Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

At The Catholic School of St Gregory The Great we aim for all children to ‘Believe and Achieve’ in line with our Mission Statement. We adhere to Section 69(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014 and Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, including the Code of Practice:0-25 years.

Special Educational Needs and Disability:
The changes in the Children and Families Act 2014 affect the way children with special educational needs and/or Disability (SEND) are supported in schools. This approach places pupils at the centre of planning for their needs.  

The key principles of the legislation are:

• Young people and their families should be involved in discussions about the support they need, so they can share their knowledge and liaise with the school on the young person’s progress.
• Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs) have replaced statements of special educational needs.
• School Action and School Action Plus have ceased and been replaced by a single school-based category for children who need additional specialist support.

What we offer at St Gregory's:

Here is the Catholic School of St Gregory The Great’s Offer for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (The Policy that we follow can be found HERE)

The Catholic School of St Gregory The Great uphold children’s right to education and recognise the diverse educational needs within its community. We acknowledge those needs may change and require a range of provision. We believe we have a duty to offer that provision where we can, to foster inclusion and provide full educational access.  Some children need increased support to access learning because they:

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

• have a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools

• have a disability as defined under the Equality Act, which affects their ability to access and benefit from the educational opportunities generally enjoyed by children of the same age.

Equality

We will try to ensure that all barriers to equal access in our school are reduced or overcome in line with the Equality Act 2010: advice for schools.  We monitor and track progress of all children so that the support provided is as effective as possible.  We welcome the full engagement of parents and carers and where necessary seek support and advice from specialists outside of school to ensure we develop and maintain a range of flexible resources to meet the needs of all children.

Areas of Need:

The ‘Code of Practice’ states that there are four main areas which cover Special Educational Needs and Disability:

• Communication and Interaction
• Cognition and Learning
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health
• Sensory and/or Physical

Was you child born before 37 weeks?
There is a lot of research looking into why children might find different areas of learning tricky. There is strong evidence that some children born preterm (before 37 weeks) may be more at risk of experiencing difficulties with their learning. Teaching teams have received training in raising awareness of how to support children who were born preterm and it would be really useful for us to be aware of pupils who were born early. 

If your child was born before 37 weeks it would be really useful for us to know. If this applies to your child and you are happy to share this information please email in to 
admin@st-gregorygreat.gloucs.sch.uk and title the email FAO: Mrs Biddle, include the name of your child and how many weeks early they were born.  The PRISM poster contains some interesting information about the potential difficulties children born preterm may face. 

Do you care for a child with additional needs, disabilities, medical conditions or SEN?

Gloucestershire Parent Carer Forum is an organisation of Parent Carers who volunteer their time to support each other and work together to improve local services for families.

They can offer you:

• regular meet ups (online and in person)
• a friendly Facebook group
• free training
• opportunities to influence decision makers

Membership is free to all Parent Carers (of children 0-25yrs) in Gloucestershire.  For more information please visit: www.glosparentcarerforum.org.uk

Sensory Room
We have a wonderful sensory room for our children.  Our Sensory Room is called “Charlie’s Den”. It is named after a past pupil.  In there you will find:

• A Colour Changing LED Bubble/fish Tube light—The ever-changing lights produce a very calming effect and can teach colour recognition as part of sensory sessions.
• Fibre Optic lights.
• There is a projector and a diffuser that are turned on when a child enters the space.
• There is a box of fiddle/sensory objects. 
• Black out blind that can be pulled down to make the room darker.
• Black Sensory Pod—the double layered black environment creates a safe and enclosed area for sensory exploration.
• Bean Bags—Mixture of Colours & Textured Fabrics

The children go to the den with an adult to co-regulate when big emotions take over for some of our little people.  We are incredibly lucky to have this wonderful area and many of our children will benefit greatly from Charlie’s Den.