St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School
Learn to love, love to learn
At St. Bernadette's Catholic School you will find us caring, hardworking and co-operative. We follow the ways of Jesus using our talents and gifts to make our school special. We show respect to all and welcome you.
Head Teacher: Angela Cowings
Hob Moor Road, Yardley, Birmingham, B25 8QL
0121 783 7232
Our School
“At St Bernadette’s Catholic School, you will find us caring, hardworking and co-operative. We follow the ways of Jesus, using our talents and gifts to make our school special. We show respect to all and welcome you.”
At St Bernadette's School, in line with our Catholic ethos, we believe that all our children are individuals and unique. We constantly endeavour to meet the needs of every child in our care. We aim to develop children into confident and resilient learners, to develop a love of learning and to encourage them to explore opportunities to step outside of their comfort zone whilst not neglecting the need to develop wider life skills that they can use to underpin their future development.
St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School currently has 625 children on role (January 2024). There are currently 126 children on SEND register with a range of needs. 15 children have an EHCP and 1 child has a SEND Support Provision Plan.
We offer three main levels of support – universal, targeted and specialist. All children with SEND get universal support through high-quality teaching and most will get targeted support. Those children and young people with more complex or severe needs will also have specialist support. If your child needs specialist provision, school staff will usually need to get specialist advice. This kind of support is usually given to children and young people with long-term complex needs and/or disabilities, often with an Education Health and care (EHC) plan.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
At St Bernadette’s School, we support children with a variety of differing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and we pride ourselves on being a highly inclusive school with an ethos which encourages and celebrates diversity and difference.
SEND is categorised into the following areas in the SEN code of practise 2014:
Cognition and Learning
Communication and Interaction
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Sensory and Physical
Identifying and Assessing Need
When pupils have an identified Special Educational Need or Disability before they join our school, we attempt to work closely with the people who already know them from their previous setting and use the information made available to identify what the possible barriers to learning are so that within our school setting we try to plan appropriate support strategies.
At St Bernadette’s School, we work closely as a team and if staff have a concern about a child, staff fill in an SENDCO referral form and discuss concerns with parents. After a half-term of observations and monitoring, we will decide if further support is needed.
With your consent, your child will be placed on the SEND register, and we begin to follow the Graduated Response approach of ‘Assess, Plan, Do and Review’.
Parents can access these targets and further information about the support their child is receiving online:
https://edukeyapp.com/parent/login
Some children will be monitored using the Birmingham Audit Continuum; this allows the children working below key stage standards to have small step targets set in lessons to enable them to achieve and begin to work independently.
Some children may require more support than is ordinarily available, and we may ask outside agencies to support us in ensuring that we offer the best support we can.
Staff can access the Ordinarily Available Guidance (January 2024) to help support children’s learning within the classroom.
Our approach to teaching children with SEND
At St Bernadette’s School, we offer smaller setting groups with a tailored curriculum and a focus on closing gaps in English and Maths skills in most year groups.
Teachers adapt their high-quality teaching to cater for their pupils’ needs and plan individual timetables where necessary. When appropriate, staff are deployed to give children additional interventions in small groups outside the classroom, or to provide one-to-one support.
We use the EEF guidance ‘Five-a-day’ and embed the key principles into all our lessons.
At St Bernadette’s School, we offer smaller setting groups with a tailored curriculum and a focus on closing gaps in English and Maths skills in most year groups.
Teachers adapt their high-quality teaching to cater for their pupils’ needs and plan individual timetables where necessary. When appropriate, staff are deployed to give children additional interventions in small groups outside the classroom, or to provide one-to-one support.
We use the EEF guidance ‘Five-a-day’ and embed the key principles into all our lessons.
Targeted/Specialist support:
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Interventions for small groups or individual children for additional Maths support by Teaching Assistants.
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Buddy systems for support during playtimes, lunchtimes, and class.
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Provision of specific resources and equipment, e.g. Specially designed chairs and grab rails, if advised by the Physical Difficulties Team (PDSS).
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Attendance and family support officers who with the families of persistent absentees offer support and guidance.
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Wellcomm Assessment to focus on Speech and Language Development, and subsequent implementation of support & strategies as required.
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NESSY Program for KS2 pupils (dyslexia traits).
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Phonics Groups.
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Small group reading support in class through guided reading, and individual reading support (Jackanory and Lunchtime Supervisors)
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Precision Teaching.
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Support for children with EAL status –Quality First Teaching strategies provided to Teachers (English as an Additional Language) Co-ordinator Miss Bowden.
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Mrs Payne from the Pastoral Team is available to see some pupils who are a high priority for some 1:1 mentoring work. These services are in extremely high demand and there is often a waiting list to be seen, children are placed on the waiting list in order of priority.
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Third Space Learning (Maths) intervention.
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Happy Minds Programme implemented across the school.
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Gross and fine motor skills interventions.
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Speech and Language interventions.
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Sensory Circuits.
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Play Therapy.
We use the Ordinarily Available Guidance produced by the Local Authority to complement our teaching (January 2024).
Curriculum adaptations
We use a range of strategies across our lessons to ensure we offer an inclusive approach to learning and allow all children to access the classroom environment.
We also seek advice and equipment from outside agencies as and when the need arises.
Parent Consultations
At St Bernadette’s School, we work closely with parents and carers and recognise they have much to contribute to our support for children with SEND.
We hold coffee mornings throughout the year where parents can meet up and support each other in a safe environment. During these sessions, we gather parent feedback on the SEND provision at St Bernadette’s School, signpost parents to training courses and support groups and offer opportunities to meet up with outside agencies.
For children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan or require specialist support (over and above what is ordinarily available), we will invite you in for further meetings in the year. These meetings celebrate your child’s learning, look at the progress they have made against the targets set, create new targets, and discuss the next steps.
During the year, a parental questionnaire is sent to gain views on the school and the SEND provision.
Child Consultations
Pupils’ views are very important; they have a right to be involved in decisions about their education, and they are made aware of the support that surrounds them in school.
Children are fully involved, and their views feed directly into all policies, procedures and daily teaching of children with SEND.
Evaluating Provision
At St Bernadette’s school, progress is reviewed in senior leadership meetings and with class teachers. The next steps are then discussed.
Ideas are shared and discussed in staff meetings to ensure up-to-date research and policy is in place.
Children’s individual progress towards their goals is reviewed at regular intervals (three times a year).
Children are baselined before receiving interventions and the impact of these interventions are reviewed by the SENCO and staff.
Children are asked if they feel the adjustment or intervention is helpful and makes a difference.
Annual reviews are held for children with Education Health Care Plans.
Staff Training
At St Bernadette’s primary, we believe in professional development and aim to ensure all our staff have the understanding they need to enable them to support your child.
When a new member of staff joins the school, we ensure they understand the systems within the school and they are given information about the children they are working with.
The senior leadership team within the school are constantly moderating needs within the school and, where an area of concern is highlighted, whole school training could be organised to ensure all staff understand specific learning difficulties and appropriate teaching or support strategies that could be utilised.
If your child needs specialist support from an outside agency, such as the Speech and Language Service (SALT), Educational Psychologist (EP), Occupational Therapist (OT) or school nurse, we will always discuss this with you first.
Some of our staff have completed training in the following areas. When staff go on a course, they have an opportunity to give feedback to the rest of the staff during staff meeting sessions.
Transition Support
Nursery to Reception
We hold a parent and carer session in the summer term for our new reception starters, providing parents with the opportunity to meet with the class teacher and SENDCO. We hold ‘taster’ sessions follow in the second half of the summer term in preparation for their September start. Transition to Reception, and then into each successive year-group, is supported by meetings, information leaflets, and taster sessions in each new class.
End-of-Year Transition
When children move up a year, the new class teachers hold a welcome meeting for parents. We hold 2 transition sessions during the summer term allowing the children to go up to their new classroom and meet their teacher. Some children may require extra transition visits to their new classroom to help reduce their anxiety and ensure that the transition is successful and positive. Class teachers and TAs meet with each other during the summer term to discuss the needs of the children and share support plans.
Secondary Transition
We liaise very closely with our partner schools to ensure that the transition from primary school to the secondary school is as smooth as possible.
Mid-Year new starters
When we are aware that pupils joining us from other settings have identified special educational needs, we arrange a meeting with the family to enable us to gain a greater understanding on the support we need to put in place.
Outside Agencies
We work with the following agencies to provide support for children with SEND:
School Health Advisory Service
Behaviour Support Service
Pupil and School Support (PSS) - D Smart
Communication and Autism Team (CAT) - J Clifford
Birmingham Educational Psychology Service (EP) - M Walker
Physical Difficulties Support Service (PDSS) – A Begum
Hearing Support Team (HS) – C Hasler
View the Local Offer website to find out more about the above agencies:
Traded Services or NHS Core Services:
Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) – R Rose
Occupational Therapy – E Hartland
We will ask your permission before we arrange for any outside agencies to come in and work with your child. Once the feedback has been received, we will share this information with you and arrange a meeting.
Clubs and Trips
All our extra-curricular activities and school visits are available to all our children, including our before and after-school clubs.
All children are encouraged to go on our day trips and residential.
All children are encouraged to take part in sports day, school competitions, school assemblies and performances, workshops, etc.
All children are encouraged to apply for roles of responsibility in school e.g. school council, house group leaders, technical team etc.
No child is ever excluded from taking part in these activities because of their SEN or disability.
Please read the school’s accessibility plan for further information about the steps we have taken to prevent disabled children from being treated less favourably than other children and the arrangements we have made to help children with SEND access our school.
Complaint Procedure
Your first point of contact is your child’s class teacher and/or phase leader.
If you are not satisfied that your concern has been addressed, then you may make an appointment to speak to the Assistant Heads or Deputy Head Teacher. If they cannot solve your issue, then an appointment can be made to speak to the Headteacher.
If you are not happy with the response, then you may contact the governors through the school office.
Mr Lenihan – Chair of Governors
Mr Carroll – SEND Governor
Birmingham Local Offer
The Birmingham Local Authority Local Offer can be found at
https://www.localofferbirmingham.co.uk/home/parents-and-carers/
It includes information about the wide range of services available to support all areas of a child’s life (0-25 years), especially those with a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND). This includes support with education, physical and mental health, social care, leisure activities and moving towards independence and adulthood.
Every local authority in England has a duty to provide children and young people (0-25 years) with support if they have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities - this is known as the Local Offer. Every local authority has to publish what support is available on a website: this is called the Local Offer Website.
This Local Offer website gives information about the support the local authority expects to be available across education, health and social care. The information on the website is clear and easy to find. It says who a particular service is for, how to apply, and how decisions are made about who gets that service.
SENAR
0121 303 0829
School Health Advisory Service
0121 465 5457
Forward Thinking Birmingham
0121 250 1560
Child Development Centre
0121 465 1582
Birmingham Children’s Trust
0121 303 1888
SEND Information Advice Support Service
0121 303 5004
Feedback
‘I would like to say thank you for all your support in helping X thrive’ (Y2 Parent, 2023).
‘Thank you to you and X for your time and support, it's really appreciated by us all’ (Y4 Parent, 2023).