What should I do if I think my child has a Special Educational Need or a Disability (SEND)?

Teachers are trained to meet the needs of all the children in school. They may feel that your child needs extra support and will contact you to talk this through, however, you know your child best, and will see them in different environments and if you have any concerns your child's teacher is usually the best person to raise these with.

It can be a worrying time, but remember, many children just need a few simple changes to make a big difference.

At Armley Park Primary School, the normal process is:

• make an appointment to speak to your child's class teacher
• discuss your concerns with the teacher
• if something additional and different is needed, the teacher may discuss it with the SENCo before deciding on what is the best course of action
• the teacher will meet with you again and discuss the plan for your child
• school will closely monitor the impact of the plan and adjust it to ensure the needs are being met
• school will keep you informed about the additional support your child is receiving

What can I expect school to do to meet my child’s SEND?

If your child has SEND, you can expect Armley Park Primary School to put in place additional and different support for that need so your child has the best chance of success and to keep you informed about its impact.

School will:

Discuss with you your child's needs.

Usually the class teacher will arrange this but depending on the type and level of need, the SENCo may discuss this with you.

Identify the need and put in place extra support.

This may be in the form of:

• small group work around a specific learning need so your child can keep up
• specialist programme of support around an emotional need
• a parallel curriculum developed with specialist support
• support from outside of school, e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, the Visual Impairment Team
• an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or an Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP), identifying the specific need(s), targets, how it will be met and by when

Or some other support.

Keep you informed about progress.

This could be through:

• parents' evenings meetings
• specially arranged meetings with the class teacher
• copies of Individual Education or Behaviour Plans (IEPs and IBPs) or support plans from outside agencies eg, speech and language therapy
• annual review for children with an EHCP or for children in receipt of additional funding in school
• Early Help Plan meetings
• annual reports

Ensure staff are trained in general SEND issues.

For example:

• identifying children with SEND
• understanding our legal duties
• sharing good practice
• keeping up with relevant educational research
• having an overview of typical SEND needs and the strategies to support the needs

Teachers' expertise is in education and school will support general awareness of the many issues and disorders affecting education, e.g. medical, psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, emotional or physical, but rely on other professionals who specialise in these areas for guidance and support.

Monitor the impact of support for children with SEND.

We will ensure that the support in place is monitored so that its effectiveness can be identified. We will adapt and develop the support where it is not working as intended and will seek the advice and support of other agencies where necessary.