Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND)

Southmead’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Hub

Our school motto, ‘Proud to Belong’, is at the heart of everything that we do at Southmead Primary School and inclusion and belonging is intrinsically embedded throughout our day to day school life. 

In order to ensure that this is possible for all our pupils, including those with special educational needs, we make evidence based adaptations in order to support them. This is delivered through universal, targeted and specialist support.

Please see our 2026 SEND report for more information.

We use the Wandsworth Ordinarily Available Provision booklet to support our SEND provision across the school

At Southmead our Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) is Nicolle Atkin. She has her NASENCo qualification. She can be contacted on 0208 788 8901.

Her email is senco@southmead.wandsworth.sch.uk

 

COGNITION AND LEARNING

Spellings (please click on the image below)

Maths (please click on the image below)

Reading (please click on the image below)

PHYSICAL

Gross motor control  (please click on the image below)

Fine motor control  (please click on the image below)

Disabled Access

The school welcomes pupils, parents and visitors with disabilities. We endeavour to ensure that disabled pupils are fully integrated into the life of the school.  Within the limitations of financial constraints we will provide facilities and resources for children with specific physical needs so they can join in the full range of educational and social activities.

For more information please also read the Accessibility Plan.  

 

We have the following facilities available for pupils, parents or visitors with disabilities: 

  • Ramped areas for wheelchair access
  • Three toilets equipped for wheelchair access
  • One toilet area equipped with hoist and bed
  • Visible fire alarms for hard of hearing (in parts of the school)
  • Access to the carpark to one disabled parking spaces for Blue Badge holders

Accessibility plans and ‘reasonable adjustments’

The school seeks to make itself as accessible as it can possibly be to pupils with physical disabilities. Our accessibility plan sets out how the school intends to:

  • improve our physical environment
  • make improvements in the provision of information
  • increase access to the curriculum.

Understanding the curriculum

The school always aims to provide optimum access to the curriculum for pupils with special educational needs or physical disabilities.

We seek to look at the best way in which to help pupils access their learning in all areas and ensure that they have full access to a vibrant and engaging curriculum. We also seek to make any appropriate modifications to the physical environment of the school in order to ensure that all pupils are able to take part in all areas of learning. In Computing lessons for example, the school purchases keyboards and whiteboards which help pupils with particular needs access the curriculum and we may purchase software that connects words with pictures.

School transport

While the same basic rules apply to all children, the Education Authority can make a decision to provide transport on a case by case basis for a child with disabilities.

Your Education Authority region office will assess your child’s needs when making a decision, taking into account your child’s health and/or disability. If your child is offered school transport, the vehicle should have the relevant equipment to suit your child’s needs – for example wheelchair restraints, ramps or lifts.

For more detailed information about approved transport arrangement, please refer to your local Education Authority region office Transfer Booklet.

The Education Authority also provide escorts on school transport if needed. You may be able to get help with your own costs for taking your child to school. Your Education Authority region office will be able to advise you on these matters.

If your child cannot attend school for medical reasons

If your child cannot go to school because of medical needs or health problems, the Education Authority will be able to provide advice and guidance on how the needs of your child may be best met. Please find more information in our policies section.

Wandsworth Local Offer

The changes in the Children and Families Bill affect the way children with special educational needs (SEN) are supported in schools. The approach began in September 2014 and places pupils at the centre of planning.  The key principles of the new legislation are:

1.     Young people and their families should be involved in discussions about the support they need, so they can share their knowledge and feed back to the school on the young person’s progress.

2.     Education, health and care plans (EHCP) will replace statements of special educational needs. New assessments for additional educational needs will follow the EHC guidelines from September 2014. (Existing statements will remain in force until all children and young people have completed the transition, which will be within three years).

3.     School Action and School Action Plus will cease and be replaced by a single school-based category for children who need extra specialist support.

Please click on the link below for further information.

http://fis.wandsworth.gov.uk/kb5/wandsworth/fsd/localoffer.page

SEND Allkind

SEND family support service – This service supports and empowers parents and carers of children with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities (aged 0-19).

It offers advice and information to help you find the right services for your family. We know that families have different challenges, so our support is designed to be flexible. Whether it’s assistance with benefits issues or any other concern, we can offer support to meet your family’s changing needs. 

Follow this link for more information: SEND AllKind

Wandsworth Vision Support Service

Wandsworth Vision Support Service provides support to any children within our school who have a visual impairment. Those children whose visual impairment is minor will be supported without the need for an EHCP, while those who will require a higher level of support may need assessment for an EHCP.

The service seeks to ensure that children with visual impairments are fully included in their classes and our school.
Support content is dependent on need but is likely to include assessment and advice to school staff as well as direct work with your child.

For further information please click below:

 

Wandsworth Vision Support Service

WAAS - Wandsworth Autistic Advisory Service

The Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service or WAAS for short is a single multi professional team that supports schools, settings and families in Wandsworth to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people with autism. The service supports education settings to enable all children with Autism/ social communication differences to achieve their full potential.

WAAS supports:

All parents with a child with autism/social communication difficulties, or those who are on the specialist pathway (undergoing a assessment for autism) can access this level of support.

What support is offered at this level?

Coffee Mornings – These are free for any parent of a CYP who has a diagnosis of autism (or is on the pathway for assessment). They provide a casual setting with no set agenda for parents to come and ask any questions and also share experiences with other parents.

Parent Workshops – These are events which are run by professionals within the WAAS team and will focus on a particular area of need. They will focus on understanding more about autism and offer strategies to support parenting with a space to ask questions at the end.

Every term, WAAS offer a range of parent workshops. Visit WAAS – Parents and Carers to find out what support may be on offer for you and your child.

Inclusion Quality Mark

We are delighted to announce that we continue to be an IQM Flagship School! This is in recognition of the wonderful work our school does for Inclusion and the leadership role we play in developing inclusion best practice across a network of schools. Only around 100 schools in the country hold this award so we are very proud!

Click here to see the IQM Flagship Report for Southmead.

  • “It was evident that inclusion is not viewed as an initiative, but as the foundation of the school’s work.”

  • “There is a strong sense that inclusion is lived and felt across the school. The ethos of Thrive is evident in the way pupils are valued, supported, and encouraged to succeed. There is warmth, pride, and a genuine sense of belonging. Pupils with additional and complex needs are included fully in school life and access the same rich learning opportunities as their peers through carefully personalised support.”

  • “The school continues to move from strength to strength in terms of its superb inclusive practice”

    From our latest IQM report (April 2026).

 

Please click here to read our most recent IQM report.

Please click here to read the April 2025 report.

Please click here to read the February 2024 report.

Please click here to read the February 2023 report.

error: Content is protected !!