1. A Partnership Approach Communication2 3
Alvechurch CofE Middle School
‘We value the individuality of all our pupils.’
Our aim for children with special educational needs is to ensure that they are safe and happy at school and that they are given every opportunity to reach their potential
Contact
information
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Appropriate, Effective and Child Centred Provision 5
Frequently Asked Questions

2. Identification of Needs:
Pupils who require additional support, in accordance with the SEND Code of Practice (2014), follow a four step cycle called the graduated response.
Pupils are assessed to identify a key area of need, provision is planned to support the pupils’ needs and to ‘bridge the gap’ in learning and or behaviour.
Intervention is delivered and the impact on pupil progress is assessed in order to identify the next steps in learning. This is called Provision Mapping.
The outcomes linked to pupil progress are shared with you at pupil progress meetings held on a termly basis.

3. We have a Special Needs Co-ordinator, Mrs S
We have a Special Needs Co-ordinator, Mrs S. Sweeney who is responsible for ensuring all children who are identified with SEND, receive an inclusive, high quality response to meeting their needs. She can be contacted on: (Mon/Wed/Fri).
The Special Needs Co-ordinator is supported by a lead TA for Special Needs, alongside a team of commited teaching assistants, who support the needs of pupils inclusively in the classroom.
Teaching assistants also deliver intervention programmes to a target group of pupils or individually. This is in addition to the provision made in the classroom eg Speed up!, Mathswizz, Rapid Reading, Rapid Maths. We call this wave 2 provision.
Our SENCO ensures that all staff are aware of your child’s needs. This information is updated and shared on a regular basis in the form an individual Provision Map.
Communication
Our Special Needs Co-ordinator is responsible for auditing the training needs of all teaching/support teaching staff to enable the provision for pupils identified with SEND to be appropriate and effective.
Our overall aim is to remove potential barriers to learning in order to enable all our pupils to experience success.

4. Appropriate, Effective and Child Centred Provision
At AMS all teachers have responsibility for meeting needs of all pupils within the context of the classroom environment. We call this Quality Wave 1 Provision.
Subject teachers regularly review the progress of pupils using both formative and diagnostic assessments which identify the ‘next steps in learning’. The needs of the majority of pupils are met through a differentiated, broad and balanced curriculum.
Further specific support may also be provided through a Statement of Special Educational
Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been
identified by the class teacher and SENCO as needing a particularly high level of individual or
small group teaching which cannot be provided from the notional SEN budget available to the school.
If your child is not making the expected progress and has specific gaps in their
understanding he/she may work within a smaller group of children. These groups are also called intervention groups.
Appropriate, Effective and Child Centred Provision
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The intervention groups may be run:
• in the classroom or outside;
• by a teacher or a teaching assistant who has been trained to run these groups;
• by a specialist from outside the school such as a speech and language therapist.

5. Appropriate, Effective and Child Centred Provision continued....
We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEN and take steps to ensure
that any transition is as smooth as possible.
Prior to transferring to AMS,
our SENCO will ensure that she knows about any special
arrangements or support that may need to be made for your child.
Information will be passed on to the new form teacher and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with the new teacher to discuss your child’s strengths and
difficulties and the strategies that have been successful.
Provision maps, School
Based Plans and Statement objectives/ Education Health Care Plans will be shared
with the new form teacher.
Appropriate, Effective and Child Centred Provision continued....
There are induction events during the summer term for all children who are joining
Year 5 in September.
The SENCO may arrange additional visits for children identified as having SEN and
additional meetings will be arranged with parents and any other agencies who have
been involved with your child, such as the Learning and Behaviour Support Service.

6. A Partnership Approach
It is our aim that we work in close partnership with you and maintain regular and purposeful communication between home and school. For some children, we use a home-school liaison book.
We operate a welcoming and open-door policy whereby parents are encouraged to contact teaching staff/SENCO on an ‘as and when’ basis.
It may be necessary to refer your child to an external agency to seek their views, guidance and support in meeting your child’s needs inclusively. Your permission will always be sought before a referral is made.
Parent Consultation meetings are held on a twice yearly basis and there is also an opportunity to discuss your child’s end of year report.
A Partnership Approach
Parents are given regular feedback about the level your child should be working at for their age and also about the expected rate of progress for Maths, Reading and Writing.
The views of all pupils is sought (pupil voice) to provide a more enriching, personalised curriculum, which enables all our pupils to experience success and to achieve their potential. Workshops are built into the academic year for parents to attend in order to support how you can best meet your child’s needs in the key skills of literacy and numeracy.

7. Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How accessible is the school environment?
A. We have a disability and accessibility action plan and policy that is available on request.
We have disabled toilets that are large enough to accommodate changing.
Visual support systems are used in all classrooms.
As a PFI school, we have a learning environment which is fully accessible and inclusive for all learners eg. We have disabled toilets that are large enough to accommodate changing and lifts to accommodate wheelchair access.
Q. What support will there be for my child’s overall well-being?
A. All staff at AMS believe that pupils’ high self-esteem is crucial to their emotional well-being and academic progress.
Currently, we have two licensed Thrive practioners who assess pupils’ social, emotional and behavioural needs and plan intervention to support.
The teacher with responsibility for pupil welfare is Mrs J. Baxter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special
educational needs?
A. The school budget received from the Local Authority includes money for supporting pupils
with SEN. The Headteacher and Finance Officer then decide on the budget for SEN in consultation
with school governors and based on the needs of pupils in the school. The school may
receive an additional amount of ‘top-up’ funding for pupils with higher level needs. The school will use its SEN funding in the most appropriate way to support.

8. CONTACT INFORMATION
The class teacher is the first point of contact but parents are also welcome to contact the SENCO directly about any concerns. Any important information should be shared with the form teacher.
Useful contact details:
Headteacher: Mr D. Snell
SENCO: Mrs S. Sweeney
Local Authority
SEN caseworker: LISA CONFIRMING
SEN Governor: Mrs G. Onyon
If you are considering applying for a place at Alvechurch CofE Middle School and your child has special educational needs, please telephone the school to arrange an initial visit with the Headteacher / SENCO who will be happy to meet with you. Your next step would be to contact Worcestershire County Council to discuss the admissions process. Their contact details are;