Hulls Local Offer

What is a local offer?

The local offer provides information on what services children, young people and their families can expect from a range of local agencies, including education, health and social care.

Knowing what is out there gives you more choice and therefore more control over what support is right for your child.

The local offer provides information on a number of things, including:

• Special educational provision;
• Health provision;
• Social care provision;
• Other educational provision;
• Training provision;
• Travel arrangements for children and young people to schools, colleges and early years education;
• Preparing for adulthood, including housing, employment and leisure opportunities.

To find out more, click on the link below:

Hulls Local Offer website

Further information for parents:

What should I do if I am worried about my child’s progress, or if I think they might have special educational needs?

The best thing to do is to make an appointment to meet with your child’s class teacher. They will listen to your concerns and discuss your child’s needs and progress at school.

Together you will decide what needs to happen next. This might simply be a case of monitoring the situation, or together you might decide to put some extra support in place. If it is agreed that a ‘Cause for Concern’ referral needs to be put forward, it might be appropriate for you to have a chat with the SENDCO (special educational needs and disabilities co-ordinator); the class teacher will discuss this with you.

What happens if the school has concerns about my child’s progress?

If your child’s class teacher has any concerns about progress, they will arrange to meet with you to talk about what those concerns are. They will be interested in hearing your views too, and might ask you questions about what your child is like at home, what their strengths are as well as any needs you may have identified. They might also ask you questions about their earlier development.

Together you will decide what needs to happen next. This might simply be a case of monitoring the situation, or together you might decide to put some extra support in place. If it is agreed that a ‘Cause for Concern’ referral needs to be put forward, it might be appropriate for you to have a chat with the SENDCO (special educational needs and disabilities co-ordinator); the class teacher will discuss this with you.

How will Biggin Hill decide if my child needs SEND support?

To decide whether or not a pupil has special educational needs we look at the legal definition of SEND in the SEND Code of Practice 2014. This says that:

“A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child 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 him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools.”

Our decision is based on a variety of things and we must have evidence to support this decision. Your views are very important, as are the views of your child and the class teacher. We monitor academic, emotional and social progress and compare this against age related expectations. We observe pupils both inside and outside the classroom and we sometimes carry out a range of assessments so that we have a better understanding of your child’s needs. This helps us to target support more effectively.

What type of support might my child receive and how can I help them at home?

The type of support your child receives will depend upon their individual needs and is individualised to help them to achieve positive outcomes. The type of support currently offered in school includes:

Classroom Based (Wave 1)

• Differentiation and scaffolding – Classroom Based - The class teacher will modify and differentiate work to enable pupils to access work in a way that suits their needs.
• Small group work – Classroom Based – The class teacher will identify a group of children that may need more targeted support on a focussed small group basis rather than whole class.
• Visual Support – Classroom Based – The school work closely with local special schools to ensure all learning environments/classrooms support any children who may need the support of visual timetable etc.

Interventions (Wave 2)

• Interventions for pupils with specific learning difficulties such as reading, spelling or mathematical difficulties (Lexia, BEAT Dyslexia, Precision Teach).
• Interventions surrounding the development of social skills (Friendship groups, LEGO Therapy).
• Interventions surrounding physical and sensory development (Fine Motor Skills, Sensory Circuit).
• Communication programmes for pupil with interaction difficulties.
• Language enrichment groups for pupils who need to develop their vocabulary.
• Speech and language therapy programmes.
• Behaviour and Emotional Wellbeing Support.

Outside Agency Support (Wave 3)

Wave 3 support is support or interventions managed by outside agencies for example, Children Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and NHS Speech and Language Therapy. Appointments with these professionals may take place in school.

Pupils identified as needing SEND support at Biggin Hill have a One Page Profile and Individual Provision Map. This provides details about the extra support they are receiving in school or from outside agencies, outlines specific targets and helps parents to support their child at home. The class teacher and SENDCO will also be happy to help you with ideas for home.

How will I know what progress my child is making?

At Biggin Hill, pupils identified as needing SEND support have a One Page Profile and Individual Provision Map. These include targets that will be reviewed termly by the child’s class teacher and you will be invited to meet with them to discuss reviewed and new targets. Once a year, the school SENDCO (special educational needs and disabilities co-ordinator) will also attend the meeting alongside yourself and the class teacher. These meetings are in addition to Termly parents evenings. Progress will also be tracked in line with statutory assessments if deemed appropriate for your child to access.

How will Biggin Hill ensure that my child is able to cope with moving to the next stage of their education?

Some pupils can find it difficult when they make the move from one class to another at the start of a new school year. This can be a very worrying time for parents too, especially when pupils move from one key stage to the next or from primary to secondary school.

For pupils on our SEND Register who would benefit from additional support, we make special transition arrangements. These can include:

FS1 to Year 5

• A transition book which includes photographs of key people and places in the new classroom or setting, as well as other useful information.
• Regular visits to the new classroom or setting including playgrounds and dining halls.
• Introduction to new staff to pupils in familiar surroundings.
• Whole class transition afternoon to new teacher.
• Handover meeting between previous and new class teachers.
• One Page Profiles and Provision Maps containing important information about the child to be passed on and discussed between previous and new class teacher.

Year 6 to Secondary Schools

At Biggin Hill, we realise leaving primary school can be very difficult for some children. To support this, we have a 10 week transition programme aimed at 6-8 children who will benefit from both social skills support and additional transitional activities. This includes children with identified social communication difficulties and also those who need support with anxiety and emotional wellbeing. This programme covers general discussion about secondary school, identifying familiar friends, comparing primary and secondary school, uniform/equipment changes (eg.how to tie a tie), meeting new people, using timetables and maps, bullying, homework and sanctions and asking for help.

In some cases, for children aged 10+, we may also contact or make a referral to HeadStart Hull to support with transition from primary to secondary school and to ensure support can continue to be accessed throughout the child’s education.