• Your child’s class teacher 
• Inclusion Manager – Mrs F Dunn (maternity leave 2024-2025 academic year) Mrs C White will be maternity cover

OTHER KEY MEMBERS OF STAFF AT GREENVALE PRIMARY SCHOOL:

• Headteacher – Mrs A Allnutt
• Deputy Headteacher – Mrs L Powlesland
• Family Support and Parenting Practitioner – Mrs M Harris
• SEND Governor – Mrs A Poole 

CLASS TEACHERS

As a parent/ carer, your first point of contact is the class teacher. Each class teacher provides Quality First Teaching in the classroom. They monitor progress, plan for the individual needs of the children, and assess the achievement of each child. Class teachers consider and monitor appropriate additional support within the class. They liaise with parents/carers and the Inclusion Manager when identifying strengths and needs.

INCLUSION MANAGER

The Inclusion Manager liaises with specialist services such as Speech and Language Therapists, Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Paediatricians, the school nursing team and the health visiting team etc. They monitor the success of the interventions provided within the school, adjusting provision accordingly. The school records of SEND are maintained and communicated to parents/carers by the Inclusion Manager. They also support colleagues in their understanding of SEND and Inclusion and how this translates into Quality First Teaching in the classroom.

We know that pupils achieve their full potential when home and school work in partnership. We operate an open door policy where you are able to speak to your child’s class teacher when needed, although we ask that you do not engage them in lengthy conversations at the beginning of the day when they are responsible for bringing the class into school. If you would like to speak with them in depth, feel free to arrange an appropriate time to meet with them.

The Senior Leadership Team consisting of the Inclusion Manager, Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher are also available at the start and end of the school day at the school gate. Alternatively, you can contact the school by telephone to make an appointment.

For children with complex needs, ‘team around the child’ meetings will be organised to ensure that all professionals involved in your child’s provision are involved.

If you have any concerns we recommend you speak to your child’s class teacher to arrange an appointment to discuss this with them initially.

Further discussion might be held between yourself, your child’s class teacher and the school Inclusion Manager to discuss further if appropriate.

If you are not happy with the support put in place for your child, you can contact the Head Teacher.  If you are still dissatisfied after you have contacted the Headteacher, you can contact the school SEND Governor.

The class teacher will raise any concerns that they have regarding your child’s progress and learning throughout the year with you. The teacher will discuss your child’s progress with you at our termly parents’ evenings when you will be informed of your child’s progress and any additional support being given.

We have regular meetings between the class teacher, Inclusion Manager and senior members of staff in the school to ensure all children are making progress to meet their full potential. This is another way to identify if your child is not making expected progress. If your child is identified as not making expected progress the school will continue to closely monitor this and set up support for your child and ask for your input in identifying concerns you may have.

Following additional support, if your child is still not making expected progress the school will discuss with you: any further interventions or referrals to outside professionals to support your child’s learning and how we could work together with external agencies to support your child at home/school.

For some children, we are aware of SEND through early diagnosis, records from a previous school/nursery setting and parents/carers notifying us on enrolment. The sharing of information at this stage is essential to ensure the best provision possible can be put in place for your child. In these cases, we contact the relevant professionals that have been working with your family to share information and strategies.

For other children, SEND might present later on in their development or might be communicated through certain behaviours at home or in school or through interactions with their peers and/or their environment.

There is a formal half-termly cycle of review of pupil progress where class teachers, Inclusion Manager and the Senior Leadership Team discuss in depth the progress of all pupils and any barriers they might be facing to their development and progress. Provision maps are adjusted according to discussions at these meetings. This half-termly cycle of review allows for early identification and regular evaluation of provision.

In addition to this formal cycle of assessment, provision planning and review, the Inclusion Manager has an open door policy whereby any member of staff or parent can come and share a concern about a child for assessment of need and provision planning to take place at any point in the term where appropriate.

We also recognise that behaviour is a communication, and when discussing repeated/high incidence of unwanted behaviours in school, it is school policy to consider possible reasons for unwanted behaviours and which provision we can put in place to support the child displaying these behaviours. The Inclusion Manager and parents/carers will be involved in these discussions.

We have a range of provision in place to meet the varying needs of our pupils. For a full overview of the educational and pastoral provision in place for children at Greenvale Primary School, please see our SEND Information Report where you will find full details.

If concerns continue from school/home, we will discuss this further and review and evaluate provision in place for your child.

We regularly evaluate the impact of any interventions and adjust provision for individual children accordingly. Where progress is not being made despite additional provision or where a specific need is apparent, referrals to outside agencies can be made, for example, Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist etc. Assessments by these services might result in recommendations for specific strategies during whole-class teaching or targeted/specialist intervention. The school will act on these recommendations as quickly as possible for each child. The impact of these will also be reviewed and evaluated regularly. If your child’s needs are particularly complex or they continue not to make progress despite appropriate intervention, application for an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) might be discussed together with you.

If it is felt that a child is not making progress despite targeted and specialist support, further support may be needed. This can come in the form of financial support from the local authority in the production of an EHC plan to put in place additional provision. This replaced the statement of Special Educational Need in 2014.

THE PROCESS

The school can complete an assessment, gathering evidence to support an application, the Local Authority (LA) will consider the application and contact the school and family with their decision as to whether the needs are complex enough to warrant this. If they decide to proceed, all agencies involved with the child need to submit assessment forms to build a picture of the child’s needs. A meeting involving the parent/carer, Inclusion Manager and relevant professionals will also be arranged.

The LA will then consider the complexity of the needs and make a decision about funding based on this. They may decide that the provision that can be provided through the school’s funding is sufficient to meet your child’s needs, or they will suggest an appropriate level of funding that they will send to the school for additional provision to be put in place to meet your child’s needs.

Ideally this process is completed with school and parents working in partnership. However, if parents would like to apply independently they can contact the local authority. Details of how to apply will be included in the ‘Local Offer’ section of the local authority’s website  https://www.medway.gov.uk/localoffer

If the Local Authority (LA) decides not to issue an EHCP, they will write to you informing you of their decision. They will suggest that the school review or continue with the support at the current level, followed by a meeting in school to write a plan for the child to assess and monitor progress. Following some additional cycles of support in school, a further application for an Education Health Care Plan might be advisable.

Any concerns about the decision need to be directed to the Local Authority.

Children sit national tests at the end of Year One and Year Two.  During tests, provision can be put in place to support children with additional needs. These are known as access arrangements.

Where necessary, applications will be made for the following access arrangements: additional time; scribes; dyslexic friendly paper; access to additional resources such as a laptop; EAL provision for those new to the country within the last year and a half and registered in an official language. This will be in line with what the child receives as part of their normal classroom provision. For some papers, provision can also be made for children to have access to a reader or to a quieter environment.

For very few children with an EHC Plan, it may not be appropriate for them to sit the tests. This will be agreed in consultation with the parents. If this is the case, during the time they will complete alternative work with a member of staff.

Every transition a child goes through is important. When children start a new year in our school, those children with additional needs are supported through the use of transition books (made accessible to the individual child), passports shared between staff, and meetings between current and new teaching/support staff. A specific INSET day is organised to give teachers time to share detailed information about their class and the specific needs of the children in their classes.

If your child is moving to another school, we will contact the SENDCo/Inclusion Manager and share relevant information about your child’s needs. We will pass on any records and arrange a meeting with staff where appropriate. It is likely that your child will also be invited to attend open days at their new school before the end of the summer term.

Medway Council Local Offer: https://www.medway.gov.uk/localoffer

Family help and support

There are many local and national organisations and services to help and support families with children and young people with SEND.

Local information and support services

• Medway Parents & Carers Forum
• Medway SEND Information Advice and Support service (SENDIAS)
• Medway Family Information Service
• Citizens Advice Medway
• Healthwatch Medway
• Family Action Small Steps Service - for parents with children with autism and ADHD    Information leaflet     Information poster

National information and support services

• KIDS
• Contact.org.uk
• Council for Disabled Children
• Scope
• Mencap
• Special Needs Today
• Action for Children
• Disability Rights UK
• Family Fund
• Disabled Living Foundation
• SEND GOV.UK
• The Mobility and Support Information Service

Parenting support programmes

The support programmes available for parents or carers to help with behaviour management are:

• The Incredible Years - general behavioural concerns for a child 5 to 11 years old. The family can be at EHA, CHiN or CP level to be eligible
• Triple P (ADHD only) - behavioural conduct and pro-social skills for a child 5 to 11 years old. For those already diagnosed or being assessed for ADHD
• P Teen Programme - behaviour conduct and pro-social skills for a child aged 11 to 17 years old. The family can be at EHA, CHiN or CP level to be eligible
• Parents and carers must be referred for the programmes by a professional working in Health, Social Care or Education.

If you are a Medway Community Healthcare (MCH) patient you may be able to access MCH's behaviour clinic and promoting positive behaviour sessions.

NELFT talks

NELFT have shared recent talks they gave in Kent. The talks by Dr. Rachel Hussey are for families and children waiting for an autism assessment.

You can watch the following talks on YouTube:

• Anxiety
• Sleep
• Emotional regulation and relationships 

Your child’s class teacher is your first point of call. If they are able to resolve the matter, they will do so. They might also refer the matter to other relevant members of staff, such as a member of the Senior Leadership Team. If you are still unhappy with the response, you can arrange to speak with the Inclusion Manager yourself. Further to this, if you are still unhappy you can arrange an appointment with the Headteacher. Appointments can be made via the complaints co-ordinator, Miss C Saunders via email to c.saunders@greenvale.medway.sch.uk. Following a meeting with the Headteacher, if you are still unhappy, please click here to refer to the complaints procedure.