St Godric's

Our SEN Information Report – which is part of Durham County Council’s Local Offer – provides details about how we support children and young people with Special Educational Needs in our school.

‘Jesus said: I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will have the light of life.’   John 8:12.

At St. Godric’s Catholic Primary School our vision statement is at the heart of our commitment to the equal inclusion of all pupils in all areas of school life. We believe that each child is a unique gift from God and it is our aim that every child knows about God’s love for us and sees Christ in each other. We strive to ensure that every pupil grows spiritually and develops the values needed to be an asset to their community. Committed to excellence, we provide a purposeful and aspirational curriculum.  Our pupils flourish in a caring, inclusive environment. Knowing they are loved and respected by God and others, our pupils are proud of who they are and what they achieve.  Together, as a community of faith, we are called to ‘Be the light’, reflecting God’s love in all that we do.

We recognise the diverse and individual needs of all of our pupils and take into account the additional support required by those children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We believe in positive intervention, removing barriers to learning, raising expectations and levels of achievement and working in partnership with other agencies in order to provide a positive educational experience for all our pupils including those with special educational needs or disability. We strive to ensure that all pupils are celebrated for the special gifts and talents that they possess and we work to provide the highest quality of provision to enable them to reach their potential and develop the skills, knowledge and experiences to allow them to be thoughtful and informed members of our community who understand and believe in British values and can make a positive difference to society.

At St. Godric’s, we are also committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity and valuing diversity for all children and families.

We aim to:

• Provide a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions are considered and valued;
• Include and value the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity;
• Provide positive non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and disabled people;
• Improve our knowledge and understanding of issues of anti-discriminatory practice, promoting equality and valuing diversity; and
• Make inclusion a thread that runs through all of the activities of the school.

This SEND Information Report should be read alongside the school’s SEND Policy, the Equalities Information and Objectives and the Accessibility Plan.

Key Contacts

• Mrs E Bridon, Head Teacher
• Mrs Sarah Walton, SENCo
• Mrs Gillian Tweddle SENDCo Governor

Telephone 0191 384 7452 or email info@stgd.bwcet.com

SEND Admissions

For information on the admission of pupils with a disability, please visit the School Admissions section of our website and view the Accessibility Plan in our School Policies section.  If you would like to discuss your child’s SEN in more detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

The full range of local support available for children/ young people with SEND and their families within and outside of school can be found in the County Durham Local Offer

Disability & Accessibility

We are committed to providing a fully accessible environment which values and includes all pupils, staff, parents and visitors regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual and emotional needs. We are committed to challenging negative attitudes about disability and accessibility and to developing a culture of awareness, tolerance and inclusion.

What we do to prevent pupils with disabilities from being treated less favourably:

Our School is committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity, prevent disabled pupils from being treated less favourably and valuing diversity for all children and families.

St Godric’s has an automatic door in the main entrance and accessible classrooms. We have a main use disabled toilet and an accessible toilet and bed in our medical room in the Reception classroom, a selection of specialist writing and reading resources for the children to use. We also have a disabled parking space in the school car park.

St Godric’s staff aim to promote the involvement of all pupils with disabilities in all classroom activities. All staff are following LA and school policies and procedures to support pupils with disabilities and ensure that classrooms have a clear and accessible layout and are communication friendly environments.

We aim to:

• Offer a rich, stimulating and accessible curriculum and environment in which all our pupils can grow and in which all contributions are valued and accepted.
• Celebrate the achievements of all our children and families, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or disability.
• Establish close liaison with our families and regularly consult with children, parents and professionals to ensure that the needs of our pupils are being met.
• To ensure that pupils with a disability are able to be fully involved in school life and the curriculum and are offered the opportunity to participate in activities both inside and outside the classroom by making reasonable adjustments.
• To ensure that children with SEN have full access to the curriculum and are offered the opportunity to participate in activities both inside and outside the classroom by making reasonable adjustments.

The facilities to assist access are outlined in our Accessibility Plan which you can find in the policies section of our website.

Our Accessibility Plan and the short, medium and long term actions, will be reviewed and adjusted on an annual basis and a new Accessibility Plan will be produced every three years.

The Accessibility Plan contains relevant actions to:

• Improve access to the physical environment of the school, adding specialist facilities as necessary.
• Increase access to the curriculum for pupils with a disability. This covers reasonable adjustments within teaching and learning, specialist aids and equipment and the wider curriculum of the school, such as after school clubs, visits etc,
• Improve the provision of information to pupils, staff, parents and visitors with disabilities.  All information will be made available in various formats within a reasonable time frame.