SEN

All the documents below are available in paper copy, on request. You can also contact our SENCo staff, Mrs Rachel Rickett or Mrs Samantha Botham, by e-mail: rachel.rickett@william-alvey.lincs.sch.uk or samantha.botham@william-alvey.lincs.sch.uk

Who can I contact if I have a concern or complaint?

• First point of contact would be your child’s class teacher to share your concerns.

• You could then arrange to meet Mr Tapley, Head Teacher or Mrs Rickett/Mrs Botham, SENCo staff.

• Look at the SEN Policy (see below)

• Contact Liaise SEND Information, Advice and Support in Lincolnshire -

   http://microsites.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ParentPartnership

• Contact IPSEA (Independent Parental Special Education Advice) - www.ipsea.org.uk/

If you are unhappy with any aspect of your child’s education and feel that after speaking to the school your concerns have not been resolved, please refer to the school’s Complaints Policy under Key Policies/Complaints Policy.

Income based Free School Meals

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are offered infant free school meals regardless of income. However you may be entitled to additional support, whatever year group your child(ren) are in, through the income based free school meals scheme. This gives you numerous other benefits (support in school, money off uniform and school trips). Your child may be able to get income based free school meals if you get any of the following:

· Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
income-related Employment and Support Allowance

· support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

· the guaranteed element of Pension Credit

· Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)

· Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

· Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Ring or e-mail for more information.

Looked After and 'Post Looked After' Children

At The William Alvey School we are totally committed to supporting every one of our families.  We are incredibly proud of all our children and know that many of them start their young lives with additional challenges.  We also know we have some amazing parents who dedicate their lives to children from all backgrounds.  We recognise that if you have adopted a child or are looking after a child in short or long term care arrangement then you may have specific needs with their education and / or emotional support.

Looked after children or 'Post looked after' for adopted children now have priority in school choices. This means when making applications for Nursery, Reception and Secondary Schools your child will be prioritised over other children in recognition that sometimes they have had a difficult start in life and they may need some additional support. We would be happy to support you with any school applications and navigate the somewhat complicated process.  

Did you know that Adopted children and those in special care arrangements receive additional funding in school?  Each child identified by the school received an additional £2,300  for the school to spend on supporting the children.  This additional money is called 'Pupil Premium Plus'.  Our Designated Teacher, Mr Tapley,  along with our LAC Champion, Mrs Weston, are responsible for the monitoring and tracking of this spending and its impact.

Specific Support for Adopted Children and their families:

• Our Adopted Children’s Champion leads on adopted children.  This academic year the link person is Emma Weston, our Y6 Team Leader.  She can be contacted directly by parents who need support and will act as a link between home and school for issues that may be wider than the every-day issues of the classroom.  (The Class teacher always remains as the main port of call for any parent).

• Offer a termly 1:1 support meeting.

• Advanced notice about transition (where appropriate) - this will mean these parents will be told well in advance when the teacher changes at the end of each year and who the new teachers will be.  We hope this additional time will allow parents to prepare children for the changes.

• The school have committed to at least annual training for all staff on the issues of attachment and how adopted children may need additional and specialist support.

Service Premium

This service premium was designed to address the emotional and social well-being of forces children and address any gaps that may have arisen in their education.

We do this at William Alvey in a number of different ways but essentially through our Bluey Club.

Aims for club: to provide support for children with parents in the armed forces by offering a safe and stimulating environment to discuss feelings, and strategies to deal with them in a positive manner.

This can be done through:

* group activities
* group discussions
* one to one emotional support

The Bluey Club meets fortnightly and over the last two years we have taken part in a variety of different activities:

Trip to RAF Digby
Trip to Aviation Centre in Cranwell

Trip to RAF Scamptoon

Trip to RAF Cranwell
Belton House
Access to counselling/inclusion worker
Assemblies
Tie competition
Fisher House link
HMS Heroes
Rotary Club Awards
Dance mat
Poem
Parachute Games
Art activities
Visitors (Sgt, Gordon x 3)
Trip to Skegness Aquarium
Pantomime visit
Bubble play
Nature walk
Elastic band powered models
St Geroge v  The Dragon Audience
Blue Buddies
Sunday Fun
Flag design

Alongside the social and emotional input we track the service children to ensure there is no gap between their attainment and national expectations. Funding is used to help pay for any identified intervention. Unlike the FSM funding we do not use the service premium to subsidise trips, uniforms or music tuition.