Dragonfly class is a small specialist provision for children that have Special Education Needs and/or Disabilities that struggle to access mainstream education without support.

At Leatherhead Trinity School and Nursery School, all children, regardless of their particular needs, are provided with inclusive teaching which will enable them to make the best possible progress in school and feel that they are a valued member of the wider school community.

We believe that every child matters and is unique, and understand not all children follow the same pattern of development.

We offer a broad and balanced framework and curriculum for learning, which is tailored to children’s individual needs. Some children may need greater support for a short or longer period of time to overcome barriers to learning.

We want all children to be confident individuals who are able to make a successful transition on to the next phase of education and into adulthood.

 

Identification of Needs

Definition of SEND

At Leatherhead Trinity School and Nursery School we use the definitions for SEND and for disability from the SEND Code of Practice (2015).

SEND: 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 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.

The SEND Code of Practice (January 2015) identifies four areas of need (p. 97-98)

• Communication and interaction

• Cognition and learning

• Social, emotional and mental health

• Sensory and/or physical

 

 

 

Support within our provision 

We use inclusive teaching approaches and individual support plans to benefit all pupils. This is in the form of clear, chunked instructions, multisensory teaching, revisiting key skills regularly to firmly embed knowledge and allowing for extra processing time. We use visual timetables, now/next boards, calm and organised working areas, timers and visuals to communicate emotions, all of which reduce anxiety by providing consistency and routine. Communication and language skills are supported by clear and concise sentences modelled by adults throughout the day. We use Colourful Semantics to support sentence structure when writing, Lego Groups and 'Attention Bucket' to increase listening, attention and social skills. Social and emotional support helps our children feel happy, calm and ready to learn. We work through 'The Zones of Regulation' so that children learn to express their emotions and are able to self-regulate using a strategy that works for them. Children feel confident to ask for movement breaks if needed and fidget/sensory objects are always available in our 'calm corner.'

 

Inclusion

It is important that the children remain part of their mainstream year group. If appropriate, they will take part in any outings and any other special class activities.

Timetable 

8.40             Children arrive 

8.50             Registration and fine motor skills activity

9.10             Phonics

10.25           Break 

10.40           Maths

11.30           Guided Reading

12.00           Lunch

12.55           Registration/ Reading

1.15             Attention task/Bucket time

1.30            Wider Curricullum Learning

2.00            Mainstream class activities

3.20            Hometime

How you can help

Encourage your child to read at home as much as possible. We use the RWI scheme, so please make use of any resources sent home. If you need any extra support with reading at home, please ask a member of staff.