Inclusion Including SEND

At The Elmgreen School, we recognise that many of our students will have additional needs at some time during their school life.

It is our aim to ensure that all students are supported to overcome their difficulties so that they can fully participate, enjoy and achieve in everything that they do. Whilst many factors contribute to the range of difficulties experienced by some children, we believe that much can be done to overcome them by parents, teachers and students working together.

A child has Special Educational Needs (SEN) if he or she has learning difficulties that call for special educational provision to be made.

A child has learning difficulties if he or she:

  • has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age
  • has a disability which prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided for children of the same age within mainstream classes.

There are two levels of support which a student may receive: SEND Support or an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). An EHCP is for a pupil that has a higher level of need and has allocated funding to support their needs.

Students’ personalised support packages draw from the following:

  • Targeted support from Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTA) or Teaching Assistants (TA) in lessons
  • Small group work outside of lesson time including before and after school
  • Smaller, more frequent withdrawal group work from non-core lessons including numeracy, ASD support, ADHD support, touch typing and sensory integration
  • Support from a key worker or mentor
  • A Speech and Language Therapist Assistant providing regular individual or group withdrawal work.
  • Advice from an Occupational Therapist
  • Support from an Educational Psychologist
  • Assessment and support from a Dyslexia specialist teacher
  • Support from pastoral agencies not necessarily based in school
  • Exam Access Arrangements

Other Professional Services

Educational Psychology

The Psychology in Education Service works with teachers and families where students are experiencing learning and/or behavioural difficulties.

Educational psychologists help teachers in the assessment of a student’s academic, social and emotional development and make recommendations on how best the school and/or parents can meet the child’s needs. The team also helps schools to draw up individual education plans for students and reviews the progress of students with a statutory statement of special educational needs.

The Psychology in Education Service also helps with local authority staff development through the running of courses, and supports learning through group and whole school action.

If parents have a concern about their child’s progress at school they should discuss it with the school in the first instance. For more information contact:

Psychology in Education Service for Lambeth

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7926 9658

Speech and Language/Occupational Therapy

A speech and language therapist is a specialist in communication. If a student has communication difficulties which is preventing them from accessing their learning fully, the school will liaise with the child’s LEA to ensure that support is provided from a therapist.

Occupational therapy aims to help those with physical disabilities to achieve and high level of functions and independence. As above, the school will liase with the appropriate service if it is deemed necessary.

For more information about these services in Lambeth, contact:

Tel: 020 3049 4444
Email: enquiries@lambethpct.nhs.uk

Counselling

The Elmgreen School has school counsellors who work with a range of students from across the school to help them with their learning. Their focus is on working with students to maximise their potential through structured discussion, reflection and planning.

This programme consists of one to one sessions which happen on a weekly basis. Sometimes parents are invited to join these sessions.