Identifying and Assessing

Identifying and Assessing children with Special and educational needs

At Hazel Wood we follow current legislative policies regarding special educational needs and our own school policy, which is agreed by our governing body.

We believe in early identification to inform us of any learning difficulties. To assist the teachers in early identification of children with special educational needs we continuously assess and monitor children’s progress against the National Curriculum and the new EYFS framework. We also carry out a screening procedure (DEST) for the majority of pupils in their Reception year, to identify any specific literacy difficulties.  The Hampshire SIDNEY programme (Specific Intervention for Dyslexia Notably in the Early Years) is used early in Year One, to address the individual needs of the pupils whose DEST results indicate a need for further intervention.

Intervention could be triggered by concern from the teachers, parents or others, underpinned by evidence about a child who, despite receiving differentiated learning opportunities:

• makes little or no progress, even when teaching approaches are targeted particularly in a child’s identified area of weakness
• shows signs of difficulty in developing literacy or mathematics skills, which result in poor attainment in some curriculum areas
• presents persistent emotional or behavioural difficulties which are not improved by the behaviour management techniques usually employed in the school
• has sensory or physical problems, and continues to make little or no progress, despite the provision of specialist equipment
• has communication and/or interaction difficulties and continues to make little or no progress, despite the provision of a differentiated curriculum.

We recognise that students make progress at different rates and not always in a steady linear pattern.

If your child is identified as having a Special Educational Need which requires additional support, this will be discussed with you and your child will be added to our school Inclusion Register.

At Hazel Wood we strongly believe in working in close partnership with parents/carers and their children.  Parents/carers have unique strengths, knowledge and experience to contribute to the shared view of their child’s needs and the best way to support them.  Parents are encouraged to confidentially share any concerns they have about their child’s development and progress.