SEND Reforms: Understanding SEN Support

Implementing the SEND Reforms

Produced in collaboration with:Contact a FamilyCouncil for Disabled ChildrenEarly SupportInformation, Support and Advice Services Network

Mott MacDonaldNational Network for Parent Care ForumPreparing for AdulthoodThe Communications TrustThe Dyslexia-SpLD TrustAutism Education Trust

Develop an understanding of the legal requirements of SEN support

Develop an understanding of how SEN supports children who are identified with SEN and who do not have an EHCP

Share LA approaches to developing SEN support

Aims of the workshop

“We want children and young people with special needs and disabilities to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support. The special needs reforms will implement a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working.”

The vision behind the SEND reforms

Every school is required to identify and address the SEN of the pupils that they support and under the COP must:•Use their best endeavours to make sure a child with SEN gets the support they need•Ensure that C&YP with SEN engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have SEN•Designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision •Inform parents when they are making special educational provision for a child•Prepare an SEN information report

Improving outcomes: high aspirations and expectations for children and young people with SEN

Schools must co-operate with the local authority in reviewing the provision that is available locally and in developing the Local Offer

They must also have due regard to general duties to promote disability equality and they must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children.

Equality and Inclusion

Medical conditions – CFA places a duty on maintained schools and academies to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions

Curriculum – all pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum.

Careers guidance for children and young people - maintained schools and PRUs must ensure that pupils from year 8 until year 13 are provided with independent careers guidance

Duties and requirements

Schools should have a clear approach to identifying and responding to SEN

Schools should assess each pupil’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, building on information from previously settings and key stages.

Schools should make regular assessments of progress and seek to identify those pupils who are making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances.

Identifying SEN in schools

The following four broad areas of need give an overview of needs that should be planned for.

•Communication and interaction •Cognition and learning•Social, emotional and mental health difficulties •Sensory and/or physical needs

Broad areas of need

High quality teaching, differentiation for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who may have SEN.

In deciding whether to make special educational provision, the teacher and SENCO should consider all the information about the child’s progress, along with national data and expectations of progress

Critical to have an early discussion with pupil and their parents.

Consideration of whether special educational provision is required should start with the desired outcomes, including the expected progress and attainment and the views and wishes of the pupil and parents

Special education provision in schools

SEN support replaces School Action / School Action Plus. It is the category of support for children with SEN who do not have EHCP.

• It focuses the system on the impact of the support provided to that individual child, rather than how children access support according to the category they fit into.

• It places emphasises on a graduated approach (assess, plan, do and review).

• The aim is to improve the experience and outcomes of school for all pupils ensuring high quality teaching and learning.

SEN Support

Assess

Teacher, working with SENCO should carry out a clear analysis of the pupil’s needs

Schools should take seriously any concerns raised by a parent – these should be recorded and compared to their own assessment and information on how the pupil is progressing

This assessment should be reviewed regularly

Include information from other professionals involved with the child

PLAN

Where it is decided to provide a pupil with SEN support, parents MUST be formally notified

All teachers and support staff who work with the pupil should be made aware of the needs, outcomes sought, support provided and any teaching strategies and approaches that are required.

The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the outcomes identified for the pupil

Parents should be aware of the planned support and interventions, and where appropriate, plans should seek parental involvement to reinforce at home

DO

The class teacher should remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis

The class teacher should work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching

The SENCO should support the class or subject teacher in the further assessment of the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses and advising on the effective implementation of support

Review The effectiveness of the support and interventions and their

impact on the child’s progress should be reviewed in line with the agreed date

The impact and quality of the support and interventions should be evaluated along with the views of child and parents

Parents should have clear information about the impact of the support and interventions provided, enabling them to be involved in planning next steps

The Graduated Response in practice DFE

Involving parents and pupils in planning and reviewing progress

Schools must provide an annual report for parents on their child’s progress

Where a child is receiving SEN support, schools should talk to parents regularly to set clear outcomes and review progress towards them. Schools should meet with parents at least 3 times per year

Use of data and record keeping

Provision made for pupils with SEN should be recorded accurately and kept up to date.

Schools should particularly record details of additional or different provision under SEN support

Schools should use information systems to monitor the progress and development of all pupils. Details of SEN, outcomes, teaching strategies and the involvement of specialists should be recorded as part of this overall approach

Provision maps are an efficient way of showing all the provision that the school makes which is additional to and different from that offered through the curriculum

Q&A

Group task

In small groups discuss how SEN support is being developed in your area considering:

• Your strategy and approach • How are you working with schools to achieve this?• How you are involving and embedding the views of C&YP and

parents?• What is working well? • What is not working well? • Issues and challenges?

• Please record and be prepared to feed back to the wider group

Group Task

What key questions would you ask to reflect on the assess, plan, do, review in schools

Assess – how do you know that school is identifying needs a the earliest opportunity? How effectively do staff refine planning and adapt their teaching, based on assessment

Plan – how well do teachers plan to meet the needs of pupils with SEN within the QFT?

Do - How do you as SENCo support the development of staff skills, confidence and expertise in SEN? How do teachers ensure the transference of

skills taught within targeted provision to work in class Review - How do engage with parents effectively to revise the provision in the light of progress? How do you identify the next

steps required?

Next steps

In small groups reflect on what you have heard today:

• What future support needs do you have?

• What 3 key things will you take back to your organisation?

Mott Macdonald – SEND Information Packs and Resources•Includes case studies and resources

•The send gateway at: www.nasen.org.uk

•Achievement for All at: www.achievementforall3As.org.uk

•Local authorities websites, particularly the local offer pages.

Resources and Further Reading

Please help us to keep improving these workshops by completing the evaluation form at

Participant evaluation:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sendreformworkshops

Facilitator evaluation: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RGVNV9M

Evaluation

Pathfinder ChampionsNorth WestWigan, Manchester. Salford & LancashireNorth EastDarlington and Early SupportYorkshire and HumberNorth Yorkshire, Calderdale and York CityWest MidlandsConsortium of 13 LAsEast MidlandsLeicester and Nottinghamshire

Support available to local areas

East of EnglandHertfordshire and BedfordLondon 1Bromley, Bexley and EnfieldLondon 2SE7 (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South EastSE7 (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South West 1Cornwall (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South West 2Southampton and Portsmouth (supported by Mott MacDonald)

http://www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/pathfinderchampions/

Support available to local areas

Delivery Partners

Autism Education TrustContact a FamilyCouncil for Disabled ChildrenEarly SupportInformation, Support and Advice Services NetworkNational Network for Parent Carer ForumsPreparing for AdulthoodThe Communications TrustThe Dyslexia-SpLD TrustMott MacDonald

The Implementing the SEND reforms workshop series has been collaboratively produced by:

Series 1: Transitioning from the old to the new system

Series 2: Understanding EHC plans

Series 3: Best practice in joint commissioning

Series 4: Engaging parent carers – Wednesday 25th March 2015

Series 5: Engaging children and young people – Tuesday 2nd December 2014

Series 6: Preparation for adulthood – Tuesday 10th February 2015

Series 7: Understanding SEN Support – Tuesday 18th November 2014

Series 8: Early Years providers – Wednesday 21st January 2015

Series 9: Personal budgets – Wednesday 4th March 2015

Implementing the SEND reforms workshop series