At St Joseph’s we celebrate and welcome that all children are unique and have different ways of learning, playing and communicating. Some children come to us with additional needs and need some extra support with their education. As the SEND Code of Practice (2015) states “All children and young people are entitled to an education that enables them to make progress so that they achieve their best, become confident individuals living fulfilling lives, and make a successful transition into adulthood.”
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is a small, inclusive and nurturing school where we strive to ensure that all of our children, regardless of need and ability, are able to thrive – in their learning, their play and their wellbeing. We balance support and aspiration, ensuring that our high expectations are shared by all. As stated in our SEND Policy ‘We recognise that all children have the right to an inclusive, broad, balanced and meaningful curriculum including extra-curricular activities where appropriate, and full access to the National Curriculum.’
We support our children with additional needs through a wide range of strategies, both learning focused and holistic. Please see our School Information Report (SIR) Sept 2025, below, for details on the interventions and strategies that we use, and how we adapt teaching and learning to meet the needs of all our children. This report also details the many external agencies that we work alongside when a child needs specialist advice and support.
Other key documents:
SEND Annual report to Governors and Parents 2024/25
Our SENCo is Mrs Sharon Carpenter and she is always happy to talk to you about the provision that we offer:
Phone: 01666 822331
Email: senco@sjpschool.co.uk
Mrs Carpenter is supported by the SEN Governor, Mrs Carole Baker.
Our ELSA TA is Mrs Hanna Webb and our Parent Support Advisor is Mrs Terry Jones.
Young Carers
Sometimes, our young people have to support with caring for others in their family who may have medical, social and emotional or physical needs. This can bring many challenges that families may need support with. The organisations below offer excellent support for Young Carers and you may wish to make contact with them if this applies to you. A Young Carer can also be a child who simply lives with a sibling or parent whose additional needs impact upon family dynamics and activities.
https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/children-young-people-young-carers
https://www.communityfirst.org.uk/yaw/young-carers/
EAL
We are privileged to be a diverse school and have families whose home languages include Spanish, Shona, Bengali, Polish and Bulgarian! Some of these children are already, or very quickly, become proficient in English when they start with us but for others, having to learn and socialise in a new and unfamiliar language can be a barrier. We work alongside the excellent team at the Wiltshire Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service – EMTAS – to support those of our children who are on the pathway to learning English.
We also ensure that we support parents and carers whose first language is not English, by, for example, translating important information and having conversations face to face rather than over the ‘phone.
Useful Links:
https://family-action.org.uk/services/wiltshire-sendiass/
https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/9954/SEND-Advice-and-Information
Local guidance on SEN provision in Wiltshire: