Golcar Junior Infant And Nursery School

Welcome to our SEND page dedicated to our school provision for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). At Golcar JI&N School we endeavour to meet the needs of our pupils within the classroom alongside their same age peers. Our teaching and non-teaching staff continually support a wide range of individual needs which include (but are not limited to) Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, ASC, sensory processing difficulties, attachment disorder, hearing impairments and social, emotional and mental health linked difficulties.

The organisation of provision for pupils with SEND is not a 'one size fits all' approach but an approach that is tailored according to the barriers to learning experienced by the pupil. Our aim is to overcome such barriers to enable every one of our pupils to successfully participate in all aspects of their school life. 

On this page we have tried to answer all the questions parents have asked us about the provision we have for children with special educational needs.  We hope this is clear and easy for you to understand.  If you would like further information, please contact Zoe Horton (SENCo) on 01484 652954.

Our SEND Team

All of our school staff team support pupils with individual needs whether it be the admin team arranging and confirming meetings with parents and professionals, lunchtime supervisors adapting lunch breaks to suit the needs of pupils in their care or teaching and non-teaching staff planning, implementing and reviewing provision. Our SEND team extends well beyond our staff to include professionals such as school nurses, emotional well-being support workers, occupational therapists, speech, language and communication therapists, outreach workers, educational psychologists and the SEN commissioning team.

Our main points of contact for parents and professionals are:

Mrs Zoe Whitaker   School Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator

Mr Andrew Beech   Behaviour and Inclusion Worker

Our next SEND parents' coffee morning is on Wednesday 7th June 2023- in the Garden Room (school wellbeing room). 

Parent Workshops  

Throughout the year, we hold a range of parent workshops in our newly transformed, ‘Garden Room’ (wellbeing space, previously Turtles classroom). These are led by our parent and community worker from Northorpe Hall (Kath Madden) and our SENCo (Zoe Whitaker). They cover a variety of topics including: sleep, anxiety, neurodiversity, behaviour as communication, supporting transition, wellbeing and digital devices and mental health. We try to vary the timings of these workshops to support working parents. If you want to discuss something more personal, both Zoe and Kath also offer one-to-one sessions with parents. Please drop the office an email to arrange one: office@golcarjin.com 

We also hold regular coffee mornings for parents of children with SEND. This is a safe forum with a group of likeminded individuals facing similar issues. Our next SEND parent’s coffee morning will be held on: Wednesday 29th November 2023. Please contact the office to book.  

Here’s what some of our parents have said about the sessions:  

‘I have learnt some great strategies to support my anxious child. It was also good to chat to other parents who are experiencing similar difficulties.’ 

‘It was a great opportunity for me to voice my concerns and be heard.’ 

‘I have learnt a lot about sensory processing and I will now see my child’s meltdowns in a different light. Thank you.’ 

If you have missed one of our workshops, materials shared can be found on our Emotional Health and Wellbeing Page:  https://www.golcarjin.com/parents/emotional-health-and-well-being 

SEN Policy Information

The Kirklees Local Offer is for families of children and young people with special educational needs and /or disabilities. The Local Offer contains information about services relating to special educational needs, disabilities, education and more for children and young people aged 0-25. It is part of the new Children and Families Act which has brought in a number of important changes about support and services Click here for information about Kirklees local offer. 

https://www.kirkleeslocaloffer.org.uk/information-and-advice-button-landing-page/ 

What is a School Offer?

The School Offer is a summary of what you can expect from our school to support children with Special Educational Needs/Disability (SEND). This provision is educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other children of the same age. It may take the form of additional support from both school staff and/or specialist support staff. Our school offer is detailed both within our SEN policy and within our SEN information report below. 

SEN Information

SEND Parents Coffee Evening- July 2023: Emotion Coaching, Transition, the Local Offer and PCAN. 

Useful Links

We work alongside a range of charities and organisations to support the needs of our pupils. Many of the websites and links below have information, advice and groups available for parents to access to enhance the support they are able to offer their children.