Essential Guides for Early Career Teachers: Special Educational Needs and Disability. Anita Devi
principles underpin the Code of Practice.
Section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014 makes clear that local authorities, in carrying out their functions under the Act in relation to disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs (SEN), must have regard to:
»the views, wishes and feelings of the child or young person, and the child’s parents
»the importance of the child or young person, and the child’s parents, participating as fully as possible in decisions, and being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions
»the need to support the child or young person, and the child’s parents, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help them achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes, preparing them effectively for adulthood.
(DfE and DoH, 2015, p 19)
While reference is made specifically to local authorities, the implication is that this applies to all organisations (across education, health and social care) and all practitioners working with children, young people and their families in the area.
Voice of the child, young person and family
It is important for you to take some time to consider how you engage the voice of learners and their families in a cohesive, consistent and coherent manner. Using one or more of the person-centred thinking tools can aid this process, as they elicit different types of information according to need. In total, there are 12 types of person-centred thinking tools. The core tool is also known as a ‘one-page profile’. The versatility of this tool (which asks three questions: What’s important to me? What do others think of me? How best can I be supported?) means it can be applied to all learners as part of the high-quality teaching provision on offer (see Chapter 3).
Participation in decision-making
There is a difference in participation when saying to a child/young person or parent, ‘What are your thoughts?’ compared to saying ‘This is our view, what do you think?’. None of us like others making decisions for us. The SEND Code of Practice places an emphasis on co-production. Like inclusion, co-production is a much-debated construct of theory to practise. However, co-production can be broken down into the following aspects:
»co-design, including planning of services;
»co-decision-making in the allocation of resources;
»co-delivery of services;
»co-evaluation of the service.
Therefore, any ‘additional provision’ put in place should be discussed, agreed, delivered and evaluated with parents/carers.
Figure 1.2 below summaries the definition of SEN in the Code of Practice (DfE and DoH, 2015, pp 15–16) and disability in the Equality Act (2010). In effect, the focus is on ‘provision that is additional to or different from’ that generally made for others.
Figure 1.2 Definition of SEN and disability in the SEND Code of Practice 2015
2 High-quality teaching is the baseline
The emphasis on ‘additionality’ is important. However, it is possible for a child or young person to have a diagnosis of SEN, but still access the curriculum due to the setting’s inclusive practice in high quality teaching.
1.24 High quality teaching that is differentiated and personalised will meet the individual needs of the majority of children and young people. Some children and young people need educational provision that is additional to or different from this. This is special educational provision under Section 21 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to ensure that such provision is made for those who need it. Special educational provision is underpinned by high quality teaching and is compromised by anything less.
(DfE and DoH, 2015, p 25)
In the SEND Code of Practice, any directive defined by ‘must’ implies it is enshrined in law. Statements that involve ‘should’ are designed to demonstrate good practice.
A useful way of distinguishing differentiation from personalisation is by recognising that ‘differentiation’ is teacher-led and ‘personalisation’ is learner-led. When these two combine, high-quality teaching is effective. The various aspects of differentiation and personalisation are summarised in Figure 1.3. Compare this to the contents of your setting’s teaching and learning policy.
Figure 1.3 High-quality teaching requires both differentiation and personalisation
3 Graduated approach
The graduated approach is to support the effective identification of special educational needs, as well as to monitor the effectiveness of any additional provision or interventions. Four stages of action combine to make the graduated approach cycle, as indicted by Figure 1.4.
Figure 1.4 Assess, plan, do and review
(DfE and DoH, 2015, p 100)
Each stage of action does require class and subject teachers to lead and work ‘with’ the SENCO. The exception is ‘Plan’ when, in a secondary context, the SENCO, a key worker or mentor may lead on planning by consolidating views from subject teachers. It is important to involve parents/carers in the process, particularly when planning any appropriate provision.
In the SEND Regulations 2014 and the DfE/DoH SEND Code of Practice 2015 the term ‘SENCO’ is used as the official title of the statutory role for the person who co-ordinates, leads and manages special educational needs and disability across settings. Each school uses the legal guidelines to draw up their own bespoke job description. Therefore, many schools use the term SENDCo, Additional Educational Needs Co-ordinator (AENC) or Inclusion Lead, to name a few. Throughout this book, we have used SENCO, as per the legislation.
4 Provision framework
Pulling together the definition of SEN, high-quality teaching and the graduated approach into a coherent framework (Figure 1.5) enables practitioners and parents to understand the fluidity and static provision put in place as children and young people develop.
Figure 1.5 Provision framework to demonstrate how additionality builds on high quality teaching
In some instances, children and young people with SEND require a short-term intervention to learn a new skill, acquire knowledge or change attitudes. In other instances, long-term support in terms of a resource (eg, visualiser) is required. It should be noted that not all short-term support is because a child and young person has a SEN. So accurate assessment by the teacher is vital for determining the right type of intervention.
Reflective task
Use the summary task (Appendix 3) and support evaluation task (Appendix 4) to articulate and consolidate your learning from this chapter.
Four