SEND and Inclusion

Additional and Special Educational Needs

Merryhills is an inclusive, community school. Our vision requires us to be proactive and persistent in ensuring that all pupils are provided with the opportunities and safeguards necessary to fulfil their potential. All pupils are entitled to a curriculum which meets their individual needs. This includes vulnerable pupils, gifted and talented, looked-after children, pupils with a disability and those learning English as an additional language.

At Merryhills we endeavour to support all pupils to overcome potential barriers to their learning. We practise the early identification of Additional and Special Needs through our monitoring and assessment procedures and by working closely with parents and external agencies. At the heart of this process is the pupil – the pupil’s perspective and voice are valued, listened to and acted upon. In July 2023, we were proud to open our new outdoor inclusive play area:

Appropriate support is provided for pupils with Additional and Special Needs through a combination of intervention, additional provision and effective partnership working.

Our Inclusion Manager is Stella Ioakim and our SENCo is Michelle Harmon.

Working in Partnership

At Merryhills, we actively forge partnerships which benefit our school community and make all stakeholders feel supported and that they belong. We promote a transparent, supportive relationship with parents and encourage their active involvement in the education of their children. We recognise that some families may not feel confident enough to ask for help when it is needed or know how to best support their children. We have an open-door policy for parents and endeavour to provide them with the information they need to make informed choices and decisions about their child. The Inclusion Manager works closely with families across the school, particularly those of pupils with SEN. If you would like to arrange a meeting with the Inclusion Manager, please contact the school office to make an appointment or call the main school telephone number, then ext. 5.

We also work closely with external agencies, benefitting from the expertise of colleagues outside of the primary school setting. We are often provided with resources, advice and information to support individual pupils, staff, parents or a wider sector of the Merryhills community.

We do not tolerate bullying at Merryhills and we strive to make our school community a ‘bully-free zone.’ We endeavour to provide a caring, friendly and safe environment for all pupils, parents and staff.

Enfield Inclusion Charter

Merryhills is proud to sign up to the Enfield Inclusion Charter. The Enfield School Inclusion Charter has been developed by education settings (heads, teachers, parents and guardians, council officers and others) all working to provide high-quality education for every pupil. We believe that the most effective schools are educationally inclusive and pay attention to the different levels of support that pupils need. We all have a role to play in offering children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) access to an excellent education. By supporting and delivering this charter in your educational setting, you will join a community of equity champions and demonstrate a commitment to making schools and education more inclusive.

For more information about the SEND services that Enfield offers, please refer to Enfield’s Local Offer by clicking on the link below:

SEND Services Enfield

Zones of Regulation

At Merryhills, we use the language of Zones of Regulation to help children: communicate their feelings, manage their emotions and learn how to self-regulate.

Children learn to identify emotions, recognise events that might make them move to a different zone and use the tools they have learnt to help them remain or move to a particular zone to help them regulate how they are feeling.

What are the different Zones?
Blue Zone: low level of arousal, not ready to learn, feels sad, sick, tired, bored
Green Zone: calm state of alertness, optimal level to learn, feels happy, calm, focused
Yellow Zone: heightened state of alertness, feels frustrated, worried, silly/wiggly, excited
Red Zone: heightened state of alertness and intense emotions, not an optimal level for learning, out of control, feels mad/angry, terrified, yelling/hitting, elated

We teach the children that everyone experiences all of the zones. The Red and Yellow
Zones are not ‘bad’ or ‘naughty’ zones. All of the zones are expected at one time or another. We will show them that the Blue Zone, for example, is helpful when you are trying to fall asleep.

Autism

This is a video to explain what autism, produced by The National Autistic Society:

//www.youtube.com/embed/d4G0HTIUBlI#t=0.5

For families looking for more information about autism, the following links may be helpful:

National Autistic Society

Enfield Advisory Service You do not need a diagnosis for support.

PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) Society

Witherslack Group Witherslack provide FREE expert advice, support.

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)

PDA is a profile of autism which involves the avoidance of everyday demands and the use of social strategies as part of the avoidance.

Key features of PDA profile

Resisting and avoiding ordinary demands of life
Using social strategies as part of avoidance
Appearing sociable but lacking some understanding, which may mask underlying differences and difficulties in social interactions and communication
Experiencing intense emotions and mood swings, as well as struggling to regulate feelings and emotions
Appearing comfortable in role-play, pretence and fantasy
Focus intently, often on other people, and repetitive or restrictive interests
Need for control driven by anxiety or automatic threat response in the face of demands
Tendency not to respond to conventional approaches in support, parenting or teaching

PDA Society booklet 'What is PDA?'