The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (July 2014) places a duty on local authorities to publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place, information about provision available across education, health and social care for children and young people who have SEN or who are disabled.
All schools must publish a SEN Information Report. Read the aspects below to find out about our school’s approach to SEN.
Unsworth Primary School is a mainstream primary school with a specialist resourced provision for pupils with speech, language and communication needs. The provision has 14 places for pupils from Reception Class to Year 6 and has two pathways-a Speech and Language pathway for pupils with complex speech and language disorders/delays and an Autistic Spectrum Condition pathway for pupils with complex communication needs. Currently these pupils are at SEN Support + or have an Education Health Care Plan.
In addition, the school will provide for any child with special educational needs across the four broad areas of need:
What is the Resourced Provision and who is it for?
The provision has been at Unsworth Primary School since 1983. There are places for 14 children from YR-Y6 (max of 2 per age group). In September 2021 a new pathway for pupils with ASC was added following work with the Local Authority and wider consultation of parents and other schools. This means that the provision has two pathways.
The speech, language and communication pathway caters for children who have severe speech and language difficulties and The social communication pathway caters for children with an autism diagnosis.
All the children with resourced provision places have an EHCP (Education Health Care Plan) stating language and communication as their primary difficulty.
How is a child placed in the LinC provision?
Entry into the resourced provision is made through a referral process to the SEN team. Once a referral is received by the SEN team a panel will consider the needs and pupil profile of each child.
For more information, contact your child’s current setting or Bury EHC Team on 0161 253 5969. We do not show parents our resourced provision until a place is offered.
What provision do the children receive?
All the children are members of a mainstream class and as such they take part in all the class/school activities. All the children are assessed and provided for on a basis of individual need. Each child has a learning plan with communication and learning targets which are reviewed and revised each term. As part of the provision each child receives:
§ Up to 2 individual speech and language therapy sessions per week delivered by a speech and language therapist if they are on the speech and language pathway.
Language groups and targets are woven in the curriculum for our pupils.
§ speech and language programmes which are devised by the speech and language therapists and delivered by all provision staff.
Individualised or small group teaching time working on personalised programmes in English and/or maths. Teaching is planned and delivered by the teachers in RP and delivered by all staff in either the LinC (Language inclusive Classroom) or mainstream classroom through the class teacher and specialist teaching assistants. .
Teaching assistants support in class for all activities with a high language content, such as science and humanities for pupils on the speech and language pathway. Teaching assistant support across the curriculum for pupils on the ASC pathway.
Who works in the Speech and Language Resourced Provision?
We are staffed by:
2 x part time speech and language therapist.
1 full time specialist teacher.
An Assistant Headteacher who oversees the RP.
3 full time teaching assistants.
There is a close liaison between provision staff and class teachers.
Activity Mornings
Activity mornings involving children and families take place twice each year. They provide opportunities for:
• Social communication activities for the children.
• Families to meet each other and the other children.
• Enhancement of communication between families and staff.
• Families to feel a part of their child’s school life and for children to enjoy the opportunity to share this with their families.
-professionals to meet with parents and develop shared support and communication.
What the provision has meant to our families
“The Resourced Provision within Unsworth Primary School has been invaluable to our son who started there with speech problems in Reception class. We are always kept up to date with his development and our son has made fantastic improvement not only with his speech and language but also with his confidence.”
"This is an excellent provision for children who need regular speech and language therapy within a normal mainstream school. They learn in a happy, fun environment which helps them to thrive.
When identifying and assessing the needs of pupils with SEN, the school follows the guidance contained within the Code of Practice, 2014 and its own Policy for Special Educational Needs (revised September 2018).
The range of actions include:
A panel comprising of representatives from the school, the SEN Team, the Educational Psychology team of Bury Children’s Services and the Speech and Language Speech Therapy Service meet termly to identify and assess the needs of pupils referred to the panel for their SLC Needs. Places at the RP are allocated by the SEN Team in consultation with parents and members of the panel.
We work in partnership with parents, recognising their knowledge and expertise in relation to their child and recognising that the impact of SEN support is strengthened by increasing parental engagement in the approaches and teaching strategies that are being used.
Parents are consulted and informed from when a concern is first expressed about their child. Actions include:
We provide for all children with SEN in a variety of ways depending on the individual needs of the child. Class teachers and the SENCO discuss with the parent the most appropriate approach to be taken with each child. The majority of children with SEN are taught in their own classroom for most of the time. We operate a graduated approach based upon assess, plan, do and review.
Within the Resourced Provision, children receive up to three sessions of speech and language therapy each week delivered by an onsite speech and language therapist if they are on the speech pathway. They also take part in two language groups each week directed by the speech and language therapist and delivered by a teaching assistant. A package of support is drawn up for each child on a basis of individual need. Most children are taught literacy either in a very small group or 1-1 in the language base classroom. Some have a mixed package of literacy teaching both in base and in class. Depending on need, some children are withdrawn for individual or small group teaching in maths. Others access their learning in class as part of a group with teaching assistant support. All children have shared support for subjects with a high language content such as science, history and geography.
The SENCOs are: Miss A Dooley (Mon, Tue, Wed - pm) Mrs S. Marshall (Thur, Frid - all day)
Telephone: 0161 766 4876
Email: Unsworth@bury.gov.uk
The SENCO is a member of the Leadership Team and has extensive experience of working in specialist resourced provisions and has particular expertise with pupils with autistic spectrum condition.
Unsworth Primary is a fully inclusive school and all activities are available to those children with and without SEN.
The emotional health and well-being of all our pupils is very important to us and is demonstrated through the following:
School has access to a range of services which it calls upon as required, as listed below:
We ask parents to first approach class teachers or the SENCO and hopefully any matters can be resolved. If concerns remain the headteacher can be contacted. The Complaints Procedure is available via this website.