Update on Pastoral Support at St John’s Primary School and Nursery
Here at Green Shoots Federation we pride ourselves on having inclusivity embedded throughout our school. We strive to meet the individual needs of all our learners in the most effective way possible. Working in partnership with children, parents and other agencies we aim to provide the best possible outcomes for all of our children, including those with a range of additional and complex needs. This includes supporting children with their social and emotional development.
At St John’s Primary School, we are exceptionally lucky to have a highly experienced SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) and Inclusion Team who are able to support all children and their families to foster independent learning and life skills for all.
The Federation SENDCo is Mrs Sharon Medler. Mrs Medler, is a qualified teacher and SENDCo, who holds the Level 7 National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-
Ordination. She has also had recent training regarding Lego Therapy, Diabetes Awareness, Precision Teaching, Dyslexia Awareness, Autism Awareness and support strategies, supporting sensory needs, Norfolk Steps (Step On) and identifying Speech and Language needs.
Mrs Michelle Ratcliffe is the Inclusion and Wellbeing Officer and the team are supported by Mrs Sue Matson and Mrs Kirsty Whiting. A programme has been developed which provides children with 1 to 1 support or small group sessions. This includes: Thrive 1:1 sessions or small group sessions, Drawing and Talking Therapy, ELSA, Lego based therapy and Zones of Regulation.
Should there be any worries or concerns regarding a child’s social and emotional development, parents/carers are encouraged to speak to their child’s teacher in the first instance. A referral form will then be completed by the teacher and forwarded to the team as appropriate. All interventions are discussed with parents, are time-measured and will have feedback provided to parents. If any onward referrals are felt necessary these will always be discussed first with families.
For parents we also offer group sessions in the ‘Solihull Parenting Approach and ‘Helping your child with fears and worries’. We also have links with external agencies in order to seek additional services, should it be needed.
Further information can be found on the school website and below are the links to the School’s SEN padlet and the Inclusion and Wellbeing padlet. It will be updated with resources as the team finds new information to share.
SEN Padlet: https://padlet.com/senco148/send-supports-for-families-dnompff090jyobt9
Inclusion and Wellbeing padlet:
https://padlet.com/inclusion30/wellbeing-and-inclusion-supports-for-families-bcq8nyai672thd
Please do not hesitate to contact the team on either: inclusion@greenshoots.norfolk.sch.uk or senco@greenshoots.norfolk.sch.uk if you would like to discuss further.
With best wishes
Mrs Medler
SENDCo