SENDCo: Mrs R. Onnis | ronnis@themast.co.uk
At Scissett Middle School, we provide high quality education for all children. We believe that all children are entitled to a broad and balanced academic and social curriculum. We pride ourselves in creating an inclusive setting where all children feel listened to, understood and celebrated. We welcome pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and meet their needs in a positive manner and aim to keep children working within an inclusive classroom alongside their peers. Our aim is to celebrate and empower every student to reach their full potential and become positive, independent adults of the future. We promote a culture of excellence, innovation, and compassion where every student thrives academically, socially, and emotionally.
SEND may be identified before entry or once the pupil is attending school. This can be done through parent or staff discussion with the SEND team. These needs are discussed with parents, in confidence, at the earliest opportunity. Children who are recognised as having SEND are then supported in school through the creation of an Individual Education Plan. This will help staff to support the needs through suggested strategies and available provision that can be used as appropriate in school.
The school works in partnership with parents to support a pupil’s development and address the needs, enabling the pupil to achieve their full potential. Extra support is provided when necessary, and in some cases, with parents’ consent, the school involves outside agencies to provide additional support.
More information is provided below and you can also follow this link to the Kirklees Local Offer.
SENDCo
Mrs R Onnis is the SENDCo for Scissett Middle School. You can contact her via email at ronnis@themast.co.uk or via telephone on 01484 865444.
Letter from the SENDCo
SEND Team & Educational Teaching Assistants
SEND Intervention Lead: Mrs N. Hodgson
Inclusion Manager & SEND Admin Support: Mrs F. Thornton
We have a dedicated team of Educational Teaching Assistants in school who support pupil across every subject. They are:
| Mrs D. Barkworth | Mrs E. Carter | Mr D. Cowan |
| Mrs A. Lindley | Miss O. Parojcic | Mme O. Scouarnec |
| Mr R. Wood |
Interventions and Support
Dyslexia
Here at Scissett Middle School we pride ourselves on being inclusive and are working towards becoming a dyslexia friendly school. At our school, we promote good practice that benefits all children, not just those with a learning difference. This means that all classrooms, the curriculum and individual lessons, already support children with Dyslexia – this is done through high Quality First Teaching.
Quality First Teaching is a style of teaching that emphasises high quality, inclusive teaching for all pupils in a class. Quality First Teaching includes differentiated learning, strategies to support SEN pupils’ learning in class, on-going formative assessment and many others.
All staff are aware of the basic needs of a dyslexic child. We aim to keep all children in the classroom, working amongst their peers. We work hard to provide the tools they require to allow them to reach their full potential.
If a child does not learn the way we teach, we know that we need to teach in the way they learn, ensuring everyone has access to the inclusive, broad and balanced curriculum that we offer.
There are independently registered charities that run workshops and help to provide support and access to information. As well as national dyslexia charities such as the British Dyslexia Association (BDA), there are several local dyslexia associations. To access the BDA website, follow this link. To search for local dyslexia associations, follow this link.
Key Documents
Click here to be taken to the SEND Code of Practice.
SEND Documents
What services are available in Kirklees?
We have forged some very effective links in our multi-agency approach to working to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs. Some of the agencies we regularly work with are:-
Kirklees Independent Advice and Support Service for SEN and Disability (KIAS) (previously Kirklees Parent Partnership)
The role of KIAS is to ensure that parents have access to confidential and impartial information, advice and support so they can make informed decisions about their child's special educational needs. This is achieved by working in partnership with parents, providing information, services and training, working with relevant agencies and ensuring parents' views influence local policy and practice.
You can contact KIAS via their website (opens new page) or by phone on 0300 3301504.
PCAN (Parents of Children with Additional Needs)
PCAN are an independent, parent-led forum in Kirklees for all parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs aged from birth to 25 years. They provide lots of good information, links to social media for networking with other parents, and together they provide a strong, collective voice so that they can work in partnership with service providers across Kirklees. Together we can improve services for our children and young people with additional needs.
You can contact PCAN via their website, (opens new page) email: info@pcankirklees.org or phone 07754 102336
CAMHS and ChEWS
Kirklees CAMHS is part of Thriving Kirklees, a partnership of local health and wellbeing providers all working together to support the health and wellbeing of children, young people and their families.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services - This service can be accessed following referral from a medical professional (G.P./School Nurse). SENCOs can also refer to the service directly. With parental consent, CAMHS will work with us to support children, recommending strategies for staff to use in school.
ChEWS is the Tier 2 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for children and young people in Kirklees. The Service provides short term targeted interventions to children and young people who are aged 5 to 19 and whose emotional needs are impacting on their day to day lives.
For more information about CAMHS, ChEWS and Thriving Kirklees, click this link.
Outreach Support Services
Sometimes schools require additional support and help to support children and young people with complex SEND. Kirklees schools have access to specialist outreach support for all children and young people who need extra help in some specific areas. Children and young DO NOT need to have an EHCP to access this service, it is based on the needs of a child or young person.
Within Kirklees there is specialist outreach support available to help in the following areas:
- Visual Impairment (as well as providing Habilitation outreach support)
- Hearing Impairment
- Physical Impairment
- Complex Communication and Interaction - CCI (including autism)
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health (including behaviour issues and anxiety)
These services can be called upon to support children in educational settings. This can involve supporting pupils or providing advice and training for school staff. With consent, schools can refer to the service.
For more information about specialist support services in Kirklees, click this link.
Speech and Language Service (S.A.L.T.)
Speech and language therapists (SLTs) work with children aged 0-16 years who have communication and/or feeding and swallowing difficulties. These children may experience difficulties in the following areas:
- Listening to and understanding words/instructions
- Talking in words and sentences
- Using clear speech
- Social communication and interaction
- Fluent speech (stammering)
- Eating, drinking & swallowing
This service can be called upon to support children with speech, language or communication problems. With consent, schools can refer to the service. Some children are also referred via their GP or a School Nurse.
For more information about Speech and Language Services in Kirklees, click this link.
Occupational Therapy
This service receives a referral from a health professional or from a SENCO, with parental consent. They explore, assess and guide provision around various physical difficulties. Often a report to school will be followed by sessions with an assistant from the service. Occupational Therapists provide a child centred, family orientated approach and will see children in a variety of settings most appropriate to them. They enable the child to reach their maximum developmental potential and gain independence in performing daily living activities.
For more information about Occupational Therapy, click this link.
Educational Psychologists
The school is supported by an educational psychologist, who works very closely with the SENCO. Following consent and referral, the educational psychologist assesses and supports individual pupils with special educational needs by providing parents and school staff with detailed reports and suggestions for actions based on identification of need. The educational psychologist is very important in contributing to statutory assessment/Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans.
If you are concerned about your child’s progress or wellbeing, we advise that you speak with the SENCO in your child’s setting in the first instance.
Early Support Service
The Early Support service is here to help identify problems that you may be having as a family as soon as possible and working with you to help you find solutions. The problems may be:
- Difficulties with life as a family and routines
- Children's behaviour
- Your confidence as a parent
- Relationships in the family
- Children's safety
Early Support can be about preventing problems in the first place, helping when they do occur or involving specialist services when they are needed. For more information about the Early Support Service, click this link.
Various other agencies can be accessed according to need. For further support you can view the Kirklees Local Offer by clicking this link.
Governor with responsibility for SEND:
Dr Jane Turner-Brown
Scissett Middle School
Wakefield Road
Huddersfield
HD8 9JX
Email: scissettoffice@themast.co.uk
Telephone: 01484 865444