Meet the Team
Mrs Fearnley – Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs J Cook – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs F Harrison – SENDCO/Inclusion Lead
Mrs S Jenkinson – Behaviour for Learning Leader
Mrs Lawton – Learning Mentor
Additional Services
Sarah McAllister – Speclialist Inclusion Team
Gemma Watson-Butterworth – Educational Psychology Services
Rachel Higham – Visual Impairment Team
Andrea Wilson- Teacher of the Deaf
Physical Disabilities –
In our Disability Equality Policy we have a Accessibility Plan which states that risk assessments are carried out for pupils with a physical disability within the classroom environment we liaise with appropriate agencies regarding furniture and any specialist resources that may be needed. Again this is also in place for school visits and residentials.
Pupils with medical needs
If a pupil has a medical need then a Care Plan is compiled with support from the school nurse in consultation with parents/carers. These are discussed with all staff who are involved with the pupil. All staff receives Epipen training delivered by the local NHS trust. Where necessary, and in agreement with parents/carers, medicines are administered in school but only where a signed ‘Medicine consent form’ is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member. All staff have basic first aid at work training.
Sensory Barriers
In case of vision impairments we would consult with parents, carers and professionals and take advice from the vision impaired support service in Rotherham LA. Ensuring communication documents are accessible for all. This would also involve looking at seating arrangements in the classroom, enlarged text and appropriate level of lighting.
We have transformed one of our rooms in school into a sensory room called The Bubble Room where all of our children can access a calming space and support children with sensory needs. Children really enjoy accessing this space and having an environment where they can learn and engage in nurture programs.



Hearing Impairment
We would again consult with parents, carers and professionals to seek advice, we would access the right resources for the classroom and around the school including assemblies. We would look at the acoustics in the school and then the Headteacher and Governors would access budget/ funding implications for a loop system.
The support and guidance offered to parents and carers
As a school we value the contribution parents and careers make to their child’s education and at our school, parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. We do a great deal to encourage parents from different backgrounds to become involved so that they can support their children’s learning effectively. We offer many opportunities for you to become involved in the life of the school through family learning afternoons, we offer support through regular meetings. Our Inclusion manager Mrs Harrison and Behaviour for learning lead Mrs Jenkinson are available to offer advice and support and we will seek advice from professionals in order to ensure that support and guidance is available.
Classes have a daily timetable at the front of the class, or there is a discussion at the start of the day about the day ahead. In some instances, staff will talk to children about upcoming days or events to ensure children are aware and are alerted to any changes that may happen.
Guided Reading – This is a twenty-five/thirty minute session which varies from session to session. This is done on a carousel of activities throughout the week; children have a focused task for the session. Across the week, children will have access and opportunity to read three different text types and work with two adults. Within each session, children will spend the majority of the session on the task given.
Literacy – Children start the lesson by being introduced to the learning. They are then informed/involved in a discussion on the key learning skills of the session. Teaching skills and teacher-led activities are then completed in most sessions (this could be done as a discussion, key questions, opportunities to work independently, or pairs or in groups) Evidence of this may be collected in books/pictures. There will be times when this is completed out of seats with a change to the environment.
Children will complete an activity that is differentiated to their needs. The activity will then be stopped, to split or break up learning, and provide opportunities for individuals to develop their learning. Towards the end of the session, children will look to ‘move their learning on’, having an initial preteach – looking at the next series of steps in the teaching process.
Maths – The teaching process of maths varies from literacy. The session starts with SURF – a fifteen minute teaching session following the sequence recap, teach, and apply. These areas are different form the main teaching element. Children are then introduced to the learning. They are then informed/involved in a discussion on the key learning skills of the session.
Teaching skills (clear and concise) and then teacher-led activities are then completed in most sessions (this could be done as a discussion, key questions, videos, online activities). There are opportunities to work independently, or pairs or in groups through these activities. Evidence of this may be collected in books/pictures. There will be times when this is completed out of seats with a change to the environment.
Children will complete an activity that is differentiated to their needs. The activity will then be stopped, to split or break up learning, and provide opportunities for individuals to develop their learning. Towards the end of the session, children will look to ‘move their learning on’, having an initial preteach – looking at the next series of steps in the teaching process.
Foundation Subjects- These do vary between subjects but teachers will follow a similar teaching sequence including teacher focus (working on a clear and effective model) and teacher led activities to develop and show understanding. Some of these will be small and quick activities to monitor and assess understanding, whereas others may be longer, high-quality pieces that are published.
Common abbreviations you may come across –
There are many SEND terms that are abbreviated which can lead to confusion (even for us!). Below is a glossary of the most used SEND terms.
SEMH Social and Emotional Mental Health
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder
ASC Autistic Spectrum Condition
CAMHS Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service
COP Code of Practice
CP Child Protection
DCD Developmental Co-ordination Disorder
EAL English as an Additional Language
EP Educational Psychologist
FSM Free School Meals
HI Hearing Impairment
KS Key Stage
LAC Looked After Child
LEA Local Education Authority
LSS Learning Support Service
MLD Moderate Learning Difficulty
NC National Curriculum
OT Occupational Therapist
PP Pupil Premium
SaLT Speech & Language Therapy
SEN Special Educational Needs SEND Special Educational Needs & Disability
SENCO Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
SpLD Specific Learning Difficulty
VI Visual Impairment
What is Pupil Premium
Why has it been introduced?
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.
Who decides on how the money is spent?
In most cases the Pupil Premium is paid direct to schools, allocated to them for every pupil who receives free school meals. Schools decide how to use the funding, as they are best placed to assess what their pupils need.
How are schools accountable for the spending of Pupil Premium?
They are held accountable for the decisions they make through: the performance tables which show the performance of disadvantaged pupils compared with their peers. The new Ofsted inspection framework, under which inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, in particular, those who attract the Pupil Premium.
All local councils must publish a local offer setting out what support is available in the area to all 0-25 children and young people with SEN and disability. Every local authority must identify education, health and social care services in their local area provided for children, young people and families who have SEN or disabilities and include them in an information directory.
The local SEND offer for Rotherham can be found at:
www.rotherhamsendlocaloffer.org.uk
Rotherham Parent and Carer Forum
Resources to support Reading –
Resources to Support Identifying Tics in Children

Leading Endeavours for Aspirational Futures.
Please click here or on the logo above to make a donation. Our NEMESIS video on how we plan to support families in our local community through the Willow Tree Academy LEAF Centre can be found here