School

Information

Report

Here you can find all of the information you need about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities at Lyndhurst Primary School including identification and assessment, support available and monitoring and reporting of progress.

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Special Educational Need Provision at Lyndhurst Primary School

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Lyndhurst Primary School is a mainstream school and part of The Charter Schools Educational Trust (TCSET). We have classes of up to 30 children led by a class teacher. Through a 3-tiered approach to SEN support (See SEN Provision section), we make all reasonable adjustments possible to support a range of special educational needs (SEN) across 4 broad areas:

Cognition and Learning (C&L):

This might include difficulties with reading and spelling, learning new information and concepts, working with numbers, working memory and concentration. Such difficulties might include ‘Specific Learning Difficulties’ (i.e. dyslexia, dysgraphia) and moderate learning difficulties.

Communication and interaction (C&I):

Difficulties might include understanding or using language and communicating socially with others. This might include conditions or disorders such as: Specific language impairment, autism (ASD/ASC) and speech sound disorders/delay.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH):

This might include difficulties such as experiencing trauma, anxiety, stress, distress or anger that have an impact on accessing education.

Sensory and/or physical (S/P):

This might include sensory processing differences affecting movement and co-ordination, physical disabilities, sensory sensitives and sensory impairment (i.e. Hearing Impairment)

It is common for children to have special educational needs that span two or more of these areas. If this is the case, SEND support is designed to best support your child’s need using the resources available.

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Assessment and Identification

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For your child to access the best possible support, it is important that SEND differences are identified early through appropriate methods of assessment. At Lyndhurst, our objective is to understand exactly what support individual children require using age and stage appropriate strategies.

Dependent on a child’s specific areas of need, assessment can take place in many ways, by different members of staff or external professionals (for example, Local authority link Educational Psyhcologist (EP), Speech and Language therapist and community paediatrician). Assessments and screening activities are always developmentally appropriate. We work closely with families to agree assessment methods.

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Support in School

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At Lyndhurst and TCSET, we have a 3-tiered approach to SEND support across the school. Depending on children’s strengths and difficulties, support will look different for individuals.

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An image showing our approach to SEND at Lyndhurst Primary School

Wave 1 – Universal Support

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Our first priority at Lyndhurst is to ensure the highest standard of inclusive teaching possible for all children, using of range of evidence-informed strategies. This forms Wave 1, the of our 3-tiered SEND offer.

This level of support will involve a range of strategies including our 5-a-day model of inclusive teaching:

flexible grouping of children
supporting children to develop independent thinking and learning strategies
precise instruction and explanation
effective use of technology
visual ‘scaffolding’ of work to allow children greater access to learning.

Wave 2 – Targeted Support

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For children who require a slightly more personalised approach to specific areas of learning, in addition to the Wave 1 strategies, children will have access to group-based interventions. These sessions, run by SEND learning support assistants or teachers, include support for difficulties across the 4 broad areas of need such as: speech and language, specific literacy and mathematical skills, social skills, physical and sensory development and emotional literacy. Wave 2 support aims to enable children to make accelerated progress against their targets and to be working at the age-expected level.

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Wave 3 – Specialist Support

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For a small number of children, a highly personalised approach to learning is required, using recommendations from external professionals such as a speech and language therapist (SaLT), Educational Psychologist (EP) or therapists from other services. This type of support will vary hugely between individuals dependent on strengths and difficulties. Children who might benefit from Wave 3 support will often have or require an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in order for the school to provide the level of specialist support.

All support across the school is monitored and evaluated termly. This is to ensure that the support in place is meeting the needs of individual children.

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Is Lyndhurst the School For My Child?

At Lyndhurst, we pride ourselves on providing high quality SEND support for our children through our tiered approach. We work with Southwark Local Authority and as a network of schools across the trust, to provide the best possible support for children with a wide range of difficulties across the 4 broad areas of need.

With above the national average number of pupils with SEND, we have to use our specialised resources carefully and sparingly such as SEND learning support assistant support and consultation with external professionals. For children who require a high level of support from specialist teachers and professionals, it can be difficult for such complex need to be met within a mainstream school. If you feel this level of support might be necessary, please contact the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) to discuss provision.

SENCo:

Ali Jones - ajones@lyndhurst.southwark.sch.uk

Class Sizes:

Lyndhurst Primary School is two-form-entry a mainstream school with up to 60 children in each year group, 30 children in each class.

SEND Learning Support Assistants:

With the exception of reception where ratios of adults to children are higher, throughout the school, classrooms are run by the class teacher and we do not have class-based teaching assistants. Children with more complex needs might be supported at our wave 2 and 3 levels of support by an SEND Learning Support Assistant or Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) in a targeted or specialist level of support. Typically, children who require this level of support will have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which provides additional funding from the child’s home local authority.

Accessibility:

Lyndhurst is a mainstream school in a Victorian building set across 3 floors each with lift access. Accessible toilets are available the ground and first floors. For more information about accessibility, please check our accessibility policy.

How is my child doing?

In addition to the information shared in the ‘Working with Parents section’, progress reports on how your child is doing will take place in range of ways:

Parents’ Evening Meetings:

These meetings take place termly (3 times a year). These are a perfect opportunity to meet your child’s teacher, discuss progress against learning plan targets and to shape the planned support for your child. The SENCo can be invited to this meeting, if you have specific questions – just be sure to make a note when booking your appointment. Copies of learning plans will be shared after the meeting, once finalised.

School Report:

At the end of the school year, you will be sent a school report. This will include your child’s assessment and progress information over the year.

School Social Media:

At Lyndhurst, we love to share what our children are up to! Many parents have shared how much they enjoy seeing their children’s lessons and activities online – giving them lots to talk about and discuss at home. Follow the school twitter and Instagram accounts to get in insider’s view! Twitter: @LyndhurstSE5 Instagram: @Lyndhurst_SE5

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Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCPs)

For some children, our universal and targeted level of support (Waves 1 and 2), are not enough to enable them to learn most effectively. For children with more complex or significant needs, a more personalised and specialist approach may be necessary and require an Educational, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This is a legal document that describes a child’s special educational, health and care needs, the support they require and agreed outcomes to be achieved. The support in these plans must be provided by the local authority, meaning that an EHCP can afford a child extra educational support as well giving parents more choice about which school their child will attend.

An EHCP can only be issued after once an EHC needs assessment has been completed. This can be requested by school or parents.

For more information about EHCPs generally, visit: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/education-health-and-care-plans

For information specific to Southwark, visit:

https://localoffer.southwark.gov.uk/education-health-and-care-plan/

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Local Offer

A local offer refers to activities, services, events or support that is available to parents of children with special educational needs. As a school, we are proud of our own ‘Lyndhurst Local Offer’, open to families in our communities both who attend Lyndhurst and those who don’t. We also signpost families to the ‘Southwark Local Offer’.

Lyndhurst Local offer

At Lyndhurst, our local offer is made up of:

Parent SEND coffee mornings - These run throughout the year and are interactive sessions where families in the communities are encouraged to attend to learn about and share ideas on the broad array of special educational needs. The schedule for these sessions will be published through the school website and emails.
Parent support – We have a small team of SEND leaders who are always on hand to offer support and guidance. Contact office@lyndhurst.southwark.sch.uk to organise a call or meeting.
Clubs and Activities – we have an array of after school clubs that children with SEND are encouraged to participate in. Please be in contact if you are interested for your child to take part and we will discuss the support that might be necessary.
Specialist Advice – we have links with a network of experts and professionals across the broad areas of need. We can help you find the advice you need from professionals in the field.

Southwark Local Offer

To learn about the Southwark Local Offer follow this link: https://localoffer.southwark.gov.uk/

Southwark Information, Advice and Support Team

The Southwark Information Advice and Support team (SIAS) is an arms-length service which offers impartial advice to parents and young people. SIAS provide parents, children and young people with the information and support necessary.

SIAS was established to ensure that parents, carers of children and young people aged 0 to 25 years old with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) have access to information, advice and guidance to allow them to make informed decisions about their education and 16 plus choices. For more information, visit: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/schools-and-education/information-for-parents/southwark-information-advice-and-support-team-sias

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