Patcham Junior School

How will we know if a child needs extra help?

 We know children need extra help because:

• We provide opportunities for parents and carers to share their concerns.
• We measure children’s progress regularly to highlight and plan for children who are not making expected progress.
• We use a range of assessments to look for reasons why children are making slower progress and then plan appropriate support.
• Children tell us or show us through their behaviour.

What should you do if you think your child has special needs?

If you are aware of your child’s specific needs before they enter the school, please let the school know when you first visit and on their entry form.

• Once your child has been offered a place, ask to meet with their class teacher and the Special Needs Coordinator (SENCo), Suzanne Spencer-Smith.
• If you have concerns about possible special educational needs (SEN) when your child is in school, talk to their teacher at the end of the school day who can make an appointment to meet with you.
• If you are not available at the end of the school day, ring the school office and arrange a telephone appointment with the teacher.
• You can also ask the school office for an appointment with the school SENCo.

How do we support children with Special Educational Needs?

• The class teacher is responsible for the progress of all the pupils in the class and many pupils may need some additional support to help them progress during their time at our school.
• Additional support may also be provided by trained learning support staff or by specialist services.
• We work closely with Brighton and Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS) and we buy in support from a linked Educational Psychologist; a specialist literacy teacher, an autism support and speech and language teacher and a teacher to support with social, emotional, mental health and behaviour.
• The school nurse and the Mental Health team, speech therapist, CAHMs and specialists from Seaside View- such as occupational therapists and physiotherapist- also work with the school.
• The Class teachers, support staff and SENCo are responsible for planning the additional support children will need.
• For many children a period of additional support will help them catch up with other children but for some children with special educational needs or disabilities, extra support will be needed more regularly; for longer or throughout their time in school.
• If your child is going to be part of an intervention group outside the class then a letter will be sent home when they start to provide you with information about the aims and the duration of the support.
• For children with higher levels of special educational need or disabilities (who have an Education Health and Care plan) or a diagnosis, such as Autism or ADHD, parents/carers are invited into school to discuss targets for each child and plans for support.
• For further information please read our SEND Policy which is updated every year.
• Parents and carers of pupils with special needs can access further support outside of school from Amaze http://amazebrighton.org.uk.

How is the curriculum matched to a child’s needs?

The class teacher will provide teaching and activities to match the levels of learning of all children in the class.

• Sometimes additional resources will be provided to support children’s learning (e.g. coloured overlays; dyslexia friendly exercise books; pencil grips; left-handed pens; lap tops; adapted scissors; spell checkers; sensory toys; signs or symbols). Extra equipment may also be recommended by services who work with the school such as the speech and language therapist, the occupational therapist etc.
• Teaching assistants may be allocated to work with the pupil in a 1-1 or small focus group, to target more specific needs, but we always strive to help children to work independently or with other children rather than become dependent on adult support.
• For a very few children with very specific needs, we may plan parts of the curriculum completely differently to the rest of the class to ensure the children make progress. Parents and carers would always be involved in these decisions.
• Homework is adapted to pupils’ needs and this can be reviewed with the class teacher.

How do both you and the school know how a child is doing?

• Pupil Progress meetings are held termly with the head teacher, deputy head teacher, class teacher and SENCo to discuss progress and plan extra support.
• The class teacher will meet with parents in the Autumn and Spring terms, at parent’s evenings, to discuss your child’s needs, support and progress.
• The SENCo will also be available for appointments at Parent/Carer Evenings.
• Additional meetings with class teachers or the SENCo are welcomed and we ask that you call or email the school office to arrange these.
• Some children, for example those who are supported by an Individual Needs Assistant (INA), may be offered a daily home/school communication book to ensure parents and carers are kept informed on a very regular basis.
• Parents/carers of children with an EHCP are invited to an Annual Review meeting and any other meetings when necessary.
• The teachers and support staff write an individual Provision Map each term. This includes pupil voice.

How do we support families to support their child’s learning?

• Our weekly class story on Dojo will tell you what is happening in your child’s class.
• Class teachers will suggest ways of supporting your child’s learning at parent consultation evenings in the autumn and summer terms.
• Our SENCo, head teacher or learning mentors may meet with you to discuss how we can work together to support your child.
• If outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist have been involved, suggestions are normally provided that can be used at home.
• We provide some workshops in school to support families. 

How do we support a pupil's overall wellbeing?

 Supporting our pupils’ well-being is the most important job of staff at our school and we work hard to make it a priority in all we do:

• We have Dojo points which pupils can earn for learning and playtime behaviours. These build up to a whole class treat.
• Through our PSHE curriculum, we learn about value, rights, responsibilities and choices; we think carefully about the way we can make everyone feel welcome and included in our school community and we teach children to solve problems peacefully.
• We take any incidents of bullying behaviour very seriously and details of how we manage these can be found in our Relationships and Anti-bullying Policy.
• We actively listen to children and there are opportunities for pupil’s voice via the school council, and regular pupil conferencing. Pupil voice is an important part of our provision maps. 
• We have a learning mentor who is able to provide one to one and small group social emotional support, as well as running Lego Therapy groups, Friendships groups and opportunities to have outside sensory breaks.
• For children with medical needs, we write Individual Health Plans in consultation with parents/carers. These are shared with all staff who are involved with the pupil.
• All staff receive basic first aid and annual ‘EpiPen’ training delivered by the school Nurse and several key staff have more comprehensive first aid training.
• Where necessary and in agreement with parents/carers, medicines are administered in school but only where a signed plan is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member.
• To support the well-being of children with complex needs, we often talk to parents/carers about how we can help children understand their own disability/difference and sometimes support those children in explaining this to their classmates. We believe understanding and learning about each other’s needs helps our whole school learn and play better together.

How are families and children included in activities outside the setting, including school trips?

•  Activities and school trips are available to all.
• We try to keep costs to a minimum, choosing as many local visits using public transport as we can. We also offer financial support when necessary.
• We welcome parents and carers’ involvement on trips and visits and this can be arranged with class teachers.
• Risk assessments are carried out and procedures are put in place to enable all children to participate.  

How will the school prepare and support my child when joining our school or transferring to a new school?

•  We understand what a stressful time moving schools can be, therefore many strategies are in place to enable the pupil’s transition to be as smooth as possible. These include:
• New pupils joining the school will be assigned a buddy to help them become familiar with their new environment. Vulnerable pupils will also be assigned a key adult or learning mentor to help them settle.
• We have a lot of transition work in place for children moving into Year Three, See below for the activities last year.

Follow this link to visit the Brighton and Hove local offer for families:

Brighton & Hove City Council Special Educational 

From Patcham Infants to Patcham Juniors 2024

• Year 3 children wrote a letter to our Year 2s.  
• Year 2s to prepared questions with class teachers following Y6 report.  
• Ali Sutherland did an assembly in the infant school with Year 3 children.
• Y2 children visited PJS for a playtime.   
• Year 3 Parents Evening at PJS.  
• Transition day - CTs to answer any further questions from Year 2 children. 
• SEN meeting with SENCo and year group leaders to hand over information.
• Teachers all met to discuss parents and children
• Year Two classes were not mixed up to enable a smooth transition 

• During the summer term of Year Two, any parents of pupils who have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) were invited into school to meet the SENCo and their new Year Three Teacher to share information and to discuss transition arrangements. There were opportunities for other parents whose pupils who have special needs to meet the SENCo in the summer term. In the first couple of weeks of Year Three all the pupils on the SEN register were invited into school to meet the SENCo, the Deputy Headteacher and the class teacher to share information about their child and to discuss how transition into Year Three was going.

From Year Six to Year Seven 2024

• We took small groups on a visit to Patcham High school. The whole of Year 6 was given our in-house designed 'Transition Booklets' and, as a class or in small groups, the children watched the accompanying PowerPoint presentation, working through the booklets and doing the activities. They had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss any worries or concerns about the move to high school. The High Schools had an Induction Day on Thursday 6th July for all the Year 6 children to attend.
• We also had several pupils who went on to other high schools this year, all of whom had at least one visit to their new schools, and members of staff from those schools came to PJS to visit the children. Some of the SEN children had extra visits with their INA's to familiarise themselves with their new schools. All pupils made One Page Profiles to take with them to their high schools. (The SEN children had smaller laminated copies to keep with them at school to use with new teachers, or if they were not feeling able to communicate). 

How are the school’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?

Fair means that each child gets what they need, not gets the same.

• We allocate resources according to: the need of each child, discussion with the class teacher at pupil progress meetings or a concern raised by them or by you at another time during the year.
• Following completion of an assessment, such as a speech and language or educational psychologist assessment, further support or resources may be allocated to your child based on their identified needs.
• If a child is allocated resources and additional funding through an EHCP, then this provision is specified on the child’s individual education plan (IEP) and reviewed annually at a formal Annual Review Meeting.

How are decisions made about the type and level of support a child/ young person needs?

 The SENCo and class teachers have responsibility for making sure all children receive additional support where needed.

• Regular monitoring and assessment, and weekly discussions in staff meetings, ensure that pupils with both social emotional difficulties and those who are not making expected progress are identified early and this information used to decide on the best type of support in each case.
• Additional support will be provided, initially from within school resources with external referrals to other support services made as a next step. Parents/carers will be informed at all stages.
• Additional adult support is not always the answer to a child’s needs and we are careful to promote positive learning attitudes, independence and resilience rather than over-reliance on adults.
• Families are invited to meet the class teacher at the Parents Meetings and progress can be discussed here, but families are always welcome to come and discuss progress at other times with teachers or the SENCo
• For children with more complex needs (EHCP level of support), these decisions on levels of support are made annually at the Annual Review meeting.

 How are families involved in the setting?

 We operate an “open door” policy and welcome families into the school in many ways:

• As well as Parents Evenings teachers are happy to meet families at the end of the day at their request and will also request meetings with parents/carers ourselves at other times when necessary.
• We run a family support group for families of children with autism.
• There is an active PTA, who regularly get together to plan social and fund-raising events, for example, the Winter and Summer Fairs.
• We also welcome reading volunteers in school and if you are interested in volunteering, please contact the school office.