Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

At our school, all children are equally valued as individuals. As our ethos states, we are an all-inclusive school that allow children to grow and develop so that they can flourish in a safe and caring environment.

The unique teaching styles and the varying learning environments allow all children, including those with special needs, to develop at their own rate.

As a school, we believe that working closely with parents is key to their child's progress and development, as explained in our Mission Statement. Parents are welcome to come and discuss any concerns they have with the class teacher and the SENDCo (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator).

As a staff group, we are committed to meeting children's individual needs.

There is an expectation that all children will prosper at The Coombes regardless of any learning difficulties, sensory or physical impairments, communication disorders and finally, children with social and emotional difficulties they may have.

Children may benefit from extra provision. This may involve children working individually or as a group within the classroom and/or extra provision that will be undertaken at a convenient time.

Email: sendco@coombes.wokingham.sch.uk

Some of the provisions we offer include:

Learning Development

Individual sessions to develop reading include phonic sessions, high frequency words, Catch up reading provision, Toe by Toe and extra reading sessions. For spelling and writing the children may work as a group or individually and we use precision teaching methods that focus on words or groups of words they are struggling with. In maths, the children may work individually or in groups – The Plus One and Power of 2 individual provisions are very effective in building children's self-confidence alongside reinforcing the basic principles in maths.

Physical and Sensory Development

We have wheelchair access throughout the school and we offer sessions to develop fine and gross motor skills. Occupational Therapists visit the school and will advise on appropriate exercises and interventions.

Communication and Interaction Development

We have access to speech and language therapists who advise and provide resources for individual children. Semantic Links programme is also run by our staff.

Social Emotional and Behavioural Development

Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties can create barriers to children's learning. One of our core values is, “To enable each child to develop confidence and self-esteem and to encourage self-reliance, self-discipline and responsibility both in and out of school". To help achieve this we are unique in that we have a pastoral care worker who works closely with any child who may need support in this vital area. Some of the work includes social skills sessions, circle of friends programme, and individual work on anger management and appropriate behaviour in the classroom.