UPDATE 6 Coronavirus: Special SEND arrangements

4 May

Dear Parent/Carer

Following the closure of schools from the 23rd March 2020 Government guidelines stated:

Vulnerable children include those who have a social worker and those children and young people up to the age of 25 with education, health and care (EHC) plans.

Those with an EHC plan should be risk-assessed by their school in consultation with the local authority (LA) and parents, to decide whether they need to continue to be offered a school or college place in order to meet their needs, or whether they can safely have their needs met at home. This could include, if necessary, carers, therapists or clinicians visiting the home to provide any essential services. Many children and young people with EHC plans can safely remain at home.

In order to ensure that our pupils with EHC plans are supported we have consulted families with regards to whether or not their child needs to attend school. We have ensured that the expectations for work being done at home is understood and that pupils can access the work being set by school staff. As a school we are making daily check-in phone calls to ensure that pupil’s outcomes are kept at the forefront and that their emotional needs are being met. The SENCO (Claire Cobb) makes weekly contact with parents of those children who have EHCPs in addition to the check-in phone calls. Work set by class teachers takes in to account the needs of the pupils in their classes and is open-ended in nature to allow pupils to engage with and further their own learning.

The following Letter to Parents details more completely what your obligations and entitlements are and how we can work together to fulfil those. Please read

We realise that these are difficult times for everyone. If you have any concerns or queries please contact Lee Wright (Executive Headteacher) or Claire Cobb (SENCO) for more details. both can be reached by e mail at:

lee@castleseducation.co.uk.

clairecobb@castleseducation.co.uk.