We are an inclusive school, aiming to support all children and their individual needs, with high aspirations. The Code of Practice identifies four broad areas of need; Communication and interaction Cognition and Learning Social, mental and emotional health Sensory and/or physical At Glen Park, staff work together to support the development and wellbeing of all of our children, including those with Special Educational Needs.

Wherever possible, the teaching and learning environment is tailored to meet the needs of all children. In addition to this, we have a progression of steps in order to support children who have, or may have, SEN. Quality teaching, differentiated as necessary is a priority for all children. Most will then make good progress but for those who do not: Small group support within the class for areas of need or: Targeted group or individual interventions to support a specific area of need. Where this is not sufficient: Specialised support within school from the Learning Mentor or ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) and/or: Referral to an outside agency for specific assessment, advice or support.

Mrs Birnie is our school SENCO. This stands for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. She co-ordinates the provision for our SEN children across the school. Each class teacher is responsible for the day to day needs of SEN children within their class. The Headteacher has overall responsibility for all pupils. All of the class teachers and Teaching Assistants work in partnership with Mrs Birnie to meet the needs of our SEN children.

The first point of contact is the class teacher. He/she can be contacted through our open door policy at the end of the school day or by making an appointment through the school office. Mrs Birnie can be contacted at school. There are 3 ways to contact her: By Telephone: In Writing: Mrs L Birnie Glen Park Primary School Glen Road Plympton Plymouth PL7 2DE By marked for the attention of Mrs Mrs Birnie will then arrange to meet you at a mutually convenient time. The Headteacher, Mr Hutchings, can also be contacted via the school office.

Each class teacher assesses the children continually, as part of their everyday teaching. If they feel that a child is not making expected progress they will try teaching them in different ways to help them to learn. This will then be discussed with the Special Needs co-ordinator (SENCO) at a pupil progress meeting. If more or different support is needed an action plan will be put in place to support the child and help them to make more progress. Sometimes, the school SENCO assesses a child to identify what their particular difficulty is and appropriate targets are set. If necessary, the SENCO will seek advice from other professionals to make more detailed assessments and to offer advice about the best next steps for a particular child.

Glen Park currently has 373 pupils. All classrooms are housed within one main building, which is on 2 levels. There are steps to access the upper area but a lift is also available at both ends of the school, should disabled access be required. All classrooms can be accessed from the outside via slopes. There are 4 playgrounds, a large field and separate outside play/work spaces for Foundation and Year 1. There is a set of steps to access the Foundation playground from their classrooms but it is possible to reach this via a slope. The remaining playgrounds are reached via slopes. The following slide shows a plan of our school. Further information can be found in our Single Equality Policy within the Key information section of the school website.

Year 3&4 playground Year 5&6 play- ground Wild Area Foundation playground Field Year 1&2 playground

Our school website has lots of information about the school. There is a designated area for SEN, where a copy of our policy can also be found. Alternatively, you are welcome to contact Mrs Birnie, our school SENCO or Mr Hutchings, our Headteacher, who will gladly discuss any issues with you.

Mrs Birnie has achieved the National SENCO Qualification. Mrs Tucker (a Higher Level Teaching Assistant) and Mrs Martin (Teaching Assistant) have also completed the Emotional Literacy Support Assistant course. We receive support from a learning mentor who works with individual children within school. All of the teachers and teaching assistants have had in service training about a range of different special educational needs. There is also an ongoing professional development programme for staff.

Through working alongside the Plymouth Multi Agency Support Team (MAST), the school has access to support from professionals including: Educational Psychologist Speech and Language Therapists Teachers from the Communication Interaction Team Specialist teachers supporting children with visual or hearing impairment Play therapists and counsellors Family support workers The school discusses the needs of SEN children with the relevant professionals and involves them as necessary. This is individual for each child. Further information about these professionals can be found in the directory: hyperlink to Plymouth online directory – link will be within local offer

Mrs Cutler is available to support families in our school in her role as Parent Support Advisor. She is able to offer a range of support and impartial advice including: signposting parents to different organisations that may help them. listening and talking to parents about their anxieties or difficulties concerning their child. Providing support for parents to help them to deal with early signs of social, emotional, health or behavioural issues Depending on the issue the class teachers, Head Teacher, Deputy Head and SENCO are also able to offer advice and support. The Plymouth online directory has details of further advice, support and services.

At Glen Park we operate an open door policy and value our strong relationships with parents, recognising the importance of working together to secure the best possible outcomes for all children. We also have regular parents meetings with class teachers, where parents and children can share and review targets, progress and support arrangements.

The Local Authority’s Local Offer can be found at not real website This contains a directory of services available to parents and children and provides information about SEN support and provision in Plymouth. For any other information about our school and the opportunities we offer, please refer to our website, prospectus or contact the school office on

The transition process for SEN children begins in year 5. Parents will be involved in the process of an enhanced transition. Throughout Year 6, SEN children are provided with a gradual, planned transition process. Those needing it will have this enhanced transition to familiarise themselves with the new setting and staff. In this way, a thorough exchange of information about the child will take place and they will be supported by staff from both Glen Park and the receiving school.

We very much hope that you will be happy with the provision for SEN at Glen Park. However, if you are not happy with the provision in place for your child, there are several ways to resolve this: 1.Talk to the class teacher 2.Talk to the SENCO 3.Talk to the Head teacher/Deputy Head 4.Plymouth Parent Partnership offer impartial support and advice.