At West Earlham Infant and Nursery School, all children are valued equally regardless of their abilities, aptitudes, interests and behaviour. We are committed to offering and providing an inclusive environment. Each child is entitled to a broad, balanced, relevant and differentiated curriculum, with progression and achievement. However, some children experience considerable differences in learning at certain stages in their school life. The majority of children will learn and progress within the normal class situation, those who find it more difficult may have Special Educational Need/Disability (SEND). As a school we believe in ensuring all children succeed and provision is tailored to meet the varied needs of all children, so that all children whatever their needs or abilities make the best possible progress.

At West Earlham Infant and Nursery School we ensure all children with SEND get the support they need. This means doing everything we can to meet their SEND. We are an inclusive school and ensure through Quality First Teaching that all children with SEND engage in the activities of school alongside children who do not have SEND. Quality First Teaching that is differentiated and personalised (targeted at areas of weakness) will meet the individual needs of the majority of children and is the first step in responding to children who have or may have SEND. Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the children in their class, including where children access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.

The aims of our Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) policy and practice in this school are:

• To identify at an early age, individuals who need extra help and attention
• To enable each child to reach his or her full potential, both curricular and extracurricular
• To endeavour to meet the individual needs of each child developing a feeling of self-esteem within the individual
• To carefully map provision for all vulnerable learners to ensure that staffing deployment, resource allocation and choice of intervention is leading to good learning outcomes.
• To use a variety of teaching strategies, which include different learning styles, to facilitate meaningful and effective learning for all children
• To work with parents and other agencies to provide support and opportunities for children with SEND
• To assist all staff in the delivery of educational entitlement and ensuring all staff are aware of a child’s individual needs, through well targeted continuing professional development.
• To “promote children’s self-esteem and emotional well-being and help them to form and maintain worthwhile relationships based on respect for themselves and others”. (National Curriculum, 2014)

Who to contact

Head Teacher – Jade Hunter

LAC and PLAC Lead - Jade Hunter

Deputy Head Teacher / SENCo - Rachael Finney

Assistant SENCo - Maddy Marriage

SEND Governor – Sheila Lewis-Smith

The staff above can be contacted via the school office on 01603 451299. Jade Hunter is also the designated teacher responsible for looked after children (LAC) and will therefore coordinate SEND provision for LAC in line with this policy.

For more information please read our SEND policy and our school’s local offer. Both can be found via the links below.

Complaints related to Special Educational Needs and Disability will be dealt with in line with our Complaints Policy (which can be found on our Policies page)

West Earlham Infant and Nursery School Information Report:

SEN Report, Local Offer and Provision Map May 2024

This report has been co-produced with the children, families, governors and staff and will be consulted upon annually through family and learning meetings.

Policies:

Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy February 2024 (review Feb 2025)

Accessibility Action Plan May 2024 (review May 2025)

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)  

At West Earlham Infant and Nursery School we are committed to creating a learning environment where every child can reach their full potential.

ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists. It recognises that children learn better if their emotional needs are also addressed. ELSA’s are teaching assistants who have had special training to support the emotional development of children in school. ELSAs have regular professional supervision from educational psychologists to help them in their work.

ELSAs help children learn to understand their emotions and respect the feelings of those around them. They provide the time and space for pupils to think about their personal circumstances and how they manage them

Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher, Senior Leaders or the SENDCo The majority of ELSA work is delivered on an individual basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills. Sessions are fun, they use a range of activities such as: games, role-play with puppets or arts and craft. Families are informed of these sessions and are encouraged to talk to the children and ELSA about the process

The ELSA programme was designed to build the capacity of schools to support the emotional needs of their pupils from within their own resources.