SENCo – Joanne Peniston

Miss Peniston is our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCO).  She was awarded the Post Graduate Special Educational Needs Coordination National Award for SEND Coordination in 2018.

Inclusion within Parson Cross Church of England Primary

Our aim is that all children receive quality first teaching which maximises progress.  We ensure that classroom activities are appropriately differentiated so that all children are involved, and that children have access to appropriate resources to support their learning and support is provided. Our team is trained in specific areas of SEN and can offer personalised learning programs to meet individual need.

Identifying learners with SEND

All children are carefully tracked to ensure that they make sufficient progress for their age and capability.  We meet termly to discuss the children and this is an opportunity to highlight any difficulties that any child is having that may be impacting on their academic or social development.  Where a child is not making the expected progress, then we identify the need, determine the barriers and put interventions into place to overcome these barriers.  When a child is demonstrating further cause for concern or their learning need is more complex and persistent than can be met by the school interventions already put in place, school will engage with relevant external services.  Once the assessments have been completed and support has been received from the relevant outside agencies, the child may be placed on our SEND register. For children that have more acute needs, the school could issue a My Plan or apply for an Educational Health Care Plan.  When identifying the needs of our SEND learners, we aim to ensure that the child and parents/carers have an input into the support they receive and that they can see the impact of any extra support given.

What the school can offer

Our school offers a nurturing Christian ethos in which all children are appropriately challenged in order to reach their true potential.  We strive to ensure that our children are happy and able to enjoy a wide curriculum, which includes both social and academic learning, as well as promoting learning through the arts.  We also have disabled facilities within the school.

Involving Parents

At Parson Cross Chutch of England Primary School we feel that parental involvement is crucial in order for children to make progress and be happy.  We hold termly review meetings in which parents of SEND children are invited to discuss the progress of their child and the next key steps in their learning.  At these meetings there is an opportunity to include other agencies and seek specialist advice.  We also offer an open door policy and encourage a supportive relationship between our parents and teachers. Miss Peniston our SENDCO, can be contacted via jpeniston@parsoncross.sheffield.sch.uk.

Wellbeing

In ensuring the well-being of our children, we use a child centred approach to make sure that what we do is for the benefit and happiness of the children and families within our care.

All our children follow our behaviour code to be ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’ which encourages children to be supportive of one and other. Our ethos is inclusive and our children are aware of how to support children that have additional educational needs.  Integration into school life is key and all children are happy to play and work together. We feel our SEND children make good progress and leave our school knowing that they have achieved their desired outcomes.

For more information on how we support children with SEND, please read our ‘Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy and Information Report’ on our policies page.