Special Educational Needs at Hawthorne

‘Relentless in our strive for excellence’ underpins everything that we do and runs alongside our school values. These help all our children to achieve the best that they can in all areas of their learning. At Hawthorne Primary School we are sensitive to the needs of all children and ensure that their achievements are recognised. We aim to provide all of our children with a curriculum adapted to their needs, if those needs can be met by the school. 

We are an inclusive school and will aim to make any arrangements needed for all children to be fully included in our school. We work closely with Local Authority Specialist Teachers from SBAP who support the school in meeting the needs with social, emotional and mental health needs as well as SFSS who can support the school in meeting the needs of children with communication and interaction needs. We work closely with the Holgate family of schools to share best practice.

Ensuring that every child gets the best education possible, means that we work hard to support and address individual learning needs. More information about how we do this can be found in our SEN and Inclusion Policy, in the policies section of the website. As well as on Notts help yourself - Please see the following video, which will give you more information:

Equally, feel free to contact our SENCO (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator), Mrs Amanda Smeathers, who will be able to answer any questions you may have. 

Risk assessments will be written and shared with parents when they are needed and we can write a personal evacuation plan if that is required.

Definitions of special educational needs (SEN) taken from section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

A child or you person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or

• have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if they fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them.

The school follows the Code of Practice for children who have special or additional needs.

All classes in school are of mixed ability and teachers provide work that is specially designed to match the ability of each group. They do this using a variety of materials and classroom support.

If a child has special or additional needs, parents/carers will be informed that their child is being registered on the special needs register. These children will have a SEND Support Plan, which is reviewed with teachers, the child and parents/carers each term.

For a small proportion of children, the school may need to involve other agencies. Parents/carers will always be informed of this in advance so that they have the opportunity to ask questions and raise any concerns.

The Inclusion Team

There are members of staff in our school and trust who are responsible for children on the SEND register and to support staff and parents:

Mrs A Smeathers is our Hawthorne SENCo

Mrs E Pye is our Flying High Trust Inclusion Lead

Mrs R Hazeldine is our Family of Schools SEND Co-ordinator

If you have any concerns/complaints regarding the education of a child with SEN, please contact the class teacher in the first instance. If your query is not resolved in discussion with the class teacher, then please make an appointment with Mrs Smeathers (SENCo). If this still does not resolve your issue, please follow the complaints procedure outlined in the complaints policy (see policies section of the website).