My name is Mrs Cath Burrows and I am the ALNco at Capcoch Primary.

I have worked within the Early Years sector for over eighteen years, however began a new role as ALNco at Capcoch six years ago. During this time I have undertaken a wide range of training and professional development opportunities which has enabled me to gain a wealth of knowledge and understanding of difficulties children with ALN face and how best I/we can support them at school. 

My role is fundamentally to identify and support those children who have specific needs, whether it be learning, physical or medical, who require additional support to access education and reach their full potential. 
 

I work closely with parents, staff and external agencies, all of whom have the best interests of the child at the heart of what we provide. Partnership working like this has shown to be greatly beneficial in empowering children to achieve and to be confident self-assured learners. 

Within school, I manage a variety of interventions put in place to improve and enhance children’s learning experiences. These are either led by myself or our wonderful support staff. I recognise that each child here at Capcoch is an individual, all of whom have unique skills and abilities, and so intervention targets are set based on those. Each child is encouraged to take ownership of their learning and to take an active role in setting their learning targets. 

If you have any concerns or worries, please do not hesitate to contact me at school (01443 472746) or via message on ClassDojo. 

Mrs Burrows 😊

What are Additional Learning Needs (ALN)?

A child will be identified as having additional learning needs if he/she has a learning difficulty or disability (whether the learning difficulty or disability arises from a medical condition or otherwise) which calls for additional learning provision, beyond the Universal Provision provided for all learners.

At Capcoch Primary we aim to meet the learning needs of all children through high quality teaching and learning provision. Our Universal Provision includes:

• whole class teaching

• effective differentiation of curriculum

• collaborative group work

• individual and small group interventions: such as ELSA, Lego Therapy and Literacy Launch Pad

• appropriate and reasonable adjustments to enable access to the school environment and curriculum.

During their time at Capcoch, most children will make expected progress in their learning from their starting points.  If a child is not progressing, we will gather information from observations, use assessment data and seek to work in partnership with outside agencies / professionals to identify any additional learning needs. A range of evidence will be gathered over time, including:

• assessment tools including: WELLCOMM, Language Link and Skill-Teach

• standardised assessments (Literacy, Numeracy, Reading and Spelling)

• formative assessments of day to day learning

• monitoring progress across the curriculum over time.

A child showing cause for concern with the progress in their learning is characterised by :

• is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline

• does not match previous rate of progress

• does not close, or widens, the attainment gap between the child and their peers, despite the provision of support aimed at closing that gap.

Identification of Additional Learning Needs (ALN)

• When pupils do not make the expected progress with Universal Provision and following thorough investigation and evidence gathering, a child may be identified as having ALN.

Here at Capcoch Primary our main objective is to identify and assess whilst providing targeted support for all children with additional learning needs. However, our main consideration is the welfare and happiness of our pupils. Success at Capcoch is measured in many ways but the measure that brings us most pleasure and satisfaction is how a child achieves in spite of their barriers to learning. 

In Wales, nearly a quarter of learners have some form of special educational need (SEN), and their educational outcomes are poor compared to other students – in part because the current SEN system in the country is over 30 years old and considered out of date.

The Welsh Government has now published its ALN Act 2018, which will replace the existing SEN system from September 2021.

The Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Act sets out the new statutory support system in Wales for children and young people with special needs.

The term ALN will replace ‘special educational needs’ (SEN) and ‘learning difficulties and/or disabilities’ (LDD), covering all children and young people with additional needs, regardless of how complex or severe they are.

This means ALN will cover a whole spectrum of needs, from so-called ‘high functioning’ autism, through dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD, to serious global learning delays/difficulties and major physical disabilities.

The ALN Act aims to help children and young people with ALN overcome barriers to learning and reach their full potential.

Under the new system, school SENCos (special educational needs coordinators) will be renamed or replaced by ALNCos.

The named ALNCo at Capcoch Primary is Mrs. Burrows. If  you have any concerns regarding your child or require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact her.

Additional Information

For additional information regarding ALN, follow the links below:

Additional Learning Needs in Wales – What is happening in Wales?

https://youtu.be/00gHqzWowPg

A Parent / Carers guide to Additional Learning Needs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISba05AGqJk&feature=youtu.be

A guide for parents and families on how children will move to the new ALN system (January 2022)

https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2021-12/additional-learning-needs-aln-system-parents-guide.pdf 

The Welsh Government is committed to transforming the expectations, experiences and outcomes for children and young people with ALN and has created an ambitious and wide-ranging Additional Learning Needs Transformation Programme. This revolutionises the separate systems in schools and further education, to create a unified system for supporting learners age 0 to 25 with ALN.

In addition to new legislation and statutory guidance, the Transformation Programme centres on skills development for the education workforce, to deliver effective support to learners with ALN in the classroom, as well as easier access to specialist support, information and advice.

The new legislation will commence on a phased basis in September 2021. For more information please visit https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2020-09/additional-learning-needs-aln-transformation-programme-guide.pdf

Welsh Government Transformation Programme: September 2021

Additional Learning Needs (ALN) is changing in Wales from September 2021. This page will have information for parents and children. Please click on the below links to understand how these changes may affect you or your child in our school. 

https://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/EN/Resident/SchoolsandLearning/AccessandInclusiontoEducation/AccessandInclusiontoEducation.aspx - link to RCT's Access and Inclusion page. 

Resources for children and young people

Autism Wales is the national autism site for Wales. On the site you will find information about what Autism is, and also services and training opportunities available to access online and across Wales. The website is helping to deliver the Welsh Government autism vision and strategy and has a key place in ensuring that Wales is an autism friendly nation.

Additionally there are a wide range of free downloadable resources that have been developed with autistic people, parents/ carers and professionals from across Wales.

Here at Capcoch we are very proud to be recognised as an Autism Friendly School and together we aim to improve the knowledge, awareness and understanding of autism to make positive and lasting changes to people’s lives.

Available at: https://autismwales.org/en/

The ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity is an integrated health and education service offering a unique lifespan – strength based service, for the 1 in 5 people who live with ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia.

The foundation works in partnership with agencies across all public services, creating an inclusive approach to health, education and employment.

Working with Welsh Government, the foundation aims to influence policy and provision for the benefit of all; reduce dependency, empower and enable children and young people to achieve their potential and improve life opportunities.

For more information please visit: https://adhdfoundation.org.uk/

AFASIC was initially created in 1968 as a parent-led organisation with the aim to help children and young people with speech and language difficulties.

Additionally, the charity provides a wide range of information and training for parents and families, raising awareness, in turn creating improved services and provision for children and young people with speech and language difficulties.

For more information, support and free downloadable resources, please visit: https://www.afasic.org.uk/

‼️ Monday March 21st‼️

As part of Down Syndrome Awareness Week on Monday March 21st we will be showing our support and celebrating diversity by:

Wearing socks! These can be colourful, odd or you can add your own creative design!!

During the day children will have opportunities to learn more about Down Syndrome with the aim of creating a world where negative perceptions of Down Syndrome are a thing of the past!

We look forward to beginning a new week by brightening up our school with colourful socks

Many thanks for your continued support 🌈

!!BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE WEEK!!
14TH -20TH MARCH 2022

Each year Sign Language Week is a week organised by the British Deaf Association (BDA) to support awareness, knowledge and understanding of issues affecting sign-language users in the UK.

To celebrate this year’s theme will support 'BSL brings us together' (British Sign Language)

Held in March every year represents a special date for the deaf community as March 18th 2003 was the date that sign language was officially recognised as a language in the UK.

On social media sites including Twitter, the hashtag #signlanguageweek is used to help raise the profile of Sign Language Week and to connect deaf people all over the country.

Throughout this week, children will have the opportunity to learn some sign language during lessons aimed at promoting support, awareness and understanding of the deaf community.

#signlanguageweek
#inclusionatCapcoch

‼️World Autism Awareness Week‼️

Taking place from the 28th March- 3rd April 2022!! It’s aim is to celebrate and raise awareness of the condition Autism.

We are proud to hold status of an ‘Autism Friendly School’ and will be taking part in the event to further raise awareness, knowledge and understanding of Autism, encouraging inclusion and acceptance for all those with Autism.

#inclusionatCapcoch

Today brings the close of our Autism Awareness Week at Capcoch 🌈

Throughout the week children have recapped on what they have already learnt about Autism and how it presents in individual cases.

They have approached this learning with maturity and empathy showing us just how lucky we are to have such caring children who are committed to making Capcoch as inclusive as we can be.

Well done all 🤩🤩

Have a lovely weekend

Please see the video which explains how the ALNET Act operates in schools across Wales.
Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions 🙂
https://t.co/isXAmCOrLW

🌈 Autism Awareness Week 🌈

As previously mentioned Capcoch will be taking part in celebrating and raising awareness of Autism for Autism Awareness Week.

I have asked for colourful hair as a way to do this, however to support a local organisation Autismandus you could also wear rainbow colours too!

Autismandus are a non profit organisation who are dedicated to spreading awareness and acceptance of Autism. They provide invaluable support to parents and families and also provide exclusive events.

They can be found on Facebook or can be contacted via email on autismandus345@gmail.com


Please help us to support them by making Capcoch colourful on Monday 27th March!! 🌈