SEND Report
Support for Your Child at St Aelred’s Catholic Primary School
St Aelred’s Catholic Primary School provides a caring and supportive environment where each child is considered unique and every child is valued; all children are given the opportunity to achieve the very best they can. Sometimes children need additional support for some or all of their time at school.
This page is to inform you of the types of support available for your child at St Aelred’s. It will help you to understand who can help if your child needs additional support, and how this support can be accessed.
All pupils at St Aelred’s Catholic Primary School receive quality first teaching. This means that a range of teaching styles and approaches are used and that appropriate learning objectives are set for all children with a curriculum matched to their needs. Children have access to different types of support in lessons, and often work in small groups or one to one with a Teacher or Teaching Assistant.
The school’s Special Educational Needs & Disability Coordinator is (SENDCo) Mrs. G. Martin. She can be reached through the school office at [email protected] or 01904 806075
For the latest St Aelred’s SEND Information report, please find the document below:
2025-26 St Aelred’s Catholic Primary school SEN Information report – Au 2025
How do we identify Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)?
Our teachers carry out regular assessment and routinely check that all children are making the required progress. If our teachers think your child may not be making the same progress as other pupils, or are falling behind the level that is expected for their age, they may be considered to have Special Educational Needs. Our SENDCo will support you and your child’s class teacher. We will observe and monitor each child, assess their understanding of what we are doing in school, and work with them to find out what is causing difficulty. They may be placed on the SEND register and parents will be informed of this. Support will be put in place to support your child’s learning.
If you tell us you think your child has Special Educational Needs your class teacher will discuss this with you. We will observe your child closely and assess what may be causing difficulty. We will share with you what we find out and what we will do next. Our SENDCo will support you and your child’s teacher to make the best provision for your child.
When a child has identified SEND before they start at St Aelred’s Catholic Primary School, we work with the people who already know about them and use the information already available to identify how we can meet their SEND at St Aelred’s.
Accessibility
Our school is wheelchair friendly. We have wide doors and double doors to access the main school building without the need to use stairs to access the ground floor. We have a lift which can be used to access the upper level. In addition to this, we have a disabled toilet and access to changing facilities.
How do we involve pupils and their parents/carers?
Parents know their children better than anyone else and the relationship between parents and school is crucial in making sure your child reaches their potential. Parents can expect to be involved in assessment of SEND and are regularly invited to review progress and be involved in the target setting process.
Categories of Special Educational Needs
Children’s difficulties may fall into one (or more) of four broad areas:
● Cognition and learning needs;
● Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs;
● Communication and Interaction needs;
● Sensory and/or Physical Needs.
Sometimes, if a child’s needs are more complex, a multi-agency approach will be used so that there is opportunity to consult with a wider range of support services and health professionals. This is called a ‘My Support Plan’ and is focused on what parents feel is important to them to support their child. This might involve the support of one or more of the different professionals with whom we work closely:
● School Nurse – to advise on any medical needs and provision, and to help when a care plan is needed;
● Educational Psychologist – to advise and carry out more detailed assessments;
● Specialist Teachers and Teaching Assistants for hearing impaired, visually impaired, physical or medical difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder;
● Speech Therapists;
● Specialist teachers and Teaching Assistants from Resourced Provision such as behaviour support, speech therapy at Haxby Road, Dyslexia Centre at St Oswald’s;
● Primary Mental Health Worker.
How do we adapt the curriculum so that we meet the needs of our children with SEND?
Class teachers take responsibility for including all pupils with SEND within the classroom and deliver differentiated learning, manage support and provide resources to ensure that pupils with SEND have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. All staff are trained in a variety of approaches to teaching and learning, which means we are able to adapt to a range of SEND including Dyslexia, Autistic Spectrum Condition, Speech, Language and Communication needs and behavioural, social and emotional difficulties as well as visual and hearing impairment, physical and medical difficulties.
Strategies and resources may include:
● support from a teaching assistant in class;
● the type and length of instructions we give;
● small group or individual sessions out of class (intervention)
● alternative resources such as ‘Help packs’, specialised work stations, IT access, visual prompts
● support to manage own behaviour.
● targets specifically for each child set through an Individual Education Plan, which will specify in detail what will be learned, how and who will help.
● emotional or wellbeing support within school or from a wellbeing worker.
At every stage of the process, the pupil’s voice is at the centre of decision making and provision. Your child will be listened to and supported, and their views will be taken into account along with those of teachers, families and professionals.
What if my child has more complex or severe needs?
If your child’s needs are complex or severe we may suggest that we ask the Local Authority for an Education Health and Care (ECH) Assessment. This may lead to an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) if your child needs additional support beyond that provided through School Support. If, however, their needs can be met through School Support, this will continue to be coordinated through a My Support Plan.
If your child needs extra resources to help them with their learning, for example special equipment or attendance at a school with specialist resourced support, the Local Authority will provide these. This extra provision will be reviewed annually and would include parent, teacher, SENDCo and pupil.
How is my child’s progress assessed and reviewed?
Teachers use detailed information from their tracking of children’s progress to make sure that all children are making progress at their starting point. Progress is checked daily during lessons and regularly through assessments. Teachers have meetings to work together to check that their judgements are correct. Our senior leadership team check the progress of pupils each term and discuss what we are going to do to make sure that each child is making good progress.
For children with SEND, teachers review personal targets termly and discuss these with parents.
Who is responsible for provision for meeting my child’s needs?
Our staff at St Aelred’s Primary School are highly experienced and are trained to meet every child’s needs.
Our SENDCo oversees provision for children with SEND and liaises with class teachers, teaching assistants and outside professionals to make sure that your child’s needs are being met.
Your child’s teacher will set appropriate targets and discuss these with you termly, or more often if needed.
Where appropriate, teaching assistants work closely with the class teacher to implement targets, support provision for children and sometimes lead interventions for pupils.
Our School Governor who is responsible for liaising between our SENDCo and the Governing Body is Marie Howell.
We aim to ensure that every child achieves their full potential and becomes a confident learner.
You can also find out about York’s local offer here.
Admission Arrangements for students with SEND
St Aelred’s Catholic Primary School aims to be a fully inclusive school. If special provision needs to be made for a child (for example due to a physical or medical need) then a meeting with parents (and specialist services if appropriate) will be sought in the first instance to ensure that the school are fully prepared to meet the child’s needs. If a child with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) is transferring to us, then we will seek advice from
other professionals and consult with the Local Authority SEND Team to ensure our school can fully meet their needs.
City of York Council SEND Information
For information about the provisions in and across York for children with special educational needs and disabilities, please see the SEND local offer in York on the Yor-OK website.
In 2022 the SEND Outcomes Framework was developed and published:
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Guide For Parents and Carers
This guide, produced by the Department for Education, explains how the system that supports children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) works. It covers:
- the law and guidance on which the system is based
- places to go for help and further information
- details about changes to the system from 1 September 2014
The guide can be found using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-parents-and-carers
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice provides statutory guidance on the SEND system for children and young people aged 0 to 25. It is statutory for all schools. Where the code uses the word ‘must’, it means that this is something required by law; where ‘should’ is used, it means that the guidance must be considered, with explanation if not followed.
The basic principles underpinning the SEND Code of Practice are set out in the Code but also summarised in a guide for parents and carers written when the Code of Practice was first published:
‘The basic principles you need to keep in mind when thinking about your child’s needs are:
- All children have a right to an education that enables them to make progress so that they:
- achieve their best
- become confident individuals and live fulfilling lives
- make a successful transition into becoming an adult – whether that’s into
- further and higher education, training or work
All children with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities should have their needs met, whether they are in early years settings (like a nursery or a childminder), in school or in college.
- When making decisions about SEN or disabilities, your local authority must:
- have regard to the views, wishes and feelings of children, their parents and young people
- make sure that children, their parents and young people participate as fully as possible in decisions that affect them
- provide support to children, their parents and young people so that children and young people do well educationally and can prepare properly for adulthood
Parents should have a real say in decisions that affect their children, should have access to impartial information, advice and support and know how to challenge decisions they disagree with.
Local authorities must also involve children, their parents and young people in developing local provision and services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
This includes developing their Local Offer (see section in this guide, The Local Offer)
Services that provide help for your child (such as your local authority and local health
organisations) need to work with each other to benefit your child.’
From Special educational needs and disability: A guide for parents and carers DfE 2014
Links to Documents
Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years (DfE & DfH 2015)
Guides for Parents and Carers
Special educational needs and disability: A guide for parents and carers (DfE 2014)
Changes to special educational needs and disability support: Easy read guide for parents (DfE and Mencap 2014)
Guide for Children
Changes to special educational needs and disability support Easy read guide for children and young people (DfE and Mencap 2014)
