Hartside Primary Academy

We offer ‘30 hours childcare for working parents’. 

Hartside Primary Academy is located in Crook. We have eight classrooms, catering for children from Nursery to Year 6 (ages 3-11 years).

Our Nursery and Reception class are an EYFS Unit and there are extensive grounds providing effective 'outdoor classrooms' for children of all ages.

We offer wrap around care from 7:30am to 5.30pm. There is separate provision for children in EYFS and Y1 – Y6. An extensive co-curriculum supports our offer and gives children a range of opportunities to thrive.

We are an inclusive school and value the contribution that all children make to school life equally. Equality of opportunity for all, no matter what gender, race or disability is imperative; we actively put into place a stimulating curriculum to meet the needs of all children.

At Hartside we help every child to make progress and succeed.

‘The quality of educational experience that every child receives must be of equal quality to that you would expect for your own child’

‘Your Child is Our Child’

As children progress through Hartside, they are given a range of opportunities to thrive as individuals. We want our children to develop their own character, skills and knowledge and confidently take part in a variety of situations.

To support this, each subject within our curriculum is unique and powerful. We are adopting a teaching for mastery approach for delivery. We teach key concepts which are broken down into small steps, allowing children to effectively build upon their previous knowledge. We enable children to communicate their ideas with precision and clarity using subject specific and relevant vocabulary. Variation is used to challenge thinking, helping children to create meaningful connections in their learning. Layered intervention and effective feedback aims to ensure that everyone moves forward together.

Children are ready for the next phase of their education and lives.

To find out more about help with childcare costs please visit www.durham.gov.uk/childcarecosts

When is it on?

Time of day
Morning
Afternoon
Session information
Nursery (30 hours) 9:00am - 3:00pm Monday to Friday
There are 4 options for 15 hour places. These include:
Morning 8:45am - 11:45am Monday to Friday
Afternoon 12:30pm - 3:30pm Monday to Friday
Front End of Week 8:45am - 3:30pm Monday and Tuesday, 8:45am - 11:45am Wednesday
Back End of Week 12:30pm - 3:30pm Wednesday and 8:45am - 2:30pm Thursday and Friday

Who to contact

Contact name
Mrs Dawn Simpson
Contact position
Head of School
Telephone
01388 766 686
E-mail
hartside@durhamlearning.net
Website
Hartside Primary Academy

Where to go

Address
Hartside
Crook
County Durham
Postcode
DL15 9NN

Other details

Cost description
For details and costing of before and after school care, as well as additional nursery sessions, please contact the school office.
Referral required?
No
Age range
3 - 11 years
Related links
Ofsted reports

Local Offer

Local Offer description

At Hartside Primary Academy School we believe ‘every child can make progress and succeed’ and recognise that all pupils are entitled to a quality of provision that will enable them to achieve their potential. This vision shapes all we do and helps us understand who we are as a school and why we are here. Our values (respect, kindness, empathy, grit, self-control, integrity) are the building blocks for strong foundations for lifelong learning, personal growth, development of independence and citizenship.

The vision – ‘every child can make progress and succeed’ – drives our commitment to the equal inclusion of all pupils in all areas of school life. As a school we recognise the diverse and individual needs of all of our pupils and take into account the additional support required by those children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), such as positive intervention, removing barriers to learning, raising expectations and levels of achievement and working in partnership with our pupils, parents and external agencies. Our School is committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity, prevent disabled pupils from being treated less favourably and valuing diversity for all children and families.

This SEND Information Report should be read alongside the school’s SEND Policy, the Equalities Information and Objectives and the Accessibility Plan. These are available on our school website.

We recognise there are particular groups of pupils whose circumstances require additional consideration by those who work with them to support their SEND. Mrs Dawn Simpson is the Designated Teacher for Looked after Children who works closely with Mrs Clarkson, the SENCO, to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEND.

We ensure that all pupils, regardless of their specific needs make the best possible progress.

Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Mrs Clarkson. Our Special Educational Needs Governor is Mrs Brown. If you would like to speak to Mrs Clarkson or arrange a meeting, then please contact us.

Contact name
Mrs Clarkson, SENCo
Contact telephone
01388 766 686
Contact email
hartside@durhamlearning.net
Links
SEND at Hartside Primary Academy

How do you identify Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)?

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

The first person to identify that a child may need extra help may be:

  • Yourself, as parent or carer
  • The class teacher
  • A health visitor
  • Another medical professional

If it seems that your child may need extra help, speak to your child’s class teacher first, who will then organise a meeting with the school's Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), who will assess:

  • What your child is good at and what they need help with.
  • What specifically your child would benefit from learning.
  • How best to help your child learn.

How will you support my child with their special educational needs and disability?

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

Children thought to have special educational needs will be placed on the school's special educational needs register and receive different levels of support according to their needs. The graduated response begins with Quality First teaching, where the curriculum within the classroom is differentiated and children have different levels of tasks to complete.

If necessary, children will have a Special Educational Needs Support Plan, which outlines your child's/young person's targets/outcomes and any extra support they receive at school. The Support Plan often places the young person in a small focus group, run by the class teacher or teaching assistant. The length of time of this intervention will vary according to need but will generally be for a term. The interventions will be regularly reviewed by all involved to ascertain the effectiveness of the provision made and to inform future planning.

If necessary, and where your child's needs are very complex and/or severe, the school may ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care Plan (previously known as Statutory Assessment). This is a very detailed assessment of the child/young person's needs, involving you as carers as well as a range of professionals, in order to compile reports as to the needs of the child. If an Education, Health and Care Plan is issued, the school must meet the requirements.

The level of support received by your child/young person may change throughout their time at school. School staff will speak to you if they think this should happen and will ask for your opinion about it.

If a pupil needs more expert support from an outside agency, such as the Speech and Language Therapy Team, a referral will be made, with parental/carer consent and forwarded to the most appropriate agency. After a series of assessments, a programme of support is usually provided to the school and parents/carers.

How will you make sure my child's education meet their needs?

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's young person's needs?

Children learn and develop in different ways. Teachers recognise this and use different teaching styles and resources, as well as planning different levels of work in the classroom to cater for the various ways children learn. Children will have adult support within the classroom when tasks require. However, at times, children may need extra help and may be withdrawn by a teaching assistant to work on specific skills as an individual or as part of a small group. The use of the Special Educational Needs Support Plan, written specifically for individual children, will include short term targets linked to the child's needs.

How will we know my child is progressing?

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

You will be able to discuss your child's progress at parents' evenings and appointments can be made at any time to speak to the class teacher or SENCo throughout the year, by contacting the school office.

Progress is closely monitored on a regular basis through:

  • National Curriculum Tests.
  • Other tests, such as Phonics checks, Optional Tests, PASS tests, CAT4, Star Reading Tests, Times Table Tests, Arithmetic Tests and use of Accelerated Reader information.
  • Information from parents, carers and other professionals from other agencies.
  • Records from other schools your child has attended.

Staff will help you to support your child/young person with their learning by suggesting ways you can help at home. Mrs Clarkson (SENCo) may meet to discuss how to support your child with strategies to use if there are emotional or behavioural needs.

If outside agencies or the Educational Psychologist have been involved, suggestions and programmes of study are normally provided and can be used at home.

How will you support my child's overall wellbeing?

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall wellbeing?

We offer a wide variety of pastoral support for pupils who are encountering emotional difficulties.

These include:

  • Members of staff such as the class teacher, teaching assistants and SENCO are readily available for pupils who wish to discuss issues and concerns.
  • After school and breakfast clubs are available to promote social skills and general wellbeing for pupils.
  • Peer Mediators support pupils who find play times a challenge.

If a pupil has a medical need, then a detailed Care Plan is compiled with support from the School Nurse in consultation with parents/carers. These are discussed with all staff who are involved with the pupil.

Staff receive asthma and EpiPen training, delivered by the School Nurse.

Where necessary, and in agreement with parents/carers, medicines are administered in school but only where a signed medicine consent form is in place to ensure the safety of both child and staff member.

All Teaching Assistants have basic first aid training.

Two members of staff are trained in Listening Matters, which is a play based approach to raising children's self-esteem and capacity to deal with emotional situations.

What specialist services and expertise is available at or accessed by the staff?

What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

At times it may be necessary to consult with outside agencies to receive their more specialised expertise.

The agencies we use include:

  • Autism Outreach Team
  • Educational Psychologist
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
  • Sensory Service to support pupils with hearing/visual impairment
  • Social Services
  • SALT (Speech and Language Therapy)
  • OT (Occupational Therapy)
  • Bishop Auckland Hospital (Paediatricians)
  • School Nurse

An Educational Psychologist (EP) is allocated to each school. He/she would normally only work directly with pupils whose needs are felt to be quite considerable and have not responded well to the interventions previously put in place for them.

The aim of an EP involvement is to gain an understanding of and try to resolve a pupil’s difficulties. In order to help understand the pupil’s educational needs better, the EP will generally meet with the parent and give feedback after the assessment has been completed.

He/she will offer advice to the school and parents/carers on how to best support the child in order to take their learning forward.

How are staff trained regarding SEND?

What training are the staff supporting children and young people with SEND have had or are having?

Members of staff have received training related to SEND.

These have included sessions on:

  • how to support pupils on the autistic spectrum
  • how to support pupils with social and emotional needs
  • how to support pupils with speech and language difficulties
  • how to support pupils with physical and co-ordination needs

What activities outside the classroom will there be?

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom including school trips?

Activities and school trips are available to all. Risk assessments are carried out and procedures are put in place to enable all children to participate.

However, if it is deemed that an intensive level of one-to-one support is required, a parent or carer may be asked to accompany their child during the activity.

How will you support my child's needs?

How accessible is the setting/school/college environment?

We are happy to discuss individual access requirements and an accessibility plan can be obtained from the school.

Our facilities include:

  • ramps in school to make the building accessible to all
  • a toilet adapted for disabled users
  • high visibility tape for VI children in hazardous areas

An accessibility survey has taken place and necessary alterations will take place as and when funds allow. Issues of accessibility are taken into consideration when any building works takes place.

What is available to help my child with their education?

How are the setting's/school's/college's resources allocated and matched to children's/young people's special educational needs?

If a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, resources necessary are outlined and the Senior Leadership Team will work alongside staff to ensure that these resources are available - this may be staffing to support the child, as well as physical resources and specialist equipment.

The use of Special Educational Need Support Plans for individual pupils will help class teachers organise specific resources and intervention for small groups of children.

What support can I expect for my child?

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

These decisions are made in consultation with class teacher and Senior Leadership Team. Decisions are based upon termly tracking of pupil progress and as a result of assessments by outside agencies, including details given in Education, Health and Care Plans.

During their school life, if further concerns are identified due to the pupil’s lack of progress or well-being, then other interventions will be arranged.

How will I be involved in my child's education?

How are parents involved in the setting/school/college? How can I be involved?

All parents are encouraged to contribute to their child’s education. This may be through discussions with the class teacher during parents' evenings, during discussions with Mrs Clarkson or other professionals and parents/carers are encouraged to comment on their child’s Special Educational Needs Support Plan with possible suggestions that could be incorporated.

My child is going to be starting or leaving soon, how will you help them?

How will the setting/school/college prepare and support my child/young person to join the setting/school/college or the next stage of education and life?

Many strategies are in place to enable the pupil’s transition to be as smooth as possible.

These include:

  • Discussions between the previous or receiving schools prior to the pupil joining/leaving.
  • All pupils attend a Transition session where they spend some time with their new class teacher.
  • Additional visits which can be arranged for pupils who need extra time in their new school.
  • Mrs Clarkson is always willing to meet parents/carers prior to their child joining the school.
  • Secondary school staff visit pupils prior to them joining their new school.

Mrs Clarkson and Mr Pratt (the Year 6 class teacher) liaises with the SENCOs from the secondary schools to pass on information regarding SEN pupils.

Where a pupil may have more specialised needs, a separate meeting may be arranged with Mrs Clarkson, the secondary school SENCO, the parents/carers and where appropriate, the pupil.

Disclaimer

Durham County Council's Families Information Service does not promote nor endorse the services advertised on this website. Anyone seeking to use/access such services does so at their own risk and may make all appropriate enquiries about fitness for purpose and suitability to meet their needs.
  • Hartside Academy Logo

Journey planner

Address: Hartside  Crook  County Durham

Powered by Open Objects