SEND and Inclusion
Ladysmith Federation Inclusion Statement
Ladysmith Federation is committed to providing a high quality, inclusive education for all children. We believe every child should be able to access a broad and balanced curriculum, which is inspiring, engaging and supports learning and development academically as well as socially and emotionally, enabling all children to thrive and reach their full potential.
Across the Federation, our vision is to support and inspire our communities to be ambitious, achieve and be adventurous. We aim to create a happy, safe and secure environment within our schools. Where everyone feels valued and respected and has a sense of belonging. We place inclusion at the heart of all that we do, ensuring equal opportunities for all regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, background, educational need or disability and we celebrate the strength that diversity can bring. Ladysmith Federation aims to foster the personal development of each child through our Core Values of Ambition, Achievement and Adventure. By building these values into all that we do within our schools, our hope is that every child will develop a greater awareness of themselves and others and will build strong foundations for the future.
We recognise that some children have special educational needs and will need support that is additional to and different from that which is normally available in a differentiated curriculum. We aim to identify pupils with additional needs as early and as thoroughly as possible, to ensure we can out appropriate support in place quickly. We also recognise that there are children in our Federation who are Greater Depth, who have English as an additional language or who receive pupil premium funding who may need additional support and provision to ensure they are fully included and reaching their potential. We are also aware that some children may experience trauma or stressful situations for example through illness, bereavement or family breakdowns and we strive to support children and families through these times, ensuring they are fully included in all school activities.
Ladysmith Federation also offers an inclusive approach to teaching and learning. We have high expectations for all our children and take into account pupils’ varied life experiences and needs to ensure that all children are fully included in all aspects of school life. All staff share the responsibility to set appropriate challenges for all pupils, whilst removing any barriers to learning a child may have. We believe that working closely with parents is essential for building inclusion and developing life-long skills among our children.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
At Ladysmith Federation, we work with children with a wide range of needs including Autism, ADHS/ADD, Speech and Language Needs, Visual and Hearing Impairments, Specific Learning Difficulties such as Dyspraxia and Dyslexia, physical and sensory processing difficulties and those with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs.
Full details of how we support children with SEND can be found in our SEND policy and SEND information report.
Inclusion Team
Across Ladysmith Federation, we have a team of highly skilled teaching assistants who deliver targeted interventions to children with a high level of need across the school. This team is led by our Federated Assistant Head of School – SEND and Inclusion lead, Louise Williams. Below are some examples of some of the interventions we offer.
Speech and Language/Communication and Interaction
Across Ladysmith Federation, we have a specialist teaching assistant, Miss Chudley, who has been supporting pupils with their speech and language needs. She supports mainly in our Infant and Nursery School to identify any needs early and ensure that we are putting in the most appropriate support for those with needs. Miss Chudley also delivers speech and language interventions in the afternoons, working closely with our SENDco and the NHS Speech and Language Therapy service. Miss Chudley also works with teachers and TAs in the classroom to support children who have identified speech and language needs and will communicate regularly with parents/carers about how best they can support their child’s speech and language needs at home.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)
Evidence shows that children’s social, emotional and mental health needs can have a significant impact on all aspects of their life including their learning, behaviour, attendance, further training and employment and long-term life chances. We aim to put support in place quickly where we identify children with SEMH needs. Across the Federation we provide 1:1 and small group support to identified children through either Thrive or Link. We are also fortunate to have TAs who are trained Attachment-Based Mentors, who are available to support children individually. Due to the large number of children that need support with SEMH, and given that the best outcomes are seen when they are supported by a familiar, trusted adult, this support may also be delivered by their class teacher or a TA who works with the frequently. We use a range of activities in these sessions including role play, arts and crafts, physical activities and messy play to enable children to develop new skills in a fun way. We also offer small group support for children around developing their social skills
Cognition and Learning
Across Ladysmith Federation we believe that every child should be given the opportunity to learn to read quickly. We put the teaching of reading at the heart of the school and ensure teachers have the knowledge and determination to teach every child, regardless of age, background or need.
We do this by ensuring our teachers and teaching assistants are trained regularly.
As a Federation we have chosen to use Read Write Inc: a Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme. In our Infant school, this is taught for 1 hour a day in addition to our daily English lesson. All children also have a 10-minute speed sound lesson in the afternoon to embed learning.
In Nursery our children begin their reading journey, where they have several stories read to them throughout the day, join in with rhymes and games, learn new vocabulary and talk. Children in Nursery begin to be taught sounds when they are ready. In Reception children are taught all of the single letter sounds within the first 4 weeks. We recognise that not all children learn in the same way and at the same speed. Children are assessed regularly and taught in groups to ensure they are learning at the appropriate challenge point.
Extra support is given to children who need it. Some children receive RWI tutoring with our children in addition to their RWI lessons. We have RWI tutors who work in the afternoons to deliver 15-minute tutoring sessions 1:1 or in small groups to our lowest 20%.
Children with SEND can make excellent progress in their reading and writing using RWI lessons and RWI tutoring. We train our 1:1 staff to ensure they are confident delivering lessons; teachers take time to teach these children and staff meet regularly with the RWI lead. SEND children are assessed using a ‘small steps’ tracker which allows staff to see the progress they are making and what the next step for that child is.
Children who need further support with comprehending the text will take part in Reciprocal Reading. This is a structured method of guided reading where children are gradually taught to take on group roles to explore and find meaning in texts. Reciprocal Reading emphasises teamwork and supports independent comprehension skills.
Within writing lessons, differentiation is adaptive to pupils needs. Teachers will provide extra language, sentence scaffolds, frames or additional adult interaction to support those pupils to ‘get there’. Complex concepts are broken down into smaller chunks. These ‘short burst’ chunks of learning avoid overloading of a pupil’s working memory.
Physical and Sensory
Some children require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time Ladysmith Federation work to make both the indoor and outdoor environment accessible for all. We support pupils fine and gross motor skills running interventions such as FUNFIT, Funky Fingers/High Five. We have a sensory room in each school, where access to this is planned into children timetable and work closely with physiotherapists/occupational therapists in supporting specific programmes.