Bridge and Patrixbourne CE Primary School is an educationally inclusive school. We are committed to promoting inclusion and continually monitor and evaluate pupil progress to ensure that all needs are being met. We believe that every child has an individual range of abilities and progresses at different rates and aim to provide the educational experiences and support required to enable all children to reach their personal potential.
Children identified as having Special Educational Needs will have specific targets drawn up on a class provision map listing the learning support offered. Targets are reviewed three times annually. Advice will be sought from our Inclusion Leader, Mrs Long and parents will be fully consulted at every stage.
For further information on SEN/D provision please see our ‘Parent and Carers Useful Guide for children who need extra help in school’. This has been co-written with parents and SENCOs.
Specific Information for Parents
KCC SEN/D Information Hub - The Local Authority Offer
Under the requirements of the Children’s and families Act, Local Authorities and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for the children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN/D) aged 0-25 years. This is the KCC SEN/D Information Hub (sometimes known as the ‘Local Offer’).
The intention of the SEN/D Information Hub is to improve choice, understanding and transparency for families about what support services are available in their local area across education, health and social care for their children. It also signposts how to access these services if they are required.
Link: https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educational-needs.
Please do not hesitate to ask in the school office should you have any further questions.
Inclusion Leader: Mrs Carla Long
Carla Long is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and has over 25 years of experience. She oversees the identification and support of children who have been raised as a concern either by their parents or the class teacher and regularly liaises with the outside agencies working with specific children.
Each term there are opportunities for parents to meet with Mrs Long to discuss concerns and progress but parents are free to make appointments at any time via the school office or contact her via email: carla.long@bridge.kent.sch.uk
Our SEN/D Team
Supporting children and pupils with SEN is everyone's responsibility but we also have a great number of highly skills professionals who work in Bridge School to support all children with their additional and/or special needs including:
- Speech & Language Therapist (1 day a week)
- Speech & Language Assistant (2 days a week)
- SEN Teacher (2.5 days a week)
Accessibility and Equality
Bridge and Patrixbourne Church of England Primary School is an inclusive school where we believe that all members of our community are of equal worth. We demonstrate our commitment to this by prioritising the well-being and progress of every child in our school and by striving to ensure that all members of our community are treated with fairness and equality.
We believe that the Equality Act (2010) and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED 2011) provides a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. It also ensures that we continue to tackle issues of disadvantage and underachievement of different groups represented in the school.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA) defines a disabled person as someone who has a “physical or mental impairment which has a substantial or long term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day duties.”
Our Accessibility & Disability Plan can be found in our Policies section.
For further Information Advice and Support for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities please check the website www.kent.gov.uk/iask
SEND Documents
Useful Links for Parents
Below are some useful links to other websites offering support, advice and resources about frequently occurring types of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities which you might find helpful.
Dyslexia
- British Dyslexia Association - www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about
- Dyslexia East Kent Support - www.dyslexia-east-kent.org.uk
- My Dyslexic Mind - www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/20783005
- See Dyslexia Differently - www.youtube.com/watch?y=11r7CFIK2sc
- Canterbury Dyslexia Centre - www.canterburydyslexiacentre.co.uk
Autism/Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)
- NELFT (North East London NHS Foundation Trust) - https://www.nelft.nhs.uk/asc
- National Autistic Society – www.autism.org.uk
- Kent Autistic Trust - www.kentautistic.com
- The National Autistic Society Amazing Things Happen – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwRrVw-CRo
Speech & Language Services
- The Pod - https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/childrens-therapies-the-pod
- NHS Therapies – https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/service/childrens-therapies-2/
- Ican - www.ican.org.uk
- Speech link - https://speechandlanguage.info/parents
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
- Kent Resilience Hub has been created as a resource to help young people, parents and carers and practitioners understand emotional wellbeing and resilience. https://kentresiliencehub.org.uk/
- Kent Children’s and Young People’s Mental Health Service. https://www.nelft.nhs.uk/services-kent-children-young-peoples-mental-health
- Kent and Medway Mental Wellbeing Information Hub. https://www.kentandmedwayccg.nhs.uk/mental-wellbeing-information-hub
- Childline Calm Zone- https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/calm-zone/
- MindEd for Families. https://www.mindedforfamilies.org.uk/young-people
- Kooth - Family Links Centre for Emotional Health. https://www.familylinks.org
ADHD
- NELFT (North East London NHS Foundation Trust). https://www.nelft.nhs.uk/adhd
- ADHD Foundation - ttps://adhdfoundation.org.uk/
- ADHD Parents Guide - https://www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Parents-Guide_FINAL.pdf
General Parent SEN/D Resources
- Place to Be Parenting Smart: Place2Be Parenting Smart offers mini bites of information on a variety of difficulties all parents might face from sleeping and eating difficulties to developing gender identity - https://parentingsmart.place2be.org.uk/
- General Parent Support - Information, Advice & Support (IASK) - www.kent.gov.uk/iask
- SNAAP - Special Needs Advisory and Activities Project - http://www.snaap.org.uk
- SEND Information Hub (Previously Kent Local Offer) This is a really useful site which acts as a directory for different services available in Kent. - http://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educational-needs/about-the-local-offer
- Department for Education Parents Guide to SEN/D - https://1ba393f1-48d9-410b-85f9-9f5620f0d05d.filesusr.com/ugd/417ffd_2b22e4c064f04257aadbea4b95d5c85b.pdf
- Department for Education & Mencap’s Easy Read Guide to SEN/D for Parents - Agenda Campaign and Policy Departmental Meeting (mencap.org.uk)
- Sensory processing workshop for parents from EKHUFT: https://www-archive.ekhuft.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/services/therapies/therapy-services-children-young-people/children-and-young-people-therapy/paediatric-occupational-therapy/sensory-workshop-for-parents/index.html
KCC’s SEND Strategy
Please use the link below to access the Local Authority SEND Strategy for 2021- 2024 - https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educational-needs/send-strategy/strategy-for-children-with-special-educational-needs-and-disabilities
If you have any further questions then please do contact the school and ask to speak to our Inclusion Leader, Carla Long.
