Eaton Park Academy is an inclusive school that welcomes all who wish to attend. We offer all children, regardless of their needs, inclusive teaching which will enable them to make the best possible progress in school. The school accommodates all SEND needs in line with the Equality Act 2010 and provision is available for all areas of need outlined in the SEND code of practise. These areas include; Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional, and Mental Health difficulties and Sensory and Physical needs.

A child has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she;

1. has a significantly greater difficulty with learning than the majority of others of the same age; or
2. has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in a mainstream school. (Code of Practise 2014)

Alongside our own experienced staff, the school works with a range of professionals to support the individual needs of our pupils. These may include the Educational Psychologist, Speech Therapists and SEND specialist advisors.

At Eaton Park Academy we recognise the importance of early identification of SEN needs, and use a range of methods and assessments to achieve this. These include;

• All children entering the nursery will have a home visit before their first term where any parental concerns are identified and discussed.
• Liaison with previous schools, nurseries including private day nurseries.
• Concerns raised by parents.
• Assessment on entry to the Early Years.
• Half termly and ongoing teacher assessment which identifies children who are working significantly below their peers.
• Advice given by external professionals and assessments for specific areas of concern.

If you do have any concerns about your child and believe they may have a special educational need then please either talk to your child’s class teacher or contact Mrs Cottis, the school SENCO.

All pupils will be provided with quality first teaching that is differentiated to meet the diverse needs of all learners. Children identified as having special educational needs will also receive additional support and interventions targeted for their individual needs. Outside agency support will be sought where necessary and the school will put in place any advice / strategies that are made.

Each child identified as having special educational needs will be greatly involved in creating their own pupil passport which identifies individual targets, strengths, difficulties and the support the child will receive both at home and at school.

Class teachers plan lessons according to the specific needs of all groups of children in their class and will ensure your child’s needs are met through differentiation. Specific resources and strategies will be used to support children individually or in groups. All teaching and planning is monitored regularly by the Senior Leadership Team.

At Eaton Park the children’s attainment and progress is monitored and reviewed every half term. This information is then shared with parents.

Parents will also be invited into school three times a year to contribute to their child’s individual pupil passport. At this meeting the child’s specific targets will be discussed and the class teacher will be able to suggest how parents can support their child at home.

Termly parent conference meeting also take place where the children’s attainment and progress is discussed with the class teacher.

Children that have an EHC plan will have an annual review where targets and progress against these targets are discussed.

Eaton Park offers a wide variety of pastoral support for pupils. These include:

• A broad curriculum that aims to provide pupils with the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to enhance and develop their emotional and social well-being.
• Pupil voice is an important part of school, children are asked their opinions and have opportunities to make decisions on many aspects of school life.
• The school delivers a curriculum which supports and promotes a healthy life style.
• All pupil receive quality Physical Education sessions that are led by experienced and qualified sports coaches. These sessions are differentiated to meet the needs of all pupils.
• Enrichment afternoons led by teaching staff where children are able to sample different, engaging activities ranging from crafts to becoming extreme weather experts.

At Eaton Park we are fortunate to have many skilled and experienced practitioners that are able to support the children with SEND.

We also seek support from external professionals who can offer expert advice in supporting children with specific special educational needs.

These may include, the Educational Psychologist, SEND advisors, Speech and Language therapists. We also have specialist teachers who come into school to support children with visual and hearing impairments.

All staff at Eaton Park have had a basic training in regards to working with children with ASD and Downs Syndrome. Staff have received professional training to enable them to support children with additional medical needs such as diabetes and allergies. We also invite a nurse into school to help write care plans for individual medical needs. We have staff trained in specific speech and language programs such as SULP, (Social use of language) Talking Partners and AMSQ (Asking more specific questions).

Staff are carefully placed to support individual children and in delivering interventions, depending on their skills and strengths.

All children will be fully included in all aspects of school life including school trips and after school clubs. If necessary, we will ensure that additional staff or resources are present to support individual pupil needs.

Risks assessments are carried out before all school visits and adjustments to activities will be made where necessary.

The ground floor of the school in both buildings is fully accessible for people with limited mobility or in a wheelchair.

There is a disabled toilet in both buildings and a disabled parking space near the school entrance. Access buttons to operate the gates are at wheelchair height.

The upper floor of the Key Stage Two building is not accessible to wheelchair users as there is no lift, however, if your child has limited mobility or requires a wheelchair, their classroom will always be on the ground floor. If as an adult you have limited mobility and can not climb the stairs, the member of staff will come down and meet you in our parent’s room.

All children in each class are prepared for the next class, key stage or school through organised transition activities.

Information regarding individual children’s needs will be passed onto new class teachers and a meeting will be held in school to discuss the support and interventions that are in place.

The transition programme in place for pupils in Year 6 provides a number of opportunities for pupils and parents to meet staff in the new school. These opportunities are further enhanced for pupils with special educational needs.

The annual review in Year 5 for pupils with a statement / EHC plan begins the process where parents are supported to make decisions regarding secondary education.

The SENCOs from both schools will meet to discuss the needs of the individual pupils in order to ensure a smooth transition.

We endeavour to meet every child’s needs through a quality, well differentiated creative curriculum. For children who need additional support, this is delivered either on a one to one basis or as part of a small group intervention with skilled practitioners. For children with an EHC plan or statement they will receive a support assistant for the number of hours they have been allocated.

The school will provide any additional resources that the child needs to support their learning.

Decisions about how to best support a child are always based on the child’s individual need. When making decisions, consideration is given to the thoughts and feelings of the child, the views of their family, and the advice given by any professionals working with the child.

The individual pupil passports are written with the children. This is an opportunity for the children to share their likes and strengths along with identifying what they find difficult in school and how they would like to be supported.

Parents are invited into school three times a year (in additional to Parent’s Conferences) to contribute and discuss their child’s pupil passport and the support their children will be receiving in school. During this meeting teachers will offer advice in how to support your child at home.

Parents are welcome to contact the school to talk about their children. Parents can meet with class teachers or the SENCO if they have any questions regarding their child.

We have lots of opportunities for families to be involved in school life. We frequently organise craft events where parents and grandparents can come into school and work with their child. We have family educational visits where parents and grandparents can accompany their child on various visits.

We also organise and run family learning opportunities where parents can come into school and complete activities to help them to support their child.

If parents are interested in volunteering in school then they can talk to the class teacher or school office to arrange this.

Parents are encouraged to read with their children frequently at home and return the reading diary.

Homework activities are provided for each topic and parents are encouraged to support their children in completing these activities.

In the first instance, the child’s class teacher is the person to speak to if something is not quite right.  They are available either at the end of the day when a child is dismissed or via an appointment made with the Academy office.  If concerns continue, a member of SLT can be consulted.  Appointments can be made via the Academy office.  Enquiries of a specific SEND nature should be addressed to the class teacher or the SENCO. If you feel you need to make a complaint then the school’s policy is that you should put your complaint in writing and for the attention of the Chair of Governors, Michael Finney. The letter of complaint should then be passed to the school office. Should you wish to make a formal complaint, the complaints policy and procedure are available from the Academy Office.

Support is available from the following:

SENCO:

Mrs C Cottis

Assistant SENCO:

Mrs D Jones

To contact SEND Services:

By telephone: 01782 232538
By email: SEND@stoke.gov.uk

Write to us at:

SEND Services,
The Mount Education Support Centre,
Mount Avenue,Penkhull,
Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 7JU

Stoke on Trent Information, Advice and Support Service
Mount Education Support Centre
Mount Avenue
Penkhull
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 7JU

Tel: 01782 234701
Email: iass@stoke.gov.uk