Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs at Leedstown Primary School.

Our Commitment At Leedstown School we all work together to ensure the welfare of our special needs children. We constantly seek to improve our knowledge and skills so that the support we provide is effective. In addition, we have an excellent team of people who are focussed on further support for your children and the staff in school. They are: Mrs young Mrs Harris Mrs Pascoe Mrs Moyle Mrs Prior

Early identification At Leedstown School we continuously monitor the progress of all the children in our care to ensure that we are meeting their needs. If we think that your child is not progressing as quickly as we expect we will discuss this with you at the earliest opportunity. We will also ensure that our teaching methods and the resources we use will help your child to learn. For example, in our classrooms you may see: Lots of practical activities Limited copying from the board Word lists Number lines Pencil grips Work buddies Picture symbols A see, hear, say and do approach Lots of different ways to record Colour coding Often parents come to us with concerns that we can help with. Sometimes children express anxieties or show behaviour at home that we need to know about and opportunities will always be made to discuss these and to investigate support.

What it means to have an IPM If we have used lots of strategies in the classroom to support your child but we still feel that not enough progress is being made we will talk to you about an Individual Provision Map. This means that we want to set specific targets aimed at overcoming whatever difficulties your child may be facing. These may be related to learning or behaviour, including emotional or social needs. At this point we will need to place your child on our Record of Need. Our register is continuously changing with children moving through the stages and many being removed as their needs lessen. We will invite you to a meeting during which we will set your child’s targets, discuss the strategies that we will use and decide how we will measure our success. You will be asked to sign the Individual Provision Map and will be invited back each term to discuss your child’s progress and set new targets. This is the School Action stage of the Record of Need and there are lots of different ways that we can help your child.

Precision Teaching When a child has difficulties with reading, spelling or learning number facts like times tables or number bonds, we can use Precision Teaching. Through this method children ‘over learn’ a piece of information. For example, if spelling is the focus, the child would practise four words in lots of different see, hear, say and do ways every morning and afternoon. After each practise he/she is tested for one minute: how many times can he/she write the word correctly in one minute? The child records progress by colouring steps on a chart and as progress is always quick and clear it’s a great way to motivate a child. This methods really works.

Beat Dyslexia If your child is dyslexic or has dyslexic tendencies we may use the Beat Dyslexic scheme to support their learning. This is a phonic scheme approached through multisensory (see, hear, say and do) activities. It uses small steps towards realistic goals and there are many opportunities for revising and applying what has been learned in new ways. This is a fun way to learn letter sounds and practise building words for spelling and breaking them down for reading. If your child is not dyslexic but has spelling and/or reading difficulties this scheme will still benefit. Beat Dyslexia is used with small groups of children, usually no more than four in one of our Learning Zones.

Beat Dyslexia Continued… We use a dyslexia friendly font in our ICT suite.

Fun - Fit If we think that your child: Is not reaching his/her potential Has difficulties with PE Is poorly organised Has difficulties remembering or following instructions Has poor confidence and/or low self-esteem or Has difficulties with fine motor skills We may invite him/her to join a Fun-Fit Club. The aim of Fun-Fit is to improve a child’s co-ordination skills, stability and balance. As the name suggests, its fun and it really improves children’s co-ordination, concentration and confidence.

Reading Support Some children need extra 1-1 support in order to improve their reading skills, so we have reading sessions three afternoons each week during which each child has at least ten minutes of reading time with an adult. Many of the children who attend these sessions are able to break words down for reading but find it difficult to understand or remember what the text is about. We are always looking for parents to help with this activity so if you have any time you could offer we would be very grateful.

Nessy Nessy is an exciting computer programme that helps to improve spelling and reading through fun games. Children are easily able to monitor their progress as they reach each island and each island represents the next level of difficulty. The computer games are supported by activities and books/stories that can be played in small groups or with an adult.

Speed Up! If your child finds it very difficult to hold a pencil properly and to write fluently, comfortably, quickly and legibly he/she may be invited to take part in Speed Up! This is a kinaesthetic programme designed to develop handwriting skills. The activities are great fun and include finger crawling up a bandage, drawing patterns in chalk, pen, crayon or paint with both hands at the same time, moving and drawing to music, mirroring body moves etc. It is amazing how quickly progress is seen.

Speed Up! Continued…

Speech and Language We are able to support your children’s speech and language development in two ways; through games we can encourage both the articulation of sounds and the correct use of speech in social situations. Our speech and language support is very precisely guided by any therapists from the Speech and Language Service as required and who can carry out assessments and who will leave clear programmes for us to follow. These programmes include Sound Awareness, Time to Talk, Socially Speaking and Talkabout.

Further Support For Your Child Sometimes we may feel that we need the advice of another professional in order to get a clear picture of a child’s difficulties and to ensure that the support we are providing is appropriate. In these circumstances we will ask your permission to refer your child to one of the following: Educational Psychologist Dyslexia Advisor Behaviour Support Team Communications Support Team Speech and Language Therapy Advisory teachers If this extra advice is sought for your child he/she will be placed at School Action Plus on the Register of Need.

Supporting You We are here to support your children and to ensure that they have every opportunity to fully meet their potential. Our role is also to ensure that you are supported: that you understand your child’s special needs and how we are providing support, that you are kept fully up-to-date with any changes and that your questions are answered. If, at any time, you feel unclear about what is going on, it is very important to make contact and hopefully we will be able to alleviate your concerns. You are very welcome to visit our Learning Zones, where much of our work takes place, to have a look at our resources and to find out more about what we do. Please do find the links to various support associations on our website, in particular the CDA (Cornwall Dyslexia Association) provides lots of useful information.