All schools need to provide a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information Report. Our SEND policy is part of the requirement for all schools to outline the support available to children with SEND. You should be able to find all the information you need in this report.
We have put the information together as answers to questions parents/carers often ask about a school and what happens for children with SEND. If there is a question you would like answered that isn’t included below or you would like additional information, please talk to us about it.
Will my child go to our local school?
To support you in making a decision about whether you would like your child to attend Crampton, we want you to know our vision for children with SEND.
SEND Mission
Crampton School is proud to be a fully inclusive school. We all learn through working with children who have a variety of needs, and know that inclusion of children with Special Education Need and Disabilities in mainstream school is possible and can be successful. We believe that inclusion of children with SEND benefits all our children both in school and into adult life.
Information on policies, people and statutory guidance
We provide for all kinds of needs at Crampton, usually grouped into 4 categories:
Everyone at school is involved in making sure your child is supported and achieves their full potential.
Your child’s class teacher is responsible for:
Miss Kennedy, Head Teacher, has overall responsibility for ensuring that your child’s needs are met. While your child’s class teacher and the SEND-Co do this on a day-to-day basis, the Head teacher is still an important link for you in school – especially if you have a concern or issue you would like to put forward. Miss Kennedy also ensures that the governing body is kept up-to-date about SEND in the school, and works closely with our SEND Governor (Linda Austin Vice chair).
Mrs Frankenburg is the schools Assistant Head Teacher with responsibility for Inclusion (SENDCo) lfrankenburg@crampton.southwark.sch.uk 0207 735 2219
The SEND-Co
Our Evelina NHS Speech and Language Therapist Bronwen Davies works in school one day a week. Children in Reception class are screened to assess baseline language development.
Emotional Literacy Support is delivered by Louise Vanstone who works alongside the SENCO and SLT. Crampton has adopted the Zones of Regulation framework to support children in managing their emotions.
We have a qualified Specialist Teacher to support identified children as having Specific Learning Difficulties (e.g. dyslexia). Mrs Sue Forsyth is trained to work with these identified children delivering assessment 1:1 teaching using a multi-sensory approach and ICT programmes such as Clicker, she also provides the children with support in class. We encourage these children to develop their ICT skills from Year 2 such as touch typing.
Children who may be delayed in developing reading skills are offered specialist teacher support to ‘close the gap’ becoming independent readers, who understand what they read. Mrs Leah Henderson delivers our Reading Recovery Programme an evidence based approach to the teaching of reading. Should children not make expected progress at the end of the programme SEND-Co may become involved to understand potential underlying difficulty
How accessible is this school for my child?
(CENMAC helps pupils using assistive technology to access the curriculum or to communicate. This would be indicated in the provision section of the child’s EHC Plan)
How will my child be welcomed into the school?
We recognise that transition – both starting our school and leaving Crampton to other schools – can be both an exciting and worrying time for children and their parents.
To help children feel welcome SEND-Co will:
If you would like to find out more about admissions to Crampton, please click here
How will my child be supported to be part of the school?
How is behaviour managed?
What support do we offer you as a parent/carer of a child with SEND?
Engagement with parents and carers is very important to us; we make use of a variety of strategies to do this:
What extra-curricular activities can my child participate in?
All extra-curricular opportunities are available to all children.
We offer the following on site after school clubs:
All School visits and trips are for all children, necessary risk assessments are carried out and alternative travel arrangements can be made for children with SEND if needed.
After-school club:
Based at Keyworth School (3:15pm – 6.00pm), children are collected from Crampton and chaperoned between sites.
Breakfast club:
From 8am for working parents of children from Reception – Year 6
Parents are reminded that for young children an extended day is very tiring.
Children with SEND are supported according to need at less structured times of the school day, such as play and lunchtimes, however our aim is for all children and especially those with SEND to develop friendships, independence and self-confidence within our safe school environment.
How will teaching be adapted to meet the needs of my child?
All teachers adapt their teaching for every child – we aim to give each child the most personalised learning experience possible.
How will I know how my child is doing?
You will always be well informed about your child’s progress in learning and development, you will have regular opportunities to discuss your child with those who know them best. Review meetings are held termly at parent meetings.
What skills do staff have to meet the needs of my child?
Crampton is committed to ensuring that your child is educated by high quality, professional staff that have the key skills and abilities to meet their needs. For example through training and support both in school and from outside agencies when needed.
Teachers are trained to work with all children in their class; support is given to them to address the learning needs of children with SEND from the SEND-Co and other professional colleagues.
What happens if I am worried about my child?
If you are worried about your child’s progress, you must always speak to the class teacher. We can then work together to identify the specific concerns you have, talk about what we have observed in school and what we can do next.
How do you identify children who may have special needs?
We use a range of strategies to identify children who have SEND:
(Sunshine House is where some National Health Service professionals for children are based for instance the paediatrician’s and also other support agencies like the hearing and visual impairment teams)
How will my child manage tests and exams?
School will make an application for Children who have been identified as having a specific or other learning difficulty which could qualify for additional time / a reader in tests. This does not apply to the Reading comprehension test
Specific arrangements can be put in place to enable children to access the tests.
These are based primarily on typical classroom practice for children with particular needs e.g. if your child uses enlarged print every day in class, or records their ideas using ICT.
Detailed information about each access arrangement and how it can be used is available on the DFE’s website at www.education.gov.uk/ks2
What happens if my child does have some difficulty?
The best way forward for all children is for them to have excellent classroom teaching - Quality First Teaching that builds on their strengths and interests. Assessment of individual needs will be arranged by the SENDco
For your child this would mean that:
Your child may also benefit from specific group work with a smaller group of children.
These kinds of groups, often called’ interventions’ may:
This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject or area of learning. We also sometimes provide specialist groups or individual support as advised by external professionals, if children would benefit from this approach.
For your child this would mean:
You may be asked to give Consent for involvement from an outside agency e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist or Educational Psychologist.
This will help the school to understand your child’s particular LEARNING needs better to plan the learning support for the child in school, and make recommendations.
Specialist recommendations may include:
This type of support is for children who have specific barriers to learning which cannot only be overcome through Quality First Teaching and intervention groups.
Information on the schools graduated approach - Assess, Plan, Do, Review
How will you find out more about what my child needs?
We work with you and your child; we consider any professional reports; carry out assessments and look at the results. From this we can find out what children already know, how they learn best and what to plan for them to learn next. The teaching will be engaging and interesting to stimulate your child’s participation and engagement. Through observing their responses to teaching – both what is taught and how it is taught – we find out more and more about what they need and how best to provide it.
What will you do once you know what my child finds difficult?
Once we have assessed what it is that a child may be finding difficult and why, we plan together a range of strategies and approaches to address any gaps. We then implement the plan and monitor it, reviewing at the end whether it is has made a difference. Usually, this approach is enough to support most children in making adequate progress; it is only when we are not making the difference we would expect that we may ask you for permission to bring in another professional to work with us in meeting your child’s needs.
What extra support can be brought in to help the school meet the needs of my child?
There are a range of services that we draw upon via our NHS colleagues at Sunshine House Children's Development Centre, Social Communication Clinic, Paediatricians, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists. Referral to CAMHS can be made by the SENCo for children who have Social Emotional Mental Health needs. There are long waiting lists for all referrals at the moment.
Who makes sure everything is happening?
Parents, the SENCO and the class teacher working together are critical to ensuring everything is happening. Every class teacher teaches all of the children in their class, including the children with SEND and they are responsible for your child’s progress. If we need to involve external professionals, we may need you to take your child to appointments, share information with the practitioners concerned and let us know what they have told you. We also need you to keep your child motivated and engaged in their learning.
If your child requires specialist assessment and intervention, this is discussed at termly progress meetings with the teacher and the SENDCO who makes sure that the external agencies are working together as they should be and makes requests for additional resources if they are needed. This could be by making an application for Statutory Assessment.
How will I know if the provision is making a difference for my child?
You should notice positive changes in whatever areas of need had been identified, which is why our initial identification and assessment is so important. It may be improvement in attainment - showing more confidence as a reader and writer, in understanding number and transferring these skills into everyday life. Through listening to what your child has to say, as well as in their behaviour at home, we will know whether the provision we’re making is working.
What if my child’s progress is not as much as I’d hoped?
It can be difficult, especially at the beginning of working together; to know exactly how much progress a child is going to make with extra support. It is important to have high expectations for them, and also to be reasonable and realistic in what we all think can be achieved each term or year.
What we do if an intervention isn’t working as we might have hoped depends on the reason for lack of expected progress. If the extra support isn’t working, it may be that we haven’t given it enough time, or it wasn’t the right intervention for your child or that we uncover another barrier to learning while we were providing the support.
The most important thing if you are worried about your child in school is open communication – talk to your child’s teacher or the SENCO. We have to ensure that everyone has a shared understanding of what is happening – do we all have the common goals and timeframes? Have we shared these with each other? Do we share high and realistic expectations for your child? Working together we will come up with a plan for what to do next, and hopefully that revised plan will lead to success for your child!
It is very important that your child knows that we that is school and home are working together to ensure that your child is happy, that their needs are understood and can be provided for.
What happens if I am still worried or disagree?
If you cannot reach agreement with the class teacher and the SENDCO, you can arrange to meet Miss Kennedy and discuss with her your concerns and what could happen next. You can also seek advice from the Information Advice and Support team SIAS at Sunshine House, or through Contact a Family.
refer to Southwark School Offer
Education Health and Care Assessments and Plans
SENCo will advise if your child would benefit from having an application made for Statutory Assessment.
Parents can also make an application for and EHCP assessment. Children who have additional needs identified in their Nursery should speak to the SENCo there to consider an application being made prior to starting school. Early Intervention is key to identifying need and for providing the right level of support.
What if I think my child needs more help than the school can provide?
Having an EHC Plan means your child needs a significant amount of individualised support that cannot be provided from the budget available to the school. It also usually means their needs are severe, complex and likely to have a lifelong impact on their learning and development.
For your child this would mean:
What if I disagree with some aspect of the plan, or I disagree with the LEA in conducting an assessment?
The best thing for you to do is to talk to the local authority about why they have made the decision they have. The Information Advice and Support Team are also available to help you, and there are routes you can go down if you remain dissatisfied – please see the relevant local authority’s procedures for this.
Arrangements for supporting transitions for pupils with significant SEND
How will the school help my child to manage the transitions into the school, into a new class or on to a different school / adulthood?
Transition meetings take place in the Summer term, the receiving teacher will meet with the SEND-Co and current teacher to hand over the planning and talk about children’s progress and ways forward.
Secondary transfer transition planning happens at the final SEND review of the Summer term where the SEND-Co of the receiving school will attend the review and meet your child and you too.
SEND-Co will ensure that all documentation is transferred before the first term of secondary transfer so that all the support systems are in place when they start at their new school. Transition plans can be put in to place in the term before a child transfers to a new setting.
How will the school fund the support needed for my child?
Following Statutory Assessment children whose needs meet the criteria for an EHC plan will have funding allocated Banded according to the provision outlined in the plan.
All of the evidence and research suggests that one of the most effective ways of using funding for SEND is to improve the quality of teaching.
We use the funding we have in a variety of ways:
How are decisions made about funding and what can I do if I’m unhappy with this?
The Head Teacher and the SEND-Co discuss all the information they have about SEND in the school, including:
Decisions are taken on what resources/training and support is needed. This happens after each progress meeting and parent-teacher meeting (termly) so that all of the information about children’s progress and achievement is used to make decisions about funding.
All resources, training and support are also reviewed regularly and changes made as needed.
Where can I or my child get further help, information and support?
Children with SEND should be identified in their pre-school early years setting if an application for an EHCP needs to be considered.
Where can I find out about what is available locally for me, my family or my child?
You can also contact the Information, Advice and Support Team in your authority here, the Family Information Service here and the national charity Contact a Family here.
Complaints procedures
How do I complain if I am not happy with what is happening for my child?
Your first point of contact should be with the Head Teacher who will advise you on the process.
The complaints policy is available on the school website and by request from the school office in hard copy.