Special Educational Needs (SEN) and/or Disabilities (D) & Inclusion

We are an inclusive school and aim to meet the needs of all our children.  We are dedicated to offering an inclusive curriculum to ensure the best possible progress for all of our pupils whatever their needs or abilities. Our aspirational aims for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are the same as those for all children in the school. We value the views and opinions of parents and pupils and seek to work in partnership with all those who are involved with securing the best outcomes for our pupils.   We therefore seek to provide opportunities for the views, wishes and feelings of the child and their parents to be taken into account, and for them to be involved with decision making regarding their child whenever possible.

What are special educational needs?

If your child has more difficulties than most children their age with aspects of their learning, communication or behaviour, they are likely to benefit from additional support in school which will enable them to access the curriculum at their level.

Within school, this means that they may be identified on the school's special educational needs register so that provision to meet their needs can be planned for.  As children progress, they may be taken off of the register at a future point when their needs no longer require significant, additional support.

What is a disability?

A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term adverse affect on his or her ability to carry out normal, day to day activities.

Children with a disability have special educational needs if they have any difficulty in accessing education and if they need any special educational provision to be made for them, that is anything that is additional to or different from what is normally available in school.

The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo)

All mainstream schools must appoint a designated teacher; the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the school's SEND policy. The SENCo will co-ordinate provision for pupils with SEND and liaise with parents, staff and external agencies.  The named, qualified SENCo for The Federation of Thomas Wall Nursery and Robin Hood Infants’ school is Mr Joseph.  Please contact Mr Joseph via the school office. 

Local Offer

The London Borough of Sutton has published a 'Local Offer' which sets out, in one place, information about provision available across education, health and social care for children and young people in Sutton who have special educational needs or are disabled.

Sutton's Local Offer vision: ""We are collectively ambitious for our children and young people. Together we want to provide them with the best chances to achieve their best outcomes in life, whatever their starting point, and to prepare them effectively for adulthood."

Sutton’s Vision and SEND Charter

Our Vision Statement

We are collectively ambitious for our children and young people. Together we want to provide them with the best chances to achieve their best outcomes in life, whatever their starting point, and to prepare them effectively for adulthood.

Our SEND Charter

The Sutton Charter provides a framework for shared values and attitudes across the local area. The charter has been consulted upon with schools, services, parents/carers and representative parent/carer organisations. The Charter will be used as one of the benchmarks to measure the success of the local SEND offer, gathering feedback against the areas shown below and reporting this to the relevant overseeing bodies.

Our SEND Charter Principles are that we:

• Welcome and Care
• Value and Include
• Communicate
• Work in Partnership

developing and nurturing each of these to build

• Trust

Sutton’s SEND Charter Principles explained:

Welcome and Care

We will welcome the child or young person and show that we care by:

• Providing a happy and secure environment
• Celebrating strengths and achievements
• Preparing for transition points and supporting successful transfer to new settings
• Acknowledging and respecting how both families and professionals contribute to the progress of the child

Value and Include

We will all work together to support the child or young person to make the most of their educational experiences by:

• Having a ‘Can do’ and pro-active approach, pre-empting difficulties
• Identifying needs early, agreeing how we can help, working with partners
• Being creative and flexible so we respond in the best way to individual needs and changing circumstances
• Problem-solving any difficulties even when it means uncomfortable conversations
• Making well-considered decisions, valuing the input of families and professionals

Communicate

We will communicate openly, clearly and honestly by:

• Making time to listen calmly and respectfully to others’ views, acknowledging their input
• Responding promptly to queries, explaining answers clearly
• Following up and reviewing regularly, using past information shared to inform discussions
• Making sure professional partners explain needs clearly and simply, and say what they will do to make things better
• Providing all the information needed in good time, in a form that can be readily understood
• Using positive and constructive language, being sensitive to the stresses for families and professionals

Work in Partnership

We will work in partnership across families and professionals to help us all be ambitious for our children and young people by:

• Sharing good practice at home and in education
• Encouraging training and support networks to flourish
• Preparing well in advance for adult life and the transition from childhood
• Using feedback and contributions from all parties to improve what we do
• Acknowledging that mistakes sometimes happen and putting things right when they do - and learning from them so they don’t happen again
• Encouraging active participation in developing what we can offer to our local community
• Treating each other with respect