Thank you for visiting the SEND section of our website.

I am Robert Jones and I am the SEND coordinator at Manley Park.  I have been a member of the Manley Park team for over 10 years.

As an inclusion team we want to work in true partnership with children and families. We support the UPIAS motto ‘nothing about us, without us’. We apply the social model of disability, meaning we aim to remove societal barriers for children with SEND.

For all children with SEND we apply the graduated approach: a continuous cycle of assessment of the child’s strengths and needs. The graduated approach is a process of Assess, Plan, Do and Review. Families will with class teachers at least three times a year to be fully involved in this process.

Over recent years at the school, we have developed an inclusion team that works collaboratively to support staff and families. We do this by trying to really understand the individual and develop possible ways to remove any barriers. We now have an expert working within the team from each broad area of SEND. I feel extremely proud to be leading a team of such passionate and knowledgeable people.

If you wish to gain support or further understanding of how we can support please do not hesitate to get in touch via email using send@manleypark.com

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she: 

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or 

• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions

There are 4 broad areas of Special Educational Needs, these are:

Cognition and Learning

This includes children with Specific Learning Difficulties, Moderate Learning Difficulties, Severe Learning Difficulties and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties.

Communication and Interaction

This area of needs includes children with Autism Spectrum Condition and those with Speech, Language and Communication Needs.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

This includes any pupils who have emotional, social or mental health needs that are impacting on their ability to learn.

Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties

This area includes children with hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment and physical difficulties.

You could speak to your GP, your child’s teacher or the school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (Mr Jones).

Firstly, it is your choice if your child goes on the SEND register and this is something that the school will discuss with you.  It is totally up to you. 

Children with Special Educational Needs are eligible for extra support in schools across the UK. As a part of this both the local authority and the school itself offer opportunities for children to succeed and flourish in learning.

The school will work with you and your child to produce a one page profile (Called All About Me). It provides  a concise and clear child-centred profile of just one page or two pages that can be accessed by all staff and that you can use across different settings. It can save repeating their story.

The school applies a graduated approach (assess, plan, do, review) for all pupils with SEND.  We will work with you and your child, to set out SMART termly targets and how we will support them to achieve these.  You will meet with the class teacher to review these targets three times across the academic year.

Diagnosis is the formal process to identify a learning disability or other disabilities and conditions. It is usually given by a health professional and is often based on a child’s medical symptoms.  A GP usually makes a diagnosis of a learning disability, but it is often parents or teachers who first become aware that a child is having difficulties in certain areas. Sometimes, it can be a struggle to get a diagnosis and some parents may never receive one. Mencap says: ‘It is, by and large, guess work. So, while you may feel that getting a diagnosis is something you would value, it is also essential to remember that nothing helps you understand your child’s needs better than your interactions with them.’

The school SEND team can support you by signposting the correct pathways and can support you with referrals.

At Manley Park, we are proud to have a highly inclusive community. To ensure every child thrives, we go above and beyond standard school requirements by commissioning independent specialists as part of our Graduated Approach.

This specialist team includes Speech and Language Therapists (SALT), Occupational Therapists (OT), Learning Difficulties Assessors, and Educational Psychologists (EP).

How Our Specialist Support Works:

• Needs-Based Allocation: The need for specialist support is identified during our termly internal progress meetings. The SEND team works with class teachers to allocate these school-funded resources based on the priority of needs across the whole school cohort.

• Advisory Role: Our specialists are commissioned to assess children and provide targeted, creative strategies for teachers and parents to use daily. They do not provide ongoing, one-to-one therapy sessions.

• One Step at a Time: We only involve one specialist at a time per child to ensure clarity and avoid overwhelming the student.

• Time to Embed: Any strategies recommended by our specialists are given at least one full school term to be implemented and evaluated by staff before next steps are considered.

Working in Partnership with Families We always welcome conversations with parents and carers regarding their child's progress. While the school makes the final decisions regarding the commissioning of our internal specialists to ensure equitable support across the school, we value your input highly.

Private Assessments and Therapies Should your family wish to seek out private specialist support or ongoing one-to-one therapy outside of school, we are very supportive of this. We encourage you to share your private reports and feedback with the SEND team so we can easily align our classroom practices with your specialist's advice.

The Manchester Local offer 

https://hsm.manchester.gov.uk/kb5/manchester/directory/localoffer.page?localofferchannel=0

The Manchester Local Offer brings together information in one place. It helps children and young people with SEND up to the age of 25 and their families understand what services and support they can expect locally.  This includes their statutory entitlements which are required by law.

Sign up for the local offer newsletter 

https://hsm.manchester.gov.uk/kb5/manchester/directory/advice.page?id=jK1EVXv3vxE

SENDIASS

Information from SENDIASS

Manchester Parent Carer Forum

https://manchesterparentcarerforum.org.uk/

Manchester Parent Carer Forum works to represent the ‘voice’ of parents and carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We are a group of volunteer parents and carers. We endeavour to work in partnership with Manchester Local Authority, Education, Health, Social Care and other providers to make sure the services they plan and deliver meet the needs of Manchester families.