Miss Beth Carabine is our school SENCo. In school, we also have a SEND team who work alongside Miss Carabine. This includes Mrs P Storey and Mrs S Brown.
To contact Miss Carabine you can either email school info@st-aloysius.co.uk or alternatively you can phone the school office (0191) 483 2274 to make an appointment.
Our SEND Pathway:
St Aloysius is committed to maintain and develop the education of all pupils. We provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all and use the National Curriculum as our starting point for planning that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of children. When planning, teachers set suitable learning targets and respond to children’s diverse learning needs. A minority of children have particular learning and assessment requirements that could create barriers to learning and we respond to this following our school SEND pathway.
Reports and Policies:
To view our policies and SEND information report, please see below:
Transition:
How will the school prepare and support my child when joining St Aloysius Infant and Junior Catholic Academy or transferring to a new school?
As a school, we know that transition periods can be significant for all of our pupils but particularly those with SEND needs. As such, we implement a number of different strategies to support your child through each stage of their transition. These include:
- Prior to enrolment, discussions occur between the previous schools and ourselves to allow us to gather information about your child to support their move to our school. Reception staff and members of the Senior Leadership team visit our Reception children in their Nursery environment to begin to develop those positive relationships which are so important for our school.
- All pupils attend a transition session where they spend some time with their new class teacher and get the opportunity to explore their new learning environment.
- Whilst in school, all SEND pupils (and any pupils who may find transition difficult) have a ‘pupil passport’ which is completed with the child to ensure their views are communicated to their new class teacher. This passport moves with them through school and is adapted each academic year to ensure it is an accurate reflection of the child’s views. Where required, additional visits are also arranged for pupils who need extra time in their new setting.
- Miss Carabine (SENCo) and Mrs Broadhurst (Head of School) are more than willing to meet parents/carers prior to their child joining the school for additional transition meetings and this can be arranged via the school office.
- For our Year 6 pupils, secondary school staff will visit pupils prior to them joining their new school and undertake two lessons in school. Our pupils also visit their feeder schools for two days during the Summer term and experience life in their new environment. Where required, additional transition sessions will be arranged to support individual pupils. Miss Carabine and Mrs Woodhouse (Year 6 teachers) also liaise with the SENCOs from the child’s new secondary schools to pass on information regarding all pupils, including our SEN pupils. Where more individualised support may be required with pupils transferring to secondary school, and individual approach is offered with meetings between SENCos from both schools organised with parents and where appropriate, pupils. Our Year Six team work closely to identify any pupils who may find transition challenging and where required, we work with the local authority to offer additional transition sessions in small groups or 1:1 to give each pupil the best chance to succeed in their new setting. This support is continued into the first term of Year 7 to ensure bridging support is offered.
Local Offer:
The South Tyneside Local Offer provides information for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their parents or carers in a single place.
The Local Offer document and supporting website provides information about the services children, young people and their families can expect from a range of local agencies, including education, health and social care. It also aims to explain what provision is available for your child and allows you as parents, more control over what support is right for your child.
The Local Offer provides information about a range of services including:
- Special Educational provision
- Health provision
- Social Care provision
- Other Educational provision
- Training provision
- Travel arrangements for children and young people to schools, colleges and early years education
- Preparing for adulthood, including housing, employment and leisure opportunities
The Local Offer has been co-produced by South Tyneside Council, Social Care and Health Services in partnership with parents and carers. It aims to help schools to ensure that we are providing the services that families have told us they need.
You will find more information about this service at http://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/22387/South-Tyneside-Local-Offer
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school the school office and ask to make an appointment with Miss Beth Carabine.
Agencies and Partnerships:
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the school?
There may be moments where it is necessary to consult with outside agencies and partnerships to access their more specialised expertise to ensure your child’s needs are met fully. Where this is required, Miss Carabine will arrange an appointment to discuss this with you so that you, as parents, are fully aware of why we would like to reach out for additional support and what the process will look like for your child. As always, our aim at St Aloysius is to ensure all pupil’s needs are fully met to enable them to thrive in our environment and as such, decisions to consult additional services will be made with the best interests of your child in mind.
The agencies used by the school include:
- Speech and Language Team
- Social Services
- Educational Psychologist
- CYPS (Child & Young People’s Service)
- Occupational Therapy
- School Nursing Team
- AO (Attendance Officer previously known as Educational Welfare Officers)
- Sensory Support to support pupils with hearing/visual Impairment
- Inclusion Support Team
At St Aloysius, we work closely with our school Educational Psychologist (EP). Teachers in school are constantly monitoring pupils and adapt interventions appropriately but there may be times where, despite various interventions occurring, we feel that the child needs further support. If this is the case, the child would move through the SEND pathway and reach Stage 3. If this occurs, we may consult with parents to consider whether EP involvement would be appropriate. During this time, teachers and our school SENCo would work in partnership with our EP to provide a more individualised approach for the child and if required, look at seeking support from other agencies to compliment this approach. As part of this approach, meetings with parents would be organised with the aim of gaining an understanding of and trying to resolve a pupil’s difficulties. As part of the process, the EP would give feedback after an assessment has been completed. All advice given to school by the EP would be implemented and monitored by our school SENCo and class teachers. Please note that there is a waiting list for an EP assessment and this would be discussed with you during a review appointment with Miss Carabine.
