In terms of what we offer children with SEND, this is different for every child, and it is important to emphasise that, as much as possible, this provision is designed by the relevant staff members working alongside the child, the child’s family and, where necessary, outside agencies (e.g. a Speech and Language Therapist or an Educational Psychologist). Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all the pupils in their class. High-quality teaching is our first step in responding to pupils who have SEND. This will be personalised for individual pupils. 

Additional provision 

In addition, Stanford-le-Hope Primary has two unique features around SEND:- 

• A SEND designated nursery provision 

• A resource base for children with a vision impairment (VI) from Reception to Year 6 

1. Nursery Provision 

The school has an Assessment Base in the nursery with places for 6 children on a part time basis or for 3 children attending fulltime. This provision is funded by the Thurrock Local Authority and can be for children, either in, or outside of the school’s catchment area. 

During their time in the nursery, if awarded a place by the Thurrock SEN panel, the children’s assessments lead to a decision around where they would be best suited to learn in the future. This could mean continuing to attend Stanford-le-Hope Primary School, moving to a more local mainstream primary school, or into a more specialist environment. 

The school SENCo and staff are involved in all meetings with outside agencies to support parents/carers and are involved in preparing paperwork. The SENCo and school staff, work closely with outside agencies to identify individual needs and plan support. This helps to make transitions into any new environments much smoother, for the children and other professionals. 

The school Nursery provides a very positive, supportive learning environment and a measure of our success is the fact that many of the parents/carers of the designated children want them to continue on into our school. 

2. Enhanced Resource Base for Pupils with a Vision Impairment (VI) 

The school also has a resource base for pupils with a vision impairment, which has been housed at the school for the past 17 years. The base supports 5 pupils across the primary age range (R-Yr6) and is funded by Thurrock Local Authority. The base is the local authority’s provision for primary pupils with vision impairments. 

This resource has been further enhanced by our partnership with Osborne Co-operative Academy Trust. Stanford-le-Hope Primary School became part of the trust in June 2013 and this has strengthened links with the secondary provision for VI, housed in St Clere’s Secondary School. The Academy Trust now provides the entire VI resource and sensory service for the authority. 

The resource is accommodated within the main school building and is purposely adapted to facilitate the inclusion of visually impaired children in the mainstream school. 

Support is provided by a qualified teacher for vision impairment (QTVI) and qualified specialist support staff. Children may be supported in their lessons, and they will receive specialist 1:1 or small group teaching on the additional VI curriculum. These skills will allow the children to be fully integrated, contribute to and take part in the whole school experience and foster their independence.