SEN, VI, EAL

Sythwood Primary and Nursery School SEND Information Report

Please see below link for SEND Information Report. 

 

 

VI Teacher:

Mrs Frances Cole 

Head of Inclusion and SENCo:

Miss Jaime Gridley

VI Teaching Assistants:

Mrs Tracie Wheeler, Mrs Jacky Goodchild, Mrs Akdas Gul, Mrs Vanessa Cunha Ventre, Mrs Rosheen Khan, Miss Natalie Newman

VI administration: 

Miss Megan O'Connor

Our School has been a specialist centre for children with a vision impairment since 1992.

The children are in mainstream classes and follow the same curriculum as their peers, with appropriate adaptation depending on individual needs. We have excellent resources to enhance the learning of a child using Braille or large print materials. A wide range of tactile equipment enables access to all areas of the curriculum.

Specialist teachers and experienced teaching assistants provide support to help each child acquire the skills necessary to become independent. ICT equipment and training is provided to suit each child's specific visual requirements.

We have good links with outside agencies and for those who need specialist help a mobility officer visits weekly and occupational therapists and physiotherapist visit regularly.

Our school environment has been enhanced to promote independent mobility. There are Braille signs around the school building and in our copse. We also have ramps at the main school entrances and toilets for the disabled in each building. Playground areas provide stimulating features and the sensory garden is an area for everyone to enjoy.

Our previous OFSTED reports have commented:

 "Pupils from the resource base for visually impairment are carefully included in lessons within the main school and are challenged to continually perform at a high level." We are also proud that it highlights that "Interventions, such as for pupils with visual impairments from the resource base and special educational needs and/or disabilities are well planned and the success of this support leads to particularly good progress."

“Visually impaired pupils …. achieve well over time. This is because they are well supported in class and specific programmes are carefully planned to make sure that they make good progress.”  The report also highlights that “In most lessons other adults provide skilled support for different groups. This enables visually impaired pupils in particular to join in all activities and achieve at a similar level to their peers. The specialist resources for visually impaired pupils are well managed to provide very effective support for these pupils.”

We are happy to show interested parents around the school. We also have a number of occasions when the school is open to visitors. Please ring the office for more information or to make an appointment.

At Sythwood Primary and Nursery School we are proud of our diversity and we currently welcome families from over 20 countries with over 30 different languages. Over half of our community speak English as a second language so we have developed a very skilled team to provide support to these families and children. Mrs Raza is our EAL lead and Mrs Whitnall has a vast amount of experience with speech and language (she can Makaton sign as quickly as she speaks!). Our experienced team work with our families to ensure they have everything in place to succeed at Sythwood. This includes small group and one to one tutoring, support in class, family support meetings and translation for school communications. 

In addition to our EAL team, we also have a range of languages spoken within our staff so there is often someone available to translate communication to parents or support children when they first begin at Sythwood. 

As part of our dedication to equality, diversion and inclusivity, each month we celebrate a different language. Often we will choose languages which reflect the cultures of the children in our school. This year we are celebrating Arabic, Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and  Spanish.