Special Educational Needs
SEN Information Report 2024
The kinds of Special Educational Need for which provision is made at the school
At Graveney Primary School we can make provision for every kind of frequently occurring special educational need with or without an Education, Health and Care Plan. Our school currently provides additional and/ or different provision for a range of needs including:
- Communication and Interaction, for example, Autistic Spectrum Condition, Speech and Language difficulties
- Cognition and Learning, for example, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties, for example, visual impairments, hearing impairments, processing difficulties, behaviour difficulties
- Moderate/ severe/ profound and multiple learning difficulties
Admissions Arrangements
When the decision has been made for a pupil with SEN and/ or a disability to attend our school, the SENCo will make contact with all relevant agencies supporting the child. This will include parents, any previous education providers and other professionals such as speech and language therapists or specialist teachers. Following this a transition plan will be drawn up in order to ensure that the child experiences a smooth and happy start to our school, where their needs are quickly understood and met.
The admission arrangements for pupils without an Education, Health and Care Plan do not discriminate against or disadvantage disabled children or those with special educational needs.
Identifying pupils with SEN and assessing their needs
At Graveney Primary School we monitor the progress of all pupils three times a year to review their academic progress.
We also use a range of assessments with pupils at various points including Phonics Screening checks, speech link assessments, reading age tests, spelling age tests, Maths assessments, dyslexia screening tests, verbal and non-verbal reasoning assessments.
Where progress is not sufficient, even if special educational need has not been identified, we put in place extra support to enable individual pupils to catch up. Such provision includes Precision Teaching, extra phonic or number support individually or in small groups, Little Wandle Keep up and Catch Up Programs, Speech and Language programs including NELI, Makaton, Lego Therapy, Fizzy, Beam, The Boxall Profile, Dyslexia Intervention, Speed Up/Write from the Start and social skills groups.
Some pupils may continue to make inadequate progress, despite high-quality teaching targeted at their areas of weakness. For these pupils, and in consultation with parents, we will use a range assessment tools to determine the cause of the learning difficulty. The purpose of this more detailed assessment is to understand what additional resources and different approaches are required to enable the pupil to make better progress. These will be shared with parents, put into a provision map and reviewed regularly, and refined / revised if necessary. At this point we will have identified that the pupil has a special educational need because the school is making special educational provision for the pupil which is additional and different to what is normally available.
Depending on the outcome of these assessments, it may be agreed that the pupil will be put on the Special Educational Needs Register and a referral to specialist agencies may be made.
If the pupil is able to make good progress using this additional and different resource (but would not be able to maintain this good progress without it) we will continue to identify the pupil as having a special educational need. If the pupil is able to maintain good progress without the additional and different resources he or she will not be identified with special educational needs. When any change in identification of SEN is changed parents will be notified.
We will ensure that all teachers and support staff who work with the pupil are aware of the support to be provided and the teaching approaches to be used.
Provision for pupils with SEN
How does the school evaluate the effectiveness of provision for pupils with SEN?
Each review of the SEN support plan will be informed by the views of the pupil, parents and class teachers and the assessment information from teachers which will show whether adequate progress is being made.
The SEN Code of Practice (2015, 6.17) describes inadequate progress thus:
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- Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
- Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
- Fails to close the attainment gap between rate of progress
- Widens the attainment gap
For pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan there will be an annual review of the provision made for the child, which will enable an evaluation of the effectiveness of the special provision. The collation of all annual review evaluations of effectiveness will be reported to the governing body.
How does the school assess and review the progress of pupils with SEN?
Every pupil in the school has their progress tracked three times per year. In addition to this, pupils with special educational needs may have more frequent assessments of reading age, spelling age etc. The assessments we use at Graveney Primary School are listed in section 2 of this report. Using these enables staff to see if pupils are increasing their level of skills in key areas.
If these assessments do not show adequate progress is being made the provision map will be reviewed and adjusted.
How does the school teach pupils with SEN?
High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN. Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching. Schools should regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered SEN Code of Practice (2015, 6.37)
In Graveney Primary School the quality of teaching is judged to be good (October 2023).
We follow the Mainstream Core Standards http://www.kelsi.org.uk advice developed by Kent County Council to ensure that our teaching conforms to best practice.
In meeting the Mainstream Core Standards the school employs some additional teaching approaches, as advised by internal and external assessments. For example, the use of ICT software packages, small group teaching and one to one intervention. These are delivered by additional staff employed through the funding provided to the school as ‘notional SEN funding’.
How does the school adapt the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with SEN?
At Graveney Primary School we follow the advice in the Mainstream Core Standards on how to adapt the curriculum and the learning environment for pupils with special educational needs. We also incorporate the advice provided as a result of assessments, both internal and external, and the strategies described in statements of special educational needs / Education, Health and Care Plans.
As part of our requirement to keep the appropriateness of our curriculum and learning environment under review the School leadership have recently considered the school’s accessibility planning with regards to a curriculum to all; staff CPD and the availability of SEN centered training package; and the well-being of all pupils. We continue to keep the relevance and accessibility of the curriculum for all pupils under review.
What additional support for learning is available to pupils with SEN?
As part of our budget we receive ‘notional SEN funding’. This funding is used to ensure that the quality of teaching is good in the school and that there are sufficient resources to deploy additional and different teaching for pupils requiring SEN support. The amount of support required for each pupil to make good progress will be different in each case. In very few cases a very high level of resource is required. The funding arrangements require schools to provide up to £6000 per year of resource for pupils with high needs, and above that amount the Local Authority should provide top up to the school. Refer to High needs top up funding here.
How does the school ensure that pupils with SEN (including those physical disabilities) are able to engage in activities alongside their peers who do not have SEN?
All clubs, trips and activities offered to pupils at Graveney Primary School are available to pupils with special educational needs either with or without a statement of special educational needs / Education, Health and Care Plan. Where it is necessary, the school will use the resources available to it to provide additional adult support to enable the safe participation of the pupil in the activity
How is the emotional and social development of pupils with SEN supported?
At Graveney Primary School we understand that an important feature of the school is to enable all pupils to develop emotional resilience and social skills, both through direct teaching for instance through our PSHE curriculum and indirectly with every conversation adults have with pupils throughout the day.
For some pupils with the most need for help in this area we also can provide the following list; access to Lego Therapy sessions, Play Therapy, time-out space for pupil to use when upset or dysregulated, access to our library/well-being room and external referral to CAHMs.
Pupils in the early stages of emotional and social development because of their special educational needs will be supported to enable them to develop and mature appropriately. This will usually require additional and different resources, beyond that required by pupils who do not need this support.
The name and contact details of the SEN Co-Ordinator
The SENCO at Graveney Primary School is Miss Tracey Goodsell.
Miss Goodsell is available on 01795 532005 or tracey.goodsell@graveney.kent.sch.uk. Please note she is currently out of class on a Monday afternoon.
Training and expertise of staff and external support available
Teachers and teaching assistants have had awareness training relating to various areas of need including, but not limited to,
Staff draw upon the knowledge of their in school colleagues where necessary and share their expertise amongst the team in order to best support children with SEN.
Where a training need is identified beyond this we will find a provider who is able to deliver it. Training providers we can approach include MIDAS at Meadowfield Specialist School, Children’s Speech and Language Services. The cost of training is covered by the notional SEN funding.
Equipment and facilities required by children with SEN
Where external advisors recommend the use of equipment or facilities which the school does not have, we will purchase it using the notional SEN funding, or seek it by loan. For highly specialist communication equipment the school will seek the advice of the KCC Communication and Assistive Technology team.
The involvement of parents of children with SEN
All parents of pupils at Graveney Primary School are invited to discuss the progress of their children on three of occasions a year and receive a written report once a year. In addition, we are happy to arrange meetings outside these times. As part of our normal teaching arrangements, all pupils will access some additional teaching to help them catch-up if the progress monitoring indicates that this is necessary; this will not imply that the pupil has a special educational need. All such provision will be recorded, tracked and evaluated on a Provision Map which will be shared with parents three times per year.
If following this normal provision improvements in progress are not seen, we will contact parents to discuss the use of internal or external assessments which will help us to address these needs better. From this point onwards the pupil will be identified as having special educational needs because special educational provision is being made and the parent will be invited to all planning and reviews of this provision. Parents will be actively supported to contribute to assessment, planning and review.
In addition to this, parents of pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan will be invited to contribute to and attend an annual review, which, wherever possible will also include other agencies involved with the pupil. Information will be made accessible for parents.
Consulting young people with SEN about their education
When a pupil has been identified to have special educational needs because special educational provision is being made for him or her, the pupil will be consulted about and involved in the arrangements made for them as part of person-centred planning. Parents are likely to play a more significant role in the childhood years with the young person taking more responsibility and acting with greater independence in later years.
Complaints Procedure
The normal arrangements for the treatment of complaints at Graveney Primary School are used for complaints about provision made for special educational needs. We encourage parents to discuss their concerns with class teachers, the SENCO or a member of the Senior Leadership Team to resolve the issue before making the complaint formal to the Chair of the governing body.
If the complaint is not resolved after it has been considered by the governing body, then a disagreement resolution service or mediation service can be contracted. If it remains unresolved after this, the complainant can appeal to the First–tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), if the case refers to disability discrimination, or to the Secretary of State for all other cases.
There are some circumstances, usually for children who have an Educational Health Care Plan where there is a statutory right for parents to appeal against a decision of the Local Authority. Complaints which fall within this category cannot be investigated by the school.
Working with other agencies
The governing body have engaged with the following bodies:-
- Free membership of LIFT for access to specialist teaching and learning service
- Access to the Educational Psychology Service
- Access to local authority’s service level agreement with Speech and Language Therapy Services / Occupational Therapy Services / Physiotherapy Services for pupil with requirement for direct therapy or advice
- Ability to make ad hoc requests for advice from Communication and Assistive Technology Team, etc
- Membership of the local SENCo network
Useful Contacts
Information Advice and Support Kent (IASK) provides a free and confidential, information, advice and support service, for parents of a disabled child or child with special educational needs and to children and young people up to age 25 who have a special educational need or disability.
Trained staff can provide impartial legally based information and support on educational matters relating to special educational needs and disabilities, including health and social care. The aim is to empower parents, children and young people to fully participate in discussions and make informed choices and decisions. Also to feel confident to express their views and wishes about education and future aspirations.
They can be contacted on
HELPLINE: 03000 41 3000
Office: 03000 412412
E-mail: iask@kent.gov.uk