Parents

Who to contact

The Inclusion Manager/SENCo at St Theresa’s School is Mrs Barbara Folan. If you have any concerns or queries about your child’s progress please make an appointment firstly with the class teacher, then with the SENCo.
Contact can be made through the school office.

How do I know if my child has SEN?

Special educational needs (SEN) that affect a child’s ability to learn can include their:

  • behaviour or ability to socialise, e.g. not being able to make friends
  • reading and writing, e.g. they have dyslexia
  • ability to understand things
  • concentration levels, e.g. they have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • physical needs or impairments

The School will be constantly monitoring and assessing your child and will may share your concerns. The teacher will be in touch as soon as anything is detected. We would then apply the graduated approach, assessing, planning for need, carrying out and then reviewing. As a parent you would be informed at every step of the journey. You are more than welcome to come in anytime to discuss planned interventions or to check on your child’s progress.

The School Offer

All pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. The National Curriculum Inclusion Statement states that teachers should set high expectations for every pupil, whatever their prior attainment. Teachers should use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious. Potential areas of difficulty should be identified and addressed at the outset. Lessons should be planned to address potential areas of difficulty and to remove barriers to pupil achievement. In many cases, such planning will mean that pupils with SEN and disabilities will be able to study the full national curriculum.

At St Theresa’s we provide a range of maths and literacy interventions. These include:

  • Catch – Up numeracy: a proven 1:1 adult led maths intervention
  • Third space learning: a online 1:1 maths intervention
  • Target Readers : Children identified as needed extra help with reading will read 1:1 with many members of the school team. This builds confidence with reading aloud and allows the child to develop their vocabulary by answering open ended questions to do with the text.
  • Handwriting : this focuses on those who struggle with writing whether due to a co-ordination issue or a physical problem. We work on pencil grip, letter formation, letter orientation and cursive writing.
  • Social skills : this group works on building appropriate social interactions by modelling the behaviour that is acceptable. This applies to speech and body language. We also tackle the problem of different social situations and how to handle these and behave appropriately.
  • Challenge Group : This group covers both Maths and Literacy and is intended to challenge those children who could do with extending their learning beyond the classroom. We work on public speaking, problem solving, questioning and greater depth writing.
  • Motor Skills : this group works on both fine and gross motor skills and is predominantly for children with co-ordination difficulties.

Over the course of the year we will add interventions that are proven to achieve results.

How is progress monitored?

Progress is monitored by an ongoing programme of assessment and planning. The teachers first method of identification is marking, this enables them to see if a child is meeting the learning objective. If they notice a difficulty they will differentiate the work in class. End of half term assessments are also used to monitor progress. Every half term we have pupil progress meeting where we discuss how each child is doing and if they have any difficulties. It is at these meetings that we plan interventions and strategies for children who are not making the expected level of progress or need extending. The parents evenings are a very good opportunity for you to discuss any concerns with the class teacher. The SENCo is available at these times as well.

Complaints and Comments

All complaints and comments should be sent to the school via letter or on the office email which is office@sttheresas.barnetmail.net.