Although not all children with disabilities have special educational needs, and not all children with special educational needs have a disability, we have grouped them together in this brochure because the new Special Educational Needs and Disability Act has changed some of the law.

The arrangements for the admission of disabled pupils are the same as those for any child and if a child with a disability meets these criteria , he or she would be admitted. Any disability or Special educational need would be disclosed on our admissions form.

If a child has a completed statement of special educational needs in which St Mary’s is the named school, that child would have the right to be admitted.

We have a special educational needs policy which is available to any parents. In it we state our commitment to equal opportunities, inclusion and anti-discrimination. It begins ”At St Mary’s we value all children in our school equally.“

All teachers have a responsibility to identify and meet the special educational needs of pupils and those children should be taught together with their peers as much as possible and have full access to the national curriculum. This is reinforced by the Christian ethos of the school which is committed to care, justice and compassion for all our children. The policy has been successful in helping children to experience success in learning and to improve their self-esteem.

At present the main facilities we have to improve access include improvements to physical access, for instance the ramp at the school entrance, as well as computer software, and other books, equipment and teaching methods which help to make information and learning more accessible, In the future we will improve accessibility for children with visual or hearing impairments.

Our accessibility plan is in our School Improvement Plan which is available for parents to read—it is also available to download from this website. We are currently (2006-07) planning to make the car park more accessible. This is a brief summary but we would be happy to provide any interested parents with more detail.

Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs

Children with Special Educational Needs are assessed when they arrive in school or as soon as their needs become apparent.

A record of their names, needs, the support they have received and their progress is kept in the SEN audit by the co-ordinator. Parents are consulted at every stage.

Some needs are quite mild, requiring little more intervention than regular encouragement and monitoring; some children need carefully differentiated work, while others’ needs are greater, and may require one or more of a range of strategies, varying from daily communication between home and school, or attendance at a support unit, to extra help from a teacher or helper in a small group or even on an individual basis.

Where the school alone does not have the resources to provide sufficient help for the child a full assessment is carried out and, if the authorities agree to a ‘Statement of Special Educational Needs,’ help is provided from central funds. This procedure applies to very few children.

Many children make good progress when given some extra help and are no longer recorded on the SEN register, others will continue to need support if they are to make progress in the curriculum.

St. Mary’s is fortunate in having a building which is mainly on one floor, and can therefore accommodate children with disabilities. Parents of such children should liaise closely with the Inclusive Education Team of Westminster Education Authority as far as possible in advance of the time of admission.

Alison Bowden is our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). Helen Longville, Amy Nelson and Sarah Taylor support children with Special Educational Needs. Other staff supporting children with Special Educational Needs are Frances Gooderson  and Bridget Kennedy. Samantha Benjamin, Magda Matejickova, Georgina Galvin and Julie Pugh who are learning support assistants. We also receive valuable input from our learning mentor, Sheelagh Leith. Cathy Slater is the link governor for special educational needs.