Morley Memorial Primary School
SEN Information Report 2025
(The school’s local offer)
Introduction
Welcome to Morley Memorial Primary School’s SEN Information Report, part of the Cambridgeshire Local Offer for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). We are an inclusive school that values every member of our community
Governing bodies of maintained schools are legally required to publish information on their websites regarding their SEND policy, including arrangements for identifying, assessing, and providing for pupils with SEND. This report is updated annually and is closely linked to our SEND policy. We welcome your comments to continually improve this document.
What is “The Local Offer”?
The Children and Families Act 2014 mandates Local Authorities to publish a ‘Local Offer’. Its purpose is to provide parents and young people with clear information on available services in their area and how to access them. This includes provision from birth to 25 years, covering education, health, and social care. The Cambridge Local Offer can be accessed via::
https://send.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/kb5/cambridgeshire/directory/advice.page?id=bPe2xezmLJc
How do we define SEN (Special Educational Needs)?
At Morley we use the definition outlined in the 2014 Code of Practice:
A person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. At compulsory school age this means he or she has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others 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. (2014 SEN Code of Practice: 0 to 25 Years)
What is Our ‘SEND Support’ Profile?
All teachers at Morley Memorial Primary School expect to have children with SEND in their classes. Our school provides additional or different provision for a range of needs.
Current School Data (as of 18.9.25)
| Category | School Data | National Data |
| Pupils with Special Educational Needs Support (SENS) | 47 children
14% of the school population |
14.8% |
| Pupils with an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) | 7 children
2% of the school population |
3.5% |
| Pupils being assessed for an EHCP | 7 children
2% of the school population |
Not reported |
Breakdown of Needs (percentages represent children receiving additional/different provision):
35 % Cognition and Learning (Cognition and learning needs generally account for difficulties in curriculum-related areas such as reading, writing and spelling, numerosity, comprehension, processing difficulties such as sequencing, inference, coherence and elaboration and working memory)
47% Communication and Interaction (including difficulties in expressing themselves, understanding what is being said to them and understanding or using social rules of communication)
2% Physical and Sensory needs (including a wide range of medical conditions or disabilities such as those affecting health, mobility, sight and hearing)
14% Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (including ADHD, attachment disorder and anxiety)
How do we identify children needing SEN Support (SENS)?
The progress of every child is monitored termly by class teachers. If a teacher observes that a child is making significantly less than expected progress or has concerns about a specific area of need (communication and interaction, cognition and learning, sensory or physical, or social and emotional health difficulties), this will be raised with the Inclusion Lead. A plan of action is agreed upon if a child is not progressing despite Quality First Teaching and good attendance
Less than expected progress is characterised as:
- Being significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline.
- Failing to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress.
- Failing to close the attainment gap between the child and expected age related levels of achievement.
While the school can identify barriers to learning and special educational needs, and provide support, we do not offer diagnosis. We use initial screening checks in conjunction with our assessment procedures. Any identified SEN shared by parents, previous settings, or other professionals will be discussed and supported. Parents with concerns about potential additional needs should contact the class teacher in the first instance.
What is the admissions process for children with SEND?
All children are admitted to Morley Memorial Primary School in line with the county’s admissions policy.
- Mid-phase admissions: If a child with additional needs is offered a place mid-phase, the family will be invited to meet with the Headteacher and/or Inclusion Lead before a start date is agreed, to discuss needs and required provision. A transition timetable may be implemented if appropriate.
- Reception transitions: For children with additional needs transitioning to Reception, the Inclusion Lead and EYFS lead will work with the previous setting and parents to discuss needs, provision, and a transition timetable as needed.
A copy of our accessibility plan is available on the school website
How do we support children with SEN?
We believe that all children learn best with the rest of their class. Our aim is for all children to be working independently, in class, achieving their full potential. Children with SEN and disabilities are entitled to be taught by their teacher, who aims to spend time daily with all children with SEN, individually or as part of a group.
In addition to this, children in receipt of SEN support will have a support plan that considers what additional provision (universal, targeted or personalised) is needed to meet the needs of the child and the target they are working towards.
When allocating enhanced adult support to children, our focus is on needs and outcomes, not hours: we aim to put in sufficient support to enable the child to make good progress but without developing a learned dependence on an adult. Children with SEN, including those with EHCPs, will be supported by a year group team and not a named 1:1 adult.
Our support follows the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ (APDR) graduated approach, as required in the Code of Practice 2014; each APDR cycle spans approximately 12 weeks.
The Assess Phase: Class teachers, working with a child with additional needs, consider their strengths, learning barriers, dispositions, attendance, progress, and history, including internal and external assessment information and advice.
The Plan Phase: The class teacher, supported by the Inclusion Lead and/or SEN teacher, writes a support plan outlining targets and provision. This includes class-based strategies and may involve additional, targeted support through evidence-based interventions. Additional assessments may be requested and written into the plan.
The Do Phase: The support plan is shared with parents, and adaptations and additional provision are implemented for 8-10 weeks. Baseline assessments for interventions are completed.
The Review Phase: Towards the end of the 12-week cycle, the class teacher and other adults supporting the child review the plan, considering progress, successes, and challenges. This review informs the next ‘assessment phase,’ including setting new short-term targets and designing a new support plan as necessary
Children are encouraged to share their views through a variety of pupil voice activities including but not limited to annual reviews, meetings with class teachers, self-assessment and informal drop ins by the members of the Inclusion Team. Their views are captured in the support plans.
What additional provision is offered?
We make use of the Cambridgeshire Local Authority’s ‘Ordinarily Available Toolkit’. Ordinarily available provision can be defined as the provision made for children whose special educational needs can be met from the resources generally available in the school or setting. This will apply to all children without an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), but children with an EHCP may also benefit from this type of provision in addition to the provision written in their plan.
The school’s provision menu includes a range of interventions designed to meet specific needs. and children will access these where appropriate. We align with Cambridgeshire Local Authority’s framework of three tiers of support: universal, targeted, and personalised. Provision to meet need is considered within this structure.
We work closely with the local authority and external providers, such as the Speech and Language Service, requesting additional support from them where needed, following the appropriate pathways and thresholds.
Our SEN Service link practitioners are Victoria North (Local Authority Specialist Teacher) and Dr. Aileen Morrison (Local Authority Educational Psychologist). An annual planning meeting is held early in the autumn term to review and prioritise needs across the school, ensuring the most effective use of the support allocated to us. Parental consent is always sought in advance of these discussions.
How do we adapt teaching, the curriculum and the learning environment to support children?
Morley Memorial is as disability friendly as possible within the constraints of the old, original sections of the building. The school is on one level, some corridors are wide and we have an easy access toilet. Other reasonable and appropriate adaptations to the physical environment will be made, in line with EHCPs or advice from specialists to accommodate children with other sensory needs or disabilities
All of our classrooms are inclusion-friendly: we aim to teach in a way that will support children with additional needs including tendencies towards dyslexia, dyspraxia, ASD, ADHD and EAL. As part of our approach we use the Morley Memorial Primary Inclusion Essentials These inclusion essentials are:
- Consideration and reduction of literacy barriers
- Use of clear instructions; with pictorial support as appropriate
- Ensuring access to explicit teaching of key words for meaning and word banks for spelling
- Engaging lessons
- Consideration to seating and groupings
This is good practice to support all children but is vital for those who particularly need it. All of our children access the National Curriculum, and we recognise achievement and expertise in all curricular areas. Provision routinely considers adaptations to curriculum content and ideas can be simplified and made more accessible by using visual, tactile and concrete resources.
In addition, please refer to ‘Morley’s Approach to Dyslexia’, Cambridgeshire’s Dyslexia Guidance February (2019) and Cambridgeshire’s Autism Guidance (April 2021)
How do we support improving the emotional and social development of children with SEN?
The emotional and social development of all pupils is a key part of the provision at Morley. Provision includes the following:
- Positive school culture, including a ‘Therapeutic Thinking’ approach
- Universal provision through the PSHE programme
- Targeted group and 1:1 support for specific pupils as part of the APDR process, such as the Time to Talk social skills group games
- Signposting for parents
Behaviour is not classified as a SEN but may be an expression of other needs.
We are a Therapeutic Thinking school and all children’s behaviour is responded to consistently in line with our Behaviour Policy, although reasonable adjustments are made to accommodate individual needs. Some children may require an individual behaviour plan, a therapeutic plan, and/or an individual risk management behaviour plan.
If a child shows consistent unwanted behaviours, the class teacher will assess the child’s needs, taking into account family circumstances and the child’s known history of experiences. If the child’s behaviour is felt to be a response to trauma or to home-based experiences (e.g. bereavement, parental separation) we may complete an EHA with the family and support the child through that process. If parents and school are concerned that the child may have mental health needs, which cannot be managed at school level, we encourage parents to ask their GP to request a YOUnited (CAMHS) referral. . We make use of external resources such as the Emotional Wellbeing Practitioners and Nessie.
The school has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, especially towards children with SEND and disabilities.
When are children assessed for an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan)?
If, over time, children fail to make appropriate progress and are significantly behind their peers, in spite of high quality, targeted support we may apply for the child to be assessed for an EHC Plan. Generally, we apply for an EHC Plan if:
- The child has a disability which is lifelong and which means that they will always need support to learn effectively.
- The child’s achievements are so far below their peers that we think it likely that the child may at some point benefit from provision at a special school.
- The child is Looked After and therefore additionally vulnerable and is not making the expected progress in school.
The Local Authority has processes and thresholds for EHCP needs assessment requests and more information on this can be found through the Local Offer.
If the application for an EHC Needs Assessment is successful, other professionals (for example an educational psychologist or a speech and language therapist) will be asked to complete some assessments and observations with your child. A member of the Local Authority will gather the views of the parents, the child and the school together with any health or social care professionals who are involved with the family. The meeting will record the child’s strengths, their dreams and aspirations as well as the barriers they face. Following the assessment, the LA may produce the EHC Plan which will record the decisions made at the meeting.
Working with and supporting Parents
We aim to have good and informative relationships with all of our parents. Teachers meet with parents of children receiving SEN Support at least three times a year to discuss progress and support. Parents of children with SENS are able to request meetings when required by contacting the school office. Parents should contact the class teacher in the first instance.
Cambridgeshire’s SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) offers impartial and confidential information, advice and support to parents and carers who have a child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) or a disability or have concerns that their child has special educational needs.
Pinpoint Cambridgeshire is an organisation run for parents – by parents. They give help and information to parents and carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with additional needs and disabilities, and give parents and carers opportunities to have a say and get involved in improving local services.
Spectrum is a parent-led children’s charity that provides events, sessions and support for families of children with Autism, additional needs, learning difficulties and disabilities.
Parents are able to seek support from local or community services for example Education Inclusion Family Advisor, Community Wellbeing Hubs and parenting courses. Please speak to your child’s class teacher or email the inclusion team via the school office for up to date information.
Access to extra-curricular activities
All of our children have equal access to before and after-school clubs which enhance engagement with the wider curriculum. We make accommodations and adaptations where necessary to meet physical and learning needs. Class trips are part of our curriculum and we aim for all children to benefit from them. No child is excluded from a trip because of SEN, disability or medical needs.
How do we prepare children for next steps?
We understand how difficult it is for children and parents as they move into a new class or a new school and will do what we can, according to the individual needs of the child, to make transitions between classes and settings as smooth as possible. Enhanced transition arrangements are tailored to meet individual needs but may include, for example:
- Additional meetings with Nursery and Secondary settings
- Additional meetings for the parents and child with the new teacher
- Additional visits to the classroom environment in order to identify where the toilets are, where the pegs are etc.
- Opportunities to take photographs of key people and places in order to make a transition booklet.
- Meetings between staff from previous or future settings.
- A graduated transition timetable
- Social stories
Transition reviews for Year 6 pupils with EHCPs are held, where possible, in the Summer Term of Year 5 or the Autumn term of Year 6. If the secondary school has been named, the SENCO is invited to the Annual Reviews. Additional transition arrangements may be made at these reviews e.g. extra visits, travel training etc.
Staff Expertise
All of our teachers are trained to work with children with SEN. Some are very experienced, and others less so, but all have access to advice, information, resources and training to enable them to teach all children effectively. We offer professional development and self-study opportunities through guidance, access in- house or external courses, or provision of resources
Some of our TAs have specific training (e.g. ELKLAN, Makaton, AET, ELSA) which helps them to support children with specific difficulties. Other TAs have expertise and training in specific interventions. All TAs work with children with SEN and disabilities. We also have a parttime SEN teacher who works with children both in and out of the classroom and also supports teachers in developing their classroom provision and practice.
Where we have children joining the school with needs that we are unfamiliar with we will work with parents, the local authority and other professionals including charities to ensure staff are confident in providing appropriate provision.
Contact Information and Complaints
Our Inclusion Team can be contacted via the school office on 01223 508786 or via emailing office@morley.cambs.sch.uk
Inclusion Lead: Beth McGreer
SEN teacher: Melissa Ward
HLTA: Laura Edgeworth
Governors with responsibility for SEN: Hilary Toulman
The school works, wherever possible, in partnership with parents to ensure a collaborative approach to meeting pupils’ needs. For further information on any aspect of our provision for children with SEN including complaints about SEND provision in our school , please contact Beth McGreer, Assistant Head for Inclusion via the school office. All complaints are taken seriously and are heard through the school’s complaints policy and procedure.