Contact Details:
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO): Bernie Ranzetta (Assistant Head for Inclusion), Emma O'Brien (from January 2025)
Tel 0116 2737047
Email: parents@spinneyhill.leicester.sch.uk
senco@spinneyhill.leicester.sch.uk
Family Support Worker: Leona Wallace
Tel 0116 2737047
Link Governor for SEND: Bijal Stapleford
For information about our Designated Specialist Provision (DSP) Please follow the link below:
Welcome to the page for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) at Spinney Hill Primary School.
Please click on the links below to find information about what we offer at Spinney Hill if you are concerned that your child has an identified need or disability. There is a lot of information contained within these documents but if you feel that you would like something to be explained in more detail or you have any other concerns that you would like to discuss, then please use the contact details above to arrange an appointment with the SENCO, Bernie Ranzetta (Emma O'Brien from January 2025) or the Family Support Worker, Leona Wallace.
Special Educational Needs & Disability Pupil & Parent Guarantee
Parents or Carers and pupils will be consulted before their child is placed on the SEND Register and advice and strategies from the local authority's Best Endeavours Reasonable Adjustments (BERA) document will be implemented.
Pupils on the SEND Register will have access to an intervention strategy that meets their individual needs.
Teachers will review the progress and attainment of groups of pupils who are on the SEND Register and who have access to an intervention strategy with the SENCO at the end of the intervention period.
Pupil progress will be reviewed once a term and fed back to pupils and parents at Parents Evening or other meeting and through the school’s reporting process.
Referrals to local services such as Educational Psychology, Special Needs Support teaching service and Health services will be made only in consultation with parents / carers. This may take the form of a discussion and completion of a referral form.
Pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan will have a statutory annual review to which the pupil, parents or carers and relevant local services will be invited.
Parents have the right to appeal to the Local Authority if they decide not to amend an Education, Health and Care Plan following an annual review.
Teaching assistants will be deployed in such a way as to maximise effectiveness for pupils with SEND.
The views of both parents and pupils will be considered through parent and pupil representation in the review of policies that directly affect pupils with SEND ( for example SEND, Dyslexia Friendly, Behaviour, Anti-Bullying, Disability Equality Duty, Intimate Care Policy, Medical Needs Policy).
The contents of policies shall be made available to parents.
Spinney Hill Primary School has acquired full Dyslexia Friendly Schools status and is recognised by the British Dyslexia Association as having dyslexia friendly practice.
The British Dyslexia Association’s definition 1999:
‘Dyslexia is best described as a combination of abilities and difficulties which affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling and writing. Accompanying weaknesses may be identified in areas of speed of processing, short‐term memory, sequencing, auditory and/or visual perception, spoken language and motor skills. It is particularly related to mastering and using written language, which may include alphabetic, numeric and musical notations.
Some children have outstanding creative skills; others have strong oral skills. Dyslexia occurs despite normal teaching, and is independent of socio‐economic background or intelligence. It is, however, more easily detected in those with average or above average intelligence.’
As part of the Dyslexia Friendly Schools Initiative, here at Spinney Hill Primary School we recognise the strengths of pupils with dyslexia and aim to use them as pathways to learning. We recognise that pupils with dyslexia are likely to experience higher levels of stress than their peers and that this may impact on their learning and emotional well‐being.
The current SENCO is a qualified an Associate Member of the British Dyslexia Association, which enables consultations for diagnoses of dyslexia to be made in school at least until December 2024.
Governors and senior leaders are committed to supporting pupils with dyslexia across the curriculum. Targets aimed at developing expertise in, and understanding of, dyslexia are reflected in the school’s Inclusion development plan. All staff recognise compounding factors that may co‐exist with dyslexia. They are familiar with the individual learning styles of children and adopt a range of multi‐sensory teaching approaches. We have high expectations of all children and the achievement of pupils is seen as everybody’s responsibility. We also encourage partnerships with parents.
Please read both our Dyslexia Friendly Schools policy and Statement below.
The Local Offer from the Local Authority brings together in one place information about health, education and social care for:
Please follow the link below to see a short animation explaining the Local offer:
Family Information | What is the Local Offer? (leicester.gov.uk)
This is the link for the Local Offer website:
https://families.leicester.gov.uk/send-local-offer/