SPOTLIGHT ON SEND


Working with our children to help them understand


their difficulties In her latest article for Education Today on SEND, independent Specialist Teacher and Assessor JOANNE GLADDERS this month calls for specialists to look at the wider picture when working with challenged children.


In my role as a Specialist Teacher I am privileged to visit many different schools, each one unique in its own way. However, they are all similar by the fact that concerns are being raised about how complicated some children are. What do I mean by complicated? Some young people have so much going on both in and out of school that it is incredibly hard to decipher (a) exactly what they are struggling with and (b) how the school can best support and help them. It is not necessarily about allocating a ‘label’ to the young person but more about providing the best support and referral to the correct professional. How does my role contribute to this? The key to a good quality,


diagnostic assessment is the ability to look behind the scores on an assessment test. The wider picture is looked at, beginning with background information from home, school and the young person themselves. This information then filters into how the young person performs on the different assessments. Further questions are raised and these are discussed as part of the assessment. All of this information then provides the ‘big picture’ which identifies the key areas of strengths, difficulties, and possible avenues to be explored further. The key outcome from this process is recommendation in order to move that young person forward in their learning. Specific learning Difficulty – Dyslexia overlaps so many other


conditions e.g Speech and Language Difficulties, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyscalculia and Dyspraxia. Elements from all of these conditions overlap. Incidences of co-morbidity are high! I think of the assessment


process as completing a jigsaw puzzle; every piece is important, and all are needed to provide the holistic picture of the learner. So, why is this important? For me, it is important to ensure that a diagnosis is not given just because there are a few indicators for it. For example, a learner with difficulty processing information that is given to them, difficulty retrieving information, difficulties with explaining what they know and understand coupled with a preference for visual learning should not definitively point to Specific Learning Difficulty – Dyslexia. It raises the question, has the learner ever been referred to speech and language? Are there any indicators in the background information that contribute to this? Have they ever had difficulties expressing themselves in other contexts? I am constantly asking is there another explanation for these difficulties that is not Dyslexia? Thinking about behaviour, social and emotional difficulties, more


and more I am seeing learners that are frustrated that they cannot read and write to the level that is expected of them. They are superb at using strategies to detract from this in the classroom, and in many instances this leads to deterioration in their behaviour. More importantly, we need to consider the learners’ well-being and the impact their difficulties have on them holistically. How are they affecting their self esteem? How do they consider themselves as a learner and as a contributing member of society? My key question for this month to us as professionals is, ‘How often


do we take the time to reflect with our learners how they perceive their difficulties and the effect they are having on them as a person?’ A poster on a wall in a school I work in says always ask a person more than once to glean a true picture of how they feel. After all, how often do we say ‘we are fine’ to throw people off the scent when there is an underlying problem?


February 2020 Practice makes


perfect This month, regular SEND contributor KATE SARGINSON, Deputy Headteacher and SENCO, examines the practice of ‘Quality First Teaching’.


‘Quality First Teaching’ seems a relatively new phenomenon yet it was first coined a decade ago. The approach turns the focus on the general, day to day practice of teachers in the classroom - stressing just how important this is to make learning accessible to pupils with a range of abilities. Underachievement and behavioural problems can be minimised if pupils are consistently served a diet of well-planned, clearly sequenced


and appropriately differentiated lessons. Proposing that the vast majority of needs can be met in so doing, the provision of QFT implies that the need for out of class interventions will certainly reduce, if not go completely. Could QFT the key to transforming provision and outcomes for pupils with special educational needs in mainstream settings? QFT is referred to in the SEND Code of Practice; “High quality


teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the starting point in responding to pupils who have or may have SEND”. There are 3 waves; beginning with QFT - arguably the most important. It sets the tone for the classroom and when successful can address difficulties that pupils may have at the earliest opportunity. When perhaps previously the default may have been to highlight a child as needing to leave the classroom to get help from elsewhere, QFT places the onus, rightly, onto the class or subject teacher to do all that they can to meet the needs of the children in front of them before trying to refer away. QFT seems such an obvious priority, yet there is a legacy of children being removed from the teacher to receive instruction from a teaching assistant instead. There is now nowhere to hide; The Code of Practice states that ‘Additional intervention and SEN support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching.’ The tables have turned to include rather than offload. The SENCO should engage with staff what QFT means to


them, and develop a shared vision across the school. By reviewing provision areas for continual professional development can be identified, and investment can be made into improving teacher’s knowledge of SEND and inclusive strategies. Schools could develop features of inclusive classrooms, and provision mapping for each wave might be a very useful exercise, and may well be surprised by how much can be categorised as wave 1. The evidence gathering process is crucial, as without


adequate proof that adaptations have been made, the next wave should not be unlocked. Wave 2 approaches are in addition to wave 1, not instead of. Specialists at wave 3 can accessed following adequate coverage of 1 and 2. It is important to acknowledge that a small number of children do require even more support than a teacher can provide alone, despite their best efforts at wave 1 and 2. A renewed emphasis on what’s happening in the classroom


could mark a real turning point for SENCOs if they no longer have to do battle with their colleagues to convince them of their responsibility to meet the needs of all the pupils in their class.


www.education-today.co.uk 19


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