Q. What will school do if children need extra help?

A. Class teachers complete assessments daily, weekly and at the end of each half term and plan the next steps for children at each point. If the class teacher is concerned that a child is not making as much progress as quickly as expected then they would speak to Mrs Saddington (SENDCo) whose role is to oversee all additional needs work in school. The class teacher will raise a concern by talking to parents and then completing an Initial Concerns form which is shared with the SENDCo. The class teacher/SENDCo will then invite parents and all relevant staff to attend a Team Around The Child(TAC) discussion where together we would make a plan of how to support your child an action plan and timeline of support are agreed and we would set a date to meet again to talk about the progress the child has made and the next steps for him or her. Depending on the progress your child makes it may then be decided to identify your child as receiving SEN Support. When deciding whether Special Educational provision is required, we will start with the outcomes we hope to achieve, including the expected progress and attainment, and the views and the wishes of the pupil and their parents/ carers. We will use this to determine the support that is needed and whether we can provide it by adapting our core offer, or whether something different or additional is needed.

Slow progress and low attainment will not automatically mean a pupil is recorded as having SEND.

Q. What should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs and needs extra help?

A. Firstly, talk to the class teacher and share your concerns or worries. The class teacher will share information about how your child is doing and any support he/she is getting at the moment. If appropriate then the class teacher will arrange a meeting with you as parents, class teacher and Mrs Saddington to talk about next steps for your child.

Q. How will school staff support my child? 

A. If after discussion with school staff and you as parents we feel that your child does have an additional SEND need that requires additional support that is additional to or different from that received by most children in school, a plan will be made with clear timescales and outcomes. The plan will be completed by school staff and shared with parents and then overseen by Mrs Saddington. The plan will be summarised in an LSP (Learning Support Plan) which will show the child’s targets and extra support that will be in place to help your child achieve the targets set. The curriculum will be tailored to meet the needs of your child by making sure that your child has chance to make steps in learning with activities that suit his or her needs and learning styles. As part of the plan your child may complete intervention activities specially designed to support the parts of learning that he or she finds difficult. These activities may be in small groups or on a one to one basis with an adult. A decision will be made by the SENDCo about how much support your child will receive. This will be reviewed termly or more frequently if needed. Alternatively, the plan may take the form of technology or resources to help your child access the curriculum. Sometimes the plan may include both support and interventions provided by staff and a range of resources to help your child progress with his/her learning. If after approximately two-three terms if it is felt that your child has needs that when costed, total more than £6,000 and that your child meets a specific criteria, school will consider gathering evidence and making an application to the Local Authority for consideration of an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). A keyworker would support the family through the process and a panel of professionals would decide if support through EHCP funding was appropriate to meet the child’s needs.

Q: Who will explain this to me? Who should I talk to if I'm worried?

A: We will have an early discussions with the pupil and their parents/ carers when identifying whether they need special educational provision. These conversations will make sure that:

 Everyone develops a good understanding of the pupil’s areas of strength and difficulty

 We take into account the parents’/ carers' concerns

 Everyone understands the agreed outcomes for the child

 Everyone is clear on what the next steps are

Notes of these early discussions will be added to the pupil’s record. We will formally notify parents/ carers when it is decided that a pupil will receive SEND support.

The class teacher will be able to explain the processes in school. If the class teacher is unable to help support you with your worry s/he will point you in the right direction of someone who can.

Q: How will the curriculum be matched to my child's needs?

A: At Beech Hill Primary, High Quality Teaching is paramount. Teachers ensure that the needs of all children are met by careful planning and differentiation of the curriculum. See the school's teaching and learning policy on our website for more information.

Q: How does the school know how well my child is doing?

A:Class teachers complete ongoing assessments of children's learning on a daily/weekly basis within their teaching. In addition to this staff complete teacher assessments each half term and formal assessments on a termly basis. Phase leaders have discussions with the class teachers about your child's progress and in addition class teachers discuss pupil progress at a meeting with the SENDCo and Head teacher once a term.

Q: How will I know what progress my child should be making?

A: The class teacher will discuss expectations for each year group with you at the Getting To Know You meetings which are held in the Autumn term. We have an open door policy and welcome home/school communication. In addition, your child's progress will be discussed with you at Parent consultation meetings in the Autumn and Spring terms and via a written report in the Summer term. You will have an LSP review meeting with your child's class teacher each term also.

Q. What support is there for my child’s well being?

A. Mrs Saddington (SENDCo) and Mrs Whittle(Pastoral Leader) work closely together to plan and deliver support to meet children’s emotional, social, mental health and medical needs. As parents you know your child best and we value our discussions with you where you can share the knowledge that you have about your child with us in order that we can support them effectively. Mrs Whittle works with families to ensure that children have good levels of attendance and where there are difficulties that a plan of support is made to ensure attendance is increased. At Beech Hill Community Primary we aim to ensure that all our children develop the skills needed in order to get along with other children. Sometimes additional support is needed using a mediation technique to prevent incidents of bullying occurring.

At Beech Hill Community Primary we have a high ratio of staff to children at lunchtime and playtimes and each day there are a number of supported activities such as art, music and sport that children may join in with to make use of their time effectively. If a child finds managing their behaviour at playtimes difficult then a plan of support can be made to help them. At Beech Hill we feel that suspensions are only used where all other avenues of support have not been effective. The Pastoral Manager & SENDCo monitor social and emotional assessments each term to measure impact and progress of support in place. If your child has a medical need then please speak to Mrs Saddington/Mrs Whittle who will complete a health care plan with you in order to support your child. Medicines are given in school if it is essential  for a child’s health for it to be administered at a specific point during the school day and where the medicine has been prescribed by a doctor..

Q: What support is there for behaviour to avoid suspensions or permanent exclusions?

A: There is much support in place for pupils to enable them to develop their social and emotional skills. Referrals are made to the Pastoral Manager from class teachers and interventions put in place following discussions during Pupil Progress Meeting with the Head teacher and SENDCo. A Support Plan is put in place working with the pastoral team, the child and yourselves, parents and carers. We work closely with the Local Authority TESS team who support and advise us via a Local Authority Pastoral Support Programme. School has access to support and advice via the TESS team and Educational Psychology team. Referrals can be made to the Engagement Centre and Three Towers Primary Academy where it is felt that a pupil needs a more specific, pastoral led programme.

Q. How does school support children moving into Reception class and onto Year 7?

A. Our Early Years Foundation Stage work closely together as a unit and share information which will help  children make progress as they move from Nursery to Reception class. This information sharing may be within a “transition meeting”. Children who attend pre-school provision elsewhere information sharing and liaison is carried out with staff from that setting alongside yourselves as parents. In addition to the information sharing school hold a series of INSPIRE sessions where you and your child can share activities in school and an educational visit together.

Our Y6 children transfer to a number of different Secondary schools which have different transition programmes. We recommend that when choosing a Secondary school for your child that you and your child have a discussion with the Secondary School SENDCo  where you can ask any questions you may have about how the school will help to meet your child’s needs so that you can make an informed choice of where your child will thrive best. Close liaison between staff at Beech Hill Community Primary and the receiving High School takes place. In these meetings we share information such as what helps and does not help your child to learn best. Once you have chosen a Secondary School your child will take part in a carefully planned transition program to meet his/her needs.

Mrs Saddington shares general information about how well children with additional needs are doing at Beech Hill Community Primary at the Governors’ meetings each term so that Governors know how well our children are making progress and how effective the support in place is. There is a named Governor who liaises regularly with Mrs Saddington about the work of the school in this area.

Q. How will I know how my child is doing?

A. In addition to the usual parent consultations and end of year reports, the class teacher will meet with you each term to talk about how well your child is doing in relation to the targets and the next steps for him or her. The targets that are set act as stepping stones to make sure that your child achieves at least as well as expected by the end of each phase of learning. As part of the plan- making discussions we will talk about how you can help your child at home. We aim to support our parents in helping their children and there are a range of activities held in school that are run by Start Well that can support families in helping their children. As well as the formal opportunities to discuss your child's progress such as parent consultations and LSP reviews, staff are available at the end of the school day for discussions about your child and his/her progress. If you wish to speak with your child's class teacher or a member of the SEND team and are not able to speak with us at the end of the school day, please phone school and make an appointment and the member of staff you need to speak to will contact you by phone or make an appointment for a virtual meeting via MS Teams or Google Classroom.

Q. What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?

A. Staff in school are trained in a variety of interventions that support pupils’ learning, social, emotional, mental health and medical needs. In addition, there are staff that have specialist qualifications in Trauma Informed Practice and Emotional Literacy Support Assistants, to support children’s social and emotional health needs. There are staff trained in supporting pupils with specific learning needs in particular areas including children who may have Dyslexia. Staff are trained in supporting specific medical and physical needs such as specific physical disabilities, ADHD and sensory processing. School has access to a range of specialist support including CAHMS, learning support, behaviour support, Speech and language therapy, Specialist sensory education support, Occupational and physiotherapy, physical disability support and Educational Psychology and Startwell. Although these outside agencies are not based on site, they are only a phone call or email away. We also work closely with the Outreach service whose staff work within our specialist school settings. These staff provide outreach advice and support for specific pupils in school.

Q. How accessible is the school?

A. Beech Hill Community Primary is located in a new building which opened in 2012. The building is fully wheelchair accessible and has a number of accessible toilets and a hygiene room. Each classroom is fitted with a speaker system and the majority of the flooring in each classroom is carpet with the exception of flooring by the outside doors. The environment has been developed to be auditory and visually "friendly".

School has a developed programme of support and a network of specialist teachers to call upon to support children whose first language is not English. School are able to access interpreter support via the EMAS team to support with induction visits for example. In addition, staff use technologies including Google translate and talking pen software to translate key concepts in everyday conversation to parents’ first language in order to communicate more effectively with a child’s family.

A range of specialist equipment is used to support individual needs. Generally this is stored securely in school. If it is identified, as part of the child’s plan, that specialist equipment is needed to support with homework, following completion of a parental loan agreement, arrangements can be made for this to be loaned for this purpose.

We liaise with parents when making provision for pupils’ needs when planning additional activities and school visits to ensure that all pupils are included. Individual needs will be identified and adaptations to activities made to ensure pupil inclusion as required.

In addition to the curriculum provided within school hours, Beech Hill Primary offers a wide range of extra curricular activities to our pupils. Any additional resources and/or staffing required to enable children to access these activities is considered on an individual basis. A range of outside organisations such as Wigan Council’s Leisure for All programme, Wigan Leisure Culture Trust, Wigan and Leigh Embrace and Wigan Youth Zone all offer extra curricular activities for children with additional needs. Some activities are provided for children with additional needs and their siblings. The range of activities was limited as a result of the COVID pandemic but now they have been lifted, the full range of activities are available once again. Mrs Saddington regularly posts on the School's Twitter page about activities in the local area that she has been made aware of that may be of interest to our families (@BH_SEND) 

Q: How does school use expert knowledge that families may have about their children?

A: We value the partnership that we have with our families and through regular meetings and our open door policy we aim to work together to support our children.

Q: How does school provide support for families?

A: We run a parent support programme "It's Your Child's Life" alongside parent support group sessions aimed at families who have children with additional needs. In addition, Startwell run sessions for parents based in our meeting room and at various sites in the area including Sacred Heart Primary and Ince CE Primary. There is a community run social group "Well Good Socials" that meets on site once per week. Useful updates and links to articles and events/training are shared via the Twitter page. If there is something that you would find useful to your family, please speak to a member of staff and we will do our best to support you.