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Wootton Lower School

Wootton Lower School is a school situated in the village of Wootton, Bedford. We currently have 444 on role. We are a three form entry school. Our school has Early Years to Year 4 across two sites.

As a school we value the abilities and achievements of all its pupils regardless of gender, race and/or disability. We are committed to discovering and providing the best learning conditions for each pupil, promoting development in understanding and social maturity alongside their peers wherever possible.
We believe that all pupils have the same entitlement to the full range of the school curriculum, and we are committed to making this accessible to all our pupils through differentiation and varied teaching styles, according to individual needs.
At Wootton Lower School we embrace the fact that every child is different and therefore, the educational needs of every child is different; this is certainly the case for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.

Who to contact

Contact Name
Wendy Burnett
Contact Position
SENDCo
Telephone
E-mail
Office@woottonlowerschool.co.uk
Website
www.woottonlowerschool.org/

Where to go

Address
Wootton Lower School
Harris Way
Wootton
Bedford
Postcode
MK43 9FZ
Get directions

Other Details

Costs

Details
Breakfast Club Harris Way: 8.00am – 8.45am, session price £3.80 Bedford Road: 8.00am – 9.00am, session price £4.50 After School Club Session 1 3.30pm - 4.30pm Session 2 4.30pm - 5.30pm When booking online you have 3 booking options: Option 1 – Session 1 only £4.50 Option 2 – Session 2 plus holding fee for session 1 £5.50 The holding fee for session 1 is payable if your child is attending an after school club, e.g. tennis, Mad Science, Multi Sports. Option 3 – Session 1 & 2 £9.00

Availability

Referral required
No
Age Bands
0-4 years old
5-10 years old

Schools Extended Local Offer Response

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

t different times in their school career, a child or young person may have a special educational need.

The Code of Practice (January 2015) defines SEN as follows: “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:

(a)    has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age:

(b)    or (b) has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.”

Where pupils’ progress is significantly slower than that of their peers, or fails to match their previous rate of progress, despite high quality teaching targeted at specific areas of difficulty, it may be that the child has SEN.

All children are closely tracked from their baseline assessment on entry to school, enabling early identification and intervention. If it is felt a child may have SEN, information will be gathered seeking the views of parents and child, as well as from teachers and assessments. After gathering all information, the class teacher in conjunction with the SENCO will decide whether they believe a child has Special Educational Needs.

They will then meet with parents and where appropriate the child, to plan a way forward. This involves writing a ‘Provision Map’. The class teacher will produce this and it clearly sets out what extra provision has been put in place to help with the child’s particular needs. Parents and children can have input into the Provision Map.

There can be many reasons for learners ‘falling behind’. These may include absences from school, attending lots of different schools, difficulties with speaking English, or worries that distract them from learning.

At Wootton Lower School we are committed to ensuring that all learners have access to learning opportunities, and for those who are at risk of not learning, we will provide interventions. This does not mean that all vulnerable learners have SEN. Only those with a learning difficulty that requires special educational provision will be identified as having SEN. Sometimes learners may have more complex learning difficulties and in these cases the school calls upon the services of Bedford Borough’s SEND team. Where appropriate, we may ask professionals, such as Educational Psychologists or Autism Advisory Teachers, to come and assess a child. This helps us to gain a profounder understanding of a learner’s needs.

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

All children joining the Reception Class and Preschool are visited at home by members of the teaching team, and this provides an opportunity for answering queries and establishing any support needs that will need to be planned for before the child starts school.

Children starting reception are invited to attend a morning session in the summer term prior to starting school in the September to meet the teachers, explore the setting, and find out about the curriculum.

For children with SEN, additional meetings are set up with the SENCO to learn as much as possible. Furthermore, if additional professionals are involved with your child then they will also meet with the class teachers and SENCO prior to your child starting school. Class teachers and the SENCO will also meet your child in their preschool to get to know them whilst they are in a familiar setting. They will also meet with preschool staff and key workers to discuss the outcomes towards which the child is working, and to share practice which has assisted and supported the child’s progress towards those outcomes

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's/young person's needs?

Wootton Lower School we believe in participation for all. We strive to create an inclusive culture in our school and we aim to be responsive to the diversity of children’s backgrounds, interests, experience, knowledge and skills. We value high quality teaching for all learners and actively monitor teaching and learning in the school. All lessons are differentiated to meet the needs of different learners.

For specific areas of the curriculum children with SEN will sometimes have additional adult support in their learning. However, we do not want children to become reliant on working with an adult and we ensure children build up independent working skills too.

For children with SEN they have specific targets to work on which are specified on their provision maps. Children will work one to one or in small groups with Learning Support Assistants and class teachers to meet these targets. Sometimes this learning happens outside of the classroom in one of our intervention rooms. Class teachers constantly monitor progress and update targets as necessary. Children with SEN will sometimes need specific resources. The SENCO will ensure resources are allocated according to need.

 

We are committed to meeting the needs of all pupils including those with SEN. We make all reasonable adaptations to the curriculum and the learning environment to make sure that pupils with SEN are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers. We work closely with families and partners to work out what children with SEND might need before they start with us, and what adjustments we might need to be make. We discuss with families what we can do to adapt the curriculum and/or the building as necessary in order to provide additional resources and support which may be needed.

 

Teachers will be supported by the SENCO to assess, plan and differentiate the curriculum or make adaptations to meet the needs of pupils with SEN. We also work closely with outside agencies to ensure we are meeting the child’s needs.

For example we might need to:

 · provide visual resources to support learning

 · rearrange the layout of the classroom

 · install sound loops in classrooms

 · create a quiet area in the school

 · buy specialist ICT software

In considering what adaptations we need to make the SENCO will work with the Head Teacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements.

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

The SENCO regularly reviews provision maps to ensure children are making progress. In addition, their attainment is monitored termly in Pupil Progress Reviews to ensure progress is being made. If progress is not sufficient, this is discussed so that alternative arrangements can be made whether it means an alternative intervention or the need to refer on to other agencies. Specific interventions are measured to ensure effectiveness. Termly discussions with children and parents help to gain a broader view of educational progress.

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall well being?

We are a Values school and we encourage all our children to follow our school’s values. We have a new value each half term. Our values are positivity, hope, trust, friendship, respect, love, patience, honesty, teamwork, humility, courage and perseverance. Values are taught in class, there are assemblies and children are rewarded for showing their values at any time in the school day to anyone. The school follows the “Jigsaw” scheme which incorporates Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development. Our Anti-Bullying policy ensures that bullying issues are tackled. Where a child has a greater emotional or social need, we have a Play Therapist who works with some of our children.

What specialist services and expertise are avaliable at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

Sometimes, the school feels we need additional support for a child with SEN. In these cases the SENCO will make a referral to the Bedford Borough SEND team or a request for involvement will be made to another agency. Often this has to be in the form of a request to a panel. In the event of submitting a request to a panel, parents will be fully involved.

The school works with many agencies including:

 · The MASH (Multi Agency Support Hub)

 · The Education Support Panel

 · Autism Advisory Teachers

 · The Educational Psychology Service

 · The Early Years Support Service

 · Speech and Language Therapy Service

 · The Virtual School

 · CHUMS – Emotional & Well-being Support

 · Family Intensive Support Service

What training have the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had? Are any being trained currently?

Staff have had training on working with children with SEN both for general learning difficulties and on more specific areas such as autism, dyslexia, literacy and maths interventions, reading intervention, behaviour strategies and communication difficulties. All school staff are trained in Safeguarding and there are designated staff for safeguarding concerns. There are specially trained paediatric first aiders. The SENCO has successfully completed the National SENCO Award. Training is refreshed regularly and as needs arise. All opportunities for additional training are sought to ensure that staff have an up to date working knowledge of SEN issues and current legislation. Where more specific expertise is required, the SENCO requests the involvement of specialist such as Educational Psychologists, Autism Advisory Teachers and Early Years Advisory Teachers.

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom including school trips?

We aim for all children to be included in all school activities including day visits and residential trips. We will make any reasonable adjustments, having consulted with parents, to ensure that this is successful. A risk assessment is carried out prior to any off-site activity to ensure everyone’s health & safety will not be compromised. In the unlikely event that it is considered unsafe for a child to take part in an activity, then alternative activities, which will cover the same curriculum areas will be provided in school.

How will the setting/school/college prepare and support my child/young person to join the setting/school/college or the next stage of education and life?

When a child with SEN is moving into a new year group, the current teacher will meet with the receiving teacher. They will clarify the outcomes towards which the child is working, and share strategies and interventions that have proved successful.

 

When a child with SEND is transitioning to a new school (at whatever stage during their school career this takes place), the SENCO will liaise with the SENCO of the receiving school. The child’s class teacher may also be involved in this transition meeting. Here targets being worked on and successful strategies used as well as current attainment, strengths and areas for development will be discussed.

When a child with SEN transfers to middle school, the SENCO will schedule visits to the receiving school for children due to attend there. There will also be transition meetings between year 4 class teachers and a member of staff from the middle school. This provides an opportunity for us to share all we know about the child, strategies which are successful, their strengths and areas for development. For some children with SEN, transition is an incredibly difficult time. We therefore arrange extra visits to the new school for some children to aid them in the transition to middle school. For children who have an EHC plan, we invite the middle school to their year 4 Annual Review.

How are the setting's/school's/college's resources allocated and matched to children's/young people's special educational needs?

We ensure that the needs of all students who have SEN are met to the best of the school’s ability with the funds available.

We have a team of support staff who are funded from the SEN budget and support children on a 1 to 1 or small group basis.

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

The budget is allocated on a needs basis. The children who have the most complex needs are given the most support. We discuss with parents regularly about the support their child receives and any applications regarding further support from external agencies are discussed together. 

How are parents involved in the setting/school/college? How can I be involved?

We believe that parents have a very important role to play in their son or daughter’s education and encourage dialogue which supports the students learning needs.

New parents are invited to attend meetings and we hold parent consultations throughout the year to inform parents about the different stages of their child’s education.

We have an open-door policy where you are welcome any time to make an appointment to meet with either the class teacher or SENCo and discuss how your child is getting on. Our Family Support workers work closely with parents and families to ensure they have all the support they need.