can help to identify dyslexic tendencies. Please send this back to the SEND Team. Where this is the case, we will direct staff to support the student with dyslexia-friendly strategies in the classroom.
If you are considering approaching a private assessor to gain a formal assessment, please inform your child’s teacher and the SEND Team.
My child needs a reasonable adjustment to uniform – what are the next steps?
Details about the school’s uniform can be found on the website here. If you feel your child needs an adjustment to this – for example, due to a sensory condition – please contact the SEND Team.
My child is struggling with reading – what are the next steps?
Encourage your child to read at home every night. If they are reluctant, read to them to start with, engage in paired reading (read together side by side and slow your pace to match theirs) and then increase their participation by asking them to read certain lines. Try to choose material that relates to their interests – this can be a magazine, comic, recipe, blog, or book.
My child is struggling with spelling – what are the next steps?
Encourage your child to practise their spellings at home every night. If they are reluctant, practise them in different ways, such as: multi-sensory learning (use magnetic letters, write in shaving foam, use bath crayons etc). Use the classic method of Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check. Play spelling games like word hunt (hide letters around the room for them to find and make into the word) or pairs games using spelling words. Use Mnemonics (because → “Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants"). Practice spelling words in context, not just isolation.
My child’s handwriting is difficult to read – what are the next steps?
The only way to improve handwriting is to practise on a daily basis. There are various online resources and tools that you can use at home to help your child, e.g. Teach Handwriting at Home.
If your child is younger, focus on activities that practise fine motor skills such as: playdough activities (rolling, pinching, and flattening playdough strengthens hand muscles); peg boards and threading beads; cutting practice, tweezers and tongs games; lacing cards or shoes; clothes peg activities on a washing line,; drawing and colouring; sticker and tape play; water play with squeezers; and building with small blocks.
We can offer handwriting interventions in school, please speak to your child's teacher if you think they would benefit from this intervention.
My child has medical needs – what are the next steps?
Ensure you communicate your child's medical needs by contacting the main school office to be directed to the appropriate person. Where required, a Medical Needs Plan will be created and agreed upon by the school and parents/carers, and this will be shared with appropriate staff. Reasonable adjustments, appropriate to the medical needs of the child, will be arranged.
My child has allocated hours of support as part of their EHCP – what does this mean?
If your child has allocated hours of support within their EHCP, these will be used in reference to the provision cited in Section F of the EHCP document and/or other forms of support. Support may be provided in various ways, depending on the individual's needs. For example, 20 hours of support may include group support, time-limited intervention sessions with a teacher, time with an ELSA, smaller group provision, directed parent meetings with the SENDCo, one-to-one support from an LSA, and/or further provision. Twenty hours of support does not equate to 20 hours with a Learning Support Assistant. Please speak to the SEND Team if you have any questions around this.
How do I contact SENA?
The best way for Parents to contact the SENA Service is by using the Parent/Carer online Contact Us form.
Another option for parents is to use MS Teams Bookings which offers the opportunity to book a call with someone online to discuss your query. Bookable 15 minute slots are available 09:00-11:00 am on a Tuesday of each week.
Alternatively a Duty SENA officer is available to pick up telephone calls from parents on 0116 305 6600 on Mondays 2pm to 4.30pm; Wednesdays 12pm to 2.30pm; Thursdays 9am to 11:30am. Calls are queue managed to avoid long wait times.
Leicestershire's Parenting Support For Family Help
Click below to access different resources provided by NHS
