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SEND

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Our vision and approach to send

At MCPA we believe that the nurturing of pupil well-being is paramount to success. Inclusion is at the heart of MCPA as we strive to include all children in all activities throughout school to ensure they have the best experience of education we can provide.

Children with any SEND that fall into the four main areas of SEMH, Cognition and Learning, Sensory and Physical and Speech Language and Communication Needs are assessed and supported appropriately. Before providing interventions and bespoke timetables, we look at each child’s individual needs and how we can remove any barriers to ensure that they have a pathway to success.

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cognition and learning

Cognition refers to the process a child goes through to acquire knowledge and learn.  Children with Cognition and Learning needs may struggle to follow their lessons in school and complete the relevant classwork. As with every area of need, we look at how we can remove any barriers to enable the children to achieve. Children may have cognition and learning needs in one area of the curriculum or in several areas of the curriculum. However, we ensure that children are supported in whatever their learning needs are.

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Specific Learning Difficulties such as Dyslexia and Dyscalculia are supported with specific interventions. If a child is struggling in this area, with parental consent, we may compete a dyslexia portfolio with them. This will give us an idea of whether or not the children have tendencies similar to that of someone with dyslexia.

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To support Cognition and Learning needs we may do the following:

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  • Specific dyslexia intervention programme

  • Small group learning for English ad Maths

  • Bespoke and differentiated curriculum

  • 1:1 booster sessions (particularly with younger children)

  • Memory game interventions

  • Precision teaching

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We also take advice from the Educational Psychologist where necessary.

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Our Inclusion Team work hard across all year groups to ensure that cognition and learning needs are met.

 

Our key Inclusion team is made up of:

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  • Mrs Hall: SENDCo & Lead Teacher of DEN & NEST provision

  • Miss Lauren Davies: Teacher & SENDCo support

  • Miss Wilson: Teacher of DEN & NEST provision

  • Miss Howse: Teacher of DEN & NEST provision

  • Mrs Torkamani: Inclusion TA & SLCN lead

  • Mrs Riley: Inclusion TA & Forest School lead

sensory and physical

At MCPA we aim to support children with sensory and physical needs as much as possible. For children with physical needs, we take the advice from other trained professionals very seriously. Wherever possible we aim to complete physiotherapy and occupational therapy sessions according to plans provided by professionals involved. The building is accessible for wheelchair users and other equipment, with plenty of space and a lift up to the first floor.

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Children with sensory processing needs may find a variety of aspects of the school day difficult, such as noise, changes in routine, movement, a messy environment amongst other things.

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We are prepared to support and add provisions for children who may have a visual impairment or a hearing impairment. In this case, through a Doctor’s referral or with parental consent, we would be in contact with the sensory support service and will implement what they have suggested.

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To support sensory and physical needs we may do and/or use the following:

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  • Follow physiotherapists advice and complete interventions

  • Follow occupational therapist’s advice and complete interventions

  • Use ear defenders for children who may benefit

  • Use of the sensory space and equipment

  • Support from the Sensory service

  • Large print

  • Seating arrangements

  • Hoist and rise and fall plinth

  • Writing slant

  • Pencil grips

  • Time with the school dog

  • Fine and gross motor skills interventions.

 

We have a number of staff training in moving and handling if necessary:

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  • Mrs Jallow

  • Miss Igbinake

  • Mrs Torkamani

  • Mr Turner

SOCIAL, emotional and mental health 

Social, Emotional and Mental Health refers to a range of difficulties children may have that can manifest through a variety of different behaviours. Children may be isolated, quiet, have low self-esteem and seem anxious or they may demonstrate disruptive and difficult behaviours in classroom or refuse to complete what is being asked. Some children may be diagnosed with an Attention Deficit Disorder which may manifest in a similar way. At MCPA, we do a lot of work around nurturing the children to enable them to find ways to deal with what is bothering them and help them to learn new skills and strategies to support their needs. For more information on nurture, please see the nurturing schools section of the website.

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To support children with SEMH needs we may:

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  • Follow a programme of support such as ELSA

  • Do some small group interventions such as; games to support sharing and turn taking

  • Social skills interventions

  • Nurture lunch

  • Nurture play times

  • Bespoke interventions for individuals

  • The DEN nurture provision is available when needed.

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There are a number of staff at MCPA who specialise is SEMH needs.

  • Miss Wilson

  • Miss Moreno

  • Mrs Riley

  • Mr Williams

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Assessment and pupil progress

If a child is struggling with any of the four areas, the teachers have put more in place than quality first teaching and they suspect additional needs or that the child requires further support, they will fill in a referral form and send the completed form to the Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo). Along with the Deputy Head for Inclusion, they will look at the referrals and decide next steps.

 

Next steps may include:

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  • Discussion with class teacher about what has already been put in place

  • Observations in class

  • A look at the child’s work

  • A discussion with parents/carers

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A decision is then made as to whether children should be placed on the SEND register and the level of support required. Parents/carers are always a part of this discussion and further steps may be taken such as;

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  • Implementing further strategies and interventions with the inclusion team

  • A dyslexia portfolio (with Parental consent)

  • Referral for further assessment with the Educational Psychologist or Speech Therapist (with parental consent)

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At MCPA we follow a tiered system to manage the support we provide for all children with SEND.

 

Please see below:

Children on the SEND register at tier 3 and above all participate in interventions during the school day. At the start of an intervention, children may complete a baseline assessment dependent on the need. That will then form the basis of the intervention and will be used to measure progress. For example, for a dyslexia intervention, it might be a reading or spelling age, for a memory skills intervention it might be how many items they can remember at the start compared to the end, for SEMH interventions we use the data from ELSA assessments. If the intervention is based on other professional’s recommendations such as the speech and language therapists, physiotherapists or Occupational Therapists, we follow their advice, reports and strategies until they re-assess.

 

We use a programme called B-Squared to report progress in core subjects for children with Cognition and Learning needs. The programme breaks down the National Curriculum and Pre-Key Stage standards into much smaller and manageable steps. By recording a percentage of each step achieved we are able to monitor and manage progress.

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Pupil voice is important to us at MCPA and we ensure that we provide time to listen to what the children with SEND are telling us. Older children are able to regularly give their views during their annual reviews or Personal Learning Plan reviews where appropriate.

 

Each child at tier 3 and above has a keyworker. Their keyworker ensures that the child’s Personal Learning Plan is up to date, the child is managing ok in class and that they call home/speak to parents once a week. We feel that communication at home is essential.

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Learn spaces

At MCPA we have a number of spaces that are dedicated to ensuring the children with additional needs get the most out of their time at school.

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These spaces are:

  • The DEN (Dedicated to Education & Nurture): bespoke classroom provision that provides full breadth of curriculum for children that struggle to access a mainstream classroom environment.

  • The NEST (Nurturing Education through Specialist Teaching): bespoke classroom provision that supports children from the EYFS engage with learning and personal development in a bespoke way, tailored to their individual needs.

  • The COVE: (Sensory space / intervention room)

  • Upper School intervention room

  • The HIVE: provides a focussed learning space that facilitates 1-2-1 & paired interventions

  • Hygiene suites & lift: We have 2 access to 2 hygiene suites with access to 1 hoist and 1 rise and fall plinth. There is space in both for wheelchair access and use of the equipment. We have a lift and 2 EVAC chairs to enable our wheelchair users to access every area of the school safely.

  • Forest School: designated woodland area that facilitates a child-centred learning process through hands-on experiences in the natural environment.

  • Outdoor learning space (coming soon).

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