SENDCO Lacey Cousins leads Inclusion at Eleanor Palmer. This is a strategic decision to put inclusion at the heart of the school. Our school is firmly committed to inclusion and works to make it possible for children with a wide range of needs to feel included and welcome. Our aspiration is that all pupils, irrespective of attainment, gender, ethnicity and need are able to achieve highly and feel happy and included in their education.
‘The school has high academic ambitions for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).Pupils with SEND are swiftly identified. Regular training is provided for staff on how to help pupils to access the ambitious curriculum. Pupils receive appropriately personalised support, including through high-quality interactions with staff. Pupils with SEND are fully included in the life of the school.’
– OfSTED 2023
“School leaders have created a culture of high aspiration where all children are able to achieve excellent academic and wider outcomes.”
-David Bartram OBE (SEND Consultant).
Lacey Cousins is SENCO and chairs annual reviews; termly reviews and staff/class termly reviews and liaises with external professionals in terms of planning.
They are ably supported by a range of part–time teaching staff and teaching assistants who work in different roles across the school and who, between them, do the all-important ‘front-line’ work. It is these team members who will work directly with your child and who are responsible for target setting and structured interventions and assessments.
Our Governing Body has over-arching responsibility for SEND provision, review and evaluation. Our PPC Committee (Parents, Pupils and Community) lead on this. We discuss issues at each committee meeting, and review all relevant policies.
At every Governing Body Meeting, the Co-heads include a report on special needs in their report to governors.
This Local Offer was co-created by the Head with the governors’ PPC Committee in consultation with all staff and parents of pupils with SEND and is reviewed annually.
We work closely with Camden’s excellent SEND department and all its health and education peripatetic services. Camden’s Local Offer can be viewed here:
http://www.localoffer.camden.gov.uk/
How is special needs teaching funded?
Every child in the school brings ‘per pupil’ funding. We also receive additional funding to enable us to do additional teaching and to target needs. This is a lump sum calculated on a range of proxy indicators such as the number of pupils in our school in receipt of free school meals and all pupils’ prior attainment.
It is our responsibility to manage these funds, our staffing and resources to ensure we meet the needs of all our pupils. For the small number of children who have very complex needs and who receive a full Education and Health Care Plan, the local authority gives us a further top-up.