Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
Who can I contact if I have any queries or concerns?
If parents wish to discuss their child’s special educational need then please contact Chantelle Mavor via the school office on 01274 774446 or email sendco@wellington.bradford.sch.uk
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:
- has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of 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 or mainstream post-16 institutions
For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers. For a child under two years of age, special educational provision means educational provision of any kind.
A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if he or she is likely to fall within the definition of SEN in the above paragraph when they reach compulsory school age or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them (Section 20 Children and Families Act 2014).
Disabled children
Many children and young people who have SEN may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.
This definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEN.
Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision they will also be covered by the SEN definition.
SEND Report for Wellington Primary School
The graduated approach at Wellington Primary School runs alongside the Bradford Matrix of Need.
Therapy Dog
- Bella is a 2 year old cross breed dog (Border Collie crossed with Bernese Mountain Dog)
- Her birthday is 19 February
- She lives with Mrs Cowan
- Her favourite food is scrambled egg
- Her favourite thing to do is sleep on the couch
- Here favourite game is ‘fetch’ with her ball or Frisbee
- She can do many tricks; sit, wait, lie down, paw, dance, spin, speak, whisper & bow
Bella is training to be a certified Therapy Dog. A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. In contrast to assistance dogs, which are trained to assist specific patients with their day-to-day physical needs, therapy dogs are trained to interact with all kinds of people, not just their handlers.
Therapy Dogs have many benefits to children and working in schools. Once qualified, Bella will be working with children across school from Nursery to Year 6. She will support with a range of needs, some of which are listed below.
Psychological: Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has been reported to improve many psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression, social skills, and simply improving the moods of the patient. A large number of studies show that animals can offer relief to a wide age range of vulnerable people with various different emotional issues.
Cognitive: Programs such as the Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) program promote literacy and communication skills. The practice uses therapy dogs to encourage children to read aloud by giving them a non-judgmental listener. It has been proven that the academic performance and children’s enthusiasm for reading has increased by having a therapeutic dog with them, especially in children with special educational needs. Goals of canine-assisted reading programs include increasing reading fluency, increasing motivation to read, providing encouragement for reluctant readers, and making reading fun.
Physical: Interaction with therapy dogs improves cardiovascular health. Personal pet visitation and animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) has been shown to improve blood pressure, stress, depression, and anxiety, as well as increasing mobility and socialization. Further, petting animals promotes the release of hormones that can elevate moods, specifically serotonin, prolactin and oxytocin. Student who struggle with motor skills can improve their fine motor skills by grooming therapy dogs. Studies have found decreased cortisol levels in children with insecure attachment styles, children with autistic spectrum disorder, in hospital patients with heart failure, and in healthcare professionals, after physical contact with a dog.
Social: Therapy dogs promote greater self-esteem in students and encourage positive interactions with peers and teachers. Additionally, children with autism demonstrated increased verbal abilities and social interaction during therapy sessions when animals were present compared to traditional therapy sessions without them.
The Local Offer
To find out more about the Local Offer, click on one of the links below.
The Local Offer –https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/
The Local Offer for Early Years – https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/Services/Education/default.aspx
Special Educational Needs Disabilities Information Advice Support Service SENDIASS – https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/contacts/special-educational-needs-disabilities-information-advice-support-service-sendiass
Bradford Council SEND Accessibility Strategy 2018-2020 – /docs/imported/Special-Educational-Needs-amp-Disabilities-SEND/1571410213.pdf
Education Health and Care Assessments and Plans (EHCP) – https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/service/759-education-health-and-care-assessments-and-plans-ehcp
Useful resources for parents of SEND children
Healthy Minds: This leaflet signposts people to key mental health services in Bradford and Craven which are offering help during the coronavirus outbreak: Healthy Minds Flyer
Young Minds: https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/
Young Minds: /docs/imported/Special-Educational-Needs-amp-Disabilities-SEND/how-to-make-a-self-soothe-box_primary-school.pdf
MindEd: A free educational resource on children and young people’s mental health for all adults: https://www.minded.org.uk/
Healthy Minds Resources: Healthy Minds resources and services for children and young people
BBC Parents Toolkit: SEND – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zh9v382
Resources for supporting children and young people with SEND: https://bso.bradford.gov.uk/news/19205-resources-for-supporting-children-and-young-people-with-send
Bradford Physical and Medical Team Resources: https://bso.bradford.gov.uk/content/physical-and-medical-team
http://www.senassist.com/index.html A website with free resources to print and use at home. They are designed to reduce anxieties and associated behaviours and support learning.
https://www.autism.org.uk/ The Autism Society is the UK’s largest provider of specialist autism services. As well as support and resources, they all lead a parents support forum in their community section.
https://www.lifeskillschallenge.org.uk/ This website provides challenges from tidying a room or area to understanding money. The challenges are 10 minutes long and are a great way to recognise and rewards small steps of achievement.
https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-parents/ ‘Good communication is the gateway to learning, academic achievement and success at work’ and this website supports children with speech and language needs brilliantly. These resources are for parents and encourage the listening, understanding, interaction and play of their children.
https://greatmindstogether.co.uk/homeschool-timetables A lot of our learners struggle when their routine is changed but a visual timetable can often help. This website gives a list of suggested visual timetables to help organise your week whilst homeschooling. Underneath each timetable is a list of resources and downloads you can use for your ‘lessons’. There are also lots of other downloads and resources which are completely free to use on our ‘Resources & Downloads’ page.(If you would prefer to create your own timetable, we have a blank visual timetable available on our downloads page too!)
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page This website is not specific to Special Needs learners but is well worth a visit as it allows children to access reading books on a tablet or computer for free!
Free eBook library | Oxford Owl from Oxford University Press
FREE eBook Library. Welcome to our free eBooks collection, developed for children aged 3–11 years old. We are making even more eBooks available here, for the duration of UK school closures, so that your child has more to read.
www.oxfordowl.co.uk