SEND Frequently asked Q&A for Parents

St William’s aims to be an inclusive school to all our children whatever their needs. We recognise that every child is precious and made in the image of God and our aim is that every member of the school community is valued through recognition of individual strengths and talents. We want all our children to feel that they are a valued part of our school community. We aim to achieve this through the removal of barriers to learning and participation that can hinder or exclude individuals or groups of children so that all pupils receive equality of entitlement to all activities.

Parents will be informed of their child’s progress in the autumn and spring terms at Parents’ Evenings. A written report will be sent home at the end of the summer term. Further meetings will be held with parents to discuss any additional special needs support, assessments, outside agencies interventions or to review outcomes. If a child has an identified special need, school and parents will meet at least termly to discuss the child’s progress. Where a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, a Local authority, person-centred annual review will be carried out, with all agencies invited to the meeting together with parents, teaching staff and the child.

Our school uses a full, carefully planned and tailored Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum programme, to enable children to develop self-awareness, motivation, empathy and social skills and support them in developing their ability to manage their feelings.
St William’s aims to help all children develop as individuals in our school and wider community. Residential weekends, visits and special events provide opportunities for children to plan and work together, and develop and maintain relationships in different situations.

Additional to this, there are lots of opportunities for children to talk to trusted adults in school. We have established nurture mentors, who are available for all the children and also work specifically with identified pupils with additional needs. Different approaches and programmes are used to help pupils, including in one-to-one and small group settings as well as through whole class support.
St William’s also works closely with other agencies- including Bolton Behaviour Support Service and Ladywood Outreach Service- to further support pupils’ social and emotional development. This can include work in the mainstream classroom as well as group work- such as a friendship group or turn-taking intervention.
Wherever possible and appropriate, children are involved in meetings arranged with teaching staff and parents to discuss and set desired outcomes and to review progress made towards these. Teachers discuss the outcomes individually with the child and ensure these are understood.

The following records are kept securely in school:
• Initial Early Help Assessment paperwork and Early Help Review paperwork, signed by both school and parents.

• Copies of children’s termly individual provision maps, detailing a pupil’s specific targets and progress towards those targets.

• Replies and letters from parents

• Reports, strategies and advice from multi-agency professionals; this can include reports from the paediatrician, Speech & Language Service, Behaviour Support Service, Ladywood Outreach Service and the Educational Psychologist.

• Screening assessments; this can include assessments for dyslexia or assessments completed by teaching staff (such as Boxhall).

All reports and assessment outcomes are shared with parents at review meetings and copies are sent home. If a parent speaks English as an Additional Language and needs support in accessing some of the information in the reports, school provide a translator in order for parents to be able to access the information in their home language.•

Ladywood Outreach
Behaviour Support Service
Educational Psychologist
Speech and Language Service

Please visit https://www.bolton.gov.uk/sendlocaloffer/ This will set out all the special educational needs provision on offer in Bolton.

If parents of a child with Special Needs have concerns they should speak to the class teacher first, then the Special Needs Coordinator and then the Head Teacher. If the complaint is not resolved, it should be addressed to the Special Needs Governor, Mrs Karen Gettins, who will follow the statutory procedures.

A paper copy of the school Special Needs Policy is available from the school office. Our Special Needs Policy is also published on the school’s website https://www.st-williams.bolton.sch.uk/send-inclusion