Mead Vale's Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo) is: Mrs. J Bonney. 

Mrs. Bonney is the Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCo). She is a qualified teacher and a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Mrs. Bonney can be contacted on the school telephone number 01934 511133 or via email office@meadvale.extendlearning.org.

We are committed to providing a safe, secure yet challenging learning environment where all pupils feel confident and are able to flourish regardless of their additional needs. At Mead Vale Primary school, we recognise that some pupils require more support than others. If these children are to achieve their full potential, we must recognise this and plan accordingly. We acknowledge many children will have a special educational need at some time in their school career. Some of these pupils may require additional support throughout their time in school, whilst others

Please follow the link below to Mead Vale's SEND Information Report. The purpose of the SEND information report is to inform parents and carers about how we welcome, support and make effective provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Brief overview of SEND.

To read about our SEND provision in full please refer to the SEND Information Report.

What are Special Educational Needs (SEN)?

A child has special educational needs or disability (SEND) if they have a learning difficulty or disability which means that they find it significantly harder to learn, or to do activities which children the same age are able to do. These children need extra help or support, or special provision made for them to allow them to use the same facilities as other children of the same age.

If your child has special educational needs or disabilities their needs will fall into one or more of the four main areas of SEND;

1. Communication and Interaction

• Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
• Autism

2. Cognition and Learning

• Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD)
• Moderate Learning Difficulty (MLD)
• Severe Learning Difficulty (SLD)
• Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty (PMLD)

 3. Behavioural, Emotional and Social

4. Physical and Sensory

• Visual Impairment (VI)
• Hearing Impairment (HI)
• Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI)
• Physical Disability (PD)

Children whose needs fall into a mixture of these four categories have complex needs. A child is described as having mild or severe learning difficulties depending on the degree of their needs and the impact they have on their lives.

Having English as a second language is not considered by law to be a SEN.

What if I think my child has SEN?

You know your child better than anyone else; if your child attends a pre-school speak to their teacher or key worker. If your child is already in school (including nursery or pre-school) talk to their teacher. Ask also to speak to the school’s Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO), who organises extra help for children with SEN.

Talk to the teacher/SENCO about:

• why you think your child has SEN
• whether your child learns at the same rate as other children their age
• what the school can do to help
• what you can do to help

What will the school do?

Schools are required by law to provide an education for all pupils, regardless of their ability or special needs. All schools should have a SEN/Inclusion policy. If the SENCO and your child’s teacher agree that your child has SEN, the school will probably take a ‘graduated approach’ – this means ‘step-by-step’, as set out in the Code of Practice for SEN. They will offer your child extra support, with the possibility of more support if needed. Whatever the school decides to do, you have the right to be informed and for your views, and your child’s views, to be taken into account.