At Mellor St Mary, children are identified as having SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) through a variety of ways, usually a combination, which may include some of the following:

• Liaison with previous school or pre-school setting
• Child consistently performing below ‘age expected’ levels or equivalent (e.g. percentile rankings)
• Concerns raised by a parent
• Concerns raised by a teacher: for example, if behaviour or self esteem is affecting performance
• Liaison with external agencies e.g. for a physical/ sensory issue, speech and language
• Use of tools for standardised assessment through the specialist teacher – Mrs Ashton
• Children with an EHCP (Education Health and Care Plan) already have many of their needs clearly identified. Their placement at our school is a decision that is made by the Local Education Authority.

Talk to us – contact your child’s class teacher about your concerns initially. If you feel that you would like to speak to a senior member of staff, ask to arrange an appointment with the SENCo. Appointments can be arranged in person, by phone or by email. Please see the school contact details at the top of this report.

At Mellor St Mary the attainment and progress of all children is carefully tracked and monitored throughout the school year by the class teachers. This process is overseen by the Headteacher/SENCo who analyses the data. This data can include observations in the classroom to monitor the support in place for a child and any further support the teacher or TA needs to provide for a child’s needs, monitoring of the children’s books to see if the targets set are having an impact on their daily work and to make sure the work set is adapted to a child’s needs, as well as the attainment data.

On a daily basis, teachers evaluate their lessons and consider whether individual children are making the expected progress within their lessons. They adapt their teaching quickly to make sure all children can make progress with their learning.

If teachers have any concerns regarding a child in their class, they will discuss these concerns with parents and also with the SENCo. The targets of children who have Pupil Overview of Provisions (POPs) are reviewed termly and teachers are formally asked at these key points of the year to reflect upon the progress of children on the SEN Register and to identify any other children of concern.

Regular dialogue between teachers, teaching assistants and the SENDCo take place. During these dialogues, pupils of concern are discussed and progress/provision of all children on the SEND Register is discussed in detail in order to inform future provision and priorities. Where concerns have been raised, the child may be added to the SEN Register at the ‘Cause for Concern’ level so that their progress can be closely monitored and additional support can be put in place as necessary.

The SENDCo would liaise with the relevant outside agencies. This would determine whether any further formal assessments need to be carried out in order to identify key areas to target and to evaluate the effectiveness of any interventions that are put into place.

These assessments could be repeated following an intervention programme to evaluate whether progress has been made.

If you continue to be concerned that your child is not making progress you may wish to speak to the special educational needs/disabilities co-ordinator (SENDCo) Mrs Embley-Peers.