Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND)

Our INCo team

Our INCo team consists of our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), Mrs Charlotte Ballard, and our Family Support Worker (FSW), Miss Vicky Stanton. Their roles are defined as follows:

• The SENCo supports class teachers of all children with SEND/possible SEND to meet their needs in the classroom through reasonable adjustments. She will also liaise with external agencies to seek additional support for children with more complex needs.
• The FSW offers pastoral support to children and families, as well as liaising with class teachers and parents to assist them to meet children's wellbeing needs.

Our Governor with responsibility for SEND is Mrs Emma McPartland.

If you have something you would like to discuss with our INCo team, do drop by for coffee at one of our regular drop-in sessions, held at the start of the school day at least once each half-term. If you would like an appointment to see one of the team, please contact our school office on 01438-359747, or speak to your child's class teacher.

Our Graduated Approach

At The Giles Nursery and Infants' School, we employ a graduated approach to the identification of SEND/possible SEND and subsequent support for children. This approach is detailed in the diagram below. If a child is deemed to require support that is above and beyond typical classroom adaptations, an Assess, Plan, Do, Review Record (APDR) will be established in order to record all supportive measures in place and progress towards personalised outcomes.

SEND Information Report

Representative parents and schools in Hertfordshire have worked together to produce a template that schools can use to set out their ‘offer’ in respect of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This is based on key questions that parents and carers have said they would find helpful. In the report, which can be found at the bottom of this page, you will find answers to the questions that parents have asked. The report will give you a clear and detailed picture of the facilities for supporting children with SEND and their families that we offer at The Giles Nursery and Infants’ School. 

SEND Policy

Our SEND Policy provides detailed information regarding our graduated approach, types of support available and the responsibilities of school staff, parents and carers to collaborate to support the development and well-being of children with SEND. It also demonstrates our full compliance with government guidelines. The policy can be found at the bottom of this page.

Useful Websites

Below you find links to three useful websites: the Stevenage Developing Specialist Provision Locally (DSPL), which has a useful parents’ section detailing all the courses running locally, the Hertfordshire SEND Local Offer, which provides key information for all parents and carers with children with SEND in Hertfordshire, and the Neurodiversity Service Directory, which provides contact information for all neurodiversity support teams in Hertfordshire.

DSPL2

Hertfordshire SEND Local Offer

Neurodiversity Service Directory

Support for Families

All the following services offer help and support to families of children with SEND/possible SEND.

Latest News

• DSPL2 have published December's Family Newsletter - check it out at the bottom of this page for all the latest support on offer!
• Angels Spring Support Programme - follow the link to the Angels' spring event calendar: Event Calendar
• Families in Focus Online Course - Handling Anger in the Family - 6 week course starting in January 2025, with a choice of morning or evening sessions. Follow the link for more information: Course Info
• Supporting Links Support Programme - includes workshops and courses on a range of topics including sibling difficulties, teenage years, anger, anxiety and specific courses for dads. Follow the link to the Supporting Links' event calendar for January through to April 2025: Event Calendar
• ADD-vance Workshops - please follow the link to book places on a range of workshops including tips for toileting, PDA, and managing eating difficulties: Booking Link
• Hertfordshire CYPMHS (children and young people's mental health service) Newsletter is available on their website, containing key information about the latest mental health support for children, as well as a service directory and videos from the talking therapies team! Follow the link to the newsletter webpage: Newsletter
• Find evidence-based content about children and young people’s mental health issues at the ACAMH Knowledge Hub for free learning at different levels for students, parents, clinicians and other professionals. Follow the link for more information: Knowledge Hub
• Family Lives have published their Parenting Support Programme for Spring 2025, which includes workshops on handling arguments within your family, raising confident children and connecting with your adolescent child. Have a look at the full range in the PDF at the bottom of this page!
• Greenside School are hosting a seminar on 20th March 2025 led by Pete Wharmby, a late-diagnosed autistic author and speaker with 15 years' experience as a secondary school teacher. He has written two books on the subject of autism and is a single parent-of-one. He will be discussing all things Autism and school!
• 'Hertfordshire Bee You' is a new service being overseen by Autism Oxford. They are running 10-week virtual courses that aim to cover a vast range of topics pertinent to children with diagnoses of (or who are awaiting diagnoses of) ASD and/or ADHD. The topics include friendships, emotional regulation and masking. Please see the PDFs at the bottom of this page for full course details.