Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

Lucy Byrne

Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator – ‘SENDCo’

lucy.byrne@acexcellence.co.uk

I am delighted to be working at Brixham Primary in the role of SENDCo.

For 20 years, I have been a teacher within the primary age range, having specialised in Early Years. Across both Key stages, I have led PSHCE and behaviour management. I have always had a passion for SEND provision and qualified as a SENDCO in 2019. I have a strong commitment to working in partnership with staff, parents and carers in order to provide the best provision for our pupils.

I have a passion for children's literature and outdoor learning, including forest school. In my spare time, I enjoy kayaking and exploring beaches with my family.

A pupil has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

They have a learning difficulty or disability if they have:

A significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
A disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools

Special educational provision is 'additional to, or different from' that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the school SENDCo. lucy.byrne@acexcellence.co.uk

The Reef room has been set up as a nurture hub and an alternative provision space in school.

Planning for the Reef reflects our ACE pedagogy and aims to create a safe, nurturing environment, helping children develop social skills, emotional regulation, and positive relationships in school.

The Zones of Regulation is a curriculum that teaches individuals, particularly children, to understand and manage their own emotions and sensory needs through four color-coded zones: Blue (low energy), Green (calm and focused), Yellow (heightened energy and emotion), and Red (extreme emotions). It provides strategies and tools for individuals to recognize their emotional state, identify triggers, and learn how to move between zones to achieve a calm, focused state, or "Green Zone," where they are best prepared to learn and handle situations.

SEND – Useful Information:

Lego Therapy

Lego therapy is a fun and effective way to help children with Autism or social interaction difficulties develop collaborative play skills. In practice, children work in groups of three with each participant having a distinct role to build a Lego model collaboratively:

Engineers use the Lego instructions and ask the Supplier for the specific pieces of Lego needed.
Suppliers gives the Builder the pieces.
Builders follow the building instructions from the Engineer in order to construct the model.

ELSA

ELSA stands for Emotional Literacy Support Assistant, a trained school staff member who helps children and young people with social and emotional difficulties. ELSA programs are ran 1:1 and in small groups and typically run for six weeks at a time.