"I don't have a dis-ability, I have a different-ability."
Robert M. Hensel
My name is Caroline Parkinson and I am the SENDCo at Shortlanesend School. As well as supporting staff to enable children who have barriers to learning access school to their full potential, I also want to support the families too. I will hold termly Parent SEND Cafes which are informal sessions where anyone who has a child on the Record of Need can come along and ask questions, seek information and share any good strategies that are helping their child learn. Individual children are not discussed as a group and if you have specific questions that are sensitive to your situation you can request a meeting for another time. I believe that working together is the most effective way to ensure that children get the opportunities to fulfil their potential and come to school - and leave school - being happy and successful learners.
If we have identified any barriers to learning using the SLE Graduated Approach and Provision Cycle and after a period of Assess, Plan, Do, Review, (APDR), where there are still some concerns, we will arrange to meet with parents/carers to discuss adding the child to our school Record of Need which ensures that they receive SEN Support. Once a child is added, we then have a commitment to liaise with the parents/carers 3 times a year to set and review aspirational targets, strategies, provisions, reasonable adjustments and adaptations. These targets will be recorded as part of the child's Individual Provision Map (IPM) which is shared with everyone who is involved with the child's education so we can ensure a consistent approach is used.
The Shortlanesend School Offer includes strategies and provisions that the whole school use universally to support every child. This offer is comprehensive, supports most children and their learning styles and needs. Where this Universal Provision does not meet the need's of a child, the class teacher in collaboration with myself will use a more Targeted Provision. When a child's barriers are more complex and can not be met effectively by Universal and Targeted Provisions we then seek expertise from external agencies who will support Specialist Provision. When specialist support is requested, we will always seek your consent and communicate the outcomes as and when we receive them. Sometimes when the support from Specialist Provision does not meet the needs of the child we will work with families to request an Educational, Health and Care needs assessment.
Knowing the individual learning needs of all our children is vital in helping us provide the necessary Curriculum Adaptations a child may need when learning a specific subject. Examples of this could be: adapting equipment in a DT lessons to enable a child with fine motor skill difficulties to access a practical activity, or ensuring a child has access to a trusted adult who can support their emotional safety.
Below are some links providing further information should you want to find out more. Please also contact me via caroline.parkinson@shortlanesend.org.uk if you require further support to access the SEND content on these pages or have any other questions.
For our SEND Statutory Information click here and for suggestions and general advice about the four broad areas of need, please refer to the side menu where you can find some information about Communication and Interaction; Cognition and Learning; SEMH; and Sensory and Physical/Medical. All the information you are signposted to here are from reputable sources that are evidence based and quality assured.
