Inclusion

Over several years we have worked to ensure both our Federation schools meet the requirements and expectations of the document linked below, 'Ordinarily Available Provision' which sets out what all our teachers and classes should have in place as established practice, to help us meet the needs of ALL learners.

All Hertfordshire maintained schools have a similar approach to meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). We are supported by the Local Authority to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs, make the best possible progress in school. Schools aim to be inclusive, with the needs of SEND pupils being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible.  Our staff have regular training, led by our SENCO team and external specialists, on how to meet a range of needs and how to make reasonable adjustments and adaptations for learners across our curriculum.  The 'Ordinarily Available Provision' document  from Herts is helpful for parents in understanding what we can put in place for your child:

We have an Inclusion team of experienced SEN staff working across both our schools, namely Mrs Smart, Mrs Munroe and Mrs Ironside. Mrs Smart holds the National Award for SEN Co-ordination (NASENCO) and alongside Mrs Ironside, who is hugely experienced over many years - serves as our named SENCOs. 

The team work closely with our class staff, working alongside them in classrooms to identify needs, organise provision and ensure appropriate scaffolding and support is given within lessons. In addition they liaise with external professionals in order to meet the needs of our children and support families in applying for EHCPs, or other targeted support and help. They are part of the Herts network of SEN practitioners, attend training and termly update meetings, as well as the annual conference, and thereby ensure that knowledge of Hertfordshire procedures, as well as the wider training that they offer our staff, reflects current development in SEN national policy and research. 

If you want to talk about your child’s special educational need or disability the Inclusion team can be contacted in school.   Appointments can be made via the school office.

For questions and answers about the type of support we are able to provide at Bushey Primary Education Federation, please read the documents below. (In response to parent feedback we have included a simplified version of the Information Report which outlines the main elements).

• Hertfordshire Local Offer-services for children/young people with SEND
www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/local-offer/the-hertfordshire-local-offer.aspx

• Developing Specialist Provision Locally (DSPL 9)

What is Delivering Special Provision Locally (DSPL)?

DSPL is a Hertfordshire-wide partnership approach where parents, staff in early years settings and schools, further education colleges, local authority officers and representatives from other agencies, work together as part of an Area Group, reviewing and developing the range of provision and support services available to their local community that :

• Meets the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), aged 0-25, as close to home as possible.
• Improves outcomes for wellbeing and attainment
• Widens choice for children and parents/carers
• Removes barriers to learning
• Uses resources more effectively

For more information, please go to:

http://dsplarea9.org.uk/

• SEND Advice Lines for Parents/Carers (139KB)
• Contactline Poster (555KB)

Support and Interventions 

The ordinarily available provision document sets out how our teachers and staff will offer adaptations and support within the classroom and as part of the quality offer of strong teaching that exists in our schools.  Sometimes parents request documentation or detail around these support mechanisms, but we refer them to this document and to the termly reports and meetings they will have with teachers, and if your child is making progress, then we need to always think about decreasing support structures to develop independence, not increase them.  

There can sometimes be suggestions of interventions or gadgets, raised by parents, which they feel might help their child, but we work within the realms of scientifically researched support interventions for children, and recognise that there is much out there that can be detrimental to children, or fuel deficit-thinking and a lack of self-esteem, agency and self-belief in the child.  What works for one child, as prescribed by a specialist such as an Occupational Therapist or Educational Pyshologist, might not work for another child.  We appreciate parents stating that they see other children benefitting from a support mechanism e.g 'ear defenders' - but we might have a different view from our observations in school - and there needs to be trust and respect for the differing ways we might then adopt to help the child manage and navigate their differing environments. What works for you at home, might not be the best support mechanism for us to use in school.

This recent review of the scientific research around some of the interventions and gadgets you might have heard about spells out the dangers of utilising them, or indeed their sheer waste of time, in supporting our children to achieve independent success in their learning.  

Hertfordshire SEN Strategy - Proposal Documentation and Consultation Link