At St Mary’s we take great pride in ensuring that all children, irrespective of any Special Educational Needs or Disabilities, are given the best education possible. All pupils in our school are supported with all means necessary to make the best progress possible. At St Mary’s we celebrate our differences and the richness they bring to our classrooms, school and community.
If the information below does not answer any queries you may have, please contact our lead SENDCo and Assistant Headteacher Ruth Knight at SENCO@st-marys.richmond.sch.uk
St Mary’s commissioned an independent SEND review in September 2018 to provide an overview of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Click here to read our report.
To read our SEND policy, please look on our policies page.
SEND Information Report
Please find below our SEND Information Report which is scheduled to be reviewed in September 2025. Click on each question of the report to see the relevant information. Parental involvement is key to ensuring the ‘SEND Information Report’ is accessible to all families at St Mary’s. A consultation with parents, looking at this report, was held at the end of the Summer Term 2024. We kindly thank those parents who were involved in the process and contributed their views.
At St Mary’s we cater for a wide range of special educational needs and disabilities. Some of these may include medical needs, speech, language and communication needs, autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, working memory and processing difficulties and emotional, social and mental health needs and attachment needs.
Admissions of pupils with SEND are considered on the same basis as those without SEND. The School Admissions Code of Practice requires children and young people with SEN to be treated fairly. Admissions authorities:
- must consider applications from parents of children who have SEN but do not have an EHCP (Education and Health Care Plan) on the basis of the school’s published admissions criteria as part of normal admissions procedures
- must not refuse to admit a child who has SEN but does not have an EHCP because they do not feel able to cater for those needs
- must not refuse to admit a child on the grounds that they do not have an EHCP
The SEND policy can be found on the school website and is regularly reviewed and updated. At St Mary’s we follow the SEN Code of Practice (September 2014) and use the graduated response of assess, plan, do and review. Early identification enables us to assess the needs of a pupil and take the appropriate action in providing additional support. We keep abreast of government recommendations and adjust our procedures accordingly.
The SENCo for Reception and Key Stage 1 and Year 3 is Ruth Knight and she can be contacted on rknight@st-marys.richmond.sch.uk
The SENCo for Key Stage 2 (Years 4, 5 and 6) is Caroline Freer and can be contacted on cfreer@st-marys.richmond.sch.uk
If you have any concerns, please do get in touch with your child’s class teacher or the relevant SENCO.
Staff at St Mary’s work in close partnership with parents to identify any additional educational needs and parents will be involved and consulted before being formally notified once a decision to provide SEND support is made. Parents are invited to meet with the class teacher and, if appropriate, SENCo to discuss how best to provide this support. There are further termly meetings to discuss and review planned outcomes identified in the child’s Learning Profile. These meetings give parents the opportunity to review their child’s progress in depth. Parents are encouraged to share any concerns or queries at any point during the year with the class teacher or SENCo.
Parents are encouraged to complete the Annual SEND Parent Survey. The feedback is collated and analysed and then shared with staff, parents and governors. The SENCOs reach out to parents who have voiced concerns and address any issues.
We also invite parents to attend termly meetings to discuss SEND issues at St Mary’s and to consult on processes or new initiatives.
Parents are advised to use specialist services from the Local Authority such as the Local Offer or SEND Parent Champions scheme in Kingston and Richmond. SEND Parent Champions scheme
Each term the class teacher, together with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the SENCo, meet to review pupil progress. Children with SEND are closely monitored and the impact of their interventions is reviewed and adjusted accordingly. The SENCo liaises with the class teacher to review current learning targets and assesses progress against the outcomes. New targets are set and shared during extended parent consultation meetings. The child is involved in the reviewing and setting of planned outcomes.
All children’s personal targets and provisions are set and reviewed on the Edukey Provision Map platform.
Children identified as having SEND are visited in their nursery settings by the SENCo or class teacher in order to support a smooth transition. Parents of these children are invited to meet with the SENCo before they begin in Reception and the children have the opportunity to visit their new class at the end of the summer term prior to September entry. All pupils receive a home visit at the start of the autumn term by the class teacher and teaching assistant in order to prepare for school entry. On occasion, more than one visit may be arranged, if required.
The visit to school in the summer term helps prepare the children for the next phase of their education. Children with SEND receive a transition book and further visits are organised. Transition plans are shared with parents, as required.
Extra support is given to children at St Mary’s who are transitioning between our school sites.
During Year 5, parents are encouraged to consider options for secondary school placements and attend open evenings and information sharing sessions. Parents of children in Year 5 with an EHCP can attend an information event on secondary transfer process with the SEND team (AFC). This supports parents in making informed choices about secondary school applications. The SENCo is available to meet with parents to consider the most suitable secondary school options.
Upon confirmation of a secondary school placement, the SENCo arranges further visits in liaison with secondary SENCos and a thorough handover meeting is arranged between the primary and secondary school. Parents are kept updated and informed throughout the process. This helps to ensure a smooth transition into secondary education and helps the child and family to feel involved and prepared for the transition.
The curriculum at St Mary’s is exciting and promotes a love of learning and contributes positively to academic achievement, physical well-being and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Quality First Teaching is paramount in our school. All teachers set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils. Well planned lessons ensure good pupil progress and outcomes. Lessons are well structured and cater to the strengths and needs of all pupils. An adapted curriculum may take the form of prompts and guides, multi-sensory resources, adult support and a range of other specialist interventions. Some pupils may require adaptations to their learning environments which could include working in quiet spaces, smaller groups or 1:1 sessions. Systematic and effective on-going assessment and evaluation informs teaching and improves the learning of SEND pupils.
When a child requires more intensive differentiation to access the curriculum, the school seeks specialist advice from the Educational Psychologist who works with the Teacher and/or Learning Support Assistant to enable this. We work closely with AFC’s Emotional Health Service (EHS) and have weekly support from the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) to support children’s mental health.
Children at St Mary’s also have access to a School Counsellor who supports children with social, emotional and behavioural needs. Some children are prioritised for intervention with our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant.
The St Mary’s Accessibility Plan outlines the steps the school is taking to improve access for pupils with a disability. https://st-marys.richmond.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Accessibility-Plan-March-2022-1.pdf
The SENCos share good practice and expertise by delivering INSET and planning continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for the staff. Team teaching, pupil observations, informal consultations and supporting staff in delivering intervention groups are also planned.
The school has access to a range of specialist services who also support the training needs of our staff. These have included training on Autism, Attachment theory, Speech and Language therapy, Occupational Therapy, Mindfulness techniques and benefits and support for medical conditions such as diabetes or allergies which may result in Anaphylaxis shock. Where training is not available, we are able to access private specialists to deliver training and support, such as training on ADHD or Physical and Sensory needs.
We have established good relationships and visited local SRPs and Special Schools and they have shared good practice and specialised schemes of work with us, to enhance our provision for children with SEND.
We liaise closely with Capella House, which is based next door to our Middle Site. We have established a close working relationship with them in order to benefit both schools.
Accurate assessments and early identification for pupils with SEND are implemented in close liaison with class teachers, SENCos and parents. We use the model of assess, plan, do and review to monitor the impact of any additional support on the pupils’ overall progress. Regular monitoring focuses on the extent to which planned outcomes have been achieved. The views of the pupil, parents and class teachers are taken into account. We scrutinise and track data to identify gaps and to ensure that suitable, effective interventions take place.
SEN Pupil voice is canvassed annually from children in Year 2-Year 6. The SENCOs collate and evaluate the results and they are shared with staff, parents and governors.
For pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan there is an annual review of provision, which enables an evaluation of the effectiveness of the child’s plan. In certain circumstances, an interim annual review may be held to ensure the provision under the EHCP is appropriate. Every pupil in the school has their progress tracked termly. In addition to this, pupils with special educational needs have more frequent and detailed assessments to inform targets and to enable the measurement in smaller steps of progress.
St Mary’s ensures that the necessary provision is made for any SEND pupil to engage in all activities alongside their peers. Clubs, trips and activities offered to pupils at St Mary’s are available to pupils with special educational needs. For some pupils ‘reasonable adjustments’ may need to be made. This is always carried out in partnership with families and carers. A wide range of extracurricular activities are available to all pupils at St Mary’s. Parents are informed of club choices and these are updated termly.
Some children may require individual risk assessments to enable them to attend additional learning experiences.
At St Mary’s we understand that an important part of our role is to enable all pupils to develop emotional resilience and social skills, both through implicit teaching for instance e.g. PSCHE, circle time and collective worship and indirectly through the relationships adults:children and children:children have with each other during the day.
As the mental health of our pupils is so important to us we dedicate a significant proportion of our funding to the work of our School counsellor and Emotional Literacy Support Assistant.
In addition, we are now a SEL Worldwide Model School through completing the PATHS (Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies) programme from Dr. Barnardo’s Charity. PATHS is a comprehensive teaching tool to support mental health. Pupils from Reception to Year 6 are taught lessons each week and outcomes are carefully monitored.
For those pupils requiring enhanced mental, emotional or social development, we have access to professionals from external agencies. The school may make an external referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). All children with emotional and social needs are supported to enable them to develop and mature appropriately.
Children with SEND are more likely to be the victims of bullying, so it is important to ensure that they are able to report any behaviour that concerns them. Staff have excellent relationships with the children so it is likely that through these, the children feel confident to talk. Each site has a room known as the Bevan room; these safe spaces provide a comfortable place to chat. Peer support systems are in place, as well as regular opportunities for raising awareness of SEND for everyone in the school community. Parents are immediately informed should a bullying incident occur. A bullying/ behaviour log is maintained and analysed for trends.
The school has access to an Educational Psychology Service.
In addition we have access to CAMHS, Speech and Language Therapy Services, Occupational Therapy Services and Physiotherapy Services.
In some cases, where the School is unable to provide specific therapeutic interventions for SEN children, parents may request that the services of qualified professionals, paid for by them, take place on school premises, during the school day. Parents must make their case in an application in writing to the SENCos.
The School will make a decision on a case by case basis taking into account the criteria outlined in the SEND Policy.
The school is able to make ad hoc requests for advice from the Education Welfare Officer and the School Nurse as well as accessing Feeding Advice and Consultation.
We also liaise closely with the Single Point of Access (SPA) if there is a safeguarding concern.
Parents may utilise the services of Richmond and Kingston SENDIASS, a free, confidential and impartial advice service for parents and carers, children and young people. https://www.rksendiass.co.uk/
A half-termly SEND Newsletter is shared with parents of children with SEND. The newsletter includes information on SEND provision at St Mary’s, local events for SEND children and their parents and useful contact information to support the families of children with SEND.
Please refer to the ‘Local Offer’ for the full range of professional services offered to support SEND children in this Borough.
SEND procedures and data are regularly shared with the governing body. Termly SEND data is presented at Whole GB meetings. Governors have recently made some of the following improvements:
- Staff training is reported back to governors annually.
- The Action Plan in the Single Equality Scheme is monitored annually, in close consultation with the Headteacher, and reported to the governing body.
- The SEND Governor meets termly with the SENCos and is kept fully informed of pupil progress and reports to the governing body on the effectiveness of SEND interventions.
- A thorough SEND annual report is written for the Governing Body, which details the outcomes from our SEND Action plan and includes SEND progress data and evaluation of pupil and parent voice.
The Headteacher and staff will work to resolve the complaints and take appropriate actions. If this is unsuccessful, parents may access the school’s Complaints policy via the website and submit their complaint in writing to the Clerk to the Governing Body.
We have a wide range of resources suitable for supporting our SEND children. This year we are trialling a new provision map platform from EduKey to ensure rigorous tracking and record keeping for our SEND pupils.
We have access to several online resources, including: https://www.autism.org.uk/https://www.adoptionuk.org.uk/, http://www.nasen.org.uk/, https://www.educationcity.com/
In consultation with our SEND Parent Group, we have compiled a list of local provisions that have recommended and found to be particularly useful:
SKYLARKS
Many parents mentioned how lucky we are in this area to have the Skylarks Charity, formally known as Me Too and Co. They are an information hub offering support for families of children with additional needs.
https://www.skylarks.charity
They offer drop in sessions for toddlers and older children, monthly coffee mornings and talks for parents and Recharge mornings for carers.
OKMT
Otakar Kraus Music Trust has music sessions for children with SEN in a range of locations
https://www.okmtrust.org.uk
RUILS
Charity supporting and giving advice to SEN families
https://www.ruils.co.uk
ACTION ATTAINMENT / ON THE BALL
Enabling children with speech, language, communication and sensory needs to achieve and have active lives http://www.action-attainment.com
EARLY BIRD / EARLY BIRD PLUS
Courses for parents and carer of children with autism – long waiting list so early registration recommended.
https://www.autism.org.uk/services/community/family-support/earlybird.aspx
MARBLE HILL PAY CENTRES
A wonderful local resource in Marble Hill park who run inclusive sessions at the Adventure Playground
https://marblehillplaycentres.com/adventure-playground/
RICHMOND CARERS CENTRE
Supporting unpaid carers in Richmond
https://www.richmondcarers.org
RICHMOND and KINGSTON SENDIASS
A free, confidential and impartial advice service.
https://www.rksendiass.co.uk/
