Our Lady’s Catholic Primary Academy

All children in our school are monitored closely with half termly progress meetings taking place with a member of the SLT. The childrens’ progress in tracked in all areas of the curriculum and teachers are held account of their progress. Support staff in our school work very closely with the class teachers and any concerns about the pupils are discussed. Any concerns which are raised regarding a pupil will always be shared with parents/carers and they are involved in all decision making.  We hold 3 formal Parent’s Evenings a year where parents are invited into school to meet the class teacher but also we operate an open door policy where parents can make an appointment at any time to see a member of staff. Parents are encouraged to always come into school to discuss their children and ask any questions or raise any concerns which they may have. Within our school we have a Special Needs Coordinator (SENCo) who supports staff with identifying children who may have a special educational need and works very closely with many external agencies to ensure that all our children’s needs are met. The SENCo is also available to meet with parents/carers upon request.

The children all have their own early year’s profile where their progress and achievements are recorded. If required children have a pupil passport where important information is recorded and this is drawn up with the parents/pupils/SENCo and class teacher/key worker. The staff in the early years all work very closely as a team and are very experienced.  They meet daily to discuss the children and any concerns are shared, these concerns will then be discussed with the parents and a support plan put in place for the child. This may include additional support during the day, for example speech and language activities, physical support or small group work. The staff in our early years will provide additional for the children in any area of the curriculum and also will meet any medical needs if required. The SENCo supports the staff and children in the early years and will meet with parents and liaise with agencies when required. At Our Lady’s we have an effective Home School Link Worker who works alongside the staff in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to offer support to all of the pupils and their families. 

All lessons and activities within our school are differentiated to meet all of the children’s needs. This is monitored by the SLT and the SENCo to ensure that it takes place and that the work is closely matched to the pupil’s ability. Staff provide detailed planning where groups of children are identified and will receive targeted support. This support will also be recorded on their pupil passport ensuring that all members of staff who work in that classroom are aware of the children’s needs. The environments in our school are of a high standard and provide support for all of the children during their learning time. At times the timetable or provision may need to be adapted during the school day to meet a child’s need, for example a PE slot may need to be in the morning rather than the afternoon to ensure additional supervision. An extensive range of resources are available for the children to access and additional resources are purchased as required to support the teaching and learning.

Parents/carers meetings will take place three times a year and a formal report will be sent home to share progress and achievements. Targets are set my class teachers and these are shared with parents and the children. The children are made aware regularly of how they are progressing and what they are working on to improve further. Workshops will take place throughout the year where staff will share with parents and carers how they can support their children; this will include sharing calculation procedures, the pronunciation of graphemes etc.  Staff update their class pages on the school website regularly and will post links to various additional websites which will support the pupil’s learning.  When a child is identified as requiring additional support then the SENCo will monitor their progress and meet with parent/carers when needed. In these meeting the pupil passports will be reviewed.  Rigorous tracking and monitoring of the pupil’s attainment takes place continuously by the class teachers and are overseen by the SLT. Many specialist staff and outside agencies work together to support the children’s learning and offer support to our parents/carers.

Our school is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all children and young people and expects all its employees to share this commitment. All staff are DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checked and regularly updated with safeguarding training. This includes students and volunteers who work within our school. We have school policies which are available for parents/carers to read and they include child protection, anti-bullying and special educational needs. Pupils may require support for medical needs and staff receive training how to administer medication for example an epi pen or insulin. Staff are first aid trained with two members of staff in the early years being paediatric trained. All medication is stored in a secure place in staff store cupboards. If a child has an allergy or dietary requirements this information is stored in a file in the office to inform all staff and the class teacher is made aware of this. A record book is kept of any accidents which the children may have and a copy is sent home to inform parents.

You may not use photographic devices unless all other parents and carers have given their consent.  Photograph consent forms are completed by parents/carers and are stored in a confidential file in the school office.  All disclosures made by a child are treated in line with our child protection policy in line with Stoke on Trent Children and Young Peoples Safeguarding Board. Our safe guarding officer is Miss. Lee (Principal)

The members of staff at our school have a wealth of experience and have undergone many training sessions. The SENCo oversees the additional support for the pupils and directs staff to work with particular pupils ensuring that their needs are best met.  Many agencies support the pupils and staff from our school and liaise regularly. We work closely with the Speech and Language Therapist, Educational Psychologist, Specialist Advisory Teachers, Health Care Professionals and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Advisor. Our Home School Link Worker liaises with many  external agencies and will seek support and guidance for all of our families when needed, for example, the children’s centre and citizens advice bureau..

We have staff that have received training and completed the following courses:

Dyslexia training

Wave 3 Intervention Strategies

English as an Additional Language

Numicon

Better reading

Better Words

Beat dyslexia

Polish Awareness

Epi - Pen training

Diabetes training

Asthma

When we receive pupils who required additional support an audit of staff need is completed ensuring that the staff are equipped and skilled to work with the pupil. Regular training takes place throughout the year for all our staff. The SENCo works closely with many outside agencies especially with a SEND advisor where training and support is discussed regularly.

All of our children are involved in all activities outside of the classroom. We offer a breakfast club before school for all pupils from 8:00am. A range of after school clubs are available, these are offered to all pupils and change throughout the year. If a child requires additional support for a club then this can be arranged. Education visits take place for each year group each academic year with a residential taking place for our upper KS2 children. Weekly mass takes place and the pupils from Reception – Year 6 attend, this takes place in the school hall and in our church. Children are encouraged to read during the mass and support if given throughout the week to rehearse their reading. Weekly PE sessions take place and the school fields are used and accessible by all the children. A sports day takes place each year with all pupils involved and the races are adapted to ensure that the are accessible by all pupils and are safe. Performances take place at intervals throughout the year and all the children get the opportunity to perform in at least one.

Risk assessments are carried out for all of the above activities and specialist provision is put into place where needed, the legal requirement for adult:pupil ratio is always adhered to.

The school is fully accessible by all of our pupils and families. We have level ground access to the school and all of the classroom classrooms. Doors around the school have double openings making them extra wide openings. The school has three gate entrances and no steps providing us with accessible entrances and exists. The automatic gate which is located at the main entrance has a button at an appropriate height that can be reached by somebody in a wheelchair. There are no staircases inside the school building and corridors are wide and free from obstructions. Car parking is available for visitors at the front and rear of the building. An automatic door has the timer set at a reasonable time limit allowing people to pass through at a comfortable pace.

All of our pupils who begin their school life in our Nursery are offered a home visit from the class teacher and Early Years Practitioner. Many play and stay sessions are offered for the children to attend with their parents/carers. Transition days take place towards the end of the academic year where the children have many days with their new teacher in their new classroom. Learning support practitioners stay working with individual pupils as they change year groups within our school. They also support the pupils when joining high school to go along on change over day and additional sessions. The SENCo and outside agencies regular meet to discuss the transition of pupils to ensure that they are fully prepared and everything runs smoothly. Review meetings take place and parents/carers are invited along to attend to discuss the transition and the pupil passport.

If a child has a birth- to-25 Education, Health and Care Plan they will receive additional funding for special educational needs will have access to all facilities provided by the school. Funding is allocated to enable the child to achieve their full potential, possibly one to one support, specialist equipment, and appropriate toys to aid development or the creation of pictorial support aids. Parents/carers are involved in all the decisions that are made regarding the support that the pupils require and will receive. High Quality First Teaching and resources are constantly reviewed and matched to the pupils and their specific need.

Decisions are made through consultation with all parties involved with the child’s care; this includes parents/carers, specialists, as well as the school’s Special Educational Needs coordinator (SENCo ) and key staff. Meetings are arranged and take place in the schools meeting room. Observations and behaviour records are carried out by staff and shared with parents on a regular basis. These records may need to be shared with external agencies but permission will always be asked for from the parents/carer. The amount of support that a child receives is dependent upon their need. The Special Educational Needs coordinator (SENCo) will draw up a Pupil Passport in collaboration with the key people involved and with the pupil, this is reviewed each half term. At the review the impact of the support will be assessed and moderated as appropriate.

We have a Parent’s Forum who meet once a term to discuss any school-related issues and a PTFA who  are group of people including parents, teachers and friends of the school who help to organise events, both fund raising and social. All parents/carers are invited to attend the meetings.

Volunteers are warmly welcome in our school to support the children with their learning. Parent questionnaires are distributed and parents are encouraged to share their views about our school on Parent View and evaluate our performance. Our home school link worker runs a family learning sessions where all families are invited to attend.