SEND Statement of Intent

At Elmtree Infant & Nursery School we strive to ensure that all children receive Quality First Teaching with an ambitious curriculum regardless of need. We believe it is essential for all our children to be equipped with the tools needed to become independent learners. 

• Ensure early identification and intervention for SEND children to ensure that progress and opportunities are maximized. Use of SEN concern forms at Pupil Progress Meetings has helped us to identify these children. 
• Ensure that all children have access to a broad and balanced curriculum which is scaffolded to enable children to understand the relevance and purpose of learning. 
• Use Ordinarily Available Provision to provide an accessible learning environment which is tailored to the needs of all children.  
• Develop children’s independence and life skills.
• Regularly monitor the progress of children with SEND, using a child-centered approach.
• Provide good quality and relevant training for all staff members supporting children with SEND. 
• Work in partnership with parents and carers. 
• Work closely with external agencies and other professionals to develop our provision for children with SEND.

SEND Implementation

At Elmtree School, every teacher is a teacher of SEND. As such, inclusion is a thread that runs through every area of the school enhanced by collaboration between senior leaders, teachers, support staff, external agencies, parents and most importantly, the child. 

• Be included in all aspects of the school day. 
• Be provided with quality first teaching, differentiated to their needs. 
• Be respected and their contributions valued and acknowledged. 

At Elmtree School, pupils with SEND may:

• Have specific 1:1 or small group intervention to support their Phonics, Maths or Literacy learning. 
• Take part in social and emotional support interventions such as Nurture group or Play Therapy. 
• Receive additional support with their speech and language development through the Speech and Language Link interventions, which have been produced by the Speech and Language Therapy team. 
• Allow time for pre-teaching and securing new skills.
• Work alongside external agencies such as an Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) or The Specialist Teacher Service to develop specific targets tailored to the child’s individual needs.

SEND Impact

• Children at Elmtree School feel happy, safe and respected. 
• Behaviour at Elmtree School is well managed and diversity is celebrated. 
• Children demonstrate high levels of engagement in activities, developing their speaking, listening and social skills. 
• Children with SEND make good progress at Elmtree from their starting points due to the use of resources and small group intervention which meets the needs of the pupils.

Equality and Diversity

Within Elmtree Infant and Nursery School, we aim to positively transform individual and shared circumstances, perceptions, attitudes and relations. We aim to reflect the diversity of our local community and society and ensure that the education we offer reduces the chances of social divisions and parallel lives by recognising, celebrating and valuing different backgrounds, lifestyles and identities.

SEND support (Local Offer) 

At Elmtree Infant & Nursery School we strive to support all children to enable them to achieve their potential. Quality first teaching is mandatory for all children, however, for some children there are occasions during their school life when additional support may be needed to help them to achieve their goals. 

Our regular monitoring of the progress and development of all children throughout their school years enables the identification of any need for additional support. 

We work with staff and parents to carry out an analysis of a child’s progress and 

implement additional support matched to their area of need. If there is not a sufficient improvement in the child’s progress, we arrange for specialist assessment to be carried out from agencies beyond our setting. 

Our regularly reviewed provisions provide support across the four broad areas of SEN; 

• Communication and interaction 

• Cognition and learning 

• Social, emotional and mental health 

• Sensory and/or physical needs 

In addition to our mainstream provision, we also provide education through our Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP). This is for children with an EHCP who have a diagnosed Developmental Language Disorder and require support in Speech, Language and Communication (SLCN). In our ARP we provide specialist teaching along with direct therapy from a qualified Speech and Language Therapist.  

All our Local Offer details for Elmtree Infant and Nursery School can be found in our SEN report.