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Swiss Gardens Primary School

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Our school

Inclusion at Swiss Gardens.

An inclusive school that supports every child to reach their potential — including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Our position

Every child, every day.

Swiss Gardens is an inclusive school that enables all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), to reach their potential. We work in partnership with pupils, parents and carers to develop our provision continually.

Our practices and procedures are embedded into school life so children's special educational needs are identified swiftly. We consider every child when we plan, and provide a curriculum that is accessible to all, whatever their individual needs.

We acknowledge that some pupils require additional support to access the full curriculum. Where appropriate, we use a range of strategies to give them that access — matched to the child, reviewed regularly, and shaped by what families tell us about how their child is getting on.

The SEND and Inclusion team

Who's here to help.

Five specialists work alongside the class teachers across the school. Talk to your child's class teacher first; for anything you'd like to take further, contact any member of the team via the school office.

Mrs Older

SENCO and Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion and Safeguarding

Mrs Bolton

Interventions Lead

Mrs Taylor

ELSA — Emotional Literacy Support Assistant

Mrs Halfpenny

Mental health and wellbeing co-ordinator

Mrs Horne

Play therapist

SEND coffee mornings

Friendly, informal coffee mornings each term for parents of children with SEND, led by Mrs Older with Mrs Halfpenny and Mrs Bolton. Each one has a guest speaker from a local support service. Come along to ask questions and meet other parents.

Next: Tuesday 20 October, 9.00am in the Library. The Learning Behaviour Advisory Team will talk about ADHD.

For wellbeing programmes that run alongside SEND support — ELSA, Mary's Garden as a calm space, Wellbeing Room sessions — see the Wellbeing page.

SEND documents

Read it for yourself.

The full school documents covering SEND policy, our Information Report, accessibility, and how the school applies its SEND intent.

Beyond the school

Local Offer and family support.

Every local authority publishes a Local Offer setting out the support available for children and young people with SEND. West Sussex's is below, alongside resources we recommend to families.

A practical guide for parents

Dyslexia and processing.

A short guide our SEND team puts together for parents of children with dyslexia or processing differences. Expand each section below to read.

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is actually about information processing. Dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills. Dyslexia can also impact on other areas such as organisational skills.

Top tips to support your child
  • Encourage your child to recognise and pursue what they're good at — do more of what they enjoy. Then support them with the things they find difficult.
  • Allow them to use a word processor for some written tasks — it highlights spelling errors and offers alternatives. If they can't type, encourage learning so they can use a word processor with more speed and fluency.
  • Play games to support memory and retention — pairs, Go Fish, similar.
  • Enable access to age-related audiobooks to develop a love of reading. Listen alongside them where you can; ask what's happening, share excitement, wonder aloud what will happen next. Vocabulary and comprehension grow without anyone realising it's "learning".
  • Read alternate pages with them. Some books, read for pleasure to them — invite them to read a section if they want to. Make the experience as pleasurable as you can. A love of books usually leads to wanting to read.
Parent resources we recommend

Videos and resources for parents

Sensory processing and autism.

Short videos from local NHS and specialist teams, with ideas you can use at home.

Sensory processing

The children's occupational therapy team at Sussex Community NHS has made a series of 18 short videos for parents, carers and schools on supporting children with sensory processing needs. They cover a range of sensory strategies and advice.

Watch the sensory videos

Autism: bite-sized training videos

The Autism and Social Communication Team has made a series of short videos:

Resources to support learning at home
  • Autism and communication — support and strategies from the National Autistic Society
  • Timestables.co.uk — a great alternative to TT Rockstars, with no login and none of the time pressure some children find tricky

A practical guide for parents

ADHD.

What ADHD is, and simple ways to help at home.

What is ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects people's behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating and may act on impulse.

Symptoms of ADHD tend to be noticed at an early age and may become more noticeable when a child's circumstances change, such as when they start school. Most cases are diagnosed when children are 6 to 12 years old. People with ADHD may also have additional problems, such as sleep and anxiety disorders.

Top tips to support your child
  • Offer routines and structure.
  • Create a quiet space for them to learn, with no distractions.
  • Give them something to fiddle with while you're talking to them or when you want them to focus. It can also help to let them move around while they listen.
  • Ask them to do one task at a time.
  • Provide checklists or visual timetables to support organisation.
  • Use timers to help with time management, and build in frequent movement breaks.
  • Suggest rather than criticise. Children with ADHD can often have low self-esteem.
  • Provide lots of opportunities for exercise and movement.
  • Set up a reward scheme to encourage them and support their behaviour.
  • Build on success, and help them do more of what they enjoy.
  • Put clear boundaries in place.
Further support

Emotional wellbeing

Zones of Regulation.

We recognise how important positive mental health and emotional wellbeing are for our children and their families. We aim to create an open culture around talking about mental health and wellbeing, and to help our children learn to regulate their emotions. We use the Zones of Regulation programme across the school, teaching children to identify emotions in themselves and others and giving them a bank of strategies to help regulate their emotions and improve their wellbeing.

The Zones of Regulation uses four colours to help children identify how they're feeling. It helps them better understand their emotions, sensory needs and thinking patterns, and learn strategies to manage their emotions depending on which zone they're in. It also helps children recognise their own triggers, read facial expressions, develop problem-solving skills, and understand how their actions affect other people.

Health advice

Health advice for families.

Up-to-date advice on everyday health questions, from the NHS and the Sleep Charity. If you're worried about your child's health, talk to your GP.

Want to talk about your child?

Speak to your child's class teacher first. For anything to take further, the school office will put you in touch with Mrs Older or another member of the SEND and Inclusion team.

Call the school office Email the school office