You should tell us if you’ve any concerns about your child’s progress or development. This should be raised with the class teacher in the first instance, followed by a member of the SEND Team.

The SEND Team here at Moortown Primary is made up of three people:

• Clare Weekes (Head of School, Lead SENDCo)
• Dani Birch (Assistant SENDCo) – NPQSENCO – pending (National Professional Qualification in Special Educational Needs Co-ordination
• Lottie Flynn (EYFS Leader, Assistant SENDCo)

You can contact us by telephone (0113 268 5915) or email (moortownSEND@spherefederation.org).

The Leeds Local Offer provides information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their parents or carers in a single place. It shows families what they can expect from a range of local agencies including education, health and social care.

The Leeds Local Offer is about providing families with information to make informed choices about services they chose to use.

The Leeds Local Offer website is run by Leeds City Council. The information included comes from a range of organisations and partners working with children, young people and their families.

You can find additional information on the Leeds City Council website.

There are four broad areas of need:

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, emotional and mental health
• Sensory and/or physical needs

We can support children with needs in each of the areas. We consider carefully the needs of individual children to ensure that our provision, alongside reasonable adjustments, is suitable for a child with SEND whilst considering the efficient education of others.

See our SEND Policy for more information about each area.

We support children with SEND through a graduated response – Stages A, B and C. See our SEND Policy (use the link at the top of the page) for more information.

These forms help us to identify and assess children with SEND.

Early identification of special educational needs and disabilities is crucial to children’s wellbeing and education. To support us in our early identification, and under normal circumstances, we:

1. Carry out home visits for children joining us in Early Years
2. Attend reviews for all pupils with SEND transferring to us
3. Assess each pupil’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, building on information from previous settings and key stages where appropriate
4. Make regular assessments of progress for all pupils – identifying pupils making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances
5. Provide the appropriate intervention eg small group support provided by a teaching assistant (TA) for all pupils as appropriate
6. Meet with parents/carers to discuss strengths and areas of need
7. Regularly involve the child in discussions about their learning, progress and difficulties; children often articulate their difficulties really well and can also say what steps are appropriate to help them

Assessment happens at each of the stages outlined above. We assess by:

• analysing assessment data no less than termly to identify children who are not meeting age-related expectations
• use of specific assessments tools which set out small steps
• teachers continually monitoring children in their learning through observations, discussions, marking and written feedback
• providing all adults, including parents/carers, with the opportunity to discuss learning and progress

Assessment helps us to evaluate the effectiveness of our SEND provision.

We try to provide an accessible learning environment as much as possible, although the nature and size of the buildings at Moortown Primary can be challenging. We make reasonable adaptations and adjustments where possible – it’s best to speak with the Head of School to explore this on an individual level. Children who need additional specific equipment and facilities will have their needs met to the best of our ability, sometimes through an application for additional funding.

Resources are allocated as required and based on the principles of reasonable adjustments (see below); if additional funding is available, additional resources may be purchased to support children.

We work within Leeds City Council’s Admissions Policy. Children who are looked after by the local authority are given priority consideration during the admissions process.

You might like to read our Equality Policy and Accessibility Plan – use the link at the top of the page.

Check out our Admissions page for more general information.

Moortown Primary is ambitious for all children, including those with SEND. We always aim to enable children with SEND to engage in learning alongside their peers. Adaptations we might make depend of the need. For example:

• incorporating additional practice, for example, repeating a Reading Fluency lesson
• in a Maths lesson, using more practical equipment to help with counting and understanding concepts
• to support a child with a visual impairment in a PE lesson, using a ball with a bell/rattle inside
• to support children with specific learning difficulties, using technology, even as simple as using coloured backgrounds on screens

We make reasonable adjustments so pupils with SEND are not at a substantial disadvantage. The decision on whether an adjustment is reasonable considers several factors:

• effectiveness: how well the adjustment removes the substantial disadvantage for the individual pupil
• practicality: whether the adjustment is feasible to implement
• cost: the financial impact of making the change
• resources: the size and resources of the organisation, including the availability of financial or other assistance
• considerations around proportionality and the impact the adjustments are likely to have on other pupils

Reasonable and appropriate adjustments can benefit all pupils including those with SEND.

Children who are looked after by the local authority are given the same opportunities as all the other children at Scholes (Elmet) Primary, including those with SEND. The CLA (Children who are Looked After) Lead Practitioner works alongside the SEND Team to ensure provision is right for children who are looked after.

Here’s what the Department for Education has to say about attendance and pupils with SEND: ‘Some pupils face more complex barriers to attendance. This can include pupils who have long term physical or mental health conditions or who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Their right to an education is the same as any other pupil and therefore the attendance ambition for these pupils should be the same as it is for any other pupil but additional support may need to be provided.’

The attendance figure for pupils with SEND in 2024-25 is 95.2%. 

• This is lower than for pupils with no SEND (96.5%).
• It is lower than 2023-24 (97.3%), when pupils with SEND had better attendance than pupils with no SEND.
• It is higher than similar schools (95.0%).

It’s encouraging that attendance for pupils with SEND is higher than similar schools, but we need to work towards a figure which at least matches pupils without SEND (as was the case in 2023-24).

Training is regularly provided to teaching and support staff. School leaders closely monitor to identify any staff who have specific training needs and incorporate this into plans for continuous professional development. When doing so, we take into consideration the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils with SEND.

If we feel a child needs specialist expertise, we link with outside agencies. These include:

• Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Team (SENIT)
• Educational Psychology Team
• Child Health and Disability Service (CHAD)
• Regional Specialist Paediatric Team
• Special Educational Needs Statutory Assessment and Provision Service (SENSAP)
• North East Area Inclusion Partnership (NEAIP)
• Independent speech and language services
• NHS Speech and Language Service
• Leeds STARS Team (Specialist Training in Autism and Raising Standards)
• Extended services cluster: ARM (Alwoodley, Roundhay, Moortown)
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• School nursing
• Occupational therapy
• Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team (DAHIT)
• Visual Impairment Team (VIT)

Moortown Primary always aims to be a happy and healthy place. As such, we take seriously children’s mental health. Our Living and Learning curriculum, including our Feelings First sessions, support all children’s social and emotional development. If additional support is needed, we aim to provide this (if possible), whether internally or referring to outside agencies.

Eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity, and fostering good relations all help to ensure Moortown Primary is a happy and healthy place to learn. Having due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty and key guiding principles are therefore fundamental to what we do in school, in particular our curriculum for Living and Learning, which includes

• learning about protected characteristics
• learning about fundamental British values (democracy, rules and laws, individual liberty, respect and tolerance), and
• promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development

Our Equality Policy and Accessibility Plan (use the link at the top of the page) has more information.

We want Moortown Primary to be a happy and healthy place to learn. This means it needs to be a safe and secure environment where everyone can learn and socialise without anxiety. Bullying can happen in any school. At Moortown Primary, it is rare. If it does happen, we always aim to ensure that it is quickly stopped. All incidents of bullying are treated extremely seriously, regardless of whether it is targeted towards a pupil with SEND or not.

Read our Positive Relationships Policy for more information about the measures we have in place to tackle bullying.

In 2024-25, there were no incidents of bullying targeted towards a pupil with SEND. 

Starting a new class or school (whether joining Moortown Primary or moving on to a new school) is a big change for all children. Change can be difficult and can be a particular challenge for those with SEND.

We put in place various additional support for pupils with SEND, which includes more opportunities for visits and more time for teachers to review a child’s needs with colleagues. The decisions we make around transition are thought through to support each individual child’s needs.

Before joining school, we invite parents/carers to visit and to raise any initial concerns about their child’s development and needs with leaders at this time.

See our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy (use the link at the top of the page) for more information.

At Moortown Primary, we’re keen to consult and involve parents/carers in their child’s education. They have the opportunity to provide information and express their views about the pupil’s needs and the support provided. This includes:

• invited to regular meetings to review the provision that is in place for their child
• asked to provide information about the impact of SEND support outside school and any changes in the pupil’s needs
• given the opportunity to share their concerns and, with school staff, agree their aspirations for the pupil
• given an annual report on the pupil’s attainment and progress
• invited to complete our annual survey, which typically includes a question around the effectiveness of provision

In our 2024 survey, only a small number (six out of the total number of respondents) noted that their child has SEND:

• five  respondents had positive comments (example comment shown above)
• one had a neutral comment
• there were no negative comments

Pupil voice is important, too. We support and encourage children to advocate for themselves. At all stages, pupils are invited to participate in discussions and decisions about their support when it’s appropriate. If they find communicating difficult, we still consider their personality and preferences – close adults know the pupils well.

If you’re not happy with the any of the arrangements in place for your child, you should initially speak to the Inclusion Leader in school. Our aim is to work together for the best outcomes for your child. If a resolution is not possible, you may wish to follow our complaints procedure. If you’re unhappy with anything in relation to an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment or an EHC plan, please email sensap@leeds.gov.uk or call 0113 378 5256.

In addition to the formal support processes, parents and young people can seek advice and support from Leeds SEND Information Advice Support Service who will be able to offer support.  You can call the Helpline on 0113 378 5020 or send an email to sendiass@leeds.gov.uk