St Pius Xth Catholic Primary School, Consett

We are a smaller than average primary school on the outskirts of Consett. The admission limit for each year group is 15. There are four classes and pupils are taught in mixed age groups.

Staff and Governors of St Pius Xth RCVA Primary School are committed to the equal inclusion of all pupils in all areas of primary school life. We recognise the diverse and individual needs of all pupils and take into account the additional support required by those children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Please visit our website for further information.

When is it on?

Time of day
Morning
Afternoon

Who to contact

Contact name
Joanne Cruise
Contact position
Headteacher
Telephone
01207 503 604
E-mail
stpx@stpx.bwcet.com
Website
St Pius X Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School

Where to go

Address
Thornfield Road
The Grove
Consett
County Durham
Postcode
DH8 8AX

Other details

Related links
Ofsted reports

Local Offer

Links
SEND at St Pius Xth

How do you identify Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)?

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

We are committed to working with parents and carers to identify their child's needs.  Parents and carers will be involved throughout the process.

There is a range of ways this can be done, for example:

  • Termly parents/ carers evenings.
  • Ongoing discussions with a class teacher and/or SENCO.
  • An ‘open-door’ policy, where parents and carers are welcome to come into school to discuss any concerns they may have.
  • Through a review of a child’s SEN Support Plan or the Annual Review of their Statement of SEN or EHC Plan.

Use of teacher assessments, observations of pupils and a variety of screening materials could be used to identify a particular need. Any parent concerned about their child should speak to the class teacher or the SENCO, Ms Joanne Cruise to discuss further.

Most children and young people will have their special educational needs met in mainstream schools through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.

We follow a graduated support approach which is called “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.

This means that we will:

  • Assess a child’s special educational needs
  • Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
  • Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
  • Review the support and progress

As part of this approach, we will produce a SEN Support Plan that describes the provision that we will make to meet a child’s special educational needs and agreed outcomes.  Parents and carers will be fully involved in this process.

A small percentage of children and young people with significant learning difficulties might need an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.

How will you support my child with their special educational needs and disability?

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

Teachers and support staff will ensure individual pupils are given access to differentiated teaching activities, access to interventions with school staff and access to specialist services where there is a need.

How will you make sure my child's education meet their needs?

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's young person's needs?

Teacher will use a tiered approach to teaching pupils with additioanl needs. Lessons and activities are planned to meet the needs of all individuals. Targets are set to support next steps to learning. We will also seek the advice of other services, including occupational therapy, speech therapy and advisory support services to reduce barriers to learning.

How will we know my child is progressing?

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

School tracking and assessment systems allow parents and teachers to see the progress made by all individuals. Where pupils require smaller steps of learning, this will be listed within a support plan so that progress can be measured and shared with both the parent and child.

How will you support my child's overall wellbeing?

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall wellbeing?

Staff are experienced in managing the emotional well being of pupils. We have staff trained in Relax Kids. We work with partner agencies to develop educational resilience so that pupils are supported in recognising triggers for their anxieties and have mechanisms to deal with them. We also have close links with the school nursing service and has a shared Parent Support Advisor to support the wellbeing of pupils and their families. We hold personal and social development as a priority for all pupils and this is reflected in our Mission Statement which can be viewed on the school website.

Pupils have access to a school counsellor where required. We also have evidence of successfully working with CAMHS and advisory teachers to support pupils.

What specialist services and expertise is available at or accessed by the staff?

What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

We have strong links with partner, specialist agencies.

These include:

How are staff trained regarding SEND?

What training are the staff supporting children and young people with SEND have had or are having?

Staff are trained to meet the additional needs of pupils with a range of difficulties and strengths.

Training includes:

  • Dyslexia
  • Teamteach
  • Letters and Sounds
  • The Incredible Fiev Point Scale
  • ASD friendly classrooms
  • Relax Kids
  • Language Link / Speech Link
  • ELKAN speech
  • Lego Therapy
  • Communicate in Print
  • Tree Tops Motor Skills Programme
  • Keyboard / Typing skills
  • Maths Interventions Wave 3, Moving pupils on
  • ALS, ELS, FLS interventions for Literacy
  • Fuzzbuzz
  • Social Stories
  • Paediatric First Aid
  • First Aider in the Workplace
  • Supporting emotional wellbeing
  • Supporting reducational resilience

We hold SEND as high priority and staff engage in regular training within the council, with CAMHS and with other relevant providers.

 

 

What activities outside the classroom will there be?

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom including school trips?

School trips and activities outside of school are open to all children. Where pupils require heightened support or supervision, staff across the school are released to ensure the safety, wellbeing and enjoyment of a pupil is not compromised. Thorough and detailed risk assessments are in place to support safe access for all pupils.

How will you support my child's needs?

How accessible is the setting/school/college environment?

Our building is on two levels and there is a flight of three steps leading to three of our classes. An accessible entrance is available at the side of the building. Doors are accessible to wheelchairs and there is a ramped entrance.

What is available to help my child with their education?

How are the setting's/school's/college's resources allocated and matched to children's/young people's special educational needs?

School Budget

  • We has an annual budget allocation for SEN based upon number and age of children on roll (AWPU), free school meals and prior attainment (ASN).
  • The AWPU funds a curriculum that is organised to address the learning needs of all the children and the cost of the school SENCO.
  • The ASN funds, together with the AWPU funds will be used to support the majority of children who face moderate barriers to their Learning.

We use this money to fund the following:

  • Permanent and remporary Teaching Assistants and a Supervisory Assistant working across EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, to support children at School Action, SA+ and Statemented pupils.
  • Extra Teaching Assistant support for interventions taking place beyond the classroom, for example Motor Skills Groups, personal/social development.
  • Additional lunchtime support for children with medical needs.
  • Additional Literacy and Numeracy support.
  • Purchase of equipment and resources to support pupils with SEN comes from the SEN allocation. Partner agencies making recommendations for support and equipment, advise which resources are required and these are provided by school to reduce barriers to learning For example, ipad, Apps, sloping boards, neck and lap weights, privacy boards, balance boards etc

COL Budget

The Community of Learning (COL2) to which we belong, receives additional funding to meet the shared needs and priorities of partner schools.

This funding has been used to support training for staff including:

  • Speech and Language Learning
  • Speech Link
  • Motor Skills training
  • Preparation for education
  • Health and Social Care planning.

It has also been used to address Speech Therapy waiting lists for several years through direct employment of a Speech Therapist and assistant working with pupils in our schools. We also have access to a trained counsellor from Hudson Counselling Service. She works in school one morning a week and pupils can be referred into the service when appropriate.

Council Budget

The council currently allocates top up funding for pupils with complex needs. This money is allocated to individual support of pupils. The school is in a period of transition as the new EHC Plans are rolled out. Costed Provision Maps detailing the cost of interventions and support for individual pupils are produced to ensure the cost of provision, over and above the AWPU funding is provided in the future.

If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the council to meet the agreed outcomes.

A Costed Provision Map will be developed in liaison with the child, young person, parent or carer.

What support can I expect for my child?

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

A provision map detailing the interventions and support a child requires is submitted to the council. A SEND officer will decide how much support a pupil requires. This will be informed by external assessment and advice from other professional, for example CAMHS, Educational Psychologist or Occupational Therapist.

How will I be involved in my child's education?

How are parents involved in the setting/school/college? How can I be involved?

Parents are encouraged to be involved in school. School opens at 8.45am each day so that parents and staff can liaise and build up positive relationships. Staff are accessible at other times of the day to speak to parents and we operate an open door policy wherever possible.

Where a pupil has additioanl needs, parents are encouraged to share their story so that staff and other agencies can understand a child's needs fully.

School has opportunities for formal and informal meetings on the curriculum, pupil progress and additional opportunities to share information with parents.

My child is going to be starting or leaving soon, how will you help them?

How will the setting/school/college prepare and support my child/young person to join the setting/school/college or the next stage of education and life?

We have well established transition arrangements in place. Children enter the school and as they move on to Key Stage 3. The majority of pupils feed into St Bede's Catholic College and Sixth Form.

Pupils arrive in school from a variety of nursery settings around the Consett area and further afield. ETFS staff visit pupils in their settings, meet with parents and children within St Pius School. We hold a Treasure Hunt as part of our transition programme. This is an opportunity for pupils and their families to explore the school and meet partners including the Parent Support Advisor, School Nurse, School Meal Provider and all school staff.

Disclaimer

Durham County Council's Families Information Service does not promote nor endorse the services advertised on this website. Anyone seeking to use/access such services does so at their own risk and may make all appropriate enquiries about fitness for purpose and suitability to meet their needs.
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Address: Thornfield Road  The Grove  Consett  County Durham

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