At Lawley Primary School, all the staff recognise and understand their important role and statutory responsibilities in supporting our children with Special Educational Needs. We offer a broad and balanced creative curriculum that ensures all children reach their full potential and work hard to ensure a fully inclusive school environment.
To help identify, support, and monitor pupil’s needs, we also have a dedicated team who work closely alongside the Headteacher to ensure that the provision in our school is effective in supporting our pupils both academically, socially, and emotionally.
The Team:
Mrs Olenik-Pritchard
Mrs Olenik-Pritchard was appointed our school SENDCo in September 2022 and is passionate about ensuring that children with additional needs at Lawley Primary School are supported effectively. Being a parent of children with additional needs herself, she is also working hard to ensure that families feel involved, informed, and listened to throughout their child’s journey with us.
Mrs Nicholls
Mrs Nicholls is our Speech and Language and Pastoral Intervention Worker. We are in a privileged position that Mrs Nicholls can make initial assessments of children’s Speech and Language so that appropriate interventions can be put in place prior to referrals being accepted by Speech and Language Therapy. The Talk Boost Programme is currently run throughout school by Mrs Nicholls to help boost children’s speech, language and communication skills. She is also training to become a Makaton tutor so that our school can become a more inclusive school and will eventually roll Makaton out to children, staff and parents. Mrs Nicholls is also ELSA qualified so also helps children who need extra support emotionally.
Mrs Robinson
Mrs Robinson is our Pupil and Family Support Officer. She has been at the school since Nov 2019 and really believes in supporting children’s well-being and mental health. Understanding that every behaviour has a reason behind it, she will explore this with children and families to know what pathway of support is best suited. This is carried out through sessions, offered to children in groups or on an individual basis. She has a vast range of experience and knowledge, having worked in Family and Children’s Services for over 20 years.
Working with our pupils:
Our pupils are at the centre of everything we do and to support those with additional needs, we use adaptive teaching to ensure they are accessing the curriculum alongside their peers in the classroom, plus we offer a range of interventions (see our Information Report for a specific list of interventions on offer at Lawley).
To access these interventions, the children may work on a one-to-one basis, or in a small group with an adult, to make progress towards the targets that are specified on their School Support Map, which is created and reviewed each term. This support may be in class, or they may access a different part of the school such as the Sensory Room, the Rainbow Room, the Phonics Hub, outside, or another area that fits the purpose of the intervention.
Targets are reviewed and renewed each term.
Our Environment:
As well as supporting our children with adaptive teaching and additional adult support, we also do our best to ensure that they have access to a range of resources and spaces that will make their learning and our environment more accessible and calming. For example, if needed children can access fidget toys, weighted blankets, ear defenders, adapted equipment (e.g. Pelican pens), coloured paper, keyboards, visual timetables, sensory/movement breaks and a range of visuals as required. During the Summer 2022, we created a Sensory Room in our school to provide pupils with a space to regulate their emotions if needed and a brand new library.
Working alongside parents:
We recognise the importance of working not only with our pupils but also their parents/carers and we aim to ensure that families feel involved, informed, and listened to throughout their child’s journey with us.
To help support our families, we offer a range of opportunities for them to come into school and discuss their child’s progress and offer support. Parents/carers are always welcome to contact their child’s teacher via email and termly meetings are set up to review support maps, as well as parent’s evenings.
We have started our termly SEN coffee mornings and now send out a termly SEN newsletter, that includes any important updates and successes.
Both Mrs Robinson and Mrs Olenik-Pritchard carry out Early Help support if needed and can discuss other supporting services. We also regularly update our school Facebook page with photographs that not only demonstrate our children’s successes but remind families about the days we recognise and celebrate, such as ‘Anti-bullying Week’ and ‘Autism Awareness Week’. We also use this platform to provide additional information about local services where families can find additional support.
