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September 2018 – remainder of new flooring in Key Stage 2
- February 2019 - New staffroom kitchen
- March 2019 – New ramps and handrails for Extra Club
Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty that calls for additional and different provision to be made for them. Children have a learning difficulty if they:
- Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.
- Have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age.
- Are under compulsory school age and fall within the definitions above or would do if special educational provision was not made for them. (2014 SEN Code of Practice)
The four broad ‘areas of need’ are defined as: Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties, and Sensory and Physical Needs.
Blakehill currently employs two SEND coordinator (SENDCO) who have the overall responsibility for the provision and outcomes for our SEND pupils in school. Both SENDCOs have completed the SENDCO Award. The SENDCOs work closely together whilst one oversees ks1 and foundation stage whilst the other oversees ks2 provision.
Children on the SEN register are given personal targets and these form their IEPs which are then shared with parents.
Significant events / changes
The has been a trend showing that the number of children with SEN is increasing each year with a higher number of children with SEN entering in reception classes. Despite the increased numbers of children on the SEN register, Blakehill is still below the national average in this area.
After many years of having 1.1 support for children with SEN, which showed little progress for individual children, we decided to take a new approach to providing provision to children with complex needs.
In September 2018 we opened the SEN hub aimed at providing a personalised curriculum to children with complex needs. This was with a ratio of 1 adult to 3 children to replace the model of 1.1. Recent research has indicated that 1.1 support reduced the progress made in the areas of: social and emotional development, independence and speech and language. In its first year, the hub received praise from a number of professionals such as speech and language specialists, behaviour support teams and the educational psychologist.
The morning sessions had a 6 children who had a personalised curriculum for maths, reading, phonics and writing and the afternoon session providing life skills for a range of children with emotional difficulties.
The progress made by pupils in the hub was higher than the previous model of 1.1.
A member of hub staff had a long period of absence in the summer term and made the decision. Which caused some instability.
Acting on parent feedback, The hub now have a their own school council representative and hub staff give awards based on individual targets in Monday’s assembly.
Bradford LA has moved from using the Range Guidance to now using the Bradford Matrix of Need. This has been shared with staff during staff meeting time.
The hub has worked closely with the parents and have held open mornings to offer parents the opportunity to work alongside their child.
Current SEN Register and EHCPs
- Number of children on register – 49
- Number of EHCPs (Education, Health & Care Plan) in place – 4
- Number of EHCP awaiting drafts – 2
- Number of EHCPs requests to be submitted – ( 3 )
- Number of children likely to need an EHCP request next year (7)
The number of children requiring an EHCP is increasing meaning that 1.1 would not be a possibility in the future.
Both of the children with draft EHCPs are moving to new schools before September 2019.
Although the children on the SEN register don’t always make the age related expectations, we found that all children on the SEN register made good or outstanding progress. This was due to Quality First Teaching and adaptations to teaching styles.
SENCO monitoring showed that Teaching assistants were deployed more effectively and the support given was meaningful.
Both SENDCOs and the head teacher attended training on SEN self-evaluation and found that Blakehill had many strengths.
Outcomes at the end of KS2 showed that children on the SEN register had made outstanding progress. The attainment and progress of SEND pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2019 was well above the group nationally. 71% achieved Age Related in reading (national SEN support 41%), 43% in writing (national SEN support 39%) and 71% in maths (national SEN support 46%). SEN support pupils made excellent progress in reading over Key Stage 2 of 6.6 (national SEN support -1), made -1.4 progress in writing (national SEN support -1.7) and made very strong maths progress of 6.1 (national SEN support -1).
We continue to have a strong leadership capability which allows for the development of skills, abilities and flexibility of all staff to meet the changing needs of our children. We have also continued to provide additional resources for support roles to optimise teacher’s time teaching. This strategy is helping us to improve the school environment.
| Financial Year | Funding Received | Total Expenditure | Carry Forward Balance Carry forward % |
| 2017/18 | £1,838,480 | £1,859,369 | £79,757 4.71% |
| 2018/19 | £1,895,534 | £1,894,721 | £80,571 4.76% |
| 2019/20* | £1,929,287 | 1,915,782 | £94,076 5.37% |
*Estimated figures
The PP is identifiable and each school receives a different amount from the local authority. One factor that is used to determine the amount of PP given to schools is the number of children receiving free school meals. Blakehill receives amongst the least amount in our locality of Bradford East 1. Total funding for PP in 18/19 is ££106,865 for a school with approximately 420 pupils. We spend our PP on providing after-school clubs, interventions, additional staff to support school activities and school uniform subsidies.
Primary School Sports Funding provided a grant of £19,600 which allows us to provide additional support throughout the school. We provide additional after-school clubs too for all years groups.
The attainment and progress of pupils at Blakehill continue to be significantly above national standards with a three year average attainment score in reading, writing and mathematics in KS2 in the highest 20% of all schools.
The proportion of pupils who met the expected standard in phonics in year 1 (97%) in 2019, is yet again, significantly above national and in the highest 20% of all schools,
These excellent pupil outcomes reflect the high standards and quality education at Blakehill Primary School.
Pupils at Blakehill study the full curriculum and we are proud of the wonderfully rich curriculum opportunities that we provide. All teachers have a deep understanding of the subjects that they teach and all staff have positive attitudes to seeking support in their pursuit of providing curriculum excellence.
Subject leadership and curriculum development continues to be a school improvement priority at Blakehill, with leaders focused on constructing a curriculum that has a positive and measurable impact on pupil outcomes and their enjoyment of school life.
Our governing body comprises of 13 governors from various backgrounds including parents, local business people and staff. I’m very proud that our governing body is a group of very committed and highly enthusiastic people who enjoy volunteering at Blakehill and supporting the school’s continuous improvement.
Our governing body are very active in school and spend time visiting, volunteering and helping where they can.
I know that our governing body are proud to be governors at Blakehill because it is a good school and our children receive high quality teaching and achieve their potential.
I’d like to thank our governing body, the management and staff for their continued support and commitment to Blakehill Primary School.
Chair of Governors
Blakehill Primary School