SEND

At Laceby Acres Primary Academy, we aim to provide a broad, balanced and varied curriculum that meets the needs of all children. We are committed to the principle and practice of inclusion for all. We look to create an environment and ethos that welcomes the child and rewards effort and achievement.

Mrs H. Gray - SENDCO and Inclusion Manager

Laceby Acres Academy, Swiftsure Crescent, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN34 5QN
Telephone: 01472 320601
Email: office@lacebyacres.org

SEND at Laceby Acres

Updated: 21/11/2023 92 KB

The N E Lincs Local Offer is the place that provides and directs you to information that will support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

If your child does not have SEND but you feel they need support in some part of their development, the information on this website can help.

It helps parents, children and young people aged 0 to 25 years find information about specialist and targeted services and activities in North East Lincolnshire.

For a full explanation of the Local Offer watch the Council for Disabled Children video. You can read more about what the Local Offer is on the Council for Disabled Children website.

The Local Offer Explained (councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk) - https://sendlocaloffer.nelincs.gov.uk/parents-and-carers/

SEND Offer

SEND Reports

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Updated: 21/11/2023 120 KB

SEND and Accessibility Policies

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Updated: 28/11/2023 15 KB

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Some of our pupils have Statements of Special Educational Need. These documents outline what the individual child’s needs are and how they should be met. The progress and provision for these pupils are reviewed continuously and all information gathered is shared and discussed at an Annual Review Meeting. Parents/carers, staff and other professionals, including an Education Officer, are invited to attend.

The Annual Review Process

The Annual Review is a child-centred meeting and the pupil attends for at least some part of the meeting.
During the meeting, information from the child, staff, parents/carers and other professionals is shared .
The purpose of the meeting is to ensure that provision for the child is appropriate and that it is meeting their needs.
The child’s progress and attainment is discussed and their successes are celebrated.

Laceby Acres is a happy, welcoming and inclusive school, where everyone is treated equally and expectations are high. Teaching and learning is firmly focused on the needs, abilities and enthusiasms of our pupils and we provide a tailored approach to supporting pupils with additional needs, giving extra support to those pupils who need it most.

Every class is staffed by a teacher and at least one teaching assistant. Teaching and support staff are trained in different areas of expertise and this expertise is used as appropriate to the needs of the children. Staff are able to offer interventions as required. Examples of interventions that we offer are:

Little Wandle rapid catch up
First Class at Number
Motor skills programmes
Nurture groups
ELSA
Sensory circuits
Theraplay
Lego therapy

Some of our pupils receive ELSA support from Mrs Cornthwaite, our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. She works on individual programmes with children who have been identified as requiring SEN support. Mrs Cornthwaite, Mrs Gray, the school’s Inclusion Manager and class teachers meet with parents/carers on a termly basis to review progress and set targets for these children.
We are also able to access support for our pupils from a number of specialist external agencies. These agencies include:

SALT (Speech and Language Therapy)
My Space (Behavioural support at Eastfield Academy)
CDC (Childe Development Centre for children under 5)
SAS (Special Advisory Service)
Educational Psychology Service
Occupational Therapy
Young Minds Matter (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
Compass Go (Mental Health and Wellbeing)

Our school has a wellbeing/ELSA room which caters for children with SEMH needs. This provision is lead by Mrs Gray, our inclusion manager, and two members of support staff. The children access some mainstream lessons with support, together with withdrawal for individual and small group work.

What is ELSA?

There will always be children in schools facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage with learning. Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists. It recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed.

We are lucky enough to have a qualified Emotional Literacy Support Assistant at Laceby Acres Primary. Mrs Cornthwaite has been trained by Educational Psychologists to plan and deliver programmes of support to pupils who are experiencing temporary or longer term additional emotional needs. The majority of ELSA work is delivered on an individual basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills. Sessions are fun, we use a range of activities such as: games, role-play and arts and craft. ELSA sessions take place in our ELSA room which provides a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and nurtured.

In ELSA we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:

Recognising emotion
Self-esteem
Social skills
Friendship skills
Anger management
Loss and bereavement

How does ELSA work?

Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher, Senior Leaders or on occasion the SENCo. Target areas of concern will be identified by the class teacher. With the programme aims in mind Mrs Cornthwaite will then plan support sessions to facilitate the pupil in developing new skills and coping strategies that allow them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.

Supporting – Not Fixing

Remember, ELSAs are not there to fix children’s problems. What we can do is provide emotional support. We aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where they are able to share honestly their thoughts and feelings.

It needs to be appreciated that change cannot necessarily be achieved rapidly and is dependent upon the context and complexity of the presenting issues. For children with complex or long-term needs it is unrealistic to expect ELSA intervention to resolve all their difficulties, however support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child’s need. Training and development of ELSAs is an ongoing process and wisdom is required to recognize when issues are beyond the level of expertise that could reasonably be expected of an ELSA. The Educational Psychologist that works with our school would be able to offer advice on suitability or nature of ELSA involvement in complex cases.

ELSA Interventions

Communication intervention

This intervention is meant for working proactively with a child on their communication skills. It covers: listening skills; tone of voice; loudness/quietness of voice; emotion; gestures/body language; eye contact; whole body listening; reflecting back and silent listening.

Self-Esteem

These sessions aim to enhance children’s self esteem and build their confidence. These sessions consist of activities which aim to encourage the creation of a positive image of themselves; allow the child to identify what is special to them; share their ideas and opinions and celebrate their strengths, successes and achievements.

‘Talkabout’ sessions are run with small groups. This practical intervention is packed with activities and games for developing self awareness and self esteem. Self awareness and self esteem is an essential prerequisite to developing social skills and so this programme is an excellent first step to any social skills intervention.

Anger Management Intervention

This intervention is intended to help children who struggle to regulate their emotions. It promote awareness of feelings associated with anger and the consequences of angry outbursts; working to establish the triggers to help manage anger and utilise calming down strategies.

Chill Skills (Anxiety and Worries Intervention)

This intervention is useful for children who struggle to regulate their emotions or suffer high levels of anxiety. It uses psychology-based techniques, aimed at helping children to calm down in school. This Anxiety and Worries intervention covers emotions, relaxation, calming down techniques and learning objectives around anxiety and worries. Children will learn about emotions during each session and will also learn relaxation and calming techniques through the ‘relaxation time’. This knowledge and these skills will help them to become more emotionally literate. Children will learn how to challenge negative thinking patterns, scale and explore their worries and ‘talk back’ to their worry monsters.

Loss and Grief

These sessions are aimed at helping children to cope with the death of a loved one but can be adapted to help children whose parents are separating/divorcing. Each child may react differently to the loss of a loved one, so these sessions will be flexible in order to meet their individual needs. These sessions aim to enable the child to discuss their feelings; give the child the opportunity to share memories and information about their loved one and create artwork to reflect their memories; provide an opportunity for the child to create a memory box to store precious memories; enable the child to identify important people in their life which can help them to cope; and help the child to learn coping strategies and calming down techniques.

Emotions Games and Activities

Enhancing children’s emotional intelligence will raise their levels of motivation, self-awareness, empathy, social skills and emotion regulation. This intervention covers the four basic emotions: happy, sad, angry and scared. Children are helped to recognize and name these emotions, understand what they mean and describe them. This intervention is particularly useful with younger children.

Friendship and Social Skills Intervention

This intervention is aimed at children who find it difficult to initiate and/or maintain friendships or struggle to cooperate with others. The sessions include activities which encourage the children to understand their feelings and those of others and promote peaceful conflict resolution. Social skills are an essential part of life, so developing these early helps children to interact appropriately with others and assist them to build positive relationships with their peers. These sessions will consist of a variety of games and activities which aim to encourage turn-taking, enhance speaking and listening skills, encourage concentration, understand actions and consequences and encourage empathy, develop cooperation and collaboration with others.

Circle of Friends

Circle of Friends is an approach to enhance the inclusion of children who are experiencing difficulties in school by involving them with peers in establishing a mutual support group. Through the group the pupils involved develop meaningful relationships, have fun and together address issues and problem solve. Within the group pupils are able to explore friendships and emotions in a safe and secure environment; learn social skills and strategies that are transferable; and start to evaluate what they are doing for themselves. The group is facilitated by adults who throughout retain the responsibility for determining overall boundaries and direction of the circle and wellbeing of participants, but whose role is to empower the group to make decisions and to be self-sustaining.

Sensory Circuits at Laceby Acres

At Laceby Acres we start the school day for some of our children with a sensory circuit at 8:30. We believe that many children will benefit from engaging in a short Sensory Circuit at the beginning of the school day and/or after lunch.

Sensory circuits will help anyone that presents with any of these behaviours and difficulties:

Fidgeting and changing position a lot in class
Slow to start work and missing verbal cues (needs alerting)
Difficulty organising themselves
Lethargic (needs alerting)
Poor coordination & balance
Known sensory processing difficulties (requires help with regulating these) • Rocking • Poor attention and concentration
Over-alert and appear hyper (needs calming)

A Sensory Circuit is a short plan of physical activities that enables children to achieve an optimal level of alertness. It lasts 10-15 minutes and consists of 3 sections: Alerting Activities, Organising Activities and Calming Activities. It is vital that the activities are done in this order and that sessions are structured.

The circuit needs to incorporate three stages;

1. Alerting

2. Organizing

3. Calming

For children with low arousal (appear tired/dazed) you will concentrate mainly on alerting activities and for children with high arousal (appear hyper/active/overanxious), concentrate on calming activities.

1. Alerting Activities

The aim of the alerting activities is to provide vestibular and proprioceptive stimulation within a controlled setting. This prepares the brain for learning. Vestibular input is the sense of movement, centred in the inner ear. Any type of movement will stimulate the vestibular receptors, but spinning, swinging, and hanging upside down provide the most intense, longest lasting input. Here are a few examples of activities we put into the alerting section of a sensory circuit:

Bouncing 10 times on a mini trampoline/ trampette
Bouncing 10 times on a space hopper.
Going on a scooter / scooter board
Jumping on the spot / jumping jacks
Running / shuttle runs
Rolling forward and back over a peanut ball
Bouncing up and down while sitting on a peanut ball

2. Organising Activities

This section includes activities that require motor sensory processing, balance and timing. The child needs to organise their body, plan their approach and do more than one thing at a time in a sequential order. Here are a few examples of activities we put into the organising section of a sensory circuit:

Balancing on a beam
Log rolling
Climbing wall bars
Throwing bean bags into a target
Arm push ups against the wall
Blowing bubbles or blowing a paper ball to a target
Wobble boards for balance work

These are skills that may increase a child’s focus, attention span and performance within the classroom.

3. Calming Activities

Finishing the circuit with calming activities ensures that the child leaves the circuit (or returns to the classroom) feeling calm, centred and as ready for the day as possible. Here are a few examples of activities we put into the calming section of a sensory circuit:

Lying under weighted blankets
Having peanut/physio balls rolled over their back while lying on the floor face down
Hot-dogs (rolling child up tightly in a blanket).
Spending a few minutes in a lycra dance sack / body sock
Calming fidget toys – soft textures.

LEGO-Based Therapy is a social development program that uses LEGO activities to support the development of a wide range of social skills within a group setting.

LEGO-Based Therapy was developed in the mid-1990s by US paediatric neuropsychologist Daniel LeGoff. He was inspired by watching two of his customers with Autism Spectrum Disorder play with LEGO in his waiting room and displaying previous non-demonstrated positive social interactions.
While initially developed for children with autism, LEGO-Based Therapy has since been found to benefit children with a variety of communication and social developmental difficulties.

What are the benefits of LEGO-Based Therapy?

Playing with LEGO in a therapy setting promotes social interaction, turn-taking skills, sharing, collaborative problem-solving and the learning of concepts. It can be used to target goals around social skills, language and motor skills. By using a commonly adored tool like LEGO it capitalises on its existing motivation and supports self-esteem by allowing the participants to demonstrate their skills in a social situation. It also sets up a positive opportunity for guided social problem-solving to help develop social skills that can then be used in other situations.

Children with autism sometimes find it challenging to understand what is expected of them in a social situation, particularly within unstructured play activities. LEGO-Based Therapy provides a highly structured environment where everyone plays a specific role within the group. This can help children with autism feel calm and relaxed as they are doing something that they enjoy and know precisely what to expect and what is expected of them.

At Therapy Focus, we regularly host LEGO-Based Therapy groups to help our customers work towards their goals. We usually call them LEGO Club.

What happens during a LEGO-Based Therapy session?

During a LEGO-Based Therapy session, three or four children of similar ages and abilities work together to build a LEGO model following.

Each child takes on one of four specific roles to do this:

The Engineer oversees reading and relaying the instructions. The Engineer must tell the Supplier what pieces to retrieve and tell the Builder how to build the model.
The Supplier oversees finding the correct LEGO pieces. The Supplier must listen to the Engineer and figure out what piece to retrieve, and then given these pieces to the Builder.
The Builder oversees physically building the model. The Builder must listen to instructions provided by the Engineer and receive the pieces that are retrieved by the Supplier.
The Foreman makes sure everyone is doing what they need to do. They provide help to other roles when needed and look out for social challenges that may need problem-solving by the group.

Using this format provides each child with an opportunity to practice and develop a wide range of skills, including language skills (in both giving and receiving instructions) turn-taking, negotiating, sharing and collaborative social problem-solving. It also encourages children to reflect on their own actions and skills as well as give constructive feedback to their peers.

Can you do LEGO-Based Therapy at home?

Absolutely! Dust off some of those LEGO sets and get the family involved with LEGO Therapy at home.

Do not have any LEGO sets at home? That is okay! If you have random LEGO bricks search ‘simple LEGO builds’ on Google, and you’ll be provided with a range of different things to build.

Two, three, or four people can join in this activity with each person taking on a fun role!

Playing with three people:
1.   First, choose someone to be the Engineer. This person will be the gatekeeper of the LEGO project (the instruction booklet). The other members of the group are not allowed to see the project book. This means The Engineer will need to use their communication skills to describe the pieces needed and how to put them together.
2.   The Engineer provides instructions to both the Supplier and the Builder.
3.   The Engineer will describe the size, shape, colour, how many pieces, and how many bumps the LEGO pieces need.
4.   The Engineer will provide instructions for how to build the project. For example, the Engineer could say “Put the white piece in the middle of the blue roof” if you were building a house.
5.   Second, choose someone to be the Supplier. This is a pivotal role in the world of construction.
6.   The Supplier is responsible for ensuring that they have the correct pieces of LEGO for the Builder.
7.   The Supplier can ‘check-in’ with the Engineer by showing them the LEGO piece and confirming it is correct.
8.   If it is correct, they pass it to the Builder.
9.   If it is incorrect, the Supplier can ask for more information from the Engineer.
10.   Finally, choose someone to play the most coveted role in the project – the Builder.
11.   The Builder is responsible for building the project.
12.   The Builder listens to instructions provided by the Engineer for building.
13.   The Builder must work with the Engineer to ensure what they are building is the same as what is in the project booklet.

Playing with two people:
1. If there are only two of you, one person can take on two roles. For example, one person may be the Supplier and Builder and the other person the Engineer.

Playing with four people:
1. If you have four people, then the Foreman role can be introduced. The Foreman makes sure the team are working together to build their project. This person can share encouraging words, compliment others, or help someone with their role

Information
Services

Healthcare Plans

If a child has needs which require the implementation of a healthcare plan, this plan will be in place before the child begins attending school or as soon as the need is identified. The plan is written by healthcare professionals and parents/carers. It is then shared in school with all adults who work with the child. Copies of a child’s healthcare plan are kept by Mrs Gray (Inclusion Manager) the Pastoral Support Team and a copy is provided for the child’s class teacher in the class Inclusion File. Contents of the healthcare plan are reviewed on a regular basis and amended as required.

Staff are provided with training with regards to pupils’ healthcare requirements as necessary.

Medical Emergencies

All staff are aware of the procedure to follow in the case of a medical emergency.

Health and Therapy Services

We work with a wide range of health and therapy services in order to provide the highest quality of provision for our pupils. These include:

Speech and Language Therapists
Occupational Therapists
Visual Impairment Service
School Nurse
Hearing Impairment Service
Pupil Counsellor
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

Many of these services arrange appointments in school and provide programmes of work or advice for staff in order to support pupils.

Compass GO… Mental Health Support Team works with children, young people, families and educational settings in North East Lincolnshire. We provide support, help and advice for pupils, students and schools for issues related to emotional and mental health wellbeing. Compass GO… currently have full school coverage of the North East Lincolnshire borough but please call our duty line to clarify if needed.

Our work with educational settings across North East Lincolnshire includes providing advice, information and support to staff in promoting emotional and mental health wellbeing. We also work with children and young people on a 1:1 basis offering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy intervention.

The service is made up of Education Mental Health Practitioners and Supervising Practitioners from a range of health and education backgrounds.

Compass GO… provides low intensity one-to-one interventions (approx. 6-8 sessions based on individual need) to children and young people aged 5-19 with mild-to-moderate emotional health and mental health wellbeing needs.

We launched our Pods in September as a new mental health intervention aimed at infants all the way up to college students to improve mental wellbeing. There are 6 Pods available in total, plus an additional transitional Pod. Each Pod represents a key emotion that we all commonly experience at some point in our lives;

Anxiety
Low Mood
Relationships
Exam Stress
Strong emotions
Transitions

These emotions can sometimes escalate into bigger problems caused by external pressures such as exams, moving to a new school or experiencing a family break up. The team at Compass GO… offer a low intensity support approach in groups up to 8 young adults to help support them and giving them the tools to effectively manage their emotions.

We accept self referrals into Compass GO… both from Parent/Carer and Child/Young Person. We will also accept Professional and School referrals. (Please note if you are an Education Staff member who would like to make a referral please contact your Compass GO… link worker)

To refer into our service please call our duty line on 01472 494250 to discuss suitability with our Duty Workers. The duty line is available during our working hours (Monday – Thursday 9am until 5pm, Friday 9am until 4:30pm)
You can also contact us by the emails on this webpage.

If you need urgent help regarding your mental health wellbeing you can contact Young Minds Matter’s crisis line on 01472 252570 (9-5,Mon-Fri). Outside of these hours please call the Single Point of Access on 01472 256256 option 3. If you suspect a child or a young person is experiencing abuse and harm then please call 01472 326292 option 2

NAViGO have been appointed as the new provider of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in North East Lincolnshire from April 2023.

The service – known locally as Young Minds Matter – which offers children and young people up to the age of 19 support with their emotional wellbeing and mental health, has been delivered by Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT).

The service will remain the same and can be accessed in the usual ways. Current staff and existing service users have been notified and it is planned they will move across to NAViGO.

Simon Beeton, NAViGO Chief Executive said: “We are excited to embrace this opportunity to become an all-age mental health services provider.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming new staff to our organisation, building on the good work of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and using our experience and knowledge to deliver an excellent service that supports the mental health of young people across North East Lincolnshire.”

Anyone with questions about the new arrangements are being encouraged to contact Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust by emailing lpft.ymmtransfer@nhs.net.

The new contract will begin on 1 April 2023.

Information
Safeguarding Policy

Keeping Children Safe

At Laceby Acres, we ensure that all necessary risk assessments are undertaken in order to keep our pupils safe. Our risk assessments include:

Premises risk assessments completed by the headteacher, site manager and external agencies as appropriate.
Classroom risk assessments completed by class teachers and site manager
Offsite educational visit risk assessments completed by the visit leader following a pre-visit and approved by the headteacher or site manager.
Individual pupil risk assessment completed by Inclusion Manager and class teacher and approved by headteacher or Health and site manager
Subject area risk assessments completed by subject leader or class teacher
Disclosure and Barring checks completed for all members of staff. List 99 checking on parent/carer helpers and volunteers.

At the start of the school day, doors open at 8.40am and pupils are met from the playground and supervised into their classrooms for an 8.50am start.

At the end of the school day, pupils in the Foundation Stage and KS1 are collected by parents/carers from the classroom doors. All KS2 children leave the building via exits onto the main playground and parents/carers can collect them there.

Our school prefects are also health and safety monitors and meet with the site manager every half term.

At break and lunchtime, pupils are supervised on the playground by teaching staff or trained midday assistants. Additional support is available for those pupils who may require it for feeding or toileting needs or for those pupils who may require social inclusion support. Trained staff are always available to provide first aid.