01. SEND information report

This report should be read in conjunction with the:

• SEND Policy
• Accessibility Plan
• Positive Behaviour Policy.

Introduction

Barnes Primary School is a two-form entry, inclusive mainstream school. We believe that all children and young people are entitled to an education that enables them to make progress so that they:

• Achieve their best;
• Become confident individuals living fulfilling lives;
• Make a successful transition into adulthood, whether into employment, further or higher education or training.

Definition of SEND

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2015 states that, ‘A child or young person has SEN 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-1 6 institutions.’ (Code of Practice 2015, pg15-16)

If a child requires special educational provision which is different from or additional to their peers, we will inform parents and place them on the school’s SEN register as receiving SEN Support.  The SEND Lead and class teacher will meet to write an individual education plan for the child outlining their strengths, needs, provision in place and short-term targets; these are discussed with parents and updated three times a year. If a child has a diagnosis but is not requiring special educational provision which is different from or additional to their peers, their diagnosis will be logged on our pupil data management system (SIMs) and they will be placed on a monitoring list which is regularly reviewed.

SEND profile

Special Educational Needs generally fit under the following four areas of need:

• Communication and Interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health
• Sensory and / or Physical Needs.

At Barnes Primary School, we have experience of providing for the most frequently occurring special educational needs such as :

• Specific learning difficulties (dyslexia, dyscalculia)
• Social communication difficulties
• Autism
• ADHD
• Speech, language and communication difficulties
• Learning difficulties
• Social and emotional health difficulties (anxiety, ersa)
• Sensory processing difficulties.

Children presenting with these difficulties will receive appropriate support and our admissions arrangements do not discriminate against or disadvantage disabled children or those with special educational needs: we follow the usual school admissions procedures.

The school currently meets the needs of 13 pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) (October 2024) where extra ‘top up’ funding comes from the local authority.  These include the following kinds of need:

• Autism
• ADHD
• Specific learning difficulties
• Social, emotional and mental health needs
• Physical disability

Barnes Primary supports a further 55 pupils under SEN Support with the following needs: speech and language difficulties, dyslexia, dyscalculia, social, emotional and mental health needs, social communication difficulties and physical needs.

The school’s governing body is committed to an inclusive admissions policy. For our reception intake we give preference to pupils with EHCPs.  We are also sympathetic to requests to admit SEND pupils with an EHCP as in-year admissions.  We are, however, mindful of the capacity within the school to meet the needs of a very large number of pupils with complex needs. The financial costs and management time costs incurred result in us having to judge whether the admission of another pupil with complex SEND is compatible with the provision of efficient education for other pupils. Admission requests are therefore considered on an individual basis.

Process to follow if you have concerns about your child’s difficulties with learning

Our priority is to provide high quality teaching for all children (Quality First Teaching).  Your first point of contact should always be your child’s class teacher/s.  They are responsible for:

• The progress and welfare of your child
• Identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child might need
• Ensuring that the school’s SEND policy is followed in their classroom and for all pupils they teach with SEND
• ‘Every teacher is a teacher of SEND’ (SEN Code of Practice)

It is important to note that our approach to providing support is guided by the needs of the child rather than diagnosis.  We do not want parents to feel that they need to gain a diagnosis in order for their child to receive support and / or adjustments for their needs in school.

Role of SEND Lead

The SEND Lead is responsible for co-ordinating all the support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND policy to make sure that all children receive a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.

The SEND Lead at Barnes Primary is Heather Smith.

Heather and her assistant liaise with all other professionals who may be coming into school to support your child’s learning.  This includes:

• Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)
• Occupational Therapy (OT)
• Physiotherapy
• Educational Psychology (EP)
• Teachers for Visually and Hearing Impaired

In addition, she is responsible for updating the school’s SEND register (a system for ensuring all pupils’ SEND needs in school are known) and making sure there are records of your child’s progress and needs.

Heather works part-time (4 days a week, usually not on Wednesdays) and can be contacted directly by telephone: 0208 392 0885 or email: hsmith@barnes.richmond.sch.uk

Heather is supported in her role by Anna Ramsell who can be contacted via email: aramsell@barnes.richmond.sch.uk (usual working hours Tuesday pm and Friday all day).

The governor responsible for SEND post is currently vacant.

Identification and assessment of pupils with SEND

At Barnes Primary School, we believe that early identification and intervention offers the best support for all children. Class teachers monitor and review progress of all pupils. The progress and well-being of pupils are discussed in termly pupil progress meetings, which involve teachers, SEND Lead and members of Senior Leadership Team (SLT: headteacher, deputy headteachers, phase leader).

Some pupils who join in Nursery or Reception will already have their needs identified by professionals.  We will liaise and link with their current settings to ensure transition is supported. 

Some children may already be on the Social Communication Pathway for a diagnosis of autism.  If you have concerns that your child may have Autism and / or ADHD and wish to discuss a referral, this can be undertaken either by your GP or through school. The process at school is to request a meeting with the SEND Lead to share your concerns. She will talk to the class teacher and observe your child in class.  If agreed, the next step would be to make a referral to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) for a neurodevelopmental assessment.

Richmond and Kingston CAMHS will not accept a referral for ADHD until your child is 6 years old.

In addition to statutory assessments to monitor progress such as the Early Years Profile, Year 1 phonics check, Year 4 times table check and SATs in Year 6, teachers regularly update the school internal assessment system (SIMs). In order to do so accurately, they continually assess children’s progress through informal assessment and monitoring of work in books plus more formal ‘quizzes’ and short assessments at the end of each term. If a child has a diagnosed difficulty with processing, or speed of writing they may be given extra time in assessments. Adjustments such as a scribe, enlarged scripts and / or a reader would also be considered along with access to technology e.g. Chromebook, Reading pen.

Despite high quality teaching, some pupils may still not make sufficient progress at certain times in school. For these pupils, targeted interventions for a period of time may be offered.

Some of the interventions currently provided at Barnes Primary include:

• Small group phonics
• 1:1 and / or paired reading
• Precision teaching (spelling skills)
• Colourful semantics
• Maths support using Numicon and maths fluency tools
• Maths support using PowerBook curriculum
• Sensory Circuits (Occupational Therapist and SEND Lead directed)
• Speech and language directed groups (Attention Bucket, What’s in the Bag? Lego Therapy)
• Social Communication groups (using Talk About model)
• Zones of regulation groups
• Resilience groups (5-week programme)
• Circle of Friends
• Emotional Literacy support
• Play therapy (MHST practitioner)
• Well-being / Nurture sessions (Polly, Well-being Mentor)
• Mindful Art (Olivia, Art teacher)
• Fine motor skills groups
• Handwriting groups
• Touch-typing

Support staff will generally deliver these interventions under the close supervision of class teacher and SEND Lead. If the pupil makes progress using this ‘additional to and different from’ intervention but would not be able to maintain this progress without it, we may identify the pupil as having a special educational need (SEN). These children will be added to the SEN register and parents will be informed. If the gap between a pupil and their peers closes, then the intervention may be stopped but their progress will still be carefully monitored.

We aim to support children to learn skills to be as independent as possible as they move through the school.  As part of this approach, we help children to understand themselves as learners and what helps them to learn. Although some pupils have an identified adult /s to support them, we are moving towards a model where a team of support staff will support need. 

Every year, each Key Stage holds a review which involves a self-review and then half a day when the Head, Deputy Heads, SEND Lead, Wellbeing Mentor and governor / s lead a review of teaching and learning. This time includes lesson observations, monitoring the deployment of support staff, work book scrutiny as well as pupil and parent interviews.

Findings of these reviews are reported to staff and parents. Findings feed into the School Improvement Plan and the school’s regular CPD training schedule.

Request for statutory assessment of needs (Educational Health and Care Plan)

We follow the local authority’s graduated approach of Assess, Plan, Do, Review.  This means:

1. The class teacher assesses the pupil’s needs
2. The class teacher plans appropriate adjustments, provision and liaise with SEND Lead to set targets
3. Class practice is adapted for the child and provision is made at a whole class, small group or individual level
4. Progress is reviewed termly against set targets
5. Involvement of other professionals, where needed, with parental consent.

The child’s progress will be monitored by the class teacher, SEND Lead and SLT. The school is expected to use its existing resources to support pupils receiving SEN Support. Achieving for Children (AfC) have produced a document outlining Ordinarily Available Provision in schools and this can be found here.

In some cases, the amount of support that a child requires is above and beyond the SEND resources within the school. If after at least two terms of support (local authority and EPS expectation), we have evidence that the child is not making progress then we would consider whether an application for an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) is the next step. As part of this process, the school holds a multi-agency meeting (MAM) with parents, teachers and all other professionals involved with the child to discuss whether this is the appropriate step to provide for the child’s needs. If the local authority agrees to assess the child’s needs, this may result in an EHCP being awarded. This comes with additional resources and funding. 

For further information about the Educational Health Care Plan Assessment (EHCNA) process, including parental requests, please click here.

Any referrals to an outside professional will only happen with parental consent.

When a pupil’s needs are cognitive or social, emotional and / or mental health related and the interventions put in place to support them are not showing improvement over time (usually two terms) then the school can contact their assigned educational psychologist (EP). 

AfC Educational Psychology Service operates a consultation model of service delivery that promotes early intervention in order to minimise pupils’ barriers to learning. EPs apply psychology in working with staff, parents, pupils and other agencies in order to generate solutions to concerns and facilitate change. AfC EPs work as a resource for schools for all children, promoting psychological wellbeing, inclusion and raising standards across the full range of age and abilities.

The school buys in a number of hours of EP time per year. Some of this is assigned to supporting assessments and meetings linked to existing EHCPs. The school EP can also provide advice and direct work (if deemed appropriate) to other pupils within the school. This is the process she follows:

• Initial consultation with parents and school staff (assess)
• Actions agreed during meeting (plan)
• School staff and parents will carry out the actions (do)
• Review meeting (usually within a term) with parents and school staff (review) to agree next steps

For pupils with an EHCP, the school assigned speech and language therapist (SaLT), occupational therapist (OT) and physiotherapist (PT) work with them using a consultative model, with either half-termly or termly visits. The professional sees the child alongside their key adult and talks through progress and next steps.

If a child does not have an EHCP, but parents believe they have a speech and communication, or occupational therapy need then the SEND Lead can discuss the pupil in the termly consultation clinic (with parental consent). A referral to speech and language or occupational therapy may be suggested. The OT service expects to see evidence that the school has implemented strategies from the Occupational Therapy Mainstream pack and progress is still not being made before they will see a child in clinic. The OT mainstream pack provides assessment tools and screeners plus suggested strategies and resources for use in school. Support staff have received training on areas of need such as handwriting, fine motor skills and sensory circuits.

If a Nursery pupil has language and communication or fine or gross motor skills needs, then the SEND Lead can make a referral to the Early Years therapy service who will assess any child up to the age of 5 years old. 

For pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs, school can also refer to Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) via The Emotional Health team or Family Support Workers. Unless there is a safeguarding issue we would always seek permission from parents before making this referral.

Teaching for children with SEND

‘High-quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have special educational needs (SEN).’ (SEND Code of Practice, 2015: 6.37)

Children with SEND are supported in a number of different ways. There may be strategies that can be used in class to support them, such as a visual timetable or a task list or they may receive 1:1 support, work in a small intervention group during school hours or be invited to attend additional booster lessons after school. The children are carefully monitored and the support is given on a needs basis.

Most class teaching is done with mixed ability pairs which we believe benefits all children in the class: those that are currently attaining at a higher level are given the opportunity to explain their understanding to those currently attaining at a lower level. This requires precision and a clear understanding of the subject matter. For those attaining at a lower level, it provides an additional opportunity to understand the concept or theme in question, having it explained to them by a peer.

Time and thought has been put into creating an environment best suited to the needs of all pupils but especially providing for those who may need breaks from the classroom. 

There are a number of additional rooms that are used for small group and 1:1 work without the distraction of working in a large shared area.

The environment has been created with muted colours and structured in such a way that is calm, uncluttered and conducive to a relaxed state appropriate for learning.

Additional equipment includes a sensory tent, sensory materials, Physio / OT aids such as medicine balls, peanut balls, scooter boards and wobble boards.

There are two lunchtime provisions offered three times a week to support pupils who may find the playground and dining room over-stimulating. Mindful Art (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) is run by Olivia Berners-Price, Artist in residence and offers a calm space to explore with creative materials.  There are also Nurture time sessions (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday) in the Library with Polly, Well-being Mentor. Invitations to these sessions are sent out in consultation with class teachers but there are also drop-in passes available.

SEND training is included in the staff Continued Professional Development (CPD) sessions. Training is organised in line with the school improvement plan, parental requests and on a needs basis as a result of routine observations of staff throughout the year.

Staff are regularly filmed and this is used as a training tool in order to share best practice across the school.

Staff are also encouraged to attend training courses run by Achieving for Children and other external providers. For example, the educational psychologist (EP) attached to our school recently led a whole staff in-service training day (INSET) training for staff on Attention and Memory Strategies and Meta-Cognition. 

Reasonable adjustments

All clubs, trip and activities offered to pupils are available to pupils with special educational needs and / or disabilities. For some pupils, ‘reasonable adjustments’ may need to be made so that they can fully access school trips and journeys. This is always undertaken in partnership with parents and carers.  This can include social stories, liaising with outside providers, providing extra school staff on school journeys and putting extra planning and risk assessments in place. 

Please see our SEND Policy on the school’s website for further information regarding reasonable adjustments.

Progress and communication

Parents are able to make appointments with their child’s class teacher at any point in the school year.  Once this has happened, if a further conversation with the SEND Lead would be helpful, please email hsmith@barnes.richmond.sch.uk or info@barnes.richmond.sch.uk

All parents are invited to attend termly parent consultations to discuss their child’s progress.  Furthermore, parents of children with an EHCP are invited to attend an annual review. If a pupil is under 5 years old, there will be a 6-monthly review meeting. All children receive a written report (via School Gateway) once a year. 

For children with an EHCP, communication books, emails, face-to-face conversations will be used to communicate between home and school (frequency and approach to be agreed between parents and school).

Wellbeing

The Positive Behaviour policy is applicable to all children but we understand that a child with certain types of special educational needs may find it harder to understand and follow the playground rules than a child who is typically developing, and support is put in place and allowances are made for this.

Key children have “communication passports” that are shared amongst all staff including lunchtime supervisors so that they are aware of these children and are able to approach and communicate with them in a way that best supports their needs.

We try extremely hard to deal with issues and help support children rather than excluding them for their behaviour. A fixed-term exclusion is a very rare occurrence and has only applied to one pupil in the last fifteen years.

The school focuses a great deal of time on developing the children’s social and emotional skills. Beginning in the Nursery and Reception, a major focus is helping the children to understand the routines and behaviour expectations of school. From the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) through to Key Stage Two (KS2), a visual timetable is on the board so that the children are aware of what is coming up.

Wellbeing Mentor Polly Kelynack

Polly’s role is to give children the time and space to talk through feelings. She empowers them to reflect on situations where we have identified that they are experiencing emotional difficulty. The difficulty can be friendship based; coping with anxiety; bereavement, managing tricky situations at home; or coping with real or imagined worries and feelings of isolation (and not knowing who to turn to for help).

Polly is helped in her role by Herbie, the school dog. Children love spending time with him.  

Children can be referred by the Headteacher, their class teacher or their parent. They can also self-refer through the school’s worry box.

As part of her role, Polly makes referrals to the Mental Health Support Team who can offer additional therapeutic support to both parents and children. She also co-ordinates Resilience groups which are led by an experienced member of the support staff team.

Transition arrangements

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.

Prior to your child joining us from Nursery / primary school we will:

• Liaise with their current Nursery / school and arrange to visit your child in their setting (if local)
• Offer additional transition visits
• Encourage the Nursery to take photos of our Reception classrooms. Where a child is joining a year other than Reception we will take photos of key adults and their learning environment. These photos can be used to help prepare your child; a social story may also be created.

When moving up to the next year group in school:

• Information will be passed onto the new class teacher in advance and time given for planning and handover meetings
• Additional visits to their new classroom and to spend time with class teacher
• Transition booklet with photos of key adults and the environment
• Social Stories will be written to aid transition
• Some children may be given an invitation to come to school on one of the September INSET days to meet with their key adults and to help with transition back after the long summer break.

In Year 6:

• Year 6 teachers and SEND Lead will liaise closely with pupil’s secondary school
• Your child will join a ‘transition group’ where they will do focused learning about aspects of transition to support their understanding of the changes ahead
• Where possible, your child will have more than one opportunity to visit their new school and in some cases staff from the new school will visit your child in class
• Where appropriate a social story can be created to aid transition

Mid-year transfers:

Your child will be provided with a buddy to help them navigate around the school and may also have the support of our Wellbeing mentor to help them feel comfortable and settle well.

Complaints procedure

The same arrangements for the treatment of complaints at Barnes Primary School are used for complaints about provision made for special educational needs and disabilities. Please see the Complaints Policy on the school website.

Useful information and links

For more information about support and advice for SEND in Richmond, please visit the local offer on  https://www.afcinfo.org.uk/local_offer

Richmond and Kingston SENDIASS is a free and confidential service offering impartial information, advice and support on issues relating to a child’s or young person’s special educational needs or disability.  They work with parents, carers, and with children and young people from 0 – 25 in Richmond and Kingston. 

The Croft Centre, Windham Road, Twickenham TW9 2HP and at The Moor Lane Centre, Moor Lane, Chessington KT9 2AA.
Freephone number:  0808 164 5527 
Email: info@RKsendiass.co.uk
Website: rksendiass.co.uk

‘Skylarks is an independent Richmond upon Thames-based charity that provides activities and therapies for children with disabilities and additional needs. We also support and provide therapies, courses and information for their whole family.’

Website: https://www.skylarks.charity/

‘ADHD Embrace is a Richmond charity supporting parents and professionals who live and work with kids and teens with ADHD.  Providing a support community for the parents and professionals is at the heart of what we do. We provide a variety of services including specialist seminars led by experts, teacher seminars, free ADHD workshops, subsidised parenting courses and an ADHD resource library and video store.’

Website:  https://adhdembrace.org/

Ruils is a user-led charity support disabled children and adults and people with long term health and mental health conditions to live independently, be part of their community and to live life to the full.  We provide information, advice, advocacy, befriending and activities to our clients and their families

Website: https://www.ruils.co.uk/

Report published: January 2025

To be reviewed: June 2025