Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
The Isle of Wight Council is committed to giving all children and young people high quality education that enables them to make progress and achieve well. For children and young people aged 0 to 25 with special educational needs or a disability, additional or specialist support may be needed to enable this. To support the process of identifying the range of provision and advice that is available, the Isle of Wight Local Authority have published a local offer. For more information about the Local Offer please use the following link: https://iwc.iow.gov.uk/
At Brading we see all children as individuals. As a team we work together with yourselves as parents and carers, and a range of outside agencies, to support your children through whole class teaching and a range of additional programmes to match their individual needs. We work under four headings:
- Cognition and Learning
- Communication and Interaction
- Sensory and Physical
- Social, Mental and Emotional Health
Our SEND Offer will be reviewed in September 2024. If you would like to provide any feedback on the document please contact either Mrs Gilbert or Miss Matson.
How We Work:
SEND Support
We follow the national Code of Practice for SEN and Disability (2014). Where a child has been identified as needing SEN support we will make sure we can take positive steps to remove barriers to learning. We will follow a 4-step cycle of 'assess, plan, do, review' to revisit and review what we are doing to ensure a child makes good progress and achieves good outcomes.
Statement/Education Health Care Plan
A small percentage of children will have a statement of SEN or an Education Health Care Plan issued by the Local Authority. Their needs must first be assessed through a statutory assessment. Schools and parents can request this if the child's needs meet the criteria set by the Local Authority.
At each stage there will be conversations between the school and parents/carers - we will work together.
For issues relating to Inclusion please contact our Inclusion Lead Miss C Matson. Phone: 01983 407217 or email: clare.matson@bradingcepri.iow.sch.uk
Department for Education & Department of Health
Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities parent/carer guidance
If you have any complaints regarding SEND, please speak to Miss Matson or Mrs Gilbert in the first instance. If there should be a need to follow a more formal route, please see the school's complaints policy to be found on the statutory information and policy page.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Being Kind to Ourselves (Mental Health and Personal Wellbeing)
At Brading, our aim is to promote the positive mental health and wellbeing of every member of our school community, and recognise how important mental health and wellbeing is to our lives as well as physical health. We recognise and completely understand that children’s mental health and overall wellbeing can affect their learning and achievement.
Every one of us has different experiences in life, and all of these make a difference to us in the short-term and the long-term. By working as a TEAM that TRUST each other, we can make a difference. Our vision is for all pupils to flourish and have ‘fullness of life’. As Young Minds said in 1996…
“The capacity to live a full productive life, as well as the flexibility to deal with its ups and downs. In children and young people, it is especially about the capacity to learn, enjoy friendships, to meet challenges, to develop talents and capabilities, thus enabling us as individuals realising our own potential and cope with the normal stresses of life.”
At Brading we:
- Are committed to promoting mental health as part of school life
- Want to improve the emotional wellbeing of staff and pupils
- Ensure mental health problems are identified early and provide appropriate support
- Offer provision and interventions that matches the needs of its pupils and staff
Ofsted February 2020 stated “Parents appreciate this support, one describing it as ‘going above and beyond’ as we ‘make sure that pupils families get the help they need’”.
What is wellbeing? What do we mean when we say ‘Mental Health’?
These two terms are essentially describing the same thing – wellbeing and mental health are often used as ways to describe your mental state. Our mental state generally refers to how you are feeling and how well you can cope with day to day life.
- Feel engaged with the world around you
- Live and work productively
- Cope with the stresses of daily life
- Adapt and manage in times of change and uncertainty
The mental health charity MIND goes on to say…
“Our mental wellbeing is dynamic. It can change from moment to moment, day to day, month to month or year to year.”
At Brading we use a variety of different ways to support children as individuals, in groups and as a whole school. Our support includes:
- Dedicated and experienced family liaison officer who is available to work with children and families on a one off basis as well as short or long term
- Experienced and well trained staff team that are always there to listen and support day on day and engage well with parents and carers
- Zones of Regulation that supports self-regulation in identifying how you feel and how to then deal with the zone you are in
- Chill and chat sessions
- Friendship groups, as we do a lot of turn taking games
- Thrive support – 1 to 1 sessions with an adult to support social and emotional areas of need
- Lego therapy groups
- Effectively managed transition and support including social stories
- Regular ‘check in’ with pupils and staff alike