Meet our SEND team
Children
The most important person in our SEND team is your child - they are the person we are supporting, the provision needs to be correct for them. For that reason, we will do all we can to ensure that they are not only informed about decisions made to support them but that they are actively involved and feel that they have choices.
We will explain why we think certain strategies might support your child and how they would work both at school and home. We will work together to try them and your child will help us to evaluate how successful they have been - we may make slight adaptations to them, or we may need to try a different approach. We will never do this without first talking to your child.
Families
We know that the strategies which support children the most, are the strategies they can use throughout their lives. Without the support and involvement of our families we would not be able to support our children fully.
We will always seek your opinions about the support needed for your child. We can advise you on support techniques to use at home and will always encourage that we use support strategies consistently across home and school.
We recognise that not all children with SEND will display similar barriers and behaviours at home to at school - this is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. By working together, we get the full picture of your child to support them.
You will be regularly invited into school to assess, plan and review your child's individual education plan with your child and their class teacher, sometimes our SENDco or a member of our SEND team will also be present to offer advice and support. If you would like a meeting between these, please get in contact with us through the office, and we will be happy to arrange this. It's really important that we keep communicating with each other to ensure that your child receives the best support that they can get.
School Staff
Every member of staff in school has had training to support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Please rest assured that we all want what's best for your child.
Classroom staff - your child's teachers will know your child better than any other member of staff at school, they will be at the forefront of giving your child the support they need in class and ensuring that they make good progress. They will be in regular communication with you.
Specialist staff - We have several members of staff who have had specific training in the following areas, these are evolving all the time and we pride ourselves in keeping up to date with the latest evidence and practices to support your child:
- 1:2:1 SEND specialist Teaching Assistants
- Level 2 Child Mental Health advocates
- Lego and Play dough therapy trained staff
- Language and the role of the environment
- Phonics and reading specialists
- Mathematics specialists
- Girls and Autism
- Autism and the classroom environment
- Sensory circuits
- Sensory overload
- ADHD
- Cognition and Learning
- Mental Health support
- HOPE therapy
- Nurture style group support
Inclusion Team
Our Inclusion team is made up of members of staff to support your child and you. We recognise that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities may find school more difficult than neurotypical children - we want to ensure that your child enjoys school and is able to attend. It is the role of our Inclusion team to support you and your child to be able to access the provision available at Ankermoor Primary Academy.
Attendance Support: Mrs Bryan
SENDco: Mrs Horlor
Senior Mental Health Lead: Mrs Bryan
Behaviour Lead: Mrs Bryan and Mr Hancox
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs Bryan and Mr Hancox
Who to contact?
- Class teacher - We would always recommend speaking to your child's class teacher, in the first instance. They will be able to answer most questions you have and will refer questions onto the right people to offer further support - please contact the office to make an appointment or speak to the class teacher at the end of the day toad arrange a time to meet up.
- SENDco - Mrs Horlor will be happy to support you - please email her at: send@ankermoor.org
- Family Support Advisor - Mrs Bryan is able to support you with referrals and mental health support for your child. To make an appointment with Mrs Bryan, please contact the office.
- Inclusion team - The Inclusion team will be able to support you in different areas like attendance, safeguarding and SEND support - please email or call the office to make an appointment.
- Headteacher - Please contact Mr Hancox. He will be happy to support you with needs - he will refer you to class teacher, Inclusion Team or SENDco, if he feels that she will be able to support you better. Our door is always open and we will endeavour to support you in any way we can.
Outside agencies
We work with a range of outside agencies to support your child. We may need to refer your child to different services, you will always be made aware of this - nothing in a referral should come as a surprise to you.
There may be times when we work together to support you to request referrals through the GP - our SENDco will write a letter to support you with this.
If you ever have a referral and want support filling it in, the first port of call will be your child's class teacher - they will get support from our SENDco to complete this.
We will often have specialists from outside agencies come into school to support your child, it's really important that your child is n school when they have these appointments as there are long waiting lists, and we don't want them to have to rearrange and wait longer to have the best provision possible.
We understand that it can be frustrating when we are waiting for appointments from outside agencies - please rest assured that we are doing all we can to ensure that our children receive the support hey need. We will be chasing referrals in the background. If you are ever worried about how long something is taking, please get in touch, and we will explain where we are in the process.