Children’s needs vary and can be identified in a variety of ways including observation, noticing patterns in behaviour and feedback from parents.  Children’s progress is regularly monitored by the class teacher and each term the class teacher has a meeting with the Head Teacher and the Senior Leadership Team to discuss progress of the children in the class. Those children who are not making the expected level of progress in Maths and English are identified and steps put in place to support their learning.  Other areas of development are also discussed such as physical and sensory, emotional or language and communication needs and where required additional support is put in place. This plan is then shared with parents. Outside agencies including Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy may be contacted for further guidance and advice with parent’s consent. In all cases, teachers use their professional judgment and criteria set by the Local Authority (LA) to decide if a child has additional needs which are creating a barrier to their learning or if their specific needs require support additional to that offered to all through the class teacher and the school offer. (For further information on the school offer please see the School Offer on the website) 

If a parent has concerns about any aspect of their child’s learning or development they should discuss this initially with the class teacher. Depending on the nature of the problem the class teacher will give advice to the parent and where appropriate the teacher will discuss these concerns with the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo). If the SENCO feels it is appropriate, a meeting will then be arranged with the parents to discuss next steps.