SEND
SEND School Information Report
(Last updated September 2024)
Please click below for a PDF version of this report.
SEND School Information Report
Ridgeway Primary School is an inclusive school, where children thrive as a result of their needs being met through our creative, well-differentiated and, where appropriate, personalised curriculum. We believe that all teachers are teachers of special educational needs and that all children are entitled to an education that enables them to achieve their full potential.
We aim to enable children to develop, learn, participate and achieve the best possible outcomes from their starting points. For the majority of children, their individual needs can be met through high-quality teaching and inclusive classroom practice. Some children will require educational provision that is additional to, or different from, this; this is special educational provision under Section 21 of the Children and Families Act 2014. We are committed to ensuring that such provision is made for every pupil who has special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
“Leaders work closely with parents and outside agencies to ensure that provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is highly effective. Leaders monitor this group’s achievement closely to ensure that pupils make the progress of which they are capable. As a result, the additional special educational needs funding is used effectively to ensure that pupils make good progress from their starting points.”
“Leaders’ focus on training and support for teaching assistants has helped to develop them into an effective workforce. Generally, additional adults support pupils well, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. As a consequence, these pupils engage in learning well and make good progress.”
“As a result of effective teaching and carefully targeted additional support, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND make good progress. Therefore, gaps are diminishing between them and other pupils over time.”
(Ofsted, November 2018)
What are Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND)?
A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.
A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they have a:
1. Significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
2. Disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers. Please see the DfE SEND Code of Practice (2015) for further information.
DfE SEND Code of Practice (2015)
What kind of SEND does Ridgeway support?
Ridgeway supports children with a range of different special education needs in the following areas:
- Communication and Interaction;
- Cognition and Learning;
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties;
- Sensory and/or Physical Needs.
We also support children to develop their independence and life skills.
| Area of Need | Definition | Examples |
| Communication and Interaction | Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty saying what they want to (expressive language), understanding what is being said to them (receptive language) or they do not understand or use social rules of communication. |
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| Cognition and Learning | Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. |
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| Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties | Children and young people may experience a wide range of social, emotional and mental health difficulties. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging or disturbing behaviour. |
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| Sensory and/or Physical Needs | Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. Many children and young people will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning. |
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How does Ridgeway know about and identify whether a child has SEND?
A concern about a child’s development may be raised by a parent/carer, a member of staff, the child themselves or an external agency. This could be where a child has a difficulty that is impacting on their ability to make expected progress academically, socially, behaviourally, physically or emotionally. The class teacher, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO), Nurture leader and external professionals use a variety of assessments to identify a range of needs.
What support is available for children who have SEND?
We strongly believe that children with special educational needs are best supported in the classroom, with their class teacher providing quality-first teaching, differentiated to meet individual needs. Some children will also require additional individual or group support, which may be carried out by class teachers, teaching assistants, counsellors or therapists.
Please see our ‘Ridgeway Offer’ below for further detail about the wide range of strategies and interventions which we provide at Ridgeway.
Who do I contact about my child if I have concerns regarding their educational needs, and what are their responsibilities?
If you have any concerns about your child, you should first talk with the class teacher. Depending on the outcome of these discussions, a meeting may be arranged with the school’s SENCO or other member of the School Leadership Team (SLT) or Inclusion Team.
The Inclusion Team comprises the SENCO (Sarah Jackson), Assistant Head Teacher and Designated Teacher for Looked After Children (Kayley Dunn), Ridgeway Nurture team leader (Chris Avery) and SEND Governor (Rachel Webster). The SENCO can be reached via the school email address and phone numbers.
The class teacher is responsible for:
- Planning and delivering a challenging and differentiated curriculum to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils;
- Monitoring the progress of each child, using Assessment for Learning (AfL);
- Identifying, planning and delivering any additional support required to aid progress;
- Devising and reviewing additional support plans (ASPs) which prioritise and focus on the next steps required for each child to improve in their learning and make progress;
- Ensuring that parents/carers are kept informed about their child’s needs and progress, and advising them on how best to support their child at home;
- Communicating with the Inclusion Team and other staff involved in supporting a child, to ensure that all relevant staff members are aware of the child’s needs.
The SENCO is responsible for:
- The strategic development of SEND provision within the school, along with the Headship Team and governing body;
- The operation of the Special Educational Needs Policy and the co-ordination of specific provision to support individual children with SEND;
- Liaising with teaching staff to monitor pupil progress and to plan further interventions where progress is slower than expected;
- Making regular contact with a wide range of external agencies to seek more specialised advice, and ensuring the implementation of external care plans;
- Attending local SENCO briefings and cluster groups, to share good practice and keep up to date with current, local and national initiatives and policy.
Our co-head teachers are Rebecca Shelley and Suzanne Kelly and they are responsible for:
- The day-to-day management of all aspects of the school, including the provision made for pupils with SEND.
Our SEND Governor is responsible for:
- Supporting the SENCO to evaluate and develop quality and impact of provision for pupils with SEND across the school (meeting at least termly);
- Ensuring that updates on the quality and impact of SEN provision are regular items on the Governing Body’s cycle of meetings.
How do I find out how well my child is doing?
At Ridgeway, we believe that it is essential to include parent/carer and pupil views when discussing how we are supporting a child in school, and parents/carers will be actively involved in identifying needs and making decisions about provision. Ridgeway has an open door policy, where we support active lines of communication between parents/carers and staff.
Parent consultations are held in November and March, where you can discuss your child’s progress. You will also receive a written report about your child towards the end of the summer term. If your child has an Additional Support Plan (ASP) in place, you will be invited to meet once a term with your child’s class teacher to review their progress (see below). Some children may have a home–school contact book, so that information can be regularly shared between you and the child’s class teacher. If any other issues arise throughout the year, then parents/carers are encouraged to contact their child’s class teacher, via the school office.
How is my child’s progress assessed, monitored and tracked?
Once a child is identified as having an additional need, then a graduated approach to support is taken. A range of strategies and provision will be planned, implemented, then reviewed; this follows the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycle of support:
If more targeted support is needed, then the class teacher may decide, in consultation with parents/carers and the SENCO, to write an Additional Support Plan (ASP). This will be reviewed in a termly 20-minute meeting between the child’s class teacher and parents/carers. We currently hold these meetings in October, January and May.
Staff assess children’s academic learning using our Assessment for Learning (AfL) approach in class, and then formally assess their progress against the curriculum at the end of each academic year. In addition to this, the SENCO may carry out further observations in class and standardised assessments, such as: phonics assessment, dyslexia screener and reading tests.
For children with communication and language difficulties, we follow advice from Croydon’s Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) service, and can carry out screeners in: oracy, receptive language skills, speech sounds, attention and listening, and phonological awareness.
When monitoring children’s emotional development, staff will observe children’s behaviours in school and have discussions with the child and/or parents/carers. We value support and a close relationship with parents/carers where there are concerns. We may also use more formal tools, such as a Boxall Profile or Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to assess areas of need. For children with sensory sensitivities, we use the Sensory Profile to assess particular areas of difficulty.
The SENCO works closely with class teachers throughout the year to discuss children’s progress and offer advice/guidance on how to support them.
The additional needs of most of the pupils with SEND at Ridgeway will be met by interventions and resources from the school. In a few cases, the pupils with the most significant needs may require a more comprehensive and individualised package of support to help them achieve their outcomes and remove barriers to learning. Where this is the case, the SENCO, in consultation with staff, parents/carers and other specialist agencies, will make a request to the Locality SEND Support. This is a new initiative by Croydon Council, which Ridgeway joined in September 2021. For more information about this, please read the ‘Locality SEND Support’ document below.
How does Ridgeway record a child identified with SEND?
The SENCO keeps an SEND Register which is a list of all children who have been identified with special educational needs; parents/carers will be notified if their child is on this list. Children whose individual support is additional to usual classroom differentiation may also have their needs recorded and monitored through an Additional Support Plan (ASP). The SENCO keeps an overview of the provision across the whole school through provision mapping, and monitors the progress that each child makes.
How skilled are staff in supporting the needs of children with SEND?
There is an ongoing programme of training and support in place to ensure that teachers and support staff have the understanding and skills to differentiate and plan learning for the pupils with a range of SEND within everyday teaching. Some of our staff members also have more specialist skills to support and deliver interventions for pupils with more complex needs.
Induction arrangements are in place for new staff so that they are familiar with the school’s approach to supporting children with SEND. External agencies also provide ongoing training and advice for staff, to ensure that any care plans are being delivered effectively.
The SENCO attends the termly Croydon briefing sessions to keep abreast of local and national policy and initiatives to enhance SEND provision. She is also an active member of the local SENCO cluster network.
What support is available for children’s emotional development, mental health and well-being?
At Ridgeway, we place a strong emphasis on supporting children’s well-being. Our Ridgeway Nurture team works across the school, and offers a range of support to our whole school community. Please read more on our Ridgeway Nurture page.
Which external agencies can Ridgeway access?
Staff at Ridgeway work with a range of different agencies, which advise on the needs and development of children in our school. These include:
- Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)
- Occupational Therapy (OT)
- Physiotherapy
- Educational Psychology (EP)
- School Nursing Team
- Community Paediatricians
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
- Social Care
- Early Help
- Outreach by specialist educational settings (including behaviour support)
- Croydon Sensory Support Service (CSSS) to support pupils with hearing /visual impairment
- Croydon SEN Team
- Child Protection Advisors
How can referrals be made to external services?
Any referrals to external agencies will only be made with the parent/carer’s consent.
| Agency | Description of support / referral process |
| Croydon SEN Team | Children with Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs) are each allocated an SEN co-ordinator who is responsible for updating their plan and ensuring that the child’s needs are being met. |
| Educational Psychology (EP) service, Croydon | We have a designated EP allocated to Ridgeway. They are able to carry out a range of services, including assessments, observations and consultations. The EP is available for traded and statutory work:
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| Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) service , Croydon NHS | The NHS allocates a link speech and language therapist to Ridgeway, who will then provide a number of sessions across the school year, depending on the need at the time. The number of sessions are determined by the NHS.Parents/carers of children in Nursery can access support directly by calling the local SLT clinic, or attending ‘Chatterbox’ sessions at local children’s centres. School staff can follow any individual SLT care plan, but children are reviewed in clinic rather than in the school setting. |
| Community Paediatrician, Croydon | If we have any concerns about a child’s development, a referral can be made to the community paediatrician. This can be done by the child’s GP or school, and is typically for children up to the age of 5. |
| Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) , Croydon | If we have any concerns about a child’s mental health or would like to explore whether a child may have ASD or ADHD, then a referral can be made to Croydon CAMHS. This can be done by the child’s GP or school, and is typically for children over the age of 5. |
| Croydon Sensory Support Service – Hearing Impairment (HI)Visual Impairment (VI) | Children are usually referred to the service by a medical professional. The service then works closely with the school to monitor the child’s progress and provide support. The frequency of visits will be determined by the service, depending on the child’s level of need. The specialist teachers/TAs can support with
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| Occupational Therapy (OT) service | If we have any concerns about a child’s motor skills or sensory needs, then we can make a referral to the OT service for further assessment and advice. |
| Physiotherapy service | Children are usually referred to the service by a medical professional. |
How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom, including school trips, school productions and extracurricular clubs?
We always aim to ensure that all children and families with SEND feel that they are valued members of our school community. Activities and school trips are available to all children; risk assessments are carried out and procedures are put in place to enable all children to participate. If it is deemed that an intensive level of 1:1 support is required, a parent/carer may be asked to accompany their child during the activity. If you have any questions about how activities may need to be adapted to support your child, then please contact your child’s class teacher.
What measures are put in place to prevent bullying?
We recognise that pupils with SEND are vulnerable to bullying, and the impact that bullying can have on emotional health and well-being. All pupils, including those with SEND, are encouraged to share any concerns with a trusted adult, including members of the headship team. Through careful monitoring of bullying incidents and regular review of anti-bullying practices within the school community, we ensure our effectiveness in reducing and responding to bullying. See our school’s Behaviour Policy below.
How do you support children with medical needs?
Ridgeway works closely with medical professionals and families to meet the medical needs identified and being supported through a care plan. We will liaise with medical professionals and parents/carers to ensure that the appropriate support is in place. Please read our Medical Needs Policy below for further information.
How accessible is the school environment for children or adults with physical needs?
- The current facilities available include:
- Ramps into school to make the building accessible to all;
- Two toilets adapted for disabled users;
- Wide doors in all parts of the building;
- Lift access in the entrance;
- Sound system in the hall;
- Edges of steps etc. painted so that they are more visible for children with visual impairment.
Please see our Accessibility Plan below for further detail about how we are continuing to adapt our school environment to ensure access for all. As a school we are happy to discuss individual access requirements, so please contact the SENCO, Sarah Jackson, via the school office for further information.
Where can I find out more information about how you support children with SEND at Ridgeway?
Please see our SEND Policy for further information.
How can I support my child at home?
You can speak to your child’s class teacher for advice about what you can do to support your child at home. We also provide general information in the Parent Information course (which you can access through your child’s Fronter account).
How will you prepare and support my child during the transition to the next class or a new school?
Some children with SEND can become particularly anxious about transition, so we aim to make this process as smooth as possible.
When your child is starting at Ridgeway we may:
- Hold additional meetings or home visits with you and your child to talk about their needs and answer any questions you might have about our school;
- Arrange visits to our school so that your child gets to see it before they start;
- Meet/talk with staff at your child’s previous school or setting, and ensure that relevant documents/information have been shared with your child’s class teacher and teaching assistants;
- Provide your child with a transition book with photographs of key staff and areas around our school;
- Set up a ‘Pupil Snapshot’ to share with all staff working with your child, describing the things that they may find challenging, and strategies to help to support them in school.
When your child is moving to a new year group we may:
- Arrange additional visits to meet their new teacher and to see their new classroom and other areas of the school, at the end of the Summer term;
- Hold an additional meeting with parents/carers, class teacher and SENCO if there are significant concerns about the transition;
- Ensure that all relevant documents/information have been shared with the new teacher and teaching assistants;
- Talk to your child to identify any worries they might have and give them a chance to ask any questions;
- Provide them with a social story to take home over the Summer holidays, with a photo of their new teacher, classroom, etc., and information about the daily routine;
- Provide additional support from Ridgeway Nurture.
When your child is moving to a new school we may:
- Arrange additional induction days/visits to secondary schools in the Summer term of Year 6 (usually determined by the secondary school);
- Hold additional meetings with parents/carers/teachers/SENCO/secondary school staff to plan for a more personalised transition;
- Liaise closely with secondary school staff in the Summer term of Year 6, to ensure that all information about a child’s needs and additional provision is communicated in advance;
- Provide additional support from Ridgeway Nurture to discuss common concerns about moving to secondary school (e.g. moving around the school building, travelling to and from school, knowing who to seek advice/support from).
How can I find out more about the application process for secondary schools?
Croydon provide a parents’ guide to the secondary transition for children with SEND, Moving to Secondary School (see below). You can also contact Sarah Jackson (SENCO) if you have any further questions.
What further support is available in Croydon for children and families with SEND?
Croydon’s Local Offer: Croydon Local Offer
SENDIASS: Croydon SENDIASS | KIDS
Parents in Partnership (PIP): Home - PIP
Who should I contact if I am not satisfied with the provision in place for my child?
Parents are encouraged to share any concerns they have at the earliest possible opportunity. In the first instance parents should speak to the class teacher, with further discussions with the SENCO as required.
Where these initial attempts to resolve the issue are unsuccessful parents will be encouraged to seek advice and support from the local parent SEND Information, advice and support service (SENDIAS). This is an independent and impartial service. Parents will also be encouraged to discuss concerns with other key professionals supporting their child. This might be the educational psychologist.
If issues remain unresolved parents can choose to seek the support of the local ‘Disagreement Resolution Service’. This service is commissioned by Croydon LA but operates independently. They can provide a quick and non-adversarial way of resolving disagreements.
If concerns are still unresolved, parents will be asked to make a formal complaint and directed to the school Complaints Policy which can be found on the school website.
Where the parental complaint is directly related to decisions around an EHC plan assessment of needs or provision, this will be managed directly by the Croydon SEN team. Parents will be contacted directly to receive information about the mediation services available.