Welcome to our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities page.  I am Claire Newman, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) at St Aldhelm's Church School.  I have been the SENDCo here for 15 years.  I am very proud of the nurturing and inclusive environment we provide, as well as the support our school offers.

It is important to us that we work closely together to support your child in achieving their full potential.  There are close links between families and school staff, with regular communication in the families preferred form.  This can be through emails, Class Dojo private messages, phone conversations and face-to-face meetings.

Further Information

Please click on the document links below to learn about the provision that is made at St. Aldhelm's Church School for children with Special Educational Needs:

Please also see the link below for Somerset's SEND Local Offer on their website: https://www.somerset.gov.uk/children-families-and-education/the-local-offer/

The organisations below offer services for parents/carers of children with special needs:

Somerset Parent Carer Forum  

The Somerset Parent Carer Forum began in October 2012 with an independent group of parent carers united by their experiences, passion and commitment to ensuring that parent carers are invited and empowered to participate in decision-making in the Local Authority Health Service and ultimately Government. Visit: http://www.somersetpcf.org.uk

Somerset SENDIAS (Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support) 

Somerset SENDIAS provides information, advice and support about special educational needs and disability (SEND) for parent carers, children and young people (up to the age of 25).
The service is free, confidential and impartial. Visit: https://somersetsend.org.uk/

Other useful links

You may also find these web documents of interest and assistance. To return to this page after opening the Code of Practice links, please click the back arrow on the Code of Practice webpage that you have opened.

• SEND-Code of Practice is the Code of Practice set out by the government.

Click here: SEND Code of Practice.pdf

• Support Services for Education is a website that shows upcoming courses run in Somerset, which include those for parents.  Although as a school we will provide details of courses for parents that we are made aware of, you can also look on the website yourself by opening the link.

Click here:  http://www.supportservicesforeducation.co.uk

Exciting developments ahead!

We are excited to show the progress of our Wellbeing Garden.

It all started with a competition during ADHD Awareness Month.  The three children above won the competition with their fantastic designs.  This included a calming space to relax at busy time like break and lunch.  From this, the Advocacy Group continued to raise funds and win the Tesco Blue Token Scheme. This allowed us to transform a disused area in the school into a designated wellbeing area; this included the purchase of a shepherd's hut.

In collaboration with EtaVoni,  our Advocacy Group designed further items for our wellbeing area. We are so thankful for their support and the amazing installations they have created from the children's designs. 

  

Please click on our 'Mental Health and Wellbeing' section on the menu in the top right corner for more information.