Mellor St Mary CE Primary School is a one form entry, Church of England, mainstream school.  We are an inclusive school and aim to provide every child with access to a broad and balanced education.  This includes the National Curriculum in line with the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2015.  We aim to actively include children with a broad range of special needs and to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in a mainstream setting wherever possible.

HOW WE IDENTIFY SEN

The identification of SEN is built into the overall approach to monitoring the progress and development of all pupils. All children are assessed regularly and progress is tracked and monitored. Any pupils who are falling significantly outside of the range of expected academic achievement in line with predicted performance indicators, have social or emotional difficulties, are vulnerable or have specific diagnosed needs will be monitored.

At Mellor St Mary we have children with a range of SEN. We support these children in many different ways to ensure that they have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. They may have additional needs in one or more areas as set out in the SEN Code of Practice, 2015.

Communication and Interaction

We have a number of pupils who experience speech and language difficulties.  Consequently, we have teachers and teaching assistants who support children with Speech and Language Difficulties in a 1-1 situation or small group settings. This may include pupils who find it difficult to understand what others are saying or have difficulties with fluency or forming sounds, words or sentences. We have a range of resources which are used to support children’s Speech and Language development and we work closely with Speech and Language Therapists.

Cognition and Learning

We are experienced in supporting children with Cognition and Learning Difficulties through high quality teaching and effective adaption to the curriculum. This includes children with Specific Learning Difficulties such as dyslexia (specific difficulties with reading or spelling), dyscalculia (specific difficulties with maths) or dyspraxia (specific difficulties with coordination). We also support children with moderate learning difficulties and children on the Autistic Spectrum. For example, we support children by breaking down activities into smaller, achievable chunks; providing appropriate resources including the use of technology or multisensory activities and through providing adult support. We also run a number of interventions. The teachers plan a provision map for each of the children, called a POP, in their class that require additional support and this is monitored by the SENDCo – Mrs Embley Peers and the SEND consultant/Specialist teacher – Mrs Ashton.

Social, Emotion and Mental Health Difficulties

For some children, difficulties in their social and emotional development can mean that they require additional or different provision. We support these children through pupil mentoring and social skills groups. We involve outside agencies such as ELCAS (East Lancashire Child and Adolescent Service), Child Action North West (CANW) and the PRU (Pupil referral unit) if necessary.

Sensory or/and Physical Needs

We work closely with outside agencies to provide support for children in our school who have sensory or physical difficulties. Where necessary, we make adaptations to the curriculum or environment in order to make lessons and learning opportunities accessible to them. We hold regular meetings with outside agencies and parents to review the approaches that are in place.

At Mellor St Mary we endeavour to achieve maximum inclusion for all children whilst ensuring all their individual needs are met.

Teachers provide adapted learning opportunities for all the children within the school and provide materials and resources appropriate to the children’s interests and abilities. This ensures that all children have full access to the school curriculum.

All members of staff in school have a responsibility for maximising the achievement and opportunity of all learners, including those with SEND.  Staff are aware of their responsibilities towards all learners and a positive and sensitive attitude is shown towards all pupils at all times. Mellor St Mary provides a very nurturing environment for all children.