Orchard Park Community Primary School

If you have concerns about the development, progress or wellbeing of your child, please contact your child’s class teacher. They will listen to your concerns so that together you can decide how best to support your child. There are many reasons why children experience difficulties, and it does not necessarily mean that they have special educational needs. Many children need short periods of extra support to help them at different points in their learning.   

At Orchard Park Primary school, the identification of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) occurs within our overall monitoring of pupils’ progress and development. Each child’s current skills and levels of attainment are assessed on entry. Class teachers make regular assessments of progress for all children. Where children are falling behind or making inadequate progress given their age or starting point, the class teacher will implement and record strategies to help them catch up. We will invite you to discuss this with the class teacher. After a period of three to six weeks, if the strategies in place are having a limited impact, the class teacher may refer your child to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCo).

School will support your child using the following graduated approach.

1. All pupils receive quality teaching within an inclusive environment. We aim for a positive experience for all pupils whether they have special educational needs or not. Sometimes, some children will benefit from short-term regular interventions in a small group, run by a teacher or teaching assistant. This will enable them to address specific needs and ‘catch up’ with their peers if necessary. 


2. When a pupil routinely needs minor adaptations to be made, a pupil profile may be drawn up so that all adults involved can be informed.


3. Pupils who are identified as having special educational needs may need longer-term and more dynamic intervention. In this case, with your agreement, they will be put on SEN Support. This means that an individual plan will be put in place with the aim of removing their barriers to learning. The plan will be reviewed at least termly in a process called APDR (Assess, Plan, Do, Review). 


4. If discussions reveal needs which require a multi-agency approach, the school might recommend an Early Help Assessment (EHA), which is a means of sharing information with services outside school e.g. district family worker. This will only happen after full discussion and with your consent. 


5. In most cases, good quality APDR, co-produced between parents/carers and class teachers, and overseen by the SENDCo, will enable pupils with SEND to make progress. However, a very small number of children may have needs which are beyond the ordinarily available provision in school. These pupils will require an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan), which is a legally binding document drawn up by the local authority and detailing a child’s needs and provision. 

There are four broad areas which give an overview of the categories of needs which can be met across the school: 

• Communication and interaction  


• Cognition and learning  


• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties  


• Sensory and/or physical needs  

These broad areas are explained in the government’s SEND Code of Practice 0-25 Years 2015:

In practice, many pupils have needs which overlap these four broad areas of need.

All pupils at Orchard Park Community Primary School have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Universal provision, incorporating inclusive classrooms and high-quality teaching, is the foundation for all other provision or support in the school. High- quality teaching, which is based on inclusive approaches to teaching and learning, is the bedrock of our provision. Reasonable adaptations for individual needs are made. These include: 

• The use of grouping, 1:1 work, a variety of teaching styles, adapting lesson content 


• Adapting our resources and staffing  


• Using recommended aids, such as laptops, coloured overlays, visual timetables, larger font 


• Adapting our teaching, for example, giving longer processing times, pre-teaching of key vocabulary, reading instructions aloud 

• Assessment happens daily, weekly and termly, both formally and informally. Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by their class teacher and will be reviewed termly with the Senior Leadership team.


• Standardised SEND tests such as the Phonological Assessment Battery, the YARC reading assessment, the British Picture Vocabulary Scale (BPVS) and the Sandwell assessment for maths.


• Termly meetings between you and the class teacher to co-produce APDR. The SENDCo may also be present.


• Suggestions from school about how you can support your child at home, with training if appropriate.


• Monitoring of all teaching and learning by the senior leadership team.


• If appropriate, the involvement of external professionals, such as speech and language therapist or specialist teacher.

All pupils at Orchard Park Primary School are encouraged to understand their own strengths and needs and how they can help themselves move forward with their learning and development. Their voice is valued and sought during APDR review and through ongoing dialogue between the pupil, parents, class teacher and support staff during the year.  

We recognise that some children have extra emotional and social needs that need to be developed and nurtured. These needs can manifest themselves in a number of ways, including behavioural difficulties, anxiety, and communication difficulties. 

All classes follow a structured PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) curriculum to support this development. However, for children identified as finding aspects of this difficult we offer 

• Dedicated Inclusion and Wellbeing Leader (Mrs Parker)


• Trained ELSAs (emotional literacy support assistants) 


• Blue Smile 1:1 therapy  


• Red Hen family workers


• Mental Health Support Team

For more information, see the section on Wellbeing and Mental Health Support.

School provision: 

• Teachers responsible for teaching groups on a part-time basis e.g. Booster groups; 


• ICT support in the form of writing and maths programmes, used as small group or individual sessions, according to need; 


• Emotional Literacy Support Assistants offering support for children with emotional and social development through 1-1 work, social skills or anger management groups. 


• Teaching assistants delivering Speech and Language programmes to individual children, devised by the Speech and Language Therapist. 


• Individual or small group interventions where needed e.g. sensory circuits, ERT (expanded rehearsal technique), 1stClass@Number. 

Local Authority Provision delivered in school: 

• Sensory Impairment Service 


• Specialist Teaching Service 


• District Early Help Team e.g. Family worker 


• Parent Partnership Service (SENDIASS) 


• Educational Psychology Service 

Health Provision available: 

• School Nurse 


• Community Pediatrician  


• Occupational therapist


• Physiotherapist


• Mental Health Support Team


• SALT (Speech and Language Therapy) 

Voluntary Organisations offering support to families: 

• Pinpoint  gives help and information to parent carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with additional needs or Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)


• Nessie supports vulnerable children, young people and their families with complex mental health needs who are struggling to access support.


• Red Hen empowers families to raise happy, healthy and independent children


• Cambridge Acorn Project supports local children and families affected by trauma, abuse and financial hardship.


• Spectrum is a parent-led children’s charity with a particular focus on autism

The SENDCo holds the National Award for SEND Co-ordination and is responsible for ensuring that staff have the knowledge and skills needed to support pupils with SEND. Training is provided to all staff or to individuals, according to need, and can be internally sourced or provided by external experts, such as the Specialist Teaching Team.

All children are entitled to be included in all parts of the school curriculum and we aim for all children to be included on school trips. We will provide the necessary support to ensure that this is successful. A risk assessment is carried out prior to any off-site activity to ensure everyone’s health and safety will not be compromised. This may include specialist advice from outside agencies where relevant. We work with parents and providers to make reasonable adjustments to ensure all children can access facilities and activities available.  

The school is on one level and is wheelchair accessible. There is a large accessible toilet which includes a hoist. Regular risk assessments of the site are undertaken. There is a car park on site which has a parking bay for disabled badge holders clearly marked. Where children have access needs that are not currently available within the school, we are able to liaise with the Local Authority and other professionals to ensure that facilities and equipment are secured.  

We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND, and we take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible. 

If your child is joining us from another school, the SENDCo will liaise with their previous setting and professionals where possible. Your child will be able to visit our school and stay for a taster session, if this is appropriate.  

If your child is moving to another school, we will contact the new school’s SENDCo and ensure he/she knows about any special arrangements or support that need to be made for your child. Where possible, a planning meeting will take place with the SENDCo from the new school. 

We will make sure that all records about your child are passed on as soon as possible. 

When moving classes within school, information will be passed on to the new teacher in advance, and in most cases, a planning meeting will take place with them. In addition to the whole class transition, your child will be able to participate in more personalised one-to-one sessions with their new class teacher and may be supported with social stories if appropriate. 

At the end of Year 6, the class teacher and SENDCo will discuss the specific needs of your child with the child’s secondary school. Your child will participate in focused learning relating to aspects of transition, to support their understanding of the changes ahead. Where possible, your child will visit their new school on several occasions, if necessary, in a small group. In some cases, staff from the new school will visit your child in their current school.

The school budget, received from Cambridgeshire Local Authority, includes money for supporting children with SEND. The head teacher will decide on the deployment of resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities based on school needs. The governors require the head teacher and SENDCO to ensure that optimum use is made of resources. The head teacher and the SENDCo discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including 

• the children getting extra support already, 


• the children needing extra support, 


• the children identified as not making as much progress as expected. 

From this information, they decide what resources/training and support is needed. Information about the support of individual children is shared with their parents. 

• Daily contact with your child’s class teacher at the classroom door.


• Attending parent consultations and APDR meetings.


• Attending annual EHCP review, if appropriate.


• Reading daily with your child.


• Further targeted activities, as suggested by the teacher or SENDCo.


• Joining POP (Parents of Orchard Park) and help organise fundraising activities.

Orchard Park Primary School seeks to provide the best education it can for each individual child, and endeavours, through consultation and discussion with parents, to overcome any problems that may occur. There is, however, a formal complaints procedure if needed. 

The school’s complaints policy is set out on our website. 

Find out more about the support which is available for disabled children and young people and those who have SEND in Cambridgeshire though the SEND Information Hub (formerly known as the Local Offer): 

SEND Information Hub (Local Offer) (cambridgeshire.gov.uk)