Etherley Lane is an inclusive school. All pupils at school are entitled to be taught to a standard called Quality First Teaching. This acknowledges that all children are different and that at times resources and work should be differentiated to ensure that all children are included and can achieve. However many children, at some point in their school life need extra help. In accordance with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (2014), the school operates a graduated response to support children identified with special educational needs and disabilities.
Within each class, teachers and teaching assistants recognise that children learn and develop in different ways. They use different teaching styles, resources and plan different levels of work in the classroom to cater for the various ways children learn. Where necessary, there may be adaptations to the curriculum to enable all pupils to access the learning. Some children also benefit from small group work and one to one intervention. Resources available include: move and sit cushions, writing supports, reading rulers, pencil grips, coloured overlays, modified exercise books, speech and language intervention, Fresh Start Phonic Programme, use of IPads and easyspeak microphones.
At Etherley Lane we have staff who have benefitted from training in supporting children with: specific learning difficulties, ADHD, Autism, Speech & Language and Communication Needs, Emotional, Social and Behavioural Needs, hearing impairments, visual impairments and physical disabilities.
The school also benefits from a Learning Mentor who works closely with the staff, children and families to remove barriers to learning. The Learning Mentor also provides social and emotional support inline with the school’s PSHCE policy.
Each year, the needs of our children within school are carefully considered and training organised to up-skill staff if necessary.
For further details please see our SEND policy.
Children with additional needs, such as SEND and ‘looked after’ children are closely monitored and supported. Their provision is assessed regularly and we liaise with social services at ‘looked after reviews’. As well as a SEN support plan or EHCP, ‘looked after’ children also have a PEP (Personal Education Plan) which is a record of what need to happen for the children to fulfil their potential.
More details on how we adapt information, our environment and curriculum can be found in the Accessibility Plan which you ca find in the Federation Policies section of our website.
