Opportunity Base Additional Information

SEN Information for Foresters Primary school ASD Opportunity Base

Name of School	Foresters Primary school ASD Opportunity base
Name of contact person	Ms Wright Head of Base (HOB) Ms Caffrey SENCo
Contact to discuss child needs	The Base Class Teacher is your first point of contact if you have concerns about your child. The Class Teacher will also contact you if they are concerned about your child’s behaviour, emotional well-being, social development, academic progress or anything else. The HOB and SENCo take responsibility for progress of the Base children and addresses any concerns that cannot be addressed by the Class Teacher. The HOB takes responsibility for the operation of the base, its policies, co- ordination of the provision made for individual children, working closely with staff, parents and carers, and other agencies. They ensure that you are kept involved in supporting your child’s learning and kept informed of the support they are getting and how they are doing. Mrs Sims, SEN Governor, has oversight of the school’s arrangements and provision for meeting special educational needs. The school aims to provide for the special educational needs of all our pupils as they are defined in our SEN Policy.
Assessing children	Class Teachers and the senior Leadership Team (SLT) continuously monitor all children’s progress. Children not progressing at the expected rate are identified and additional support or provision provided. Parents and Carers will be contacted by the Class Teacher to discuss concerns about progress. Additional support will be provided if required. This will be carefully targeted and closely monitored to ensure impact. Children have targets they work towards each term and these are identified within their learning journeys, and shared with parents. Class Teachers and HOB regularly hold review meetings to track progress towards outcomes and evaluate interventions. This may happen more regularly if required. Support from external services is available for children continuing to experience significant difficulty as indicated on EHCP’s

Informing parents and carers	Ongoing monitoring by all teachers and SLT, of rates of progress and to ensure we are identifying children not making expected progress. We hold regular review meetings to track progress towards outcomes and evaluate interventions. You will be invited to contribute to these meetings. Additional support is provided as set in EHC plans. This determines how much outside agency support will occur and by which agencies such as SALT, OT, EP etc Annual review meetings with all outside agencies, class teachers and HOB will document changes and achievements within the EHC plan.
Updates on progress	You will receive regular, informal feedback from your child's class teacher through class dojo. Targets are reviewed termly and you will be invited to contribute to these reviews, through discussion with the class teacher. You will be able to attend termly consultation evenings and will receive an annual report. Annual review meetings are held once a year with reception children receiving two annual reviews.
If a child is not making progress	At Foresters Primary school, our children receive excellent, targeted teaching, known as Quality First Teaching. This means that their teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and fully understand the next steps they need to take in order to progress. We teach from a creative curriculum, ensuring that we give our children exciting and varied learning opportunities through a range of interesting topics. Different teaching methods are used in the base so that your child is fully able to access the learning. This may involve using more practical learning methods or use of different resources, for example. A highly structured routine is followed which is supported by visual aids at all times. The TEACCH approach is embedded in our teaching. Children all have their own personalised timetables to follow and learning is on a personalised approach. Our teachers are skilled at adapting and differentiating learning opportunities to ensure they take account of individual pupil needs. A high ratio of adult support allows children to work in both small groups, 2:1 or at a one to one level. Adult support is provided in a focused, planned manner so as to ensure children’s learning is effectively scaffolded whilst still prompting independent learning. Additional or adapted resources are used when needed. Additional support is also provided by professionals from external agencies. We regularly engage with The Educational Psychology Service, Speech and Language Service, Occupational Therapy Service, School Nurse, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and Social Care. The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include: - Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better - Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise - A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group - A group or individual work with outside professional Base Teachers and Teaching Assistants supervise children during break and lunchtime. This allows all of our children to have easy access to staff they are familiar with. Foresters use Zones of Regulation to help children gain skills in the area of self-regulation. Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control, self-management, and impulse control. It is defined as the best state of alertness of both the body and emotions for the specific situation. This approach uses a highly visual method to reinforce different states of alertness and the independent use of strategies to regulate these states. Supporting Pupils with Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties' 1:1 or group activities, directed or led by SALT, which focus on; Listening, attention and memory, Understanding of language, Spoken language , Social understanding and communication, Speech intelligibility. Attention Autism (Magic Bucket) This is a creative and highly effective method of building attention and early communication skills. It teaches these skills using highly engaging, stimulating activities and resources which come from our Magic Bucket. Pre-teaching This method of support involves pre-teaching key elements from lessons, in pupils’ usual books, so that they are prepared for a lesson with some prior knowledge and pre-planning for tasks. This allows further engagement in and builds self-esteem by supporting pupils in contributing to lessons.
Curriculum	At Foresters Primary School all of our children receive excellent, targeted teaching, known as Quality First Teaching. This means that their teacher has the highest possible expectations for your child and fully understands the next steps they need to take in order to progress. We teach from a creative curriculum, ensuring that we give our children exciting and varied learning opportunities through a range of interesting topics. Different teaching methods are used in class so that your child is fully able to access the learning. This may involve using more practical learning methods digital technology, for example. Our teachers are skilled at adapting and differentiating learning opportunities to ensure they take account of individual children’s needs. The teachers provide lessons which are highly motivating, clearly structured with continuous visual support. Throughout activities a range of both SALT and OT skills are incorporated.
Adapting for child needs	Our teachers are skilled at adapting and differentiating learning opportunities to ensure they take account of individual pupil needs. Additional or adapted resources are used when needed. Additional support is also provided by professionals from external agencies. We regularly engage with The Educational Psychology Service, Speech and Language Service, Occupational Therapy Service, School Nurse, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and Social Care. We use an ASD friendly approach with Visual timetables, AAC (augmentative and alternative communication), Attention Autism, Intensive interaction, Occupational Therapy (when stated on EHCP) Speech and Language (when stated on EHCP) Makaton (sign language) and many more strategies and resources
Teacher flexibility on child needs	Individualised learning within a structured timetable which is heavily supported with visuals. Lessons which are highly motivating and engaging based around personalised learning Staff trained in a range of ASD approaches, including the TEACCH approach and basket work, motivator boards, simple language supported with Makaton, Now and Next, Visual timetables etc
Additional support	Intervention groups and integration with our mainstream school for academic lessons and daily playtimes. (This is planned in a personalised manner so as to ensure that it meets the needs of the individual child.) At Foresters Primary school we also offer support from our Family Support Worker, Alice Andrews. She is able to support families with a range of needs.
Learning strategies	Regular teaching of phonics in class Parent support from Family support Worker Small group intervention programmes – Lego therapy, etc. Visual Timetables for class and individuals. Use of Makaton, visuals, now and next boards, Motivation boards and an AAC core board.
Meeting child needs	We review all children's needs on an individual basis and tailor our response accordingly. We will keep parents and carers informed at every step and value their input in how to support their child. As mentioned previously, we are able to offer a vast range of support strategies to help our pupils. Regular contact through dojo. Two parent evening consultations, written report, annual review meetings and reports from outside support agencies such as SALT and OT.
Access to exams	We always help to support our children with their emotional, social and behaviour needs so as to ensure there are no barriers to their learning. For example, children have access to communication cards, cool-down areas in their classroom and can access resources. All children will take the phonics screening test in year 1 and the year 4 multiplication tests. We will enter these children for KS2 SATS based upon their current level of attainment and ability to access the papers.
Additional support or time for exams	All children will take the phonics screening test in year 1 and the year 4 multiplication test. We will enter these children for KS2 SATS based upon their current level of attainment and ability to access the papers. Children who access the tests will have additional time, regular breaks and complete the test 1:1 with a familiar adult.
Comfort, safety and socialising	Teachers and Teaching Assistants supervise children during break and lunchtime. This allows all of our children to have easy access to staff they are familiar We provide targeted emotional support in the form of SALT, Social groups and through our daily busy time. Social interaction is taught discretely on a daily basis. Children integrate with mainstream support at both lunchtime and playtime.
Developing social & emotional skills	Social stories, adult interaction and social groups. The set up of the base encourages children to socialise, make choices, share and communicate through our busy board used throughout each day.
Early Help Support in the Community (Tier 2)	Family Support Worker, social skills groups, and support from outside agencies where appropriate.
Bullying	We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our children so they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, all children should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. We ensure that our children are equipped with the skills to manage difficult situations.
Disability support	We fulfil our duties under the Equalities Act 2010. All steps in school have high visibility edging. Toilets are available for wheelchair users. Two Sensory rooms are available for children with Sensory impairment or Sensory needs. Reasonable adjustments are made with resources, for example adjusted reading materials or provision of technology to support learning. All classrooms have wheelchair access.
Accessing lessons	We fulfil our duties under the Equalities Act 2010.. All steps in school have high visibility edging. Toilets are available for wheelchair users. Reasonable adjustments are made with resources, for example adjusted reading materials or provision of technology to support learning.
Who we work with	Additional support is also provided by professionals from external agencies. We regularly engage with The Educational Psychology Service, Speech and Language Service, Occupational Therapy Service, Sensory Impairment service, Speech, Language and Communication Needs Service, School Nurse, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and Social Care.
Working with other agencies	The specialist professional will work with your child to understand their needs and make recommendations, which may include:- ● Making changes to the way your child is supported in class e.g. some individual support or changing some aspects of teaching to support them better, e.g. workstations. ● Support to set better targets which will include their specific expertise ● A group run by school staff under the guidance of the outside professional e.g. a social skills group- Lego therapy ● A group or individual work with outside professional
Informing parents and carers	We will be discussing any concerns we have with regards to your child's progress or learning needs, with you on a regular basis. If we feel the support we are able to provide in school is not having the impact we would like then we will discuss with you a referral to an external professional. This will be done with your permission
Helping your child settle with confidence	Pre visits to the base are arranged for the child to visit initially with parents and then for a few stay and plays independently. A transition booklet is sent home with the child for parents to share the photographs of the school, the classroom and staff. On starting the base, a settling in period is used depending on individual needs. This may be a few mornings, then staying for lunch before starting full time. We always work at the pace of the individual child.
Extended School Day	Base children can access a free breakfast club from 8.30 am. Children can also join lunchtime and after school clubs Children can also access on site wraparound care through Orchard childcare. This is a breakfast club from 7.15am and an after school club that runs until 6pm.
Policies	Relevant policies can be found on the school website.
Updated January 2026	Updated January 2026

This is a highly inclusive school. Pupils placed in the large SEN unit are welcomed and supported to participate in all that the school has to offer.

Ofsted, March 2023