Parent feedback on our SEND Provision

🌈 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

At Cottesbrooke Infant & Nursery School, we believe that every child should feel valued, included and able to succeed.

Children learn in different ways and at different speeds. Some may find aspects of learning more challenging, while others may need extra challenge to keep them motivated. Our job is to make sure that all children get the support they need to thrive.

🤝 How We Support Children with SEND

Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) is Mr Ahmed. If you want to get in touch with Mr Ahmed you can do so by emailing him at f.ahmed@cottesbrooke-inf.bham.sch.uk or making an appointment via the school office.

He works closely with teachers, parents and outside professionals to ensure that children with additional needs are identified early and supported effectively.

Support might include:

• Setting small-step targets within the classroom

• Working in smaller groups for specific learning support

• Adapting work to make it more accessible — or more challenging

• Using specific resources or strategies to meet individual needs

We are committed to ensuring that all children, including those with additional needs, access a broad, balanced and engaging curriculum. Support is reviewed regularly and adapted as children grow and their needs change.

🧠 A Flexible and Inclusive Approach

Many children will have additional needs at some point during their time with us. Often, these needs can be met through high-quality classroom teaching. Where a child needs something more specific or complex, we work in partnership with families and, where appropriate, involve external professionals.

We always keep parents informed and involved in the decision-making process.

🌟 Supporting More Able Learners

As part of our inclusive approach, we also ensure that more able children are stretched and challenged so that they continue to make excellent progress and stay engaged in their learning.

You can read more about what we offer in our SEND Information Report and School Offer below.
To learn more about wider support and services in our area, visit Birmingham’s Local Offer.

If you have any questions or would like to talk about your child’s needs, please don’t hesitate to contact Mr Ahmed via the school office.

Our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Policy and our Accessibility Plan can be found below.

Information about Birmingham's Local SEND offer can be found here.

 Birmingham's SEND Local Offer

Video explanation of services and information available to Parents/Carers of children with SEND.

🐝 Enhanced Learning Provision: The Beehive & Learning Den

Specialist in-school provision for children with Communication and Interaction needs

The Beehive and Learning Den are our enhanced specialist provisions for a small number of pupils whose primary area of need is Communication and Interaction.

These children require a highly structured, low-arousal environment in order to feel safe, regulated and able to access learning. For some pupils, a mainstream classroom is not yet an appropriate or accessible setting, even with significant additional support.

Many pupils accessing this provision may:

• Have significant communication differences, including being pre-verbal

• Experience high levels of sensory processing difficulty

• Be working developmentally below age-related expectations

• Require ongoing personal care and specialist adult support

• Have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) or be on the Neurodevelopmental Pathway (NDP)

Children remain on roll at Cottesbrooke Infant & Nursery School and are valued members of our school community. Their learning takes place primarily within the Beehive or Learning Den, with any access to mainstream carefully planned, time-limited and based entirely on individual readiness and need.

🌱 Specialist Environment and Approach

The Beehive and Learning Den provide a calm, predictable environment designed to reduce anxiety and sensory overload while supporting early communication, interaction and emotional regulation.

The provision is led by a specialist teacher and supported by three experienced teaching assistants, providing an approximate 1:3 adult–pupil ratio. This enables high levels of adult support, consistent co-regulation and personalised learning throughout the day.

Key features include:

• Structured, low-arousal classrooms designed to support regulation

• Clear routines supported by visual systems such as Widgit symbols, Now/Next boards and visual timetables

• A bespoke curriculum focusing on early communication, interaction, sensory regulation and structured play

• SCERTS-informed practice underpinning communication development and emotional regulation

• Regular planned access to sensory rooms and sensory walls

• Staff trained in supporting complex communication needs, personal care and significant dysregulation

• Engagement model is an assessment framework which focuses on pupils who require sensory based learning. This explores the following 5 areas; exploration, realisation, anticipation, persistence and initiation.
• Curiosity model acts as a step before the Attention Autism approach, focusing on building rapport, fostering curiosity through sensory, high-interest items in transparent containers and enhancing interaction. It allows the child to interact with the items and then slowly builds into taking part in Attention Autism activities. 

Due to the complexity of pupil needs and the physical nature of the building, the provision operates within clearly defined capacity limits to ensure safety and high-quality support.

🧩 Access to the Provision

Placement within the Beehive or Learning Den forms part of the school’s Graduated Approach and is based on a thorough assessment of individual need.

Decisions are informed by:

• Ongoing school-based assessment and observation

• Communication profiles and SCERTS priorities

• Advice from Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)

• Guidance from Educational Psychology and the Communication and Autism Team (CAT)

• Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), where applicable

For many families, this enhanced provision offers an appropriate local option, combining specialist support with inclusion within a mainstream school community.

💬 What Support May Include

Children accessing the Beehive and Learning Den may receive:

• Intensive communication and interaction support

• Regular sensory regulation opportunities throughout the day

• Sensory circuits

• Attention Bucket sessions

• Intensive Interaction approaches

• Structured play and exploration

• Purposeful communication opportunities, including “friendly sabotage”

• High levels of adult modelling and co-regulation

• 1:1 and very small-group learning

• Ongoing liaison with SALT, EP and CAT professionals

Support is reviewed regularly and adapted as children develop and their needs evolve.

This provision supports pupils to develop the foundations needed for furure learning and inclusion.

💛 A Trauma-Informed and Attachment-Aware Approach

At Cottesbrooke Infant & Nursery School, all provision — including the Beehive and Learning Den — is rooted in our trauma-informed and attachment-aware approach.

We recognise that many children with significant communication and interaction needs may also experience heightened anxiety, sensory overwhelm or difficulty trusting unfamiliar environments. For this reason, relationships, emotional safety and regulation come before learning.

Staff focus on:

·         Building strong, consistent relationships with pupils

·         Providing predictable routines and clear visual structure

·         Supporting emotional regulation through co-regulation before expecting independence

·         Responding calmly and compassionately to behaviour as communication

·         Creating environments where children feel safe, understood and valued

This approach closely reflects our CUBS Values:

·         Caring and polite – nurturing respectful, trusting relationships

·         Understand that we are all equal – valuing difference and individual need

·         Brilliant learners – recognising that learning looks different for every child

·         Stay safe – emotionally as well as physically

By prioritising emotional wellbeing and secure attachment, we support children to develop the confidence, regulation and communication skills they need to engage with learning — at their own pace and in their own way.

🚪Enhanced Provision Exit Criteria

Our Enhanced Provision (The Beehive and The Learning Den) uses a structured, step-down approach to support children to move into mainstream classes when they are ready. Decisions are based on sustained evidence of a child’s emotional regulation, engagement in adult-led learning, communication of needs, and ability to manage routines and transitions with appropriate supports. Where a transition is planned, children move gradually and continue to receive tailored support in class (for example visuals, pre-teaching, planned regulation breaks and adapted learning) with regular review to ensure success.

Parenting Offer Directory

A descriptive guide to all online and in person parenting courses offered by family hubs best start for life and Birmingham Children’s Trust.