SEND

George Washington prides itself on its ability to offer and successfully deliver a full curriculum that is inclusive to all children, irrespective of need. The Special Education Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCo) works closely with all of the teaching staff and as a result, is able to support children with a wide range of academic, physical and social needs. This may be in the form of classroom based support and strategies or withdrawn support, often in small group or one-to-one sessions usually with school staff occasionally with other professionals. The school maintains very close working relationships with children, staff, parents and other agencies. Indeed, partnership with parents is of the utmost importance. We encourage parents to discuss progress regularly with class teachers an if necessary;

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Link Governor- Mrs L Southern

Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator – Mrs D Scott

All Sunderland schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities and are supported by Together For Children to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. 

All schools are supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible.

The broad areas of SEND need are:

• Communication and Interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
• Sensory and/or Physical

Identification of Special Education Needs and Disabilities

Staff will seek to identify the needs of SEND as early as possible through gathering information from parents, education, health and care services and EYFS (Early Years Foundation Settings) prior to the child’s entry into school. As children move through the school their progress is carefully monitored and any child who fails to make progress or a teacher suspects a child may have special education needs, interventions will be implemented, consultation with SENDCo, targets set and monitored. After evaluation, any child who is failing to narrow the gap between them and their peers through provision will be considered for a SEND Support plan. Parents/Carers will be consulted throughout the process and involved in the setting, achieving and evaluation of targets through a plan do review process. Pupils will be at the centre of the process and will help formulate the targets, supported by parents/carers and teachers.

Inclusion

George Washington has a responsibility to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils. This statutory inclusion statement sets out three principles for developing an inclusive curriculum which provides all pupils with relevant and challenging learning.

Schools must:

• set suitable learning challenges
• respond to pupils’ diverse learning needs
• overcome potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils

Children are supported to access all activities inside and outside school including visits, residential visits, sports and clubs.

What is the Local Offer?

The LA Local Offer

The Children and Families Bill was enacted in September 2014. From this date Local Authorities (LA) and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) aged 0-25. Together for Children refer to this as the 'Local Offer'.

The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It will also be an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area.