Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at Hampton Primary School

At Hampton, we pride ourselves on inclusivity; providing an engaging and stimulating educational provision for all of our pupils.  Our policies ensure our children are always included and access equal opportunities in every aspect of their education.  Inclusion is a culture where every child feels valued as an individual. Equity is at the forefront of Hampton’s provision, with every curriculum experience underpinned by our core values of Kindness, Reflection, Resilience and Aspiration. At Hampton, we recognise that all children are unique in their needs and circumstances, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). 

Our pupils succeed through quality first teaching principles being embedded in our lessons.  Our learning environments are stimulating, well organised and used flexibly to support a range of different teaching and learning styles.  Lessons are differentiated to cater for every ability.  Pupils with more complex needs are identified and recorded as having Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and may require Personalised/individualised learning with long-term interventions built into their provision.

Children who are identified as having a SEND are recorded on the school’s SEND register as receiving SEN support or having an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) if a statutory assessment has taken place and a decision to issue has been agreed upon by the local education authority.  We believe it is very important to work closely with parents and carers and always inform and discuss children's progress with parents about their child’s education at the earliest opportunity and consistently and frequently over time.

Kent's 'Mainstream Core Standards' summarises and presents the provision that the local authority expects to be made available for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities attending mainstream schools. It provides guidance for schools, parents and carers and professionals working with children and young people.

Our class teachers have a key role to play in the consistent implementation of quality first teaching strategies, the Mainstream Core Standards and SEN support. They know our learners best, understand their learning styles and are in the crucial position of having the biggest impact on implementing a graduated approach to enhance the level of support, monitor pupil progress and increase attainment for those pupils with SEND. We have highly qualified Learning Support Assistants who support children (in and out of the class) who may have learning difficulties and specific additional needs.

What are Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and how does Hampton identify them?

We aim to address children’s learning differences and needs and support their development in the most appropriate way possible and celebrate effort as much as achievement. Our school’s SEND policy document is available on this website, detailing our inclusive approach to SEND.

SEN Policy

Our Early Years (Nursery and Foundation Stage) and KS1/KS2 have dedicated Inclusion Managers/SENCOs; Mrs Finch (Early Years) and Mr Walsh (KS1/KS2), who alongside class teachers, and support staff are responsible for identifying and providing support for children with special educational needs.

The definition of Special Education Needs and Disabilities from the SEND Code of Practice is as follows:

"A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

- Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or 

- Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions." (Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0-25 years, January 2015, p. 15-16)

High-quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils will always be the first step in responding to pupils who may or may not have SEND. In addition to this Kent County Council provides the following clarification of what constitutes a child requiring SEN Support:

"SEN support is intensive and personalised intervention which is required to enable the child to be engaged in learning. It will usually involve significant amounts of resource from the educational setting. Each child identified as SEN Support will have outcomes which have been agreed through a process of collaboration and discussion. A personalised programme of support will be devised and be reviewed and adjusted frequently (at least three times per year) with close child and/or parental involvement."

Early identification is key and as such we encourage you to contact us if you have any concerns. Through regular meetings and collaboration, the class teacher/SENCO will gather information about a pupil and their learning needs to identify any special education needs.

Parents are always informed if school staff consider that their child has or may have an additional need and parents and children (as appropriate depending upon age, understanding and capability) are involved in the planning to meet the need identified.

We often recommend initially that eyesight and hearing are checked to discount these aspects as possible underlying causes of learning issues.

At Hampton, a range of specific, more specialised tests are used (usually by the SENCO or other trained staff) to assist in the identification of an individual child’s needs in order to plan targeted programmes for them and to use as a benchmark for measuring the impact of subsequent interventions. These can include:

• Dyslexia screenings (KS2) to identify strengths and challenges within literacy skills
• Visual Stress assessments
• Speech Link and Language Link assessments for Speech, Language and Communication needs
• Social, emotional and behavioural assessments – e.g. Boxall Profiles
• Pupil observations
• Sensory Profiles
• Assessment of hand and fine motor skills

What are the areas of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities?

Additional and/or different provision is currently being made in school for children with a range of needs, including the following 4 main areas as identified in the SEND Code of Practice 2015:

• Cognition and Learning – including moderate learning difficulties; Specific learning difficulties - dyslexia, dyscalculia and developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
• Sensory, Medical and Physical – hearing impairment, sensory processing difficulties, epilepsy and diabetes.
• Communication and Interaction – including autistic spectrum condition (ASC), selective mutism, speech and language difficulties including developmental language disorder (DLD).
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health – including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), attachment disorder, emotional and behaviour regulation, social difficulties, anxiety and general ability and readiness to learn.

Provision, strategies and approaches are drawn from the updated Mainstream Core Standards, which can be found here: 

Mainstream Core Standards

There is also a parent guide to the Mainstream Core Standards, which can be found here:

Mainstream Core Standards - Parent Guide

How do we support Special Educational Needs and Disabilities?

SEND support is actioned within a four part cycle, known as the graduated approach, through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined and revised, leading to a growing understanding of the pupil’s needs and of what supports the pupil in making good progress and securing good outcomes.

The four stages of the cycle are:

• Assess

• Plan

• Do

• Review

The class teachers use provision maps and personalised plans to outline specific interventions and outcomes which are regularly reviewed, evaluated and shared.

All our staff are trained each year on the needs of new students joining the school – this can include training from specialist agencies or consultants, as well as from our Inclusion Lead/SENCO or other staff with relevant expertise.

SEND training forms part of the continuing professional development of all teachers and LSAs and is organised in accordance with the needs of the students. The school works closely with the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service (STLS) and our link Educational Psychologist, accessing training opportunities in staff meetings and on INSET days as well as other outside experts.

The Inclusion Lead/SENCO meets with senior leaders regularly to review and plan the training, guidance and advice that staff across the school need to ensure they meet the additional learning requirements of our students.

Our building is designed to ensure easy access with ramps, handrails and electronic doors for disabled access. Toilets have been adapted with handrails to give support and encourage independence. We have a medical room to cater for children who have specific personal and physical needs. Our school’s Single Equality and Accessibility Policy outlines adaptations made to the building to meet particular needs and enhance learning.

How do we evaluate the effectiveness of provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities?

Class teachers and the Inclusion Lead/SENCO make use of assessment information/progress rates and pre- and post- interventions as well as making use of attainment and progress data for children with SEN across the school to evaluate the effectiveness.

As part of our person-centred approach we use pupil/parents interviews/questionnaires to gain pupil and parent voice.

An Annual Review is held for children with EHC Plans; interim reviews are also arranged throughout the year to discuss progress against outcomes, targets and next steps.

What additional support for learning is available for children with SEND?

Some LSAs are deployed in classes to support children individually or in small groups. We use a team approach to delivering provision in order to encourage independence and generalise skills. In addition to this we have a team of additional SEN learning support assistants who provide more specialised support across the school in year groups.

We teach an adapted curriculum to ensure that the needs of all children are met.

We have a large number of intervention programmes in place for children who require additional support. Please click the link below to see these.

Who can I contact?

If you wish to discuss any of the above information or a specific need for your child, please contact the office to arrange an appointment with Mrs Finch (EY Inclusion Lead/ & SENCo) or Mr Walsh (Assistant Headteacher, Inclusion lead & SENCo

Telephone: 01227 372159           

Email: inc@hampton.kent.sch.uk

What is the SEND Information Hub?

The SEND Information Hub provides parents/carers of children with SEND with information about how to access services in their areas, and what they can expect from those services. 

Additional information on the SEND Information Hub (formerly known as the Local Offer) can be found here:

https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educational-needs

Furthermore, IASK offers support and advice to parents and families of pupils with special educational needs or a disability here:

https://www.iask.org.uk/ or via their Facebook page 

Kent PACT is a forum for parents and carers of children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) within Kent local authority. They empower parents and carers and help them to have their say about the support that their family receives: 

https://kentpactnew2022.co.uk/

Please refer to our SEND policy for further details.

At Hampton Primary School we believe that every child must be provided with opportunities to develop socially, emotionally, academically and physically to achieve the highest possible standards and we have a holistic approach to our pupil and family’s welfare. 

Staff in the Wellbeing Team are here to offer specialist help, support, advice and can be easily contacted directly through the office. Please see the 'Pastoral Support & Wellbeing' page for further information.

SEND Information Hub