Prior to coming to AFNORTH please make contact via email or phone. All children need an Education Overseas Supportability (EOS) form completed by the family and their previous school. You need to submit this with your child’s “application for admission form” as soon as possible; without this it is not possible to enrol your child. From these, we can assess as to whether we can meet your child’s needs in Brunssum. A Certificate of Educational Clearance is issued after the information has been processed; additional information may be sought from the school or yourself at this point.
If the EOS, conversations with parents or other paperwork received by the school indicate a high level of need and multi-agency involvement, the school will request a MOD ASSESSMENT OF SUPPORTABILITY OVERSEAS (MASO). to check that needs can be met overseas.
What is a MASO?
The MASO is a process for assessing whether all the help required for a child with additional needs is available at AFNORTH, Brunssum. Prior to the MASO starting, parental permission is needed to share information through the MASO process.
Who is the MASO for?
The MASO is for any child who:
Has support in a school or setting because of special needs or a disability.
Has current involvement from other agencies such as health or social care.
Has an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP), a Statement of Special Educational Needs or a Coordinated Support Plan.
Who is involved in the MASO?
Apart from AFNORTH British Section, the MASO will involve professionals from education, health and social care with similar responsibilities to those working with your child in the UK.
Who makes the decision about the MASO?
The professionals overseas will consider the reports you have provided about your child and advise the Chain of Command whether their specific individual needs can be met in Brunssum.
How long will the MASO take?
Early knowledge of your child’s specific individual needs will help services to assess supportability. It is important to begin the process as soon as you know that you may be posted. Please note: If there is a need for a MASO, you should not proceed with your posting until you have heard the outcome of the process.
You will be informed if any services needed by your child are not available overseas and advised whether you should proceed with your posting. You will only be advised not to take up a posting in Brunssum when there is clear evidence that the resources to meet your child’s essential needs cannot be made available overseas. You have the right to appeal the decision of any individual service (health, education or social care) that is unable to provide support from within our locally available resources. This should be pursued through the individual service’s complaints procedure.
If you feel that your child is beginning to struggle in school then the class teacher will be happy to meet with you, in the first instance, to give you the opportunity to share your concerns. It is highly likely that the class teacher will already be aware of any emerging difficulties due to our careful monitoring system. This information will then be passed to the SENDCo and appropriate support will be put in place.
Our teaching and learning staff play a key role in the identification of SEND. They have a range of tools to assist them in this process, including:
• Baseline assessments
• teacher/Learning Support Assistant (LSA) observations
• on-going classroom assessments
• termly data reviews and pupil progress meetings
Class Teacher
SENDCO
Headteacher
Class teachers are responsible for:
• The progress of your child and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help your child may need (this could be things like targeted work, additional support) and letting the SENDCO know as necessary.
• Using an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) when targeting support for your child’s lessons.
• Ensuring that all staff working with your child in school are supported to deliver the planned work / interventions for your child, so they can achieve the best possible progress. This may involve the use of additional adults, outside specialist help or specially planned work and resources.
• Ensuring that the school’s SEND Policy is followed in their classroom and for all the pupils they teach with any SEND through the use of Quality First Teaching.
Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCo) is responsible for:
• Coordinating all the support for children with special education needs (SEND) and developing the school’s SEND Policy to make sure all children get a consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs in school.
• Ensuring that you are; involved in supporting your child’s learning, kept informed about the support your child is getting, involved in reviewing how they are doing, part of planning ahead for them.
• Liaising with outside agencies who may come into school to help support your child’s learning e.g. Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology etc.
• Updating the school’s SEND list (a system for ensuring all the SEND needs of pupils in this school are known) and making sure that there are records of your child’s progress and needs.
• Ensuring intervention plans show that children’s needs are met.
• To provide specialist support for parents, teachers and support staff so we can help your child achieve the best possible progress in school.
The Headteacher is responsible for:
The management of all aspects of the school, this includes the support for children with SEND. Responsibility for this is via the SENDCO and class teachers however they have overall responsibility for ensuring that your child’s needs are met. They make sure that the Governing Body is kept up to date about any issues in the school relating to SEND.
SEND support is organized in different ways and this depends on the needs of the child. All children have their learning planned, coordinated and evaluated by the class teacher, usually with support from Learning Support Assistants (LSAs). This is monitored by the Headteacher, the Assistant Headteacher / SENDCo (and the Foundation Stage Leader). LSAs support the teacher and may work with small groups of children as well as with individual children.
• School staff will provide support and plan for your child’s needs, involving other professionals if needed.
• You will be included in target setting and discussing the progress of your child.
• If your child needs extra specialist support he/she will benefit from set interventions with expected outcomes which will be reviewed termly or more regularly if agreed and their progress will be reviewed continually.
International sponsored children receive class-based support and intervention, following UK guidelines as closely as possible. Targeted services and additional support from outside agencies will need to be sought from external sources.
In line with other MOD schools we are in the process of moving to the use of Individual Learning Plans (ILP) for pupils with SEND. This allows us to plan the best possible programme of support, together with the parents and child. The SENDCo and/or class teacher will meet with parents to discuss barriers to learning and the best strategies to overcome those barriers. We will then agree targets, which are also recorded on the ILP, to enable us to see how the pupil is progressing and how successful the strategies have been. This process follows a cycle of ‘assess, plan, do and review.’
The Individual Learning Plan (ILP)
The ILP process is a graduated approach that offers pupils the best opportunity of ensuring that their needs are met. If a pupil is experiencing difficulties in class that are not being addressed through quality first wave teaching then the teacher would aim to meet their needs using universal interventions and support. This is constructed by the teacher and will be discussed with parents, but we also believe that the pupil has an important part to play in this process and we ensure that their voice is heard.
This is based on an ‘Assess, Plan, Do and Review’ (APDR) model. After implementation of the agreed actions the support is reviewed termly with parents, where a decision is jointly made regarding next steps in the graduated response process.
• Targeted class teacher input through high-quality classroom teaching (Universal)
• Specific group work with a small group of children (Targeted)
• Specific /tailored one to one and group interventions (Specialist)
• Support from DCYP and MOD Support Agencies
Universal Stage – Class teacher provides targeted class based teaching also known as ‘Quality First Teaching’.
• The teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and all pupils in their class.
• All teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand.
• Different ways of teaching are in place so that your child is fully involved in learning in class. This may involve things like using more practical learning.
• Specific strategies (which may be suggested by the SENDCo or outside staff) are in place to support your child to learn in class.
• Your child’s teacher will have carefully checked on your child’s progress and will have decided that your child has gap in their understanding or learning and needs some extra support to help them make the best possible progress.
• All children in school should access Quality First Teaching as a part of excellent classroom practice when needed.
What extra help might your child receive within Universal Intervention and Support level?
This could include:
• Extra teaching around the target areas
• Extra differentiation beyond that already available to the rest of the class to ensure that the pupil can be successful
• Extra support from learning support staff, usually within the classroom
• Assessments to pin-point areas of need and identify gaps in knowledge or skills
• Pre-teaching of tricky vocabulary
• Modelling of tasks, use of visual and practical support systems (task bars, visual timetables and prompts, Numicon and Rekenrek maths materials, tailored word cards etc.)
• Use of technology to offer a range of means of recording
Targeted Stage – Specific group / individual intervention.
This type of support is available for any child who has specific gaps in their understanding of a subject/area of learning.
These may operate within the classroom or outside the classroom area and be led by the teacher, SENDCo or a Learning Support Assistant.
For your child this would mean:
• They will engage in sessions with specific targets to help them to make increased progress.
• The teacher, SENDCo, Learning Support Assistant or outside professional (eg Physiotherapist) will run sessions with specific targets
What extra help might your child receive at the Targeted Intervention and Support level?
This may include:
• Observation and assessment by the SENDCo
• Interventions with phonics
• Reciprocal Reading (Reading)
• Handwriting programmes,
• Fine motor skills programme
• Precision writing intervention
• Direct Instruction (reading fluency)
• Daily reading/spelling with an LSA
Specialist Stage -Specialist supported by outside agencies (British Forces Children):
If, following a review with parents, the class teacher and SENDCo, it is felt that your child is experiencing persistent difficulties in their learning or development then DCYP and MOD Support Agencies can be contacted. When any of the team are consulted then an Individual Learning Plan is completed which includes the actions to be completed by the designated member of the team. An additional consent form for Specialist Intervention and Support is also required to be agreed and signed by parents. At this point your child will have been identified by the class teacher / SENDCo as needing extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school.
This may be for difficulties with:
Communication and Interaction
In consultation with the Speech and Language Therapist, if appropriate, we assess, plan and use a range of resources to help children with Speech and Language Difficulties. Some children find it difficult to understand what others are saying or have difficulties with fluency or forming sounds, words or sentences. We make provision for children with social communication, social interaction or imagination difficulties who find it harder to make sense of the world around them.
Cognition & Learning
Children are supported through high quality teaching and effective differentiation. This includes children with Specific Learning difficulties such as dyslexia (specific difficulties with reading and/or spelling), dyscalculia (specific difficulties with mathematics) or dyspraxia (specific difficulties with coordination and motor skills). We also support children with moderate learning difficulties and children with multiple learning difficulties with a variety of different interventions tailored to suit the needs of your child.
Social, Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
We are aware and supportive of the problems and worries that our children sometimes face, such as anxiety. Parents on operational tours, long periods of separation from the “whole” family / extended family and the support they provide, living overseas, and constantly losing and making new friends, can contribute to the social, mental and emotional Wellbeing of the children. Emotional wellbeing is key to a happy child and a happy child will be able to learn. Our Support Agencies Educational Psychologists, Educational Social Workers and Pediatricians, who can advise school and families.
Sensory & / or Physical
We support children with mild to moderate physical difficulties. This could include the following areas:
Physical Disability
Hearing Impairment
Visual Impairment
Multi-Sensory Impairment
Reasonable adjustments can be made to ensure full inclusion in the school community. We work closely with outside agencies to provide support for children in our school who may have sensory or physical difficulties. Where necessary, we make adaptations to the curriculum or environment in order to make lessons and learning opportunities accessible to them. We hold regular meetings with these agencies and the parents to review the provision and approaches that are in place.
Accessibility for children with sensory and physical disabilities: Please refer to the Accessibility Plan.
Medical
We support children with mild to moderate medical difficulties.
Children are supported with an Individual Healthcare Plan. This is a record of your child’s medical needs at school and how they are going to be fulfilled. It’s important that everyone is involved in drawing this up – parents, school staff, DCYP Nurse Advisor and the International School Nurses. The plan should be reviewed at least annually as treatment or needs change.
Service Children’s Assessment of Need (SCAN). – Specified Individual support for your child (British Forces Children)
In the rare case that a child continues to struggle then review at Specialist level could lead to a Service Children’s Assessment of Needs (SCAN) which is the MOD Schools equivalent of an Education Health & Care Plan. The MOD observes processes and procedures which follow the guidance in the 2015 Code of Practice (CoP) on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) but due to different legal and financial and commissioning arrangements overseas, MOD services cannot produce Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). In MOD Schools this is referred to as a Service Children’s Assessment of Need (SCAN) and is analogous to an EHCP.
In accordance with Section 10.57 of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2015): “Local authorities should, when considering provision for Service children with SEN or disabilities use all relevant evidence, including…Service children’s Assessment of Need (SCAN)”
• Your child will have been identified by the class teacher/SENDCo as needing a particularly high level of individual teaching, which are not usually provided by the resources already delegated to the school.
• If your child requires this high level of support they will also need specialist support from a professional outside the school.
• The SCAN will outline the support your child will receive from the school and how the support should be used and what strategies must be put in place. It will also have long and short-term goals for your child.
• An additional adult may be used to support your child with whole class learning, run individual programmes or run small groups including your child.
We place great importance on all aspects a child’s development, not just the academic, and have an ethos where pupils are respectful and take care of one another. We have staff who are trained as Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA), who are available to work with your child if they begin to have difficulty coping emotionally or socially. Working with the children The ELSA develops emotional understanding, checks self- esteem then branching out to delve more deeply into targeted areas such as managing emotions, friendships or social skills.
In addition to this we have:
• Weekly Bucket Filler recognition award certificates
• Jigsaw (PSHE programme)
• A peaceful room where children go if they become upset, need some quiet time or advice (an ELSA will plan the use of the room as part of the support if needed)
• Positive Behaviour Plans
• Visual timetables and prompts to support behaviour
• Support available from an Educational Social Worker to provide both individual and family therapy
Your child’s progress is continually monitored by the class teacher through on-going observations and assessments. This is regularly reviewed and a National Curriculum level given in reading, writing and numeracy. Additionally, pupils are set targets by their class teachers in reading, writing and mathematics. These targets identify next steps in learning and are regularly reviewed.
The progress of children in the Foundation Stage is recorded on an individual profile linked to the Early Years’ Curriculum (EYFS). Year 2 pupils are assessed using teacher assessment. At the end of Year 6, children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests. This is something the government requires all schools to do and the results are published nationally.
If your child receives individual help this is set out in the Individual Learning Plan. This plan is reviewed regularly and is clearly linked to progress with focus on small step targets with measurable outcomes. You will be asked to contribute to the development of your child’s ILP and to sign it to show that you understand and support the provision for your child.
We work in close partnership with DCYP and MOD Support Agencies (P&FS). Most specialists visit Brunssum once a term, where they can observe the child in class, carry out further individual assessments and meet with parents. Referrals can only be completed with parental permission.
Specialist support services currently include:
• Senior Educational Psychologist
• Senior Educational Social Worker
• Speech and Language Therapist
• Health Visitor and British Medical Centre
• Physiotherapist/Occupational Therapist
• School Nurse Advisor
We recognise that transitions can be difficult for a child with SEND and take steps to ensure that any transition is as smooth as possible.
If your child is moving to another school, we are happy to contact your child’s new school and liaise with the SENDCO and ensure that they know about any special arrangements or support needed for your child.
We will make sure that all records about your child are passed to a new school.
UK Support Unit, HQJFC Brunssum
Brunssum HIVE,
Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS).
If you need to contact the school regarding any SEND matter your first point of contact should be the SENDCO – Peter Brown; 0031 455278241 or by email at british.office@afnorth-is.com