Further Information

Support for Emotional & Social Development

At Beamish Primary School, we are an inclusive school. We consult with a wide range of agencies and partnerships to ensure the Emotional and Social Development needs of SEN children are met. Staff believe that high self-esteem is crucial and aim to support and promote the emotional wellbeing of all children. On a daily basis the class teacher is responsible for the pastoral and social care of every child in their class, therefore this would be the parents’ first point of contact should further advice or support is required.

At Beamish Primary School we maintain close links with External Partnerships; In order to access the best professional advice, we also link with Local Authority and Private Providers of additional services, such as Occupational Therapy, CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) School Nursing Service, Social Services and Medical Professionals. We often hold multi-professional meetings in school so that parents are comfortable in the school environment and the child can join us easily, if it is appropriate.

Looked After Children with SEND

Mrs Russell & Mrs Henry are the SENCO and the Designated Teacher for Looked after Children. She ensures that all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEN.

When a child becomes looked after his/her social worker must ensure that the child’s needs and the services to meet these are documented in the Care Plan. The Care Plan – of which the PEP is an integral part – is made before the child becomes looked after or in the case of an emergency placement within 10 working days. The PEP is a record of what needs to happen for looked after children to enable them to fulfil their potential and reflects any existing education plans, such as an EHCP, SEN Support Plan or Provision Mapping. The PEP should reflect the importance of a personalised approach to learning which secures good basic skills, stretches aspirations and builds life chances. The PEP is the joint responsibility of the local authority and the school.

Our Designated Teacher for Looked After Children is Mrs Russell and can be contacted on 0191 3700181.

SEN Specialist Expertise

SENCO and SEN Staff

Staff have had experience of teaching children with:

• General Learning Difficulties – children whose learning progresses at a slower pace
• Speech and Language Difficulties
• Behavioural Difficulties
• Dyslexia (difficulties with reading, writing and spelling)
• Dyspraxia (problems with motor skills, organisation)
• Autism
• Attachment Disorder and other Emotional Difficulties.
• ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder – ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
• Downs Syndrome
• Other Physical including coordination difficulties, visual impairment & hearing impairment
• Other Medical Needs including epilepsy, allergies & diabetes.

Staff have received training in the following aspects of SEND:

• ASD and strategies to support children in school
• Speech and Language support
• Intervention strategies
• SEND reforms and new Code of Practice
• Movement difficulties
• ADHD, ODD & Attachment Disorder and strategies to support children
• Supporting and assessing children with additional needs
• Administering EpiPen medication, Peg feeding and training linked

Mrs Russell holds the National NASC qualification for SEND.

More details of the SENCO’s role can be found in the SEN Policy which you can find in the School Policies section of our website.

External Specialists and Other Bodies

Our Federation enjoys good working relationships with a wide range of people who provide services to children with SEND and their families, particularly when a child is demonstrating further cause for concern or their learning need is more complex and persistent.

The external specialists may:

• Act in an advisory capacity
• Extend expertise of school staff
• Provide additional assessment
• Support a child directly
• Suggest statutory assessment is advisable
• Consult with all parties involved with the child

These include:

• Durham County Council Local Offer
• Durham SEND Information,  Advice and Support Service
• Behaviour Support Services
• CAMHS Assessment Team
• Contact a Family
• Autistic Spectrum Support Team
• School Educational Psychologist
• Durham Movement Difficulties Service
• One Point Children’s Service
• Educational Social Workers
• Educational Welfare Officer
• Health Agencies, particularly School Nurse Service
• Learning Difficulties and Disability Support Service
• Special Educational Needs – Inclusion Team
• Looked After Children Team
• Medical Practitioners
• Occupational Therapy
• Durham IASS (Parent Partnership)
• Local Offer
• School Parent Support Advisor
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Stronger Families
• The Service for the Visually Impaired
• Tree Tops Occupational Therapy

How We Secure Specialist Expertise

Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEN. This is used to support children and young people with SEND. If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.

At Beamish Primary school, we liaise with the following agencies depending upon the individual child’s needs:

• Autism Spectrum Communications Team
• CAMHS
• Crisis Response
• Education Psychology Service
• Future Steps
• Learning Difficulties and Disability Support Service
• Movement Difficulties Service
• Occupational Therapy
• School Nurse Team
• Social Care and Health Team
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Tree Tops

We encourage these professionals to visit school as often as possible to work with our staff and share their expertise. Wherever possible, staff implement programmes of work linked to these professionals e.g. speech and language programmes, exercises recommended by physical therapies etc.

Consulting with our SEN Pupils, Parents & Carers

Consultation with Children and Young People with SEND

Teachers/SENCO and Support Staff will work with children and young people to identify the support needed to meet agreed outcomes.  The provision is planned, and interventions are allocated to individual needs. The children take an active role with setting their targets, discussing them with the class teacher/SENCO.   The children have regular meetings with support staff to discuss their progress and support.

Ensuring that all children attending the Beamish and Pelton Federation receive provision that maximises their enjoyment and achievement is central to all we offer.

The SEND children attending our Federation are aged 3-11 years, so consulting with them to seek their views about how we are meeting their needs has to be age appropriate, especially when many often have communication difficulties.

We use the following strategies:

• Have regular meetings and discussions with parents about what we have planned for their child and how to link this with interests and passions demonstrated at home
• Children will be observed during the school day to identify the types of activities and experiences they engage with so these can be developed further and be used to inform future planning
• Involve SEND children with planning their own activities and encouraging them to share what they would like to learn and participate with
• Extend any resources that they show a preference for
• Most importantly, ensure the children with SEND are happy, motivated and make expected levels of progress throughout their time in school.

Consultation with parents and carers of children and young people with SEND

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child’s needs and support.  Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.

There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:

• Termly parents/ carers evenings;
• Ongoing discussions with a class teacher and/or SENCO;
• An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have;
• Through a review of a child’s SEN Support Plan or the Annual Review of their Statement of SEN or EHC Plan.

Compliments, Complaints & Feedback

We are always seeking to improve on the quality of education we provide for children with SEN and are keen to hear from parents about their child’s experience.

We would also like your views about the content of our SEN Information Report. If you would like to comment please complete the online form in the Contact Us section of our website.

Compliments are always greatly received and can be passed on either directly to staff and the SENCO, or formally recorded via our regular questionnaires to parents or in the form of a letter to the Head Teacher.  These positive comments will be published on this area of our school website.

We hope that complaints about our SEND provision will be rare, however, if there should be a concern  the process outlined in the school Complaints Policy should be followed.

Further information can be found in the Complaints Policy in the School Policies section of your website or by visiting the Durham County Council Local Offer website.