Graduate Diploma Implementing and Managing the Code of Practice Day 5 Thursday 17 th February 2011

Graduate Diploma

Implementing and Managing the Code of Practice

Day 5Thursday 17th February 2011

CITY AND COUNTY OF SWANSEA • DINAS A SIR ABERTAWE

Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for Wales 2002

EDUCATION DIRECTORATE


What do we mean by SEN?

Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them

Children have a learning difficulty if they:

a.have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age



Or:

b. have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local educational authority



Or:

c. are under compulsory school age and fall within the definition at a) or b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them


Key principles

Schools must have due regard to the Code

Provision for SEN is a whole school issue

All teachers are teachers of SEN

Children should be offered access to an appropriate curriculum


Key principles

A child with SEN should have their needs met

These needs will normally be met in a mainstream setting

A child’s view should be sought

Parents have a vital role to play


SEN Code of Practice

Early Identification is seen as critical The Graduated response: -

Early Years or School Action

- Early Years orSchool Action Plus

- Statement


Categories of Need

There are no hard and fast categories but most pupils will fall into one of these main areas:

communication and interaction cognition and learning behaviour, emotional and social development sensory and/or physical

Complete sheet ‘Categories of need’


Categories of Need

Communication and Interaction may include:

speech and language delay, impairments or disorders

specific learning difficulties (e.g dyslexia, dyspraxia) hearing impairment

autistic spectrum disorder


Categories of Need

Some pupils may also have:

moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties

language and communication difficulties as a result of permanent sensory or physical impairment


Categories of Need

Cognition and Learning may include:

Moderate Severe Profound learning difficulties

Some pupils may also have: specific learning difficulties physical and sensory impairments autistic spectrum disorder


Categories of Need

Some of these children may also have:

Sensory

Physical

Behavioural difficulties

Categories of Need

Behaviour, emotional and socialdevelopment may include those who are:

disruptive and disturbing hyperactive and lacking concentration

withdrawn or isolated

Categories of Need

Some of these pupils may also have:

immature social skills

challenging behaviours arising from other complex special needs

Categories of Need

There is a wide spectrum of sensory, multi-sensory and physical difficulties. The sensory range includes:

profound and permanent deafness visual impairment

lesser levels of loss, which may only be temporary

Categories of Need

Physical impairments may arise from physical, neurological or metabolic causes

Others may lead to more complex learning and social needs

A few children will have multi-sensory difficulties, some with associated physical difficulties

Defining SEN

Additional Learning Needs (ALN)

Or

Additional Educational Needs (AEN)

is becoming more widely used to encompass those with SEN and with other disabilities that

may impact on their ability to access the curriculum

The Impact of SEN

Some issues pupils may have in common:

Low self-esteem

Difficulty co-operating with peers

Difficulty working independently

The Impact of SEN

Some issues pupils may have in common:(continued)

Difficulty staying on task

Difficulty completing tasks

Poor communication skills

Poor motivation

Individual Education

Plans

Individual Education Plans

a useful way of focusing on a child’s needs and how to meet them, or just another bureaucratic chore?

Why do we have IEP’s?

TaskPurpose of IEP

IEPs The idea behind individual plans for

children with special needs, is a good one: when a pupil is experiencing difficulties, identify what they are; decide on some appropriate action; do it, then review it

BUT a whole industry has grown up around designing templates, creating targets, measuring progress – and stressing over the whole business. SENCOs have literally made themselves ill in the process

IEPs

The test of how well IEPs are used is whether a teacher knows about a pupil’s difficulties, plans accordingly and differentiates effectively in the classroom, science lab, studio, gym, etc, rather than the IEP being used only by the TA running a small group intervention.

Questions to consider

What should they include? Should they all be the same

Primary, Secondary?

IEPs Individual plans still play an important role

however, especially for children with significant difficulties. For these pupils, a ‘bespoke’ approach may be needed and the important thing is that thought is given to the individual.

Part of the reason for IEPs gaining such a bad reputation was that many tended to be generic, with a tendency to only ‘change the name’ sometimes; another reason is that they often didn’t see the light of day – kept neatly in the teacher’s desk drawer, or a filing cabinet, ready for when an inspector called!

IEPs An individual plan should be a working

document, useful to all staff working with the pupil and constantly at hand: its design should allow for regular updates and comments (scribbled notes) by TAs, teachers and parents. In some schools, an extra sheet is attached to the IEP for daily/weekly updates, rather than waiting for the scheduled review – this makes much more sense in many ways.

Make sure that:

targets are achievable, short-term and specific, so that everyone can see when each one has been met

the pupil is involved in the setting of targets whenever possible

targets are described in jargon-free language and clear to all concerned – not least the pupil himself/herself, who should be able to say ‘Today I hit one of my targets… I sat on the carpet for the whole story/spelled three new target words correctly/asked a question in class…’

teaching/behaviour management strategies are described with details of who will deliver them, when and where

necessary resources are listed there is a date for review, and the names of people

involved in reviewing.

IEPs Involving pupils in decisions about their

IEPs and types of support provided is something that everyone acknowledges as a ‘good thing’, but in practice, is not always well done. It may not always be appropriate for a child to attend review meetings, but a one-to-one with the SENCO or TA/mentor beforehand can provide useful information and insight into how a child is responding to the support on offer.




Should only contain what is additional to and different from the school’s differentiated curriculum planning for all pupils

3 or 4 SMART short term targets set

through discussion with the pupil and parents.

A description of the child’s strengths and areas for development




Targets should be:

SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ATTAINABLE

RELEVANT

TIME CONSTRAINED


Look at some IEP’s

Are the targets SMART?

IEPs there have been moves to minimise

the number of IEPs and many schools have used ‘provision mapping’ as a way of allocating different types of support to individuals. Pupils identified for ‘school action’ can certainly fit well into this type of planning and management of interventions.

Can provision maps replace IEPs?

Provision maps can support schools in reducing bureaucracy

In England they are being used as an alternative to writing large numbers of individual education plans for students with low level needs that can be met through wave 3 literacy and numeracy interventions

Some schools believe they will replace IEPs, however this could only happen if certain provision is in place

Can provision maps replace IEPs?

Some schools believe they will replace IEPs, however this could only happen if certain provision is in place

These include:

Whole school target setting systems that incorporate individual targets for all vulnerable groups/ students which are reviewed at least twice a year

Rigorous self evaluation of SEN provision which ensures all students are making good progress

Systems for working in full partnership with parents

Systems which take account of the views of students

Look at some provision maps

Documents

Graduate Diploma Implementing and Managing the Code of Practice Day 5 Thursday 17 th February 2011