Inclusion Policy

Storth CE Primary School Inclusion Policy

Storth CE Primary School values the individuality of all children. We are committed to giving all our children every opportunity to achieve the highest of standards. We do this by taking account of pupils’ varied life experiences and needs. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum and have high expectations of all our children. The achievements, attitudes and wellbeing of all our children matter. This policy helps to ensure that the school promotes the individuality of all our children, irrespective of ethnicity, attainment, age, disability, gender or background.

Aims:

Storth CE Primary School aims to be an inclusive school. We actively seek to remove the barriers to learning and participation that can hinder or exclude individual children. This means that equality of opportunity must be a reality for all our children. We make this a reality through the attention we pay to the different children within our school:
· Girls and boys;
· Pupils from minority faiths, ethnicities, travellers, asylum seekers, refugees;
· Children who need support to learn English as an additional language;
· Children with additional learning needs;
· Gifted and talented children;
· Pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Planning and Learning

Staff plan a curriculum that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of children. When planning, we set high expectations and provide opportunities for all pupils to achieve. We need to be aware that pupils bring different experiences, interests and strengths to school which influence the way they learn. We plan our approaches to teaching and learning so that all pupils can take part in lessons fully and effectively. All teachers need to ensure that teaching assistants have access to relevant planning so that they can support the children appropriately. Teachers should take specific action to respond to pupils’ diverse needs by:
· Creating effective learning environments;
· Securing their motivation and concentration;
· Providing equality of opportunity through teaching approaches;
· Using appropriate assessment approaches;
· Setting targets for learning;
· Developing positive relationships with students;
· Setting appropriate learning challenges;
· Responding to the diverse needs of the children;
· Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment;
· Providing other curricular opportunities to meet the needs of children;
· Commitment to the Core aims for Children and Young People (Every Child Matters).
Teacher lesson plans include details of differentiation for G&T and SEN. This can take many forms including:

Gifted and Talented

· Tasks which demand higher-order thinking skills;
· Access to advanced resources and materials which support the level of challenge;
· Extension work;
· Stimulating lessons that have pace so that pupils are motivated by challenge;
· Creative learning tasks which have a degree of open-endedness and uncertainty to permit pupils to impose meaning, make reasoned judgements or produce multiple solutions.
We recognise that such learning experiences benefit all students, not just those identified as Gifted and Talented. Therefore, although at times Gifted and Talented children will be offered special learning experiences, most often teachers use an ‘open door’ or inclusive model of provision in which all children get an opportunity to participate in the above.

EAL

· Access to dual language texts, posters and displays;
· Access to word banks;
· Opportunity for visual literacy techniques such as reading pictures and drama;
· Provide opportunity for higher order thinking;
· Opportunity for discussion and cooperative learning;
· Opportunities to communicate in their first/home language;
· Display artefacts and materials which reflect the children’s home background;
· Encourage children to write their own dual texts, when appropriate;
· Plan learning opportunities in lessons which reflect ethnic minority backgrounds.

SEND

· As above, but in addition:
· Differentiated learning objectives and success criteria;
· Hands on equipment;
· Multi-sensory learning opportunities;
· Extra adult support;
· Additional visual cues;
· Learning opportunities which reflect IEP targets;
· Mixed ability groupings;
· Specialised targets which are reflected in planning;
· Differentiated homework.
Children with special educational needs have learning difficulties that call for special provision to be made.
The school aims for early identification of special educational needs. This is done through monitoring of achievement and teacher observation. It is the role of the teacher to inform the SENCO of concerns regarding a children’s learning. The SENCO then ensures further assessment and support (Refer to SEND Policy for further details).
We achieve educational inclusion by continually reviewing what we do, by asking ourselves these questions:
· Do all our children achieve their best?
· Are there differences in the achievement of different children?
· What are we doing for those children who we know are not achieving their best?
· Are our actions effective?

Learning and Teaching Styles

We aim to give all our children the opportunity to succeed and reach the highest level of personal achievement. We analyse the attainment of different groups of pupils to ensure that all pupils are achieving as much as they can. We also make ongoing assessments of each child’s progress. Teachers use this information when planning their lessons. It enables them to take into account the abilities of all their children.
When the attainment of a child falls significantly below the expected level – using formative and standardised assessments – teachers enable the child to succeed by planning work that is in line with their child’s individual needs. Where the attainment of a child significantly exceeds the expected level of attainment, teachers extend the breadth of work within the area or areas for which the child demonstrates a particular aptitude.
Teaching and support staff are familiar with the equal opportunities legislation covering race, gender and disability.
Teachers and support staff ensure that all children:
· Feel secure and know that their contributions are valued;
· Appreciate and value the differences they see in others;
· Take responsibility for their own actions;
· Are taught in groupings that allow them all to experience success;
· Use materials that reflect a range of social and cultural backgrounds without stereotyping;
· Have a common curriculum experience that allows for a range of different learning styles;
· Have challenging targets that enable them to succeed;
· Participate fully regardless of disabilities or medical needs.

Children with Disabilities

The school is committed to providing an environment that allows all children full access to all areas of learning.
All our classroom entrances are wide enough for wheelchair access and the designated points of entry for our school also allow wheelchair access. Teachers modify teaching and learning as appropriate for these children. For example, they may give additional time to children with disabilities to complete certain activities. In their planning teachers ensure that they give children with disabilities the opportunity to develop skills in practical aspects of the curriculum.

Disapplication and Modification

The school can, where necessary, modify or disapply the National Curriculum and its assessment arrangements. Our school policy is to do this only in exceptional circumstances. The school makes every effort to meet the learning needs of all its children, without recourse to disapplication. We achieve this through greater differentiation of the child’s work, or through the provision of additional learning resources. When necessary, we also support learning through appropriate external specialists. In such cases, teachers work closely with these specialists to support the child. In exceptional circumstances we may decide that disapplication is the correct procedure to follow. We would only do this after consultation with parents and the Local Authority (LA). The school’s governor with responsibility for special educational needs would also be involved in this process. We would ensure that every effort had been made to provide the necessary support from within the school’s resources before considering such action.

Inclusion and Racism

The diversity of the society in which our children are living, is addressed through the planned schemes of work which reflect the programmes of study of the National Curriculum. Teachers are flexible in their planning and offer appropriate challenges to all pupils, regardless of ethnic or social background. All racist incidents are recorded and reported to the Governing Body by the Headteacher. The school contacts parents of those pupils involved in racist incidents. Further details are to be found in the schools Racial Equality Policy.

Summary

At Storth CE Primary School we value each child as a unique individual. We will always continue to strive to meet the needs of all our children and seek to ensure that we meet all statutory requirements related to matters of inclusion.