Meare Village Primary School

“Today a seedling - tomorrow a flower”

St Mary's Road, Meare, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9SP

office@meare.school

01458 860 228

Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities

An inclusive school that welcomes all children.

We cater for a range of learning needs, either currently or in the past, such as:

The member of staff that coordinates the provision for children with SEND (Acting) is Abi Isherwood. If you would like to arrange a meeting with her, please contact the school office at office@meare.school or 01458 860228 and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

PolicyDateDownload
SEND PolicyJuly 2024Click here
Accessibility PlanMay 2023Click here
School OfferOctober 2020Click here
SEND Information Report 2022 – 2023July 2023Click here
Supporting Pupils with Medical ConditionsJune 2024Click here
Parental agreement for Meare Village Primary School to administer medicineJune 2024Click here

Meare Village Primary School believes every child can succeed, thrive and make progress.

Every child has unique strengths and unique needs. It can be hard to know what is available and what your child is entitled to, what they need to succeed and what is typical for their age and stage of development. This area of our website provides parents and carers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or parents with concerns about their child with information and advice which will signpost you to the school’s services and resources.

Getting in contact with our Special Educational Needs Coordinator

You can contact our Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo) through the school office by telephoning 01458 860228, alternatively, you can use the e-mail address office@meare.school.

Useful links for additional Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) information

Local Support and resources:

  • Chat Health – A new mobile health service for parents and young people in Somerset making it easier to get health and wellbeing advice. Available Monday-Friday 9am – 5pm for parents of children 5-19 years: If you have a child 5-19 and looking for confidential help and advice? Just send a text to your School Nurse Team. Text 07480 635515
  • Parent and Carer Toolkit Website leaflet link – advice, information and links for parents with primary aged children – Somerset children & young people : Health & Wellbeing : New Home (cypsomersethealth.org)

SEND

  • Somerset’s Local Offer – a website showing the support available to all children and young people with SEND and their families (Our Local
    Offer; Education; Childcare; Preparing for Adult Life; Money, Benefits and Funding; Health; Social Care; Leisure; Discussing Things) Somerset’s Local Offer Disclaimer
  • Information about Education Health Care Plans – EHCP Process
  • SEND News Archive and Newsletters – find out the latest about what’s going on in SEND services in Somerset – SEND News

Mental Health

  • Your GP can listen and point you in the right direction for support, including referral to mental health specialists.
  • School – it is vital to stay in communication with your child’s school about the issues that your child is experiencing. The school teachers
    and SENDCO will do their best to get the appropriate support for your child.
  • Mental health problems in children and young people: guidance for parents and carers leaflet – Parents_leaflet_Somerset_Printable_version33.pdf (cypsomersethealth.org)
  • Local Samaritans branches: Free 24 hour advice and support for young people and their carers or families. Yeovil 01935 476455; Bath 01225
    460888; Taunton 01823 288998; Bristol 0117 983 1000. Samaritans | Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy | Here to listen
  • Mendip Health Connections: Mental Health Archives – Health Connections Mendip Details local organisations that offer help for people with mental health problems plus one-to-one help 01373 468368; mendip.healthconnections@nhs.net
  • Self Help Leaflets: a wide range of leaflets available to read or listen to (Alcohol & You; Anxiety; Bereavement; Controlling Anger;
    Depression; Depression & Low Mood; Eating Disorders; Food for Thought; Health Anxiety; Obsessions and Compulsions; Panic; Postnatal
    Depression; Self Harm; Shyness & Social Anxiety; Sleeping Problems; Stress). Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust – Self Help Guides (ntw.nhs.uk)
  • SWEDA (Somerset and Wessex Eating Disorder Association) gives support to young people with eating disorders and their families or
    carers. Good resources, one-to-one conversations and group support. support@sweda.org ; 01749 343344; For professionals – Sweda (swedauk.org)

National organisations which help parents

SEND

Mental Health

  • Young Minds is an excellent source of information about all aspects of child mental health, including a Parent Helpline: 0800 802 5544.
    YoungMinds
  • The Royal College of Psychiatrists has a detailed section on help for the whole family, Young people’s mental health | Royal College of Psychiatrists (rcpsych.ac.uk), and provides guidance on all mental health problems and treatments, with downloadable leaflets.
  • Minded for Families provides free, quality assured advice which is easy to understand. It is helpful for any adults caring for children or
    teenagers with mental health problems. MindEd For Families
  • Samaritans provides 24 hour, nationwide support by phone: 116123, email: jo@samaritans.org and face-to-face for stress, anxiety or
    despair related issues, including suicide. Samaritans | Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy | Here to listen
  • Papyrus offers advice and support from qualified professionals about suicide. This is for anyone up to the age of 35 who is having suicidal
    thoughts and for their friends and families. They can be contacted through the website Papyrus UK Suicide Prevention | Prevention of Young Suicide (papyrus-uk.org) or on their “Hopeline”:
    0800 684 141 or 07786 209 697 (open 10am – 10pm weekdays and 10am – 2pm weekends)
  • Beat gives clear advice on all aspects of dealing with eating disorders, including helpful guidance to parents, carers and families.
    The UK’s Eating Disorder Charity – Beat (beateatingdisorders.org.uk)
  • Sane 0300 304 7000 offers out of hours, 6pm -11pm daily, specialist support and information to anyone affected by mental illness, including family and carers.
  • Anna Freud Centre – a leaflet about mental health for parents of young children: Parent leaflet

Physical Health

Special Educational Needs Behaviour

Emotion Coaching is an evidence-based communication strategy which helps young people to self-regulate and manage their emotions when they become stressed. It was devised by psychologist John Gottman. Dr. Jo Crane has put several short video clips together to explain the process to parents and they can be found here: Dr Jo Emotion Coaching – YouTube

Inclusion Team

Ms A IsherwoodActing SENDCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator)
Mrs Heidi KingdonELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)
Mrs Beverly Hecks SEND teaching assistant
Sarah GossetSEND Governor

Local Offer

The changes in the Children and Families Bill and the introduction of a new SEND Code of Practice, affect the way children with SEND are supported in schools.  The new approach began in September 2014 and places pupils at the centre of planning.  The key principles of the new legislation are:

1. Children and their families should be involved in discussions about the support they need, so they can share their knowledge and feed back to the school on the young person’s progress.
2. Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs) will replace statements of special educational needs.  New assessments for additional educational needs will follow the EHCP guidelines from September 2014 (existing statements will remain in force until all children and young people have completed the transition, which will be within three years).
3. School Action and School Action Plus will cease and be replaced by a single SEND support category for children who need extra specialist support. 
Local authorities are required to develop a ‘Local Offer’, which provides information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents/carers in a single place, helping them to understand what services they and their families can expect from a range of local agencies.

Please click on the link below to access more information about the Local Offer.

  • Graduated Approach

    At Meare Village Primary, our aim is to ensure that all children fulfil their potential, make the best possible progress and enjoy their learning experience through the Universal Offer and Quality First Teaching.  As a school when we plan any learning opportunity, our learners and their needs are the central focus.

    However, for some of our learners, there are occasions when additional support is required to allow us to support the next steps in their learning journey.  Additional support may be given for a set period of time or for a longer period to ensure every learner can access our curriculum effectively and are fully included in learning opportunities and school events. Our parents are informed, included and supported throughout such periods of provision. 

    SEND Identification

    At Meare Village Primary, we use the following criteria to help us decide if a child’s needs are significantly greater than the majority of children of the same age:

    In order for a child to be placed on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) register they must have a learning difficulty or physical disability that creates a barrier to their learning and means that without provision which is different from or additional to that normally available to their peers, they make significantly less progress than is expected.

    Their needs may be in the following areas:
     
  • Communication and Interaction
  • Cognition and Learning
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health
  • Physical and/or Sensory difficulties

At Meare Village Primary, teaching and learning opportunities are adapted and continually evaluated (with the support of external agencies when required) to ensure the needs of all of our learners are met.  Parents should not feel unduly anxious about such additional support, as it allows learners to receive the specific help they need to make the next steps in their exciting learning journey.

If you need any further information or have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or the SEN team.