Statutory Information: SEND Offer
Our school is deeply committed to providing the most inclusive education possible given the constraints of our building and the capacity we have in terms of resources. The school has a long tradition of providing excellent SEN education and the school has been awarded the Leeds Schools’ Inclusion Chartermark on several occasions.
Please click on the link below for more detail about the most up to date version of the school SEND Offer:
If you click on the link below it will take you to the Leeds City Council webpage for the local offer for SEND pupils. This also offers advice on SEHM which has just been updated:
Inclusion: Provision for Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Miss Hulbert is the coordinator for Special Educational Needs also known as the SENDCo. St. Theresa’s has a particular commitment towards including children with Special Needs and has been awarded the Inclusion Chartermark in previous years by LCC. Miss Hulbert works closely with the Inclusion Team in school including Mrs Speight, Mrs Goodwin and Miss Rowland. Mrs Speight and Mrs Goodwin work predominantly with SEND children across the school. Miss Rowland is our Child and Family Practitioner and she works with our most vulnerable families including those with additional needs. Ms Bagshaw is also part of the team and provides bespoke therapeutic play opportunities including 'Forest School' and nurture provision for our most vulnerable pupils with additional needs.
The school continues to use the Local Authority’s procedures for identifying and assessing children with special educational needs. The initial request for assessment or evaluation usually comes from the class teacher. Action is also taken when concern is expressed by parents. Children occasionally arrive in the nursery or main school with specific needs already identified or in the process of being identified.
The level of need determines the provision made. In the first instance this would be provided by the class teacher who may also seek advice from the Special Needs Co-ordinator. Programmes of work would be devised and followed. Limited support may be offered on a withdrawal basis by the Special Needs Co-ordinator. If it was felt that the school needed further advice, help would be sought from the Local Authority Support Services and/or the school’s Educational Psychologist, Catherine Beal. The school may also request help from other agencies within the Local Authority.
All funding delegated to the school through Funding for Inclusion (FFI) from the LA is used to support children with special needs in the form of teacher time, Special Needs Assistant or Nursery Nurse Support. The costs are further supported from the school’s budget. The Special Needs Co-ordinator also receives a resource budget through Capitation.
The school has a designated Special Needs Governor, Mrs Doris McGee, who regularly visits the school, and accepts a report at the termly Standards, Inclusion and Admissions committee. The school’s Special Needs/Inclusion Policy document is available for viewing in school and is available below:
SEND in Action:
We celebrate the diversity in our school community by joining in the national celebration events for Down Syndrome Day and National Autism Week. Here is some of the work we celebrated in these events (which we mark every year):
Down Syndrome Awareness Day @St Theresa's CPS March 2022 .pptx
St Theresa’s Catholic Primary Autism Awareness Week 2022.pptx
Inclusion: Equal Opportunities: St Theresa’s School is committed to promoting equal opportunities in every aspect of the school’s policy and practice. To this end we seek to promote equality of access to the school building for all as well as ensuring that there is equality of access to the curriculum. We aim to provide this equality of access regarding:
- background by respecting different life experiences
- racial, religious and cultural background by understanding and respecting difference, choice and diversity
- disability by making reasonable adjustments
- gender by acknowledging the different needs and experiences of boys and girls
Policies promoting equality of opportunity can be found on the school website. In recognition of our work in promoting and teaching racial harmony the school was awarded The Stephen Lawrence Education Standard, Level 1, in 2009. The school successfully achieved Level 2 SLES in the summer term 2011.
The school also works hard through many aspects of school life to promote Emotional Health and Well-being. Part of this work is conducted through our Healthy Schools Strategy but most of it is conducted in PHSCE lessons and through work the Learning Mentor does with all the children but especially those with social and emotional needs. If you have any concerns at any time about your child’s Emotional Health and Well-being then should you ask to speak to either Mrs Strong, Mrs Speight or Mrs Gibbons. Within this context safeguarding our children is of paramount importance. Please click on the link below for our safeguarding policy:
Access for those with disabilities: The new school is on a level so there is even access to the front and rear entrances and a toilet for disabled on the ground floor. The building comprises two storeys. There is an elevator (lift) to the first floor. There are handrails on both sides of the stairs and these are dual rails to allow younger and older pupils to access the stairs. The new school is fully DDA compliant as required to meet DfE, BB103 requirements.
The Disability Equality Scheme Policy is published below:
St Theresa’s Accessibility Plan 2020 – 2022
This is an example of what our ex-pupils with SEND can achieve with hard work and determination... alongside people who believe in them!
