Special/Additional Needs

Every child is special, and every child is welcomed to our school.  We aim to meet any child’s special needs wherever possible, and we have resources such as large care suites, platform lifts, sensory rooms and calm spaces in order to help us to include as many children as practicable.  We have a very good local reputation for inclusion with particular strengths in supporting pupils with Autism, Speech, Language and Communication Needs, Dyslexia, Physical Disabilities and Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs.  We have many more children with identified special needs and associated Funding For Inclusion than the Leeds average. In 2023, Ofsted described our provision for children with SEND as ‘exceptional’.

We have an SEND Team that works to identify children who need additional support which is ‘different from and additional to.’   Every child on the special needs register has an Individual Provision Map which identifies their strengths, difficulties and provision in place.  If a child’s special needs are very significant, it may be possible to access further resources from Leeds City Council.  Regular contact is made with appropriate support services to help us with diagnostic assessments and educational programmes of work. We have strong partnerships with many outside agencies including: SENIT (Special Educational Needs Inclusion Team), NHS Speech Language Therapy Services and STARS (Specialist Teachers Autism Response Service).

We work hard to ensure we have strong partnerships with parents through regular communication. In addition to this we hold planned termly meetings for every child on the SEND register. In these formal meetings, parents meet with the child’s class teacher to discuss the additional provision that is in place, interventions and the progress the child is making.

At Farsley Farfield Primary School we have a non-class based SENDCO and one-day-a-week Speech and Language Therapist from ‘Away with Words’.  Our SEND Team is led by Mrs Swindlehurst, our SENDCO, and she can be contacted by email: lucy.swindlehurst@farsleyfarfield.org.uk .  From January 2025, the SEND team will be led by Mr Hemming (the deputy head), although Mrs Swindlehurst will remain as an advisor to school for one day a week for the remainder of the 24-25 academic year.

Leeds’ ‘Local Offer’ for families with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities can be found here:  http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages/Leeds-Local-Offer.aspx

Farsley Farfield’s formal ‘SEND Offer’  can be found here.

Our whole school provision map is below:

To view the Farsley Farfield Primary School SEND Policy, please click here.

To view our Individual Provision Maps (IPM) template, please click here.

To view the SEND report 2023, please click here.