Who are the best people to talk to in this school about my child’s needs?

How can I talk to them about my child if I need to?

Form Tutor

Subject teachers

Speech and language therapists

 

He/ She is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all pupils have access to a curriculum that is adapted to meet their individual needs.
• Ensuring that individual pupils are assessed to identify specific learning needs.
• Carrying out baseline assessments when pupils arrive at school and using this information to accurately identify areas of need.
• Contributing to Individual Education Plans (IEP), sharing and reviewing these with colleagues at least once each term and sharing with parents’ through annual reviews and parent meetings.
• Ensuring that all members of staff working with your child in school are aware of your child’s individual needs and/or conditions and what they need to enable them to learn and make progress.
• Ensuring that all staff members working with your child in school are supported to deliver planned work/programmes for your child so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve input from external specialists.

Contact through school office 

Senior Leadership Team

They are responsible for:

• Implementing and making adherence to the SEND Code of Practice 2014.
• Developing the school’s provision to ensure that every pupil receives a consistent, high quality education and experience in school.
•  Ensuring that you are:
  • involved in supporting your child’s learning
  • kept informed about the support your child is getting
  • involved in reviewing their progress
  • included in the process of planning ahead
• Liaising with all the other people who might contribute to and support your child’s learning e.g. Educational Psychology.
• Supporting your child’s teachers to write the Individual Education Plan (IEP), which specify the targets set for your child.
• Leading and co-ordinating Annual Review meetings.
• Making sure that staff are provided with high quality training so they are aware of, and confident in meeting, the needs of your child and others within our school.

Contact through school office 

Head of School

They are responsible for:

• The overall strategic development of the school.
• The day-to-day leadership and management of all aspects of the school.
• Ensuring that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues arising in the school.

Contact through school office 

Governing Body

Members are responsible for:

• Making sure that the school has an up to date SEND Policy.
• Making sure that the school has appropriate provision and has made necessary adaptations to meet the needs of all pupils in the school.
• Making visits to understand and monitor the support given to pupils within the school and being part of the process to ensure your child achieves his/her potential.

Contact through the clerk to the governors: smbsclerk@stmarylebonebridgeschool.com

Types of support provided

What would this mean for your pupil?

Who can get this kind of support?

What are the different types of support available for pupils in this school?

Class teacher input via quality first teaching in the classroom

• The teacher will have the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
• All teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
• Putting in place different ways of teaching so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This will involve using communication support, adapted resources, specialist equipment (as appropriate to pupils individual needs).

All pupils in school have access to those strategies that best meet their needs

Access

• All pupils will have access to all areas of the new school.

Small class groups.

• Led by a teacher in collaboration with a team of Learning support assistants.
• Input from the schools own SALT team.

• Your child will be in a small group with pupils who have similar needs.
• Class groups at St. Marylebone CE Bridge School range in size from 4-12 pupils.
• There is a high ratio of staff to pupils.
• The class teacher will plan group and individual sessions for your child as appropriate and will set relevant targets to ensure that your child makes progress.
• The class teacher will work in partnership with other professionals to deliver programmes of work that are appropriate to group and individual needs.

All pupils in school receive this.

Specified support according to your child’s diagnosis and staff training:

• Small class groups with high ratios of adults to pupils.
• Structured teaching environments where staff are supported to understand the pupils needs through regular training.
• A communication-rich environment.
• Strategies and resources specific to pupils with Speech, Language and Communication needs e.g. Visual Aids, Shape Coding, Specific Vocabulary teaching.
• Behaviour and well being support e.g. Mindfulness and Zones of Regulation.
• A therapy team who work alongside staff to assess pupils and help devise and deliver the best programmes for individuals. This consists of:
  • Speech and language therapists, occupational therapists (where appropriate to the individual needs of pupils)
• There is regular training specific to the needs of pupils at St. Marylebone CE Bridge School for teachers, therapists and all support staff.

All pupils as appropriate

How will we support pupils starting at school?

• We will first invite you to visit the school (with your child if appropriate) to have a look around and speak to staff
• Once we have your child’s papers from the Special Educational Needs department at the Local Authority we will visit your child in their current setting and talk to their current teachers and SALTs
• If your child is coming from a mainstream or other special school we will arrange a series of transition visits (if deemed necessary and appropriate) with a familiar adult from the setting that they currently attend.
• Most of our pupils come to school using school transport. We will give you the form to complete to see whether this would apply to you. (The decision is not made by the school but by the Local Authority)
• If it is appropriate for your child we will provide them with a transition book prior to starting to help them know what to expect.
• We may suggest adaptations to the settling-in period to help your child to settle more easily
• We will have a base-line meeting after your child has had their initial SALT assessment so that we can talk about your pupil and you can share your aspirations for him/her.

How will we have a dialogue if there are concerns about your child?

Parents/carers

• If you have concerns about your child you should phone your child’s tutor or leave a message for them with the School office.
• If you are not happy that the concerns are being managed, and/or think that your child is not making progress, you should speak to a member of the senior leadership team (see above).
• You can contact us at any time and ask for a meeting.
• If you are still not happy you can speak to the school SEN Governor.

School

• If we have concerns we will talk to you on the phone, and/or ask you to come in to school to meet with us.
• We have termly parent/teacher twice a year during the Autumn and Summer term in addition to a yearly Annual Review meeting.
• Your child’s teachers will all contribute to a report for their annual review. You will be invited to come to a meeting to discuss this. We value your contribution to this process and will set your child’s targets with you.

How is support allocated to classes?

• Staffing numbers are decided once the individual needs of pupils in given class groups have been considered.
• Teaching groups at St Marylebone CE Bridge School range in size from 4-12 pupils
• Staff/pupil ratios are high.

Who are the other people providing services to pupils with SEN in this school?

A) Directly funded by the school

• SALT.
• Art therapy (where appropriate and at the discretion of the Head of School).
• Additional therapies (where appropriate and at the discretion of the Head of School).

B) Paid for centrally by the Local Authority but delivered in school

• Occupational Therapy.
• Sensory Service for pupils with visual or hearing needs.

How will we measure the progress of your child in school? And how will I know about this?

• At St Marylebone CE Bridge School we assess our pupils using Classroom Monitor that measures small steps of progress in most subject areas in stages ranging from Stage 1 to Stage 9. At Key Stage 4 pupils will take a range of qualifications depending on their level of need and ability. These range from functional skills and Entry level to GCSE in some subjects. If a pupils is able to access GCSE in a broad range of subjects it could mean that their needs are better met in a mainstream setting.  
• When a pupil starts at St Marylebone CE Bridge School he/she is given a baseline assessment in Reading, Reading Age, Writing, Maths and a full Speech and Language therapy assessment.
•  Once the base line has been established, all subsequent progress that pupils make is recorded. We summarise progress at the end of each term and use information we have gathered to set new targets. We will share this information with you 3 times a year at the end of the Autumn, Spring and Summer Terms. You will also receive an Annual Review report and End of Year report.
• All pupils have an Annual Review meeting to which parents are invited. The teachers will write a report about how your pupil has progressed over the last year and will also write about progress made towards meeting the annual review objectives that were set at the previous review. At this meeting we work in partnership with parents to set targets for the coming year.
• All pupils have IEP’s written collaboratively by all school staff. These are based on the annual review targets broken down into small steps. They are reviewed every term and new ones set. At the end of each school term, the evaluation summaries are sent home to parents along with new targets set for the coming year.
• Annual review meetings can be used to review the suitability of the pupil’s place at St Marylebone CE Bridge School.

What support do we have for you as a parent of a child at SMBS?

• At St Marylebone CE Bridge School we regard it as essential to work in partnership with parents in order to achieve the best outcomes for their pupil.
• Regular parent workshops will enable parents to ensure they are actively involved in all aspects of what we do at SMBS.
• We will make ourselves available to talk with you over the phone or have a meeting if needed or requested by parents.

How will we support your child when they are making significant transitions?

We recognise that transitions can be a challenge for our pupils and we take steps to ensure that every transition is a smooth and as positive an experience as possible. 

Moving classes

• Information will be passed on to the new teachers.
• All relevant paperwork and information will be shared with the new teachers.
• Where possible your child will spend time with their new teacher before they move classes.

Dual placements

• Sometimes our pupils have dual placements between St Marylebone CE Bridge School and another school. A member of St Marylebone CE Bridge School Staff will support these placements for the duration of the placement.

Transition to a new school

• Where possible a teacher from your child’s new school will visit them in the St Marylebone CE Bridge School setting.
• Wherever possible, a teacher for the receiving school will attend your child’s annual review meeting to introduce them to you and share information.
• We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on promptly to the new school.
• We offer a range of transition programmes depending on the needs of the individual pupil and the school to which they are transitioning.

IEP

Individual Education Plan

SEN

Special Educational Needs

SEN Code of Practice 2014

The legal document that sets out the requirements for SEN

EHCP

Education, Health and Care Plan

SEND

Special Educational Needs and or disabilities

SALT

Speech and Language Therapy/Therapist

CAMHS

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service

EP

Educational Psychologist

SENCO

Special Educational Needs Coordinator

SLCN

Speech, Language and Communication Needs

ASC

Autistic Spectrum Condition

OT

Occupational Therapist