Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

We have a passionate belief at Lakeside that all of our children should be able to reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstances, race, gender or ability. We are a fully inclusive school, with a team of staff recruited to support all children to reduce barriers to learning.

At Lakeside, we pride ourselves on our ability to offer, and successfully deliver, a full curriculum that is inclusive to all children, irrespective of need.

We encourage parents to discuss their child's progress and needs regularly with class teachers and, when appropriate, with our Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo), Miss Janette Hinch.

Miss Hinch works very closely with all of the teaching staff and, as a result, is able to support children with a wide range of academic, physical and social needs. We carefully plan support and interventions for all groups of children which are regularly reviewed. This may be in the form of classroom based support or withdrawn support, often in small group or one-to-one sessions using resources from within the school and from the support services within the County.

We maintain very close working relationships with children, staff, parents and other agencies. Indeed, partnership with parents is of the utmost importance. We are proud of our ability to support children with a variety of special needs and have taken steps to ensure that all children are treated equally.

We work closely with other agencies and organisations to ensure that we have the necessary expertise, and in some cases equipment, to manage the specific needs of individual pupils in our care.

Our SEND Governor, Mr Parin Gohil, regularly reviews our provision for children with special needs and ensures that staff are well prepared and trained.

Together, Miss Hinch and Mr Gohil ensure that the Lakeside Special Educational Needs and Disabilities policy works within the guidelines and inclusion policies of the Code of Practice (2014), the Local Education Authority, and other policies current within the school.
This report makes clear where the information on how SEND is provided for and monitored at Lakeside.

In compliance with the Code, we provide for children with SEND in the following areas:

Communication and interaction.
Cognition and learning.
Social, mental and emotional health.
Sensory/physical needs.

Our SEND policy outlines:

Our procedures for identifying and assessing children with SEND.
Arrangements for consulting parents of children with SEND and involving them in their education.
Arrangements for consulting young people with SEND and involving them in their education.
Arrangements for assessing and reviewing children and young people’s progress towards outcomes. This should include the opportunities available to work with parents and young people as part of this assessment and review.
Arrangements for supporting children and young people in moving between phases of education.
The approach we take to teaching children and young people with SEND.

Also included in the SEND policy and in more detail in our School Offer:

How adaptations are made to the curriculum and the learning environment of children and young people with SEND.
The expertise and training of staff to support children and young people with SEND, including how specialist expertise will be secured.
Support for improving emotional and social development.
How the school involves other bodies, including health and social care bodies, local authority support services and voluntary sector organisations, in meeting children and young people’s SEND and supporting their families.
Arrangements for handling complaints from parents of children with SEND about the provision made at the school.

Our SENDCo Reports to the Governing Body give information relevant to:

Evaluating the effectiveness of the provision made for children and young people with SEND.
How children and young people with SEN are enabled to engage in activities available with children and young people in the school who do not have SEND.

Up-to-date versions of our SEND Policy and SEND Information Report can be found in the 'Policies' section of the school website.