Carlton Hill Primary School

We know children need extra help because:

• They tell us or show us through their behaviour
• We have an open door policy and  welcome parents and carers to share their concerns
• We meet weekly as a staff team to discuss learning or well-being concerns about children
• We measure children’s progress regularly to highlight and plan for children who are not making expected progress
• We have specialist reading and maths teachers and we use a range of assessments to look for reasons why children are making slower progress and then plan appropriate support
• Sometimes a child’s family needs some extra help and the school will do everything it can to give support. We have two learning mentors who work closely with parents/carers and a range of social, emoitonal and mental health support  offers from our collegues at the Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS).
• We can organise other people to help too e.g. the school nurse, our link educational psychologist  and our link Speech and Language therapist 

• If you are aware of your child’s specific needs before they enter the school, you should let the school know when you first visit
• Once your child has been offered a place, ask to meet with their class teacher and the Inclusion Coordinator (INCO), Isabel Reid,  so that more detailed discussions about any extra provision can be carried out.
• If you have concerns about possible SEN when your child is in school, talk to their teacher at the end of the school day who can make an appointment to meet with you.
• If you are not available at the end of the school day ring the school office and arrange a telephone appointment with the teacher.
• You can also ask the school office for an appointment with the school INCO.

• The class teacher is responsible for the progress of all the children in the class but lots of children may need some additional support to help them progress during their time at our school.
• Additional support may also be provided by trained learning support staff; by  BHISS specialist teachers or by  other specialist services such as NHS  Speech & Language therapy or other local organsations.
• The  class teachers & INCO are responsible for planning the additional support children will need
• For many children a period of additional support will help them catch up with other children but for some children with special educational needs or disabilities, extra support will be needed more regularly; for longer or for always
•  If your child is going to be part of an intervention group outside the class then a letter will be sent home when they start to provide you will information about the aims and the duration of the support.
• For children with higher levels of special educational need or disabilities (who have an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) or a diagnosis ,such as Autism or ADHD, parents/carers are invited to a meeting with school staff to discuss targets for each child and a plan of support. The plan is recorded on a half yearly learning plan and this details who will provide the support and how often.  These plans are reviewed  twice a year, or more often if needed.
• Looked after children are always offered long term regular learning mentor support planned closely with their carers and these pupils will have individual learning plans
• For further information please read our SEND Policy or contact Isabel Reid, INCO for more details
• Parents and carers of pupils with special needs can access further support outside of school from Amaze http://amazebrighton.org.uk

• The class teacher will provide teaching and activities to match the levels of learning of all children in the class.
• Sometimes additional resources will be provided to support children’s learning (e.g. writing slopes; pencil grips; left handed pens; lap tops; adapted scissors;  spell checkers; sensory toys, signs or symbols). Extra equipment may also be recommended by services who work with the school such as the speech and language therapist, the occupational therapist etc
• Teaching  assistants may be allocated to work with the pupil in a 1-1 or small focus group to target more specific needs, but we always strive to help children work independently or with other children rather than become dependent on adult support.
• For a very few children with very specific needs, we may plan parts of the curriculum completely differently to the rest of the class to ensure the children make progress. Parents and carers would always be involved in these decisions

• All children will have a 1:1 conferencing session with their class teachers in the Autumn and Spring terms
• Pupil Progress meetings and Inclusion meetings are held termly with the head teacher, class teacher and INCO to discuss each child’s progress
• The class teacher will meet with parents in the Autumn and Spring terms, at the  Parent Consultation evening, to discuss your child’s needs, support and progress.
• The INCO will also be available for appointments at parent/carer evenings
• There is further opportunity to meet with the class teacher following the annual report in the Summer term
•  Additional meetings with class teachers or the INCO are always welcomed and we ask that you call or email the school office to arrange these.
• Some children, for example those who are supported by an Individual Needs Assistant  (INA), may be offered a daily home/school communication book to ensure parents and carers are kept informed on a very regular basis
•  Parents/carers of children with an EHCP are invited to additional meetings to look at the child’s progress against the individual learning plan targets and to set  new targets aswell as the Annual Review meeting required  as poart of the EHCP process.

• Our fortnightly home-school learning grids will suggest ways in which you can support your child’s learning
• Class teachers will suggest ways of supporting your child’s learning at parent consultation  evenings.
• Our INCO, head teacher or learning mentors may meet with you to discuss how we can work together to support your child.
• If outside agencies such as the Speech and Language therapist or Educational Psychologist have been involved, suggestions are normally provided that can be used at home.
• For parents and carers of children with an EHCP, we talk about ways to support your child’s individual learning programme at home at the termly IEP review and planning meetings
•  Parent/carer workshops are arranged throughout the year to encourage an open and relaxed forum where advice and ideas can be exchanged e.g. Reception phonics and reading meetings, Maths parties, Y1 reading, Y6 SATs meetings.

Supporting our pupils’ well being is the most important job of staff at our school and we work hard to make it a priority in all we do:

• We have our Golden Rules and Golden time to encourage and reward children for behaving responsibly and with consideration for others.
• Through our PSHE curriculum, we learn about value, rights, responsibilities and choices; we think carefully about the way we can make everyone feel welcome and included in our school community and we teach children to solve problems peacefully.
• We take any incidents of bullying behaviour very seriously and details of how we manage these can be found in our Relationships and Anti-bullying Policy.
• We actively listen to children and there are opportunities for pupils voice via the school council, bubble time and regular pupil conferencing  
• We have two learning  mentors who are able to provide one to one and small group social emotional support, as well as running Lego Therapy groups, Frienships groups and Forest Club.
• For children with medical needs we write Individual Health Plans in consultation with parents/carers. These are shared with all staff who are involved with the pupil
• All staff receive basic first aid and  annual ‘Epipen’ training delivered by the School Nurse and several key staff have more comprehensive first aid training
• Where necessary and in agreement with parents/carers, medicines are administered in school but only where a signed plan is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member.
• To support the well-being of children with complex needs, we often talk to parents/carers about how we can help children understand their own disability/difference and sometimes support those children in explaining this to their classmates. We believe understanding and learning about each other’s needs helps our whole school learn and play better together.

• Activities and school trips are available to all
• We try to keep costs to a minimum, choosing as many local visits using public transport as we can. We also offer financial support when necessary
• We welcome parents and carers’ involvement on trips and visits and this can be arranged with class teachers
• Risk assessments are carried out and adjustement are made to enable all children to participate

We understands what a stressful time moving schools can be, therefore many strategies are in place to enable the pupil’s transition to be as smooth as possible. These include:

• New pupils joining the school will be given a Welcome pack and assigned buddies to help them become familiar with their new environment. Vulnerable pupils will also be assigned a key adult or learning mentor to help them settle.
• Our reception teacher will make visits to all the local nurseries to meet new children

• New Reception pupils are invited to settling visits prior to starting and we operate a phased approach to full-time school  in September
• New Reception pupils and their parents/carers are offered a ‘Getting ready for Reception” Course in the Summer term before they start school
• For children with SEND, the INCO will also meet with nursery staff to ensure a smooth transition into school, and there can be opportunities for additional visits to school in the summer term.
• We run a transition project for children moving from R to Y1, and Y1 to Y2, in the summer term, so these pupils are familiar with their new teacher and classroom before moving up a year
• Year 6 pupils will have PSHE lessons in the summer term where there will be focused transition work and they will be given the opportunity to ask questions about moving on to their chosen secondary school.
• Secondary school staff visit pupils at Carlton Hill prior to them joining their new school.
• Where a Y6 pupil may have more specialised needs, a separate meeting is arranged with the secondary school INCO, the parents/carers and where appropriate the pupil.
• Some children may need extra support over this transition to secondary school and these children will be supported by a mentor or individual needs assistant and may have extra visits to familiarise them with their new school and key staff there. We can also arrange visits after they start to support over this time.

Fair means that each child gets what they need, not gets the same.

• We allocate resources according to: the need of each child; discussion with the class teacher at pupil progress meetings; a concern raised by them or by you at another time during the year
• Following completion of an assessment, such as a speech and language or educational psychologist assessment, further support or resources may be allocated to your child based on their identified needs
• If a child is allocated resources and additional funding through an EHCP, then this provision is specified on the child’s individual education plan (IEP) and reviewed annually at a formal Annual Review Meeting

• The INCO and class teachers have responsibility for making sure all children receive additional support where needed.
• Regular monitoring and assessment, and weekly discussions in staff meetings, ensure that pupils with both social emotional difficulties and those who are not making expected progress are identified early  and this information used to decide on the best type of support in each case.
• Additional support will be provided, initially from within school resources with external referrals to other support services made as a next step. Parents/carers will be informed at all stages
• Additional adult support is not always the answer to a child’s needs and we are careful to promote positive learning attitudes, independence and resilience rather than over-reliance on adults.
• Parents are invited to meet the class teacher every term at the Parent/Carer Meetings and progress can be discussed here, but parents/carers are always welcome to come and discuss progress at other times with teachers or the INCO
• For children with more complex needs (EHCP level of support), these decisions on levels of support are made annually at the Annual Review meeting.