Special educational needs and disabilities
At Harvey Road Primary School, we support Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in a variety of ways. How we support your child depends on their individual needs. Our vision is that all children, no matter what support they may need, will make progress and achieve to the best of their ability.
We believe all children are special, unique and should be valued equally. We are a community where everyone is given the opportunity to enjoy learning and achieve their full potential in an emotionally supportive, respectful and inclusive environment. We believe that every child should have access to a broad, balanced, relevant and scaffolded curriculum. This should take account of their individual learning and emotional needs.
Our pupils will be encouraged to challenge themselves, develop independent strategies and become the most efficient learner possible. Neurodiversity is celebrated and children’s strengths are identified and nurtured to ensure pupils have a positive self-image.
Mrs Armstrong is the school Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCO), who has day-to-day responsibility for the operation of the school’s SEND Policy and co-ordination of specific provision made to support pupils with SEND.
The school recognises the importance of early identification of pupils with special educational needs and teachers follow a graduated approach, as set out by the SEND Code of Practice (0-25 years), to ensure pupils are identified and supported accordingly. Should a child be identified to have additional needs, teachers will observe, assess and monitor progress closely. This is when a child may be placed on the special educational needs register which means they may need additional provision which could be in the form of an intervention, therapy or classroom support.
Our SENDCO is always willing to meet with parents to support with any questions or concerns they may have.
A message from our SENDCO:
Hello, I am Mrs Armstrong and I work with a team of our SEND Learning Support Assistants. We also work closely with our SEND governor, Emma Campbell.
We believe the most important factor in raising educational outcomes, whatever a young person’s needs, is through high quality classroom teaching. Due to the inclusive systems available to all students at Harvey Road, most students with additional needs will not require specialist SEND provision, as they are able to make progress whilst utilising whole school systems. At all times parental co-operation and involvement in their child’s development is highly valued and considered essential if children are to realise their full potential.
The information in this area and our information report should help to answer any questions you may have about SEND at Harvey Road School. If you have any additional questions, then please contact us. We are happy to help and are enthusiastic about providing support.
Email: senco@harveyroad.herts.sch.uk
The documents in this section should help to answer any questions you may have about SEND at Harvey Road Primary School:
- Parent guide
- SEND policy
- SEND Statement
At Harvey Road Primary School, we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and character development. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be needed.
Teaching and learning for all pupils include not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of additional opportunities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of our children. Our curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for life-long learning.
We promote positive attitudes throughout our school learning about a variety of cultural, language and heritage backgrounds in the community and beyond. We use our vast outdoor space for lessons and have an outdoor programme of activities similar to Forest School where we take the learning outside as much as possible. We have a wide range of technology to support and aid teaching and learning.
Examples of how our curriculum and learning environments are adapted or made accessible for pupils with SEND include:
- High quality teaching with focused LSA support to help children with identified needs access the learning for their year group in all subjects
- Specialist group support from outside agencies e.g. Speech and Language Therapy
- Specific individual support for children whose learning needs are severe, complex and lifelong
- Pastoral and wellbeing support: where appropriate we have specialist provision including a school counsellor and a family support worker who can offer support on an individual basis
- Access to a range of ICT and assistive technology in all lessons, including our school chromebooks and iPads
- Enrichment opportunities and our Skills Academy to stimulate and motivate learning
- Assessment procedures that emphasise pupils’ strengths and achievements
- Applications during national testing at Key Stage 2 to obtain additional time or support
- Fine motor skills programme – Read, Steady, Write, busy fingers and handwriting sessions
- Sporting: events and clubs to support Physical Development. This includes daily sensory circuits for some of our SEND children
