Additional Needs and Inclusion

SEND stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability that means they need additional or different support to learn and participate in school life. Increasingly, the term “additional needs” is also used within education settings.

Legally, a person is considered to have a disability if they “have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.” This means it has, or is likely to last 12 months or more.

We recognise that all children may need support at any time, which is why the focus of our practice is child-centred and strongly aimed on using strengths to support their needs and on removing barriers to learning and participation.

Every practitioner within the school has a responsibility to support children to learn and thrive. We expect difference and therefore plan ahead to support a diverse cohort and maximise inclusivity. This includes ongoing reflection, making reasonable adjustments and updating our practice with regular training.

Oversight of SEND in the school is held by our SENDCO & inclusion lead Steve Henshall. He has been part of our school since 2021 and brings over a decade’s experience working across a range of school settings, with a specialism in autism and working memory. He holds a masters in psychology, PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status and NPQ in Middle Leadership. He achieved the National Award for SEN Coordination from UCL in 2023.

 

Our Early Childhood SENDCO is Annina McCormick. She has worked at St Paul’s since 2010 and has a specialism in supporting children with literacy differences. Her qualifications include MA (Cantab), PGCE, Steiner Waldorf Teaching Certificate and Level 7 OCR Diploma in Teaching and Assessing Learners with Dyslexia/SpLD (2012).

We have a large dedicated team of support staff at St Paul’s Waldorf School including:

· Renata Vitor

· Nils Stas

· Alex Brew

· Rita Artuso

· Sarah Chandler

· Jade Armstrong

· Jane Akuwudike

Sometimes we need extra help to offer our pupils the support they need. Whenever necessary we will work with external support services to meet the needs of our pupils with SEND and support their families. These include:

· Educational psychologists

· GPs and paediatricians

· Speech and language therapists

· Occupational therapists

· Counsellors and therapists

· Child and adolescent mental health services

· Social services and other local authority support services

The school’s SEND practice is monitored by the Headteacher, Anna Retsler, in partnership with Pia de Keyser, our trustee responsible for SEND and inclusion.

Whilst we will at all times strive to meet additional needs of each pupil, this is subject to the needs of other pupils and staff, and our duties to them. This requirement to balance competing needs and duties, may mean, at times, we are not able to meet the needs identified.

Tell us about your concerns	We will invite you in for a meeting.	We will decide if your child needs additional support.
If you think your child has additional needs or a disability, the first person you should tell is your child’s teacher. They will pass the message onto the relevant SENDCO.	We will meet with you to discuss your concerns and try to get a better understanding of what your child’s strengths and challenges are. Together we will decide what outcomes to seek for your child and agree on next steps. We will make a note of what’s been discussed and this to your child’s record. Your child will be added to the SEND register under the category “monitoring”.	If we decide that your child needs additional support, we will formally notify you via email and your child will be added to the SEND register.

 

At St Paul’s, we use what is called the ‘graduated approach’. Put simply, this means starting with inclusive and adaptive teaching for the whole group then adding extra support when needed. It also emphasises taking steps to remove barriers to learning and participation.

All practitioners are aware of SEND and are continually monitoring the progress of pupils. If a pupil isn’t making expected progress in their learning or socially, the teacher will explore adjustments to scaffold and support them with this.

If a pupil continues to struggle, the teacher will talk to the SENDCO and will make contact with you to arrange a meeting. The SENDCO will observe the pupil to make an assessment of their strengths, challenges and if there are any further adjustments that could be put in place. In addition, they will meet with your child’s teachers and check appropriate attainment, behaviour and attendance data.

The SENDCO will ask you for your opinion and, where appropriate, speak to your child to get their input as well. With your consent they may wish to ask for the opinion of other education and health professionals via a referral.

 

Based on all this information, the SENDCO will decide whether your child needs SEND support and at what level and/or if further information is required for us to assess the position. This may be at a level that highlights their needs, but states that they are met with reasonable identified adjustments and transactional support from adults, or that they require a block of targeted support sessions or referral for more specialist support. The SENDCO will add the pupil to the SEND register, Class Profile and work with the class teacher and pupil to create a Pupil Profile.

 

 

The school uses a combination of formative and summative assessment to track pupil progress. This includes within early childhood/kindergarten, and (from Class I onwards) Point In Time Assessment (PITA), at the end of Class I all children are screened using the Sounds-Write Phonics Test and from Class II onwards biannual Pearson WRAT-5 subtests for reading, spelling and maths.

Where a child continues to struggle with literacy we are able to offer an in-house dyslexia assessment using the GL Assessment’s Dyslexia Portfolio test. This is free of charge and carried out during school hours. The report produces a range of measures and provides an indicative score as to the likelihood of the pupil being dyslexic (n.b. we are unable to provide a formal dyslexia diagnosis).

The SENDCO maintains the SEND register which highlights needs and levels of support. In addition, pupil strengths and needs are summarised on a Class Profile and more in-depth information and strategies of support are communicated via their Pupil Profile. This also includes opportunity to capture pupil voice, where appropriate, so that they can identify their own strengths, challenges, goals and ways they like to be helped.

The SENDCO meets with teachers regularly and can provide updates on children and gain feedback on their progress.

Diagnostic and other professional reports are stored securely on the school’s CPOMS system which teacher’s have access to.

How will the school measure my child's progress?

The school uses a combination of formative and summative assessment to track pupil progress. This includes Starting Points, five-year-old check and summative assessments in autumn and spring

within early childhood/kindergarten. From Class 1 onwards, Point In Time Assessment (PITA) and (from Class 2 onwards) biannual Pearson WRAT-5 subtests for reading, spelling and maths.

As a school we have an emphasis on meeting needs within the whole group using adaptive teaching. This uses a combination of planning ahead for diverse needs using prior knowledge of needs and attainment, providing scaffolding and resources, and making in-the-moment adjustments. However, where additional support needs to be put in place, we will work together to organise small group targeted support sessions.

In Early Childhood/Kindergarten, a short term plan is written up collaboratively between the SENDCO and teacher and shared with the family.

For school age pupils that require targeted support sessions, we employ an aspect of the ‘graduated approach’ which is the Assess-Plan-Do-Review cycle.

 

These are recorded on page 2 of the pupil’s profile, tracked and monitored by the SENDCO and reviewed with parents. Targeted support sessions are intended to focus on particular skills and outcomes and are planned for a set block of time (usually six weeks but at times shorter). Appropriate baseline measures are taken at the start and end of the block which might include a quiz, pupil’s recording their confidence levels or a more formal assessment tool.

The process is cyclical and can be continued and refined where outcomes remain out of reach. In cases where repeated cycles are required we encourage parents to seek an Education Health & Care Needs Assessment from their Local Authority

In addition to progress data, Assess-Plan-Do-Review cycles and Annual Reviews (where an EHC plan is in place), the SENDCO meets class teachers weekly (in the Autumn term, fortnightly thereafter) and subject teacher’s monthly to discuss how pupils are getting on.

The SENDCO regularly observes in the classroom (both formally and informally) to ensure that adaptions are consistently in place and having the intended impact on pupil progress. This is reinforced by observations with an external advisory teacher embedded within the schools advising and appraisal system, as well as use of specialist professionals within our means.

The application process is a means to establish if a child will thrive in our school and ensure that, where necessary, any support that needs to be put in place that it can be done sustainably and that in doing so it will not draw resources away from children with the current cohort. We will put reasonable adjustments in place according to identified needs during the interview stage and trial days and consider placement with all the information that we have, in an open and professional manner.

St Paul’s Waldorf School is not a designated Special School. We are a non-selective independent school, continually striving to increase it’s inclusivity to support a diverse cohort of pupils through adaptive teaching and offering an alternative curriculum.

If, based on the evidence presented during the application process, we feel that a pupil would not thrive in our school and we are unable to provide the specific provision required, we will be open regarding the rationale of our decision and confirm in writing.

We welcome families to join our Open Days and ask questions. However, for the process to be equitable and transparent, we do ask that an application is put in and that all details of any diagnoses, needs and provision are outlined within the form and supporting documents. This allows our SENDCOs adequate time to carefully consider if placement is in everybody’s best interest. There is opportunity to discuss further details in the interview stage of the application process.

Applying to a non-Section 41 independent school with an EHC Plan differs from applying to a state school or an independent school on the Section 41 list. Firstly, you will need to make an application to our school and then obtain a letter stating you have been offered a provisional place at our school. You will then need to contact your Local Authority and make a “representation” stating that you would like the school to be named on your child’s EHC Plan. For more information, please consult the following websites: https://www.sendiass.org/ https://www.ipsea.org.uk/

Whilst attending an independent school you can access some Local Offer services for your child, such as health and social care (e.g. GP, physiotherapy, CAMHS), but not core educational support unless they have an EHC plan. This will mean less direct support compared to maintained state schools. You can request assessment, for example with Speech and Language services, however they are likely unable to provide ongoing intervention without an EHC plan being place.

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How do I request an an EHC Needs Assesment for my child?

 

Where a child or young person has (or may have) SEND and a profile of needs that requires ongoing support and provision that goes beyond what is ordinarily available in a mainstream classroom, then we can explore options to seek an EHC Needs Assessment. In such circumstances, we ask that parents meet with the SENDCO and teacher to discuss this further and together we will consider what evidence we already have to include in a request. Following this we will either recommend that more evidence needs to be collected or that parents draft a request for a Needs Assessment using resources from https://www.ipsea.org.uk/ .

For more information, please consult the following websites: https://www.sendiass.org/ https://www.ipsea.org.uk/

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Will the school recognise privately sought diagnostic reports?

 

Yes, we will accept and consider diagnostic reports and recommendations from qualified chartered professionals (e.g. educational psychologists, occupational therapists etc)

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Can we privately fund a teaching assistant for our child?

 

To maintain professional boundaries and effective team working, the school does not permit parents to fund or appoint private teaching assistants for individual pupils. All teaching assistants are employed by the school to ensure appropriate supervision, consistency, and clear employer–employee relationships. This approach avoids potential conflicts of interest and protects both staff and pupils.