Special Educational Needs Information

“Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be. ”
Rita Pierson

Ravenswood Primary School is a community of learning. Our core purpose is to educate our young people to appreciate and understand the world that they live in and to be able to contribute to that world both now and in their futures. Our ethos is Relationships Promoting Success and everyone, staff and pupils, work hard to develop positive relationships, sharing a love of learning and an enjoyment of being part of the school community.

These relationships help us to learn together. They ensure equality of access and an inclusive approach to education for all children with the principal aim of allowing each pupil to fulfil their potential as a valued member of our school and of the wider community.

INTENT

At Ravenswood Primary School, we are committed to meeting the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We welcome children with special educational needs and disabilities and make every effort to support them. All our classes are fully inclusive and we have high expectations for all our children, including those with SEND.

Our aim is that children and young people with SEND will receive an education that enables them to make progress so that they:

achieve their best;
become confident individuals who live fulfilling lives, equipped with the skills that will give them the confidence and resilience to shape their own path;
know how important relationships are in promoting success;
make a successful transition into adulthood, whether into employment, further or higher education or training.

The Ravenswood Curriculum helps to support pupils with SEND through its four key principles:

A broad and balanced curriculum: We want to support our pupils to become well rounded, informed individuals and we take pride in the fact that we take time to find out which subject areas enthuse each child. An amazing artist, a fantastic footballer, a skilled scientist, all get to celebrate their ability and build their academic confidence, which is then transferred to the whole curriculum. Like all primary educators, another focus is to ensure our children are literate and numerate and to develop their spoken communication skills. There are dedicated lessons in Maths and English each day. Maths and English skills are then reinforced through purposeful application across the curriculum as we know some children demonstrate these skills best when applying them in the foundation subjects. For those children whose needs require their curriculum to be adapted, we endeavour to ensure key interests and talents are accounted for. We prioritise making sure any adaptation or intervention does not affect the balance in a pupil’s timetable.
Knowledge rich: For each subject, there is a clear sequence of learning which identifies the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that should be acquired at each stage of a child’s journey through the school. The curriculum provides children with time to acquire knowledge before building on said knowledge, embedding their learning and making links between one piece of knowledge and the next. Where appropriate, and to further strengthen understanding, these links are made across the curriculum. We aim to ensure that key knowledge is accessible to all children but is not so prescriptive that other aspects of a subject cannot be included and where possible, take into account children’s interests. For some children with additional needs, the curriculum lessons will be adapted to the stage of learning that they are at in their journey. The links made throughout the curriculum help to revisit knowledge to continuously build on knowledge as children progress through school.
Learning through experiences: At Ravenswood, we ensure learning is enriched with practical activities and experiences both within and beyond the classroom. Through this, we enable children to discuss and share their ideas, develop important skills, and make their understanding of concepts as concrete as possible.
Developing the whole child: Sitting alongside our other principles is the recognition that an education should not be constrained to academics alone. With this in mind, we aim to ensure our pupils leave Ravenswood having also fulfilled their potential socially and emotionally. The Ravenswood Curriculum helps our children to believe in their own abilities and know what they can achieve through perseverance and effort. We encourage our children to be motivated about their learning every day, to become self-confident and resilient individuals who learn from their mistakes and who are aspirational for their futures. Alongside this, we work hard to foster in our children mutual tolerance, empathy, compassion and respect. We teach them the importance of valuing diversity and individuality.

IMPLEMENTATION

At Ravenswood, every teacher is a teacher of SEND. Our provision is enhanced by the collaboration of teachers, senior leaders, the SENDCo, support staff, external agencies, parents and, most importantly, the children.

We recognise that children do not all learn in the same way or at the same speed. We have ambitious end points for all children regardless of their starting points.

Pupils with SEND are:

included in all aspects of the school day;
provided with high-quality teaching adapted to meet their needs;
shown respect and have their views acknowledged.

Pupils with SEND may:

have targeted support within the classroom through specific strategies (task type, the level of response required to a task, visual scaffolds) or specific equipment to support accessibility;
have specific 1:1 or group support to support them accessing different areas of the curriculum;
have interventions outside of the classroom to provide targeted support for specific areas of needs (for example, pre teaching of vocabulary or content or post teaching to support misconceptions or an additional intervention programme);
receive additional support from external specialists such as a Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, CAMHS and specialist provision from outreach services.

Ravenswood’s suite of SEND Polices (SEND Policy, SEND Information Report and Annual Report) outline in further detail the implementation of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision at Ravenswood Primary School.

SEND Policy
SEND Information Report
Annual Report
Information for Parents and Carers

IMPACT

Teachers regularly assess the impact of special educational needs provision through the assess, plan, do, review cycle. This helps us to plan or adapt provision to close gaps in pupil’s learning.

Examples of the impact monitoring can include:

Observations and learning walks
Monitoring progress against children’s targets through SEND Support Plans
Learning journal observations
Looking at children’s work
Pupil voice
Link governor meetings
Participation in extra curricular clubs and activities and competitions
Monitoring of the attendance and progress data for children with SEND

As a result of effective provision to meet their needs, children with SEND at Ravenswood Primary School will:

Feel safe, secure and cared for
Show confidence and resilience in the classroom
Demonstrate high levels of engagement in activities
Make progress from their individual starting points
Work collaboratively with their peers on a shared task
Develop independence and skills to support them throughout their lives.