Inclusion
Inclusion at St. Michael's
Equality and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do at St. Michael’s so that all children are provided with the opportunity to achieve their full potential. We have a passion to include everyone and a deep desire to treat everyone equally. We accept others for who they are and respect differences. At St. Michael’s, we endeavour to remove the barriers to learning as early as possible in order to fulfil this belief.
Our aim is to ensure that all its students achieve their full potential, regardless of differentiating needs. If a student has special educational and/or disability needs (SEND), as a school we will take every reasonable step to identify and meet them. Further information on the policy and provision for SEND can be obtained from the school. Students with SEND who do not have an Educational Health Care Plan will be admitted on an equal basis with others in accordance with our admissions policy.
Meet Our Inclusion Team
Miss S Mason - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo)
Mr R Soor - Assistant Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator
Mrs N Begum - Family Support Worker and Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs K Devi - Learning Mentor and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs H Jakhu - EAL Champion and Senior Mental Health Lead
Mr P Hynan - Designated Safeguarding Lead
Miss H Lennard - Speech and Language Therapist
Mrs V Devi - Higher Level Teaching Assistant and SEND Support Teaching Assistant
Mrs S Gul - SEND Support Teaching Assistant
Mrs R Kauser - SEND Support Teaching Assistant
Mrs K Devi - Reading Intervention Champion
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
On 1st September 2014, legislation came into effect for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities [SEND]. The SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years (DfE, January 2015) provides schools with statutory guidance to ensure that the right provision is provided for all pupils with SEND so that they succeed with their education and make a successful transition to adulthood.
What does it mean if my child is identified as having SEND?
If your child is identified as having a special educational need, you will be informed by our a member of our Special Educational Needs team - either Miss Mason or Mr Soor. With your consent, your child will be added to our school SEND register as ‘SEN Support’. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be created for your child, outlining SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) targets relating to their personal area/s of need. These will be reviewed during Assess, Plan, Do, Review meetings at the end of every term with you, your child and their class teacher.
What are the different areas of SEND?
The needs of a child with SEND will fall under one or more of these four areas, as outlined in the SEND Code of Practice:
- Communication and Interaction
- Cognition and Learning
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties
- Sensory and/or Physical needs
What support will my child get in school?
Every child at St. Michael's receives quality first teaching within the classroom but for those pupils who may require further support, additional help may be provided through individual or group interventions, targeted support, or especially designed teaching and learning resources.
A referral may also be made to an outside agency to seek further advice and support for your child. Parental consent is always gained before any referral is made. See below to find out more information about the different agencies we closely work with at St. Michael's.
For more detailed information about the support we offer our pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in school, please read our SEND Information Report.
Outside Agencies: Who are they and what do they do?
Educational Psychologist (EP): Hannah Fitzpatrick
- Completing an initial observation of a child following a referral made by school (always with parental consent).
- Meetings with parents and carers.
- 1:1 session/s with the child.
- Writing a summary report for school and parents and carers, outlining clear recommendations.
- Sharing resources and strategies with staff and parents and carers to use in school and at home.
- Training for staff e.g. Precision Teaching, Positive Behaviour Management.
- Regular liaison with the Inclusion Team in school.
Speech and Language Therapist (SALT): Hannah Leonard
- Completing an initial assessment of a child following a referral made by school (always with parental consent).
- Telephone discussions with parents and carers.
- More regular therapy for a small number of pupils.
- Writing a report for school and parents and carers outlining specific, individual targets to work on with the child.
- Sharing resources and strategies with staff and parents and carer to use in school and at home.
- Completing a review assessment in the next academic year, if required.
- Regular training for staff e.g. Teaching Children to Listen, task management board.
- Regular liaison with the Inclusion Team in school.
Pupil and School Support (PSS): Kerrie Green
- Completing an initial assessment of a child following a referral made by school (always with parental consent).
- Telephone discussions with parents and carer.
- Writing a summary report for school and parents and carers, outlining clear recommendations.
- Sharing resources and strategies with staff and parents and carer to use in school and at home.
- Completing a review assessment in the next academic year, if required.
- Loaning specific programmes or resources to support individual pupils.
- Regular liaison with the Inclusion Team in school.
Communication and Autism Team (CAT): Catherine Mohan
For enquiries from parents/ carers: [email protected]
- Provide support to children and young people, parents, carers, schools and academies in Birmingham.
- Work closely with settings to develop good autism practice through utilising the Autism Education Trust (AET) framework.
- Ongoing support and advice, to settings, ensures that autistic children and young people can access learning and develop life skills that will enable them to fulfil their educational, social and employment potential.
Co-Production at St. Michael's
“1.1 Section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014 makes clear that local authorities, in carrying out their functions under the Act in relation to needs (SEND), must have regard to:
- the views, wishes and feelings of the child or young person, and the child’s parents
- the importance of the child or young person, and the child’s parents, participating as fully as possible in decisions, and being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions
- the need to support the child or young person, and the child’s parents, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help them achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes, preparing them effectively for adulthood.
Co-production, when applied effectively to supporting children and young people with SEND, enables the CYP, their parents and/or carers and professionals across multiple agencies and sectors working together as equal partners to design, plan, deliver and review support and services in order to achieve shared outcomes.
Co-production recognises children and young people, parent carers and professionals as assets that all have important contributions to make due to their differing knowledge, skills and experience.
For co-production to be most effective, all partners should be brought in at the earliest opportunity when planning or designing support or services.
Do you need to talk to the SENDCo?
Please contact Miss Mason or Mr Soor if you would like to discuss anything related to special educational needs.
Contact methods:
- Miss Mason and Mr Soor are available daily on the playground at home time
- Phone school and request an appointment
- Email [email protected] - Both Miss Mason and Mr Soor have access to this shared email account
When can I talk to the SENDCo?
Our SENDCo team is available to meet with any parents between 1:30pm and 3:15pm every Monday afternoon. No appointment is needed for these 1:1 meetings. Alternatively, you can phone school or email the SENDCo team to make an appointment for a mutually convenient date and time.
Contact SENDCo
Telephone: 0121 554 7818
Email: [email protected]
