Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

“We are like a box of crayons, each one of us is unique, but when we get together the picture is complete.” – Anonymous

Thomas Russell Infant’s School is an inclusive setting where all pupils are fully integrated in the life of the school.  All staff and governors are committed to welcoming children of all abilities and believe that the school should be a happy, caring and secure place where all individuals are respected and valued equally.  We believe that all children have the right to a broad, balanced, relevant and adapted curriculum that is appropriate for their levels of ability and reflects our six learning behaviours: confidence, resilience, curiosity, co-operation, independence and perseverance. The curriculum is flexible and will be adapted where necessary to meet the needs of the individual child.

 We adhere to three key principles for inclusion:

·        setting suitable learning challenges

·        responding to all pupils’ diverse needs

·        overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of individuals

We recognise that all children are unique and learn at different rates.  Many factors affect attainment, progress and overall achievement but a child with SEND will need support that is ‘in addition to or different from’ other children in his or her year group.   This special educational provision will be over and above that which can be met through high quality teaching and adaptations being made to the curriculum.  This may be for a short period of time or throughout a child’s educational life and may be identified before a child has even entered school or they may come to be recognised at a specific point in their education.

SEND Code of Practice

The SEND Code of Practice sets out statutory guidance for schools.  A revised SEND Code of Practice was implemented in September 2014 with the main aim of developing better partnerships between children, parents/carers, educational settings, health professionals and social care.

The SEND Code of Practice can be downloaded here: SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)