At Alphington Primary school we believe every child is unique and has the potential to thrive. Our SEND and Inclusion team works collaboratively to ensure all children feel valued, supported, and able to succeed in their learning journey.

We work closely with children and their families to ensure we understand the needs of those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

We are committed to inclusion and ensuring we provide the best for children with SEND. We have a sound understanding of the challenges families with experience of SEND face and are dedicated to doing all we can to support them and/or signpost them to the best advice.

What is SEND?

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) refers to children who require additional support to access learning effectively. This might include support for specific learning difficulties:

1. Communication and interaction
2. Cognition and learning
3. Social, mental and emotional health
4. Sensory or physical

Our Approach to SEND and Inclusion:

We follow the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision framework. ensuring all children have access to a broad, balanced, and engaging curriculum tailored to their needs. Our staff are trained to adapt teaching strategies, resources, and environments to promote successful learning experiences for every child.

Key Policies and Practices

We follow the SEND Code of Practice (2015) to identify, assess, and provide appropriate interventions for children with SEND. Where necessary, we work with parents and professionals to create Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) to outline individual support.

SEND Policy 2025

SEND Information Report 2024/25

Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision

Roles and Responsibilities

Our school SENCo (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator), who leads the day to day running of our SEND provision, is Mrs Beky Stannard. She is supported by our deputy SENDCo assistant Laura Holmes.

Working in Partnership

We believe in a strong partnership with families and external professionals to provide the best support for our children. Regular reviews and open communication are central to our approach.

How is Alphington Primary School Accessible to all?

The main entrance is suitable for wheelchair access and there is one designated disabled parking space in the school/staff car park. If you call ahead, a member of staff will ensure this is available for you, if you require it. There are 2 accessible toilets one located close to the main reception desk and one located by access via the playground into the lower main school door For further information, please see our Accessibility Plan via the link below.

Accessibility Plan (pdf)

How we Identify and Support Needs:

What are Devon’s responsibilities for SEND?

Click to see full document

In September 2014 the Government introduced changes to the law for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The new law will result in changes to the way families and children receive support from the local council, health and social care services.

All schools are supported to be as inclusive as possible, with the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities being met in a mainstream setting wherever possible.

Devon County Council, as part of the changes that took place, is required to produce a local offer, details of this local offer can be found on the link to the website below.

https://new.devon.gov.uk/send/

What describes Equality at Alphington Primary School?

Our school fully supports the Equality Act 2010 and strives to ensure that everything done in school is fair, non-discriminatory and does not put individuals or groups at a disadvantage. In particular, we try to ensure that we do not discriminate, harass or victimise a pupil or potential pupil in relation to:

• admissions;
• the way we provide education for pupils;
• excluding a pupil or subjecting them to other disadvantages

In accordance with the Act, we do not discriminate or treat a pupil-less favourably because of their:

• disability;
• race;
• religion or belief;
• sex;
• sexual orientation.

In addition to the above ‘protected characteristics,’ the following also applies to employees of the school:

• age;
• marriage and civil partnership;
• pregnancy and maternity;
• gender reassignment.

As part of the Equality Act, schools must comply with the Equality Duty. This means that when we are making decisions or developing policies, we consciously think about how we:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation;
• advance equality of opportunity;
• foster good relations.

Equality Objectives:

• To deliver a broad and balanced curriculum, which provides opportunities for all pupils to achieve the highest standards of education, using specialist programmes and dedicated resources (e.g. Pupil Premium funding) to support pupils who need it the most.
• To advance equality of opportunity by ensuring that teaching, learning and the curriculum promote equality, celebrate diversity and promote community cohesion by fostering good relations.
• To ensure our curriculum and provision is equitable offering children all they need to reach their potential.
• To eliminate any discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
• To ensure that no one is unfairly or illegally disadvantaged as a consequence of their age,
  disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, colour, race, ethnic or national origin, disability or religious beliefs.
• To review pupil-related policies and procedures (particularly, but not limited to, the behaviour policy, the anti-bullying policy, the provision for SEN children and the schools’ accessibility plans) to ensure they facilitate full access to the curriculum and the school premises and facilities whenever possible.
• To recognize and celebrate diversity within our community whilst promoting community cohesion.
• To ensure that this policy is applied to all we do.
• To ensure that pupils and parents are fully involved in the provision made by the school.
• To ensure that within the school budget, adequate funding is provided to underpin this policy and that intervention, positive and preventative action are funded where necessary.

Good practice:

• We strive to achieve a cohesive community and expect that children respect one another and that their parents feel fully engaged in the school.
• We aim to enhance a wider sense of community locally, as well as in the context of the UK and the World communities.
• Through our policies and actions, we undertake to ensure that every child and young person is healthy, safe, is able to enjoy and achieve in their learning experience, and is able to contribute to the wider community.
• We consider it prudent and sensible to maintain the practice of logging discriminatory incidents and reporting them to the local authority.
• We monitor and log incidents that discriminate against children and young people or adults in our school with protected characteristics, e.g. racist or homophobic bullying.
• We also monitor and log bullying incidents

The implementation and impact of these objectives will be monitored by School Governors through:

• Review pupil progress and attainment for different sub-groups (e.g. individual schools, boys/ girls, FSM, SEN and Children in Care).
• Receiving reports from the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and SENCo
• Receiving reports from monitoring visits.
• Taking advice from relevant parties such as the HR provider and Devon Admissions team.