SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AT EAST HUNSBURY PRIMARY SCHOOL 

School Admin

At East Hunsbury Primary School, we believe that every child has the right to an equitable education. Our school and our curriculums are inclusive by design, ensuring that every child is provided with the support they need to thrive regardless of their given starting points. 

We are proud of our values and our rules, which underpin our ethos of inclusivity. Our values are to Be Kind, Work Hard, and Believe, and our rules are to Be Ready, Be Respectful, and Be Safe. As one school serving our community, we uphold our motto: Be You. Be Proud, because we believe every child deserves an education tailored to their needs to help them succeed.

At East Hunsbury Primary School, it is our priority that every child has their needs met so they can achieve success. 

Quality First Teaching

DSC07538Our foremost priority is to ensure that every child experiences excellent teaching. Therefore, Quality First Teaching is at the heart of our professional development, and our teachers are highly skilled in adapting their teaching to meet the needs of all learners. To further enhance teaching effectiveness, our staff engage in instructional coaching through Step Lab, which supports their ongoing development and ensures that their teaching is responsive to the needs of the children in their classrooms.

Our curriculum is rich, diverse, broad, and aspirational, and we ensure that it is accessible to all children by adapting our teaching methods and providing the necessary support.

We have a skilled Pastoral Team who are able to offer support and advice to our teachers and children’s families when necessary. 

Early Identification

Identifying children's needs at an early stage is crucial to their success. Our dedicated and skilled pastoral team works closely with teachers, children, and families to ensure that children's needs are recognised and addressed as soon as possible. 

When necessary, we collaborate with external agencies, including occupational therapists, speech and language specialists, paediatricians, physiotherapists, and educational psychologists. Additionally, we seek expert opinions from professionals specialising in behaviour, learning difficulties, and ASD. Our pastoral team and SENCO are committed to ensuring that children's needs are diagnosed effectively so that we can provide the appropriate support for their learning and social, emotional journey.

Teaching Assistants

Teaching Assistants at East Hunsbury Primary School are highly skilled and placed into teams that allow them to develop expertise in specific interventions and areas of the school. DSC07550

We have taken guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to ensure that our Teaching Assistants are deployed effectively. They receive training on how to support children and monitor the impact of any interventions they lead. This ensures that they play a crucial role in helping children access learning in a way that best suits their needs.

Our SEND Unit (SU)

We are incredibly proud to have a brilliant 50-place specialist SEND unit for children with severe learning difficulties, all of whom have an EHCP. Our SEND unit is a vital part of our commitment to inclusivity and excellence in education.

You can find our Local Authority SEN unit descriptor here. 

Our Unit Drivers

Our Unit has 3 drivers - these are the things we want for our pupils and are the things we work on all day, every day: 

  • Communication: To be confident communicators in their own form of communication 
  • Independence: To be as independent as possible and develop self-help skills for learning and life.  
  • Success: To be happy and confident individuals who access and learn from an enriched curriculum that meets their needs. 

We believe for children to reach their potential as learners and as human beings they must feel safe, they must be supported to take risks, become resilient and learn from each other. At our school we offer challenge in a safe, secure environment where children can thrive. 

Our Colourful Classes

We have 6 classes in DSC07481our SU (Red, Blue, Purple, Orange, Green and Yellow) and each class links with a year group in the main school, building opportunities to learn and play together each term. 

Our classes in the SU are smaller than in the main school, with classes generally having between 7 - 9 pupils in them. Our curriculum is accessible, engaging, aims high, and offers linked learning opportunities and time to focus on children's individual needs, through their EHCPs. 

We enrich our curriculum with experiences such as yoga, specialist music sessions and learning outside the classroom, including regular trips out of school on our minibus or on foot. We work hard to make learning real and based in experience. We believe in the right environment and with the right support all children can succeed. 

We are working hard to teach Makaton signing to all pupils as we believe in developing an "all communication" environment. 

If you would like more information about our provision, please contact Lucy Boswell, SU Lead and Assistant Head on 01604 677970 or  

One School

We are One School and we have been intentional in designing regular opportunities and structures which facilitate all children from across the school to learn, play and grow together.

For example:DSC07572

  • Our Sing and Sign Share sessions are held weekly and create time for us to share our learning and to build relationships throughout the school. 
  • Our School Houses are made up of children from across the school and during our House Events they all come together for a collective cause. 
  • Our Linked Classes – each class in the SU is twinned with a year group in the mainstream and they will join for special events, some curriculum lessons and trips. They even do a special assembly together for their families.
  • Leadership Groups e.g. parliamentarians and House Captains represent both mainstream and children in the SU.

And many more…

Conclusion

At East Hunsbury Primary School, we take great pride in being an inclusive school that celebrates diversity and embraces the individuality of every child. We strive to ensure that families feel supported, and we walk alongside them on their child's social, emotional, and academic learning journey.

If you have any questions about our special educational needs provision or our offer to children, please contact:

  • Lucy Boswell, Head of the Specialist Unit
  • Lindsey York, Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)
  • Kathryn Pennington, Headteacher
  • Jenny Bradshaw, SEND link governor
  • Lauren Clements, SEND link governor

By calling the school office on 01604 677970 

Please also see below for our: 

Northamptonshire County Council Local Offer

The Local Offer publishes services available for children and young people (aged 0-25) with special educational needs and disabilities.