At Micklefield, we do our best to ensure that the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has special educational needs and that those needs are known to all who are likely to work with them. We will ensure that teachers are able to identify and provide for those pupils with special educational needs, allowing them to join in all school activities together with pupils who do not have special educational needs.

If your child is making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances, the first response will be high quality teaching by your child’s class teacher targeted at their areas of difficulty. For your child this would mean:
 
Your child’s teacher would continue to set high expectations for your child and every child in the class.
Teaching would be differentiated to meet the individual needs of the children in the class.
In some circumstances, they may receive group or individual intervention:
Group/individual intervention may be necessary to specifically target your child’s needs. Eg. Through additional/specific resources; additional adult focus or adult-led work.
 
Concerns and actions taken would be recorded on an Internal Cause for Concern proforma (ICC) and shared with parents. Your child’s progress would then be monitored and recorded using the ICC.
 
If your child’s progress continues to be less than expected, your child’s class teacher, in liaison with the SENCO, will put in place a School Support Plan (SSP), which will include all actions designed to secure better progress. Your child will then be added to our SEND Register. For your child this might mean:
 
Specific group work with a smaller group of children/individual work with clear targets to help your child to make more progress. These groups might be led by a teacher or a support assistant who has been trained to deliver the programmes.
 
Your child’s targets would be recorded on a termly School Support Plan and shared with parents. Targets would be reviewed and progress would be monitored regularly.
 
It might be decided that your child needs support via an outside agency such as the Speech and Language Service, SENIT (Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Team), STARS (Specialist Training in Autism and Raising Standards) or Occupational Therapy. In this case, a referral would be made by the SENCO, and your child might participate in group work or individual work in school, led by or directed by a professional who is based outside the school.
Teachers and the SENCO will review all programmes regularly. These reviews will be shared with you each term. If you have any questions or concerns before these times, either your child’s class teacher or the SENCO will be happy to discuss them with you.

As a school we receive the school budget from the Education Funding Agency; this includes the Notional SEND budget to support SEND children. This budget is used to support SEND children with all ranges of need, and is worked out using a national formula per pupil.

Blocks of funding are allocated depending on the number of children who meet the criteria and who are on the schools SEND register, and this money must be spent by school to support children with SEND. The way this money is spent is decided upon by the Head teacher in discussion with Governors.
Funding for Inclusion (FFI) and Early Years Funding for Inclusion (EYFFI)

If a child presents with High Needs, then school can apply for Funding for Inclusion (FFI) High Needs top up funding (or EYFFI – Early Years Funding for Inclusion). This funding is currently banded and tiered. Each band and tier has a set of criteria that a child must meet in order to qualify for funding. Evidence must be provided from school, outside agencies and parents to ensure that these criteria are met and that the Graduated Response has been carried out in line with the 2014 SEND Code of Practice.

Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Inclusion Fund (SENDIF)

SENDIF provides additional funding to support children who have low level needs or emerging SEND in Early Years. SENDIF is available for 3 and 4 year olds, and has different criteria to EYFFI. As with all funding, evidence must be provided to ensure that criteria is met.

The school uses the additional funds to put in place appropriate support to meet the needs of individual children. This might take the form of additional staffing to support a child to access the curriculum and develop independence or additional resources.

Decisions regarding the deployment of SEND funding are made by the Head teacher in consultation with relevant other professionals.

We have access to a broad range of services to support our children with SEND, which include:

Health services:

• Speech and Language Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
• School Nursing

 Team Educational Specialists:

• Educational Psychology
• SENIT (Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Team)
• STARS (Specialist Training in Autism and Raising Standards)

Staff Training

• The school SENCO attends termly network meetings within the cluster and city to keep abreast of current issues regarding SEND and to share good practice.
• Our Speech and Language Therapist offers regular support & training to staff to deliver individual programmes for children.
• Staff receive regular in-house training in SEND procedures and policies.
• Staff attend training and refresher training to support any published interventions which they carry out with children.
• All staff have received L1 Autism awareness training.

• Within the staff, we also have members who:
• Have received L3 Autism training
• Have received training in using the Autism Progression Framework
• Are trained in using basic Makaton
• Have a basic awareness of British Sign Language
• Have received training in how to use B Squared (a small-steps assessment tool for children with SEND)
• Have received Dyslexia training

The school is fully committed to providing staff with continued professional development, which includes training in areas of special educational needs and/or disabilities.

If you have concerns about your child’s progress, please contact the school office to arrange a meeting with your class teacher.
If you think your child might have a special educational need, please contact the school office to arrange a meeting with your class teacher and the SENDCO.
We will listen carefully to your concerns and discuss appropriate actions to support your child. This might involve seeking the advice of other professionals if necessary.

School telephone number: 0113 2869232
Office email: office@micklefieldceprimary.co.uk

Transferring from/to another school
If your child is joining us from another school, we will contact the SENCO at your child’s previous school and all information regarding additional or specialist support for you child will be passed on to us. Usually, a meeting or telephone conversation will take place to discuss your child’s needs and provision. We will also arrange a meeting with you, your child’s new teacher and the SENCO to discuss what their provision will look like at Micklefield.

Any funding your child received at their previous school will then be transferred to us, and we will be able to access any formal documents/records relating to your child via an online SEND portal.

If your child leaves Micklefield to join another school, or when transferring to High School, we will pass on any records and information about your child to their new school.

SENDIASS (SEND Information Advice Support Service)
If you would like advice and support outside of the school, SENDIASS is an advice support service available to parents and carers.
‘Leeds SEND IASS is impartial, confidential, arm's length from the Local Authority and schools, free and accessible to all parents and carers of children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. Leeds SEND IASS involves parents and carers, children and young people in discussions and decisions about their individual support. Leeds SEND IASS will work with parents/carers children and young people to ensure that they are fully involved in the planning of SEN support for their individual needs in early years settings, schools and colleges.’

SENDIASS contact details:
Helpline
Tel: 0113 378 5020
Email: LeedsSENDIASS@leeds.gov.uk
Send us a Message - contact-us

Our Local Authority has a detailed website explaining the services and support that are available for families who have young people with SEND.
The ‘Services Provided by Leeds City Council’ section is divided into these sub-sections, each providing further sub-sections, details and links to useful information.

If you would like further information about the Local Authority’s SEND offer, or would like to explore their website, please follow the link:  Local Offer