Meet the Send Governor
Name: Claire Cannon
Role: Finance / SEND governor
Category: Community Governor

I joined Little Paxton governors in March 2023, initially as finance governor and as of May 2023, also SEND governor. I will also be part of the data committee and Headteacher performance management process.
I am an Assistant Headteacher at the Academy of Central Bedfordshire which is an Alternative Provision for secondary age students who have been excluded from school. Prior to this I was a SENDCO for 6.5 years as well as staff governor in a previous school. I am due to complete my professional coach training in Summer 2023 and have a coaching business, working with school staff on developing leadership and wellbeing. I currently live near Ampthill and if all goes to plan, I will move to Honeydon in Summer 2023. I enjoy spending time outdoors with my dogs – running, hiking and camping. I also volunteer as an assessor for Pets as Therapy, helping to get dogs into schools and other settings to support with wellbeing. I have worked in middle, secondary and alternative education in the Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes area for 16 years and have been a staff governor previously. I wanted to find out about and support colleagues in primary education and build links with a community in a location near to where I am soon to move to.

I look forward to being able to use my SEND and previous governor experience to support the staff in their ongoing efforts to provide the best education they can for your children.

Most children will have their special educational needs met through Quality First Teaching. At Little Paxton Primary School, we follow the graduated approach of ‘Asses, Plan, Do, Review’. This consists of assessing a child’s special educational needs through observation, assessment data and conversations involving parents and/or carers, teachers and the SENDCO. We produce SEND Learning Plans that set targets for your child, describe the targeted provision and parents and carers are invited to attend regular SEND Parents Evenings where they can be fully involved in the process of setting and reviewing targets within the SEND Learning Plans. Some children may also attend interventions that aim to close the gap between them and their peers and support them to fulfil their potential. These are tracked and monitored by the SENDCO. We offer a range of small group and one-to-one SEND interventions and curriculum interventions at Little Paxton and as an inclusive school, we aim to remove barriers to learning and promote high standards for all. 

In addition to providing high quality teaching and personalised interventions, staff are given access to regular training opportunities by specialists in their field to enable them to understand how to support children with a diverse range of needs, including those on EHC plans. The SENDCO also liaises with speech and language therapists, education inclusion family advisors and educational psychologists to gain support and specialist advice. There are also opportunities throughout the year for parents and carers to attend the Little Paxton SEND forum and for children with SEND to attend an additional transition session at the start of the new school year to help them settle into their new learning environment and meet their new teacher. In addition to this, we offer several sporting opportunities for children with SEND to take part in with other schools across our local community. 

INTERVENTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH SEND

Attention Autism
Attention Autism Developed by speech and language therapist, Gina Davies, aims to develop natural and spontaneous communication through the use of visually based and highly motivating activities.

Time To Talk
This is a program that can be used to help children improve their spoken and social interaction skills, to help children express themselves, follow instructions and interact socially with others.

Identiplay

Identiplay This is a play-based approach to speech and language therapy. It uses play scripts to promote social skills, understanding, imagination and exploration in children with autism and/or communication difficulties.

Lego Club
Through participation in Lego Club, children learn and practice a range of social skills such as: working in a team, sharing and turn-taking, negotiating with peers, listening to instructions and engaging in conversations.

Feelings and Emotions
This intervention supports children to recognise their feelings and provides them with tailored strategies and techniques to regulate their emotions.

Word Aware
This is a structured approach to support spoken and written vocabulary development in children of primary age.

Cosmic Kids Yoga

Interactive adventures that build strength, balance and confidence. Inspiration taken from children’s films, books and superhero characters provides an impressive background to the developmental needs of children.

Sensory Circuits
Sensory circuits incorporates sensory-based, alerting, organising and calming activities which are great for children with sensory processing difficulties, ADHD and autism and prepares children for a day of learning!

Circle Time
This intervention is used to help develop positive relationships between children, their social skills, improve self-esteem and can lead to improvements in speaking and listening skills.

Lexonik
A six-step intervention programme which progresses phonics, reading and spelling.

Fizzy Fingers
A play-based activity enhancing fine motor skills through manipulation of games and puzzles. It can improve dexterity in managing pencils, paintbrushes, typing on a keyboard and tying shoelaces.

Nessy Fingers
This is a multi-sensory spelling and touch-typing program that helps learners improve their writing, spelling and keyboard skills, leading to the learner acquiring basic touch-typing skills.

Cued Spelling
Incorporates the methods of paired reading and using simple techniques, strategies and prompts, Cued Spelling uses the methods of paired reading to help children spell more accurately.

Colourful Semantics
This intervention is commonly used in speech therapy and helps children develop skills to support spoken and written language learning across the curriculum. Each part of a sentence is given a colour and this is associated with a question prompt.

Metacognition and Working Memory
Helps children to develop an awareness of how they personally learn and helps them to understand which strategies work most effectively for them to retain information.

SALT
Following the speech and language therapist’s advice, we continue to offer targeted support to children in order to maintain the work achieved during NHS SALT sessions.

Pre-Teaching
A strategy that involves teaching children the concepts or skills, shortly before they are introduced to them in the classroom setting, to lay the foundations for learning in advance.

SEND Gardening Club
A club designed for children with SEND to engage with the sensory aspects of growing a garden, learn teamwork and discover learning in a unique outdoor environment, sparking creativity and imagination.

We are delighted to have The Treehouse, our nurture room at Little Paxton Primary School. The Treehouse is a safe space to support children who may not be ready for learning as a result of feeling emotionally disregulated and need to self-regulate. Some children may complete their work there for a short amount of time if they are struggling to focus in the classroom or they may use the space to have a few minutes brain break.

We support children to recognise their feelings and emotions, we have gentle discussions around possible triggers and we provide them with tailored strategies and techniques to self-regulate. The space is also used to support with transition to the classroom in the morning and children can choose colouring, reading, engaging in communicative games with peers, talking to a trusted adult or just sitting quietly to process their thoughts. The Treehouse is also available during lunch time for any children who find the playground overwhelming.

By offering personalised interventions in groups and on an individual basis, we believe that The Treehouse is a valuable tool that supports children’s mental health at Little Paxton Primary School. We welcome all feelings and emotions here.

SEND Policy

SEND Information Report

Mrs Justyna Shirley is our Inclusion and Family Worker.

Dyslexia

https://cdn.bdadyslexia.org.uk/uploads/documents/Empowered-Parents-2021.pdf?v=1623937986

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/

https://www.callscotland.org.uk/assets/files/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-dyslexia.pdf

https://cdn.bdadyslexia.org.uk/uploads/documents/Advice/Help-Child/Parents_BookletLandscapev2_2.pdf?v=1554738568

https://www.nessy.com/en-gb/dyslexia-explained/free-learning-resources

Autism

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/a/aspergers-syndrome-and-autism/

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/hannah-more-infant-and-grove-junior/UploadedDocument/a9c0dc09722b42bc8ef9a422714b608c/question-cards-for-conversation-practise.pdf

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/hannah-more-infant-and-grove-junior/UploadedDocument/70b199b67a7549a6a7ad1e9de4f010d2/top-tips-supporting-children-with-asd.pdf

https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/hannah-more-infant-and-grove-junior/UploadedDocument/61d34e08174d4b60b58be3cbf915e9bc/useful-phrases-communication-fan.pdf

Information for parents
https://www.thesendcast.com/sendcast-episodes/

https://nasen.org.uk/

https://send.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/kb5/cambridgeshire/directory/site.page?id=MR9QIFVa_9Q

Listening activities for children
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio/andys-sound-adventures-democratic-republic-of-congo

SEMH
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/c/calming-mindfulness/

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/f/feelings/

https://www.compass-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/regulating-emotions-easy-read.pdf

https://www.compass-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/All-healthy-eating-activities.pdf

https://cwrise.com/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n6267.pdf&ver=8527

https://cwrise.com/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n6266.pdf&ver=8526

https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/product-category/free-resources/

Resources for use at home
https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/hannah-more-infant-and-grove-junior/UploadedDocument/7c5d665af15148089b2446a18542f4e9/t-c-081-visual-timetable-for-home_ver_5.pdf

https://www.duckduckmoose.com/learn/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/see-touch-learn/id406826506

https://www.typingclub.com/