Special Educational Needs and Disabilities 

The 4 broad categories of SEND are: 

- Communication and interaction
- Cognition and learning
- Social, emotional and mental health
- Physical and sensory

A person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. At compulsory school age this means he or she has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others the same age, or, has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools. 
Taken from 2014 SEN Code of Practice: 0 to 25 Years 
 

 If you have a concern about the support your child is receiving in school we strongly encourage you to make an appointment with your child’s class teacher to discuss this concern. If you feel your concern has not been resolved please do make an appointment with Mrs Johnson (Deputy Headteacher and SENDCO) or Miss Whitehead (Assistant SENDCO) who will be able to discuss next steps regarding the support your child is receiving. 

sendco@thedivinemercy.manchester.sch.uk

Quality First Provision

High quality teaching that responds to all pupil needs to ensure both curriculum exposure and entitlement. This includes a variety of interventions in all year groups. 

Cognition

• Differentiated curriculum
• Visual aids to support understanding
• Teacher modelling
• Scaffolding of tasks
• Teacher and TA guided sessions
• Displays and resources to support independence
• Positive learning environment 

SEMH

• Access to Place2Be for children and their families
• myHappymind curriculum/I am Awesome resources
• Pupil Risk Assessments
• Rewards and responsibilities
• Support from a member of SMT as a phase leader
• LEAF System 
• Gardening and Cooking Club
• Wellbeing and Readiness to learn Policy 

Communication and Interaction

• Language friendly environments
• Visual timetable in each class
• Simplified language
•  SCLN first response resources
• Differentiated Curriculum 
• Vocabulary lists 

Sensory, Medical and/or physical 

• Care plans for all children when appropriate
• Dedicated care plan lead
• Appropriate equipment to promote access to learning including the use of IT
• Visual Aids to help understanding
• Sensory Circuits
• OT interventions including motor skills