Inclusion and SEND at Mill Lane Primary School
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Mill Lane Primary School is a diverse, rich community of learners, and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do!
Staff at Mill Lane endeavour to meet the needs all of pupils that attend our school. We strive to provide an inclusive environment that enables each individual to thrive and achieve to the best of their ability.
In line with the SEND Code of Practice (2015), all members of staff share a collective responsibility to ensure that children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are fully included in all aspects of school life. We firmly uphold the principle that “all teachers are teachers of children with SEND.” our SEND offer is a significant part of our day-to-day practise.
Our goal is to provide a school environment that caters for the needs of each individual pupil with SEND in one or more of the following areas:
-Communication and Interaction
-Cognition and Learning
-Social, Emotional and Mental Health
-Sensory and Physical.
All staff at Mill Lane work to embed quality first teaching approaches for all. Where a pupil is making limited progress staff are proactive in working through the ASSESS-PLAN-DO-REVIEW cycle to ensure that barriers to learning are identified and scaffolded.
Pupils are only added to the SEND register with parent/carer consent and every child on the SEND register works towards achieving the individualised targets set by their class teacher on their SEN Support Plan. These plans are reviewed termly with parents and with the pupils themselves, to ensure that their voice is captured and heard.
We work collaboratively with the Local Authority, health professionals such as paediatricians and Speech and Language Therapists and other agencies to meet the needs of each individual in our care.
Due to the significant level of SEND at Mill Lane, part of the SEND resource allocation is used to fund the services of Dr Stephanie Homewood, Educational Psychologist. Pupils access this service when the need is determined by the SENCO, and may access for 1:1 assessment and intervention. Staff are also provided with in depth recommendations as to how to support these pupils in class and joint consultation meetings are held with parents/carers to ensure all stakeholders are fully informed. We also work in partnership with a range of other external agencies and professionals to ensure that our children receive the most appropriate and effective support. These include Speech and Language Therapists (SALT), Occupational Therapists (OT), specialist teachers, and counselling services.
When necessary the SENCO will work with parents and other professionals to apply for High Needs Funding through the Local Authority SENDMAP. This is to secure outreach support and/or additional funding for a pupil. If a pupil is presenting with complex needs that are not being met at the SEN support level, the SENCO will apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan. The individual pupil’s needs and voice are always central to this process.
Training
Staff at Mill Lane regularly attend training to ensure that skills, knowledge and classroom practice is up-to-date and relevant.
All school staff are currently working through eight CPD courses run through Speech and Language UK on the Stockton-on-Tees Talks programme. These sessions focus on upskilling staff to identify and support students’ speech, language and communication skills in the classroom and all staff will have completed the courses by September 2026.
Some of the other areas staff have received training in includes (but is not limited to):
-Makaton
-Cued articulation
-Strategies to identify and support pupils with receptive and expressive language
-Supporting children with speech sound difficulties
-Semantics and vocabulary
-Gestalt Language Processing
-Precision teaching
-Supporting pupils with specific literacy difficulties
-Zones of Regulation
-Thrive
-Supporting children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder
-Lego Therapy
-De-escalation and positive behaviour management
-Team Teach
-Pathological Demand Avoidance
-Talk Boost
-PACE
-Emotion Coaching
-Supporting pupils with raised levels of anxiety
-EBSA (Emotionally Based School Avoidance)
-Play therapy
-Sensory and fine and gross motor skills
As well as working to provide scaffolds for each SEND pupils’ barriers to learning, staff strive to foster and develop their strengths and interests by offering a broad and balanced curriculum. By providing rich leaning opportunities for all we endeavour to prepare every child in our school for the future-whether this be a short term move to their next class, the transition to secondary school or by developing life skills to help them on their journey as they prepare for adulthood.
Opening of a SEND Unit for pupils Speech and Language Needs
We are excited to be working with the Local Authority to open a SEND Unit for pupils with a primary need of Speech and Language with an EHCP. There is a page on our website with further information.
Support
Support services for the parents of pupils with Special Educational Needs, including those for arrangements made in accordance with section 32 can be found in Stockton’s offer. Click the button to view Stockton’s offer:
Click the button below to see what help is available via SEND IASS for:
- listening to and answering your SEND queries
- supporting, preparation and advocacy for meetings
- signposting you to relevant local and national services
- informing you of your legal rights under SEN law
- links to local support groups and forums
- empowering you to make your own decisions with the information provided
- disability discrimination cases
- Education, health and care plans (EHCPs)
- resolving disagreements including mediation and tribunals
- understanding and filling in forms
- writing letters and reports
- ongoing confidential and impartial support via phone, email and face to face meetings
Contact
For further information regarding SEND at Mill Lane Primary School please contact our school SENCo Miss Moroz by:
Email: office@milllane.org.uk
Telephone: 01642 860055
Miss Moroz has completed the National Award for Special Educational Needs