11. How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive? How are disabled pupils supported and treated fairly in school?

At Aston, we aim to involve parents and carers in all decisions that are made regarding provision for their child. Through regular meetings, we will discuss our plans and thoughts, taking into account those of parents. Initially, the class teacher alongside the SENDCo, will discuss the child’s needs and what support would be appropriate.

Different children will require different levels of support in order to bridge the gap to achieve age expected levels. For example – some children may require support in English lessons whereas others may require support during less structured times of the school day.

Children with disabilities

Schools have a duty under the Equalities Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments in relation to children and young people with disabilities.  This means that where something a school does places a disabled pupil at a disadvantage compared to other pupils then the school must take reasonable steps to try and avoid that disadvantage.

Some of the ways in which we currently support pupils with disabilities:

• Providing visual timetables
• Classroom audits by the Educational Psychologist to provide advice about seating in the classroom, then implemented by school
• Providing a separate introductory visit when the school was quieter
• Auxiliary aids such as sloping desk for visual impairment, special pencils/pens, speech readers, personal FM systems (for deaf children) – under the guidance of the occupational therapy team
• Separate room with fewer distractions provided for a child with sensory needs
• Laptop, ipads and specialist software provided
• Coloured overlays/paper provided

The Early Years Specialist Support Service (EYSSS) provides training for Early Years settings to support them in making good access arrangements for young children with disabilities.

Back to SEND Homepage.