At Our Lady Catholic Primary School we aim, in partnership with parents/carers, to meet the individual needs of every child attending our school, including those with additional needs.
Special Educational Needs (SEN): What does it mean?
The term special educational needs has a legal definition: children with special educational needs have learning difficulties and/or disabilities which make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same chronological age. Children with special educational needs may need extra help or different support from that given to other children of the same chronological age. It is widely acknowledged that many children may have special educational needs at some time in their educational career. At Our Lady Catholic Primary School, we seek to help all our pupils to overcome the barriers to learning that their additional needs may present.
Who's who?
All primary schools are required to have a person who is responsible for coordinating the day-to-day provision for pupils with special educational needs. This person is known as the Special Educational Needs Coordinator or, for short, the SENCO. At Our Lady Catholic Primary School, this person is Miss Jade McDonald.
A member of the school's governing body is appointed to have particular oversight of special educational needs provision within school. At our school, this person is the Vice Chair of Governors, Fr Norbert Fernandes. He liaises closely with the school's SENCO.
What can you do if are you are worried that your child may have additional needs?
Please talk to us. If you think your child may have additional needs that have not been identified or you are concerned about your child's development and progress, it is best to begin by talking to your child's class teacher. You can also make an appointment to see the school's SENCO or the Headteacher. Remember - you know your child better than anyone! We want to work with you in order to resolve any worries or concerns that you may have. The closer the partnership between home and school, the more successful any interventions/support for your child will be.
We have a Special Educational Needs Policy that gives more detail about how we aim to provide for our pupils with special educational needs. Please see the Policies section of the website.
The Hertfordshire Autism Quality Offer aligns with the SEND Quality Offer - Hertfordshire’s statement on high quality provision and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The Autism Quality Offer describes the special educational provision that settings are encouraged to have available for children and young people who have autism or social communication needs and includes links to resources and training available to settings across Hertfordshire.
Useful Websites:
Speech and Language:
www.ican.org.uk
www.singinghands.co.uk
www.talkingpoint.org.uk
Dyslexia:
www.ibdadyslexia.org.uk (British Dyslexia Association)
www.dyslexia-assist.org.uk
www.tparentchampions.org.uk
Autistic Spectrum Conditions:
www.autism.org.uk (National Autistic Society)
Hearing and Visual Impairment:
www.earfoundation.org.uk
www.ndcs.org.uk (National Deaf Children's Society)
Learning Disabilities:
www.mencap.org.uk
Brain Conditions (including sleep):
www.cerebra.org.uk
Down's Syndrome:
www.downs-syndrome.org.uk (Down's Syndrome Association)
Dyspraxia:
www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk
Mental Health:
www.mentalhealth.org.uk
Hertfordshire:
www.kids.org.uk
(Information and support for parents and carers of disabled children and young people aged 0-19 in Hertfordshire)
Hertfordshire Educational Psychology Service Contactline: 01992 588574
(A 'quick queries' service for members of the Hertfordshire community. Open during term time Tuesday and Wednesday 2pm - 4.30pm, school holidays - Wednesday only.