SEND

Our school vision statement is, ‘Together we can Achieve More’.  Our school has three core values of: respect, kindness and co-operation.

These values ensure that all members of the school community are committed to working in partnership and this includes: parents, pupils, school staff, school governors, outside agencies and the wider community.

As a school we regularly get involved in school initiatives for SEND charities to raise awareness, promote acceptance and celebrate diversity in our community.

We regularly take part in SEND national initiatives such as Place2Be Children’s Mental Health Week, Anti-bullying Awareness Week and World Autism Awareness week.

Highfield Primary School is a 3 form entry mainstream primary school with a 60 place nursery. The school currently has approx. 650 children on roll.

Highfield Primary School caters for children from 3 – 11 years of age.

What’s special about Highfield. Highfield Primary School is an inclusive school. In 2022 we will be open a KS1 Autism Resource Provision. This is a class of up to 10 children who have an Education Health Care Plan, diagnosis of autism and who Enfield SEN services have directed the school to offer a specialist placement. These children will also spend some time in the main school joining enrichment activities and developing friendships

In classrooms visuals like Colourful Semantics is used to support early communication.

Our last inspection was carried out on the 27th and 28th April 2022 and the school continued to be graded OUTSTANDING.

Highfield Primary School knows that a pupil has an SEND by a variety of ways.

• Parents may inform the school prior to or during admission.
• Outside agencies may contact the school prior to/during admission or whilst the child is a pupil at the school.
•  Class teachers may identify concerns re progress or behaviours and Phase Leaders, Senco or Learning Mentors may become involved in a school based programme.
•  It may be that the school seeks additional information from a screen by a specialist teacher such as a dyslexic screen or assessments completed by outside agencies e.g. Educational Psychology Service, Behaviour Support Service, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, and Occupational Therapists.
•  We strongly believe in a partnership approach with our parents, therefore class teacher and class support staff initially will raise concerns with parents or vice versa.
• Make an appointment with the class teacher to discuss initial concerns. This may lead to an appointment with the SENCo.

• What’s special about Highfield? We employ our own part-time Speech Therapist Elaine Dunn. Elaine works within our SEND team to provide observations, assessments, advice and also leads interventions such as ‘Word aware’ to support the development of vocabulary and confidence using language. We are a Place2Be school, our Place2Be school councillor co-ordinates Place2Be (1:1 counselling) place2talk (pupil self nomination counselling) and Place2think (counselling for staff).

If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed

• If you have concerns speak to your child’s class teacher initially. If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed and that your child is still not making progress you should speak to the Year Group Leader, Phase Leader or SENCO
• If you are still unhappy, you should see the Head teacher.
• The school does have a complaints procedure which you can access here

Support for children with special educational needs:

• At Highfield Primary your child will receive consistently good teaching in the classroom on a daily basis – this is also known as ‘Quality First Teaching’. This means the teacher has high expectations for your child, will build on their strengths and adapt teaching strategies to help your child overcome barriers to learning. All lessons are matched to children’s individual needs and lessons differentiated accordingly. Work provides a sufficient amount of consolidation and challenge to ensure progress/new learning is made.
• Teaching specific short achievable targets in a cycle of ‘Assess, Plan, Do and Review’.  All targets are developed with you and your child; these are recorded on a Child Support Plan.

• Some children will benefit from working in an intervention group click here to see our provision map of interventions at Highfield
• Some children will need to be referred to an external professional so that we can access support and advice from them. Such professionals might include Occupational Therapy (OT) or an Educational Psychologist (EP).  Waiting lists for these professionals can be long and are prioritised against the needs of the other children in the school.  If it is a health or medical matter, parents may also go to their GP for these referrals as sometimes this can be quicker than referring through school.
• A very small number of children with severe, complex and long term difficulties may require more specific individual support beyond that already provided by the school. This can be provided by requesting a statutory assessment for an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). Please click on the Local Offer link at the beginning of this report for more information on this process.
• What’s special about Highfield? Our SENCO provides regular staff training for teachers and support staff – this year we have considered Neurodiversity (well-being, dyslexia, autism and attachment) to support class teachers with inclusive Quality 1st Teaching.
• At Highfield we use Quality first teaching to support a variety of learning styles – auditory, kinaesthetic and visual. We encourage children to be independent and successful by using strategies such as visuals, checklists and providing alternative recording methods.

Interventions in addition to the provision map also include.

• Each class has a SEN box of resources, these include dyslexic friendly coloured overlays/word and letter references/visuals, finger grips, posture cushions, slanted writing slope. Each class has iPad equipped with software to support literacy, numeracy and some specialist programmes like 'clicker 7' a dyslexic friendly spelling intervention.
• The class teacher and/or TA support staff will carry out interventions and short programmes as suggested by outside agencies. For example to support early speaking and listening, we have introduced two new intervention ‘Talkboost’ and ‘Word Aware’.

Resources available to children with special educational needs:

• Identified by SENCo and Head teacher.
• SEND SEF completed annually identifies areas of strength and development.

Budget allocated

• Dependant on individual needs and concerns.
• Children with a SEND needs will receive specialist support. SEN specialist TA's will offer specialist provision in the mornings with a parallel curriculum. Some support with the majority of School Support children will take place within classrooms.
• Specialist SEN TA for KS1 pupils.
• Specialist SEN TA for KS2 pupils.
• Parents involved in writing a Child Support Plan reviewed at Parents Evenings or at Annual Review for pupils with an EHCP.

Keeping parents informed

• Regular, daily contact with parents if necessary.
• Home/School booklet for comments from home and school.
• Resources can be provided to support at home e.g. visual timetables, transition books.
• Child Support Plan discussion, input and parents given a copy.Discussion with school staff re: the planning/provision of learning.
• Initial discussions, Parents Evenings, Annual Reviews of EHCP.
• Referral to outside agencies e.g. Enfield Advisory Service for Autism
• BSS Family Support.

Tracking progress

• Children’s levels are tracked termly and analysed. The majority of children will be working towards Age Related Expectations for their year group. A more sensitive assessment tool is used which shows smaller steps of progress.  The level is called ‘Lancaster Grid revised P levels’, these are P levels tracking small steps of progress that have been revised to run alongside the updated National Curriculum.
• Pupil Progress meetings held termly to discuss all pupils attainment and progress.
• Frequent data analysis.

What’s special about Highfield?

Pupils voice

• The SENCO regularly looks at the children on the SEND registers books; she also spends time conferencing children to ensure they are happy and confident learners.
• Children with SEN are represented on our school council, young interpreters and mini mentor interventions.

• Example Child Support plan which includes the parent and pupils voice

Support offered for children’s health and general wellbeing:

• Epi-pen trained staff
• Place2Be counsellor
• Personal care can be provided by medical and other members of staff. Administration of medicines in line with individual care plans. Some medicines will need to be administered by parents before school and by arrangement within the school day
• Attendance at Fair Access Panel
• 2 Learning Mentors with individual and/or group programmes
• Consultation and sometimes individual support by BSS
• Attendance Officer to work in partnership with parents to increase attendance
• If appropriate pupils to attend meetings that relate to them
• Research has concluded SEND pupils are more susceptible to bullying. Bullying of any kind is taken very seriously and  at Highfield  we participate in the Anti Bullying Alliance campaign, we record and analyse all incidences of bullying recording trends in ethnic group/SEND/gender/pupil premium
• Mrs Togher has completed the Youth Training Mental Health First Aid Training and provides advice and support for vulnerable children and families

Click here to see our anti bullying policy/behaviour & safeguarding policy

What’s special about Highfield?

• We have two dedicated TA’s who overview and manage the medical room, they work in partnership with the SENCo and school nurse to produce care plans for children with medical needs.
• We have two learning mentors who support social skill and friendship interventions, they also lead on anti-bullying procedures and coordinate the playground buddying scheme.

School-based expertise and specialist services accessed:

• Our own part-time Speech Therapist
• Learning Mentors
• Place2Be Counsellor
• Senco who holds Module 1 & 2 of Masters in Special and Inclusive Education (IOE, London).
• COSIE (safe handling of children) trained members of staff
• Autism specialist team providing whole staff inset training on Autism and good practice
• SEN TA staff specialist SEN CPD
• EYFS staff Makaton trained.
• Access to the borough Educational Psychology Service, Behaviour Support Service, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Speech and Language therapists, Occupational therapist, Social Care.

Staff training

• Senco – Module 1 & 2 passed of Masters in Special & Inclusive Education.
• Wide range of outside agency support e.g. Waverley school outreach
• Place2Be therapist offers CPD to individual staff and groups/whole staff.
• SENCo, Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologist all deliver staff training. This year the SENCO has delivered training to all teaching and TA staff on dyslexia, autism, emotional well-being and is completing a training course so that Highfield will soon become a ‘Lead Attachment Aware’ school in the borough.

Activities and school trips

• Pupils with additional needs/SEND are included in all extra curriculum activities. Individual risk assessments are completed if necessary and additional measures/adult support are put in place as necessary.
• Parents will be consulted re: trips and additional provision.
• Highfield Breakfast and Tea Time Club is fully accessible to all children, both are very popular and there is a waiting list. Please contact the school office to register your interest.

Please ask at the school office for an up to date extensive list of all school clubs and additional activities available this term

Our school environment

• The ground floor of the school building is fully wheelchair accessible.
• Visual impairment provision re: yellow lines/Braille labels.
• Auditory impairment provision re: acoustics and support from Haringey School Support Team.
• The existing building and recent new build have a disabled shower and toilet facilities for children and adults.
• Some equipment and facilities will be provided from the school’s special educational needs budget. Additional provision e.g. Specialist computers/Braille equipment may be resourced additionally by the LA.
• Some children will require physical adaptations in the classroom and additional resources.

Spring planting in the Dali class garden

Preparing for children joining our school and transition to other schools.

• Transition books and social stories made and started beginning of July and taken home for the summer holidays.
• Additional visits to new class/meet new staff with a familiar trusted adult.
• Transition Programme (compiled by BSS but suitable for all pupils) undertaken if necessary.
• Additional visits to new school.
• Additional meetings arranged between Highfield School, parents, pupils and receiving school

Example of a social story

Parents involvement in school life

• Parents are consulted in decisions relating to their children’s time at Highfield School. Staff will discuss what the provision looks like on a day-to-day basis and will consult with parents re: any adjustments being made.
• Place2Be coffee mornings
• For EAL parents Access to a London based translation service
• School website all letters and information can be translated into a variety of languages.

Have a wide range of employed staff who can translate into community languages.

Quotes from some of our parents

SEND Parent Questionnaire findings

During the parent/teacher consultation, parents of children on the school SEND register were given a questionnaire to complete.  Approximately 40 % of the SEND parent cohort completed and returned the questionnaire.  This is a summary of parent feedback.

I feel my child is making good progress at school. 96% of parents agreed, 4% partly agreed with this question.

I know how my child is supported in school. 92% of parents agreed, 8% partly agreed with this question.

I am concerned that my child’s not getting enough support. 8% of parents agreed, 12% partly agreed, but 80% disagreed with this question.

I feel I have sufficient information and communication about my child’s progress 92% of parents agreed, 8% partly agreed with this question.

I know which stage of the SEN Code of Practice my child is on 84% of parents agreed, 4% partly agreed with this question and 12% didn’t know.

I have been offered the opportunity to share my child’s targets and Child support Plan with their class teacher 84% of parents agreed, 8% partly agreed, and 8% didn’t know the answer to this question.

I feel that the staff at Highfield have given me suggestions of ways to support my child at home. 84% of parents agreed, 8% partly agreed with this question.

I am able to approach staff about my concerns that I have regarding my child. 96% of parents agreed, 4% partly agreed with this question.

I have confidence in the leadership of SEN provision and interventions within the school. 92% of parents agreed, 4% partly agreed and 4% didn’t know the answer to this question.

Parents were also asked to add any further comments about their experience at Highfield. The parent feedback comments were very positive.

Parent comments:

• The staff are amazingly supportive and helpful.
• I feel very very happy and are supported at every stage. Thank you for always being on hand with advice and guidance. I wouldn’t be on this journey without your team.
• I am happy with the support my child is getting from the teaching staff.
• The teacher is fantastic, I’m really happy with all the support I receive and can’t think of any improvements.
• Thank you all for helping my son in his learning. He benefits greatly from the kind support and non-judgemental environment.
• I am happy with everything at Highfield. The SENco and staff have always supported my son. He has autism, they always make sure that the work is catered to his needs and always make sure he is happy.
• I get a lot of help and advice from school and from the SENco.
• I have answered ‘partly agreed’ to question 9 because although we have confident in the SENco and interventions used, they do seem overstretched in terms of resourcing.  Additional funding is necessary to provide the adequate support across the school and ensure a truly inclusive and supportive environment.
• The support has really helped my child and the nursery staff are brilliant.

Contact for more information or to discuss a concern:

• First point of contact will be the child’s class teacher.
• Any concerns to the SENCo re: the provision for pupils with SEND.
• Further concerns in writing to the Governing Body.
• If parents feel their child may need additional support or have a SEND they can contact the SENCo Cathy Togher, please contact through the school office initially.

Our offer to children with special educational needs and disabilities was prepared on 1st September 2014

This report was reviewed and updated in May 2016, April 2017 in consultation with a sample group of SEN parents.  Most recently updated June 2022.

It will be reviewed and updated every 6 months from that date.