Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

The Government introduced changes to The Children and Families Act in March 2014 to improve services for children and young people and their families.  These changes will make sure there is a greater “integration between educational provisions and training provision, health and social care provision, where this would promote wellbeing and improve the quality of provision for disabled young people and those with SEN”. 

The ‘Local Offer’ enables families to access and get support from a range of local agencies, from the Local Authority, health services, schools, leisure services and the voluntary sector. The offer will include provision from birth to 25, across education, health and social care.

At Southmere Primary Academy we are committed to providing an inclusive education for all our children.  This means that any child who may have Special Educational Needs or a Disability (SEND) will have access to additional or specialist support throughout their life at our academy.

Our SENDCo works closely with the class teacher, the child and parents to ensure the correct support is given.

Support may be given in a number of ways, which may include :

  • Working within a smaller group with differentiated learning goals
  • Working with 1-1 support
  • Special intervention groups
  • Pastoral care groups

For those children with more complex needs, we work alongside outside agencies, healthcare & other educational professionals. The academy may also be given additional funding to ensure that those children continue to have extra support whilst at school.  If a child has severe / complex / lifelong needs, they may need more targeted support and this will be specified on an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP).

In order to give our children the best possible support with their speech and language needs, we work with Speech and Language Therapists who will work in school to support our children and staff.

Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENDCo)

Mrs S Curtis our SENCo would be happy to answer any of your questions. Please make an appointment by contacting the office on 01274 422040 or emailing info@smpa.org.uk.