SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) Information

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Our Special Educational Needs Co ordinator(SENCO) is Mrs Rachel Sanders.

To find out more about Oxfordshire County Council’s local offer please visit:

For any parents seeking additional support or advice regarding SEN, SENDIASS in Oxfordshire exists to empower and enable parents to take an active part in their child’s education.

Support for children who may feel anxious

Sometimes a child might struggle significantly in attending school due to heightened levels of emotions such as anxiety. This can result in significant absence from school and impacts the child’s learning, relationships and well-being.

The guides below, written by Oxfordshire Educational Psychology Service, may help in understanding and addressing these feelings.

If your child is beginning to experience anxiety about any issue at all, please do speak to a member of staff so that we can seek to provide support and plan the next best steps.

Support for Mental health and well being

At Sacred Heart we know the value and importance of good mental health and well-being,

We have a number of strategies in place at our school to promote this beginning with the organisation and development of our curriculum. Here are just a few:

1. A PSHE curriculum that helps children and young people to achieve their potential by supporting their wellbeing and tackling issues that can affect their ability to learn, such as anxiety and unhealthy relationships.
2. Physical activity is a great way to keep you physically healthy as well as improving your mental wellbeing. At Sacred Heart we hire specialist sports coaches that deliver lessons three times a week and support children at play and lunch times. We also have sports clubs on offer after school every day.
3. We have a school counsellor that works in school each week. They offer children an opportunity to explore and understand any difficulties within a relationship of agreed confidentiality.
4. We have a trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) as part of our team on site each and every day. ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists. It recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed. ELSA’s are not there to fix children’s problems. What they do is provide emotional support to those who need it. They aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where children are able to share honestly their thoughts and feelings.
5. All staff complete regular training on identifying and supporting pupils with mental health needs. It ios a high priority for our whole school Continued Professional Development