FEATURE FOCUS: CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY
How classroom technology can bridge the gap for students with SEND in mainstream schools
children without.
The attainment gap between SEND children and their peers is even bigger than the attainment gap between children who qualify for free school meals and their peers. Children with SEND are more than twice as likely to be eligible for free school meals than their peers, meaning they are often at the biggest disadvantage in the classroom.
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n our final look this month at classroom technology we’re delighted to hear from Graham Glass, CEO at Cypher Learning, who explains how technology can be used in the classroom to improve the provision of education and support for students with SEND.
One of the biggest challenges facing the education sector at the moment is improving the provision of education and support for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools. We know that the attainment gap between children with SEND and their peers is stark. Figures from before the pandemic reveal that 45 per cent of children with SEND were leaving school without a level 2 qualification, more than double the figure for
The figures are staggering and reflect the additional challenges that students with SEND face, and that schools encounter, when trying to provide the best for these children. The Government is also keenly aware of the need to address these issues. The highly anticipated SEND support plan is due to be published “early this year” according to Ministers, after a delay meant it was not published last Autumn as expected. The Department for Education’s plan is expected to set out reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system to help improve the delivery of provisions for children with SEND. Compounding the challenges, Ofsted has reported that there are schools across the country that do not have the resources to provide specialist support for students with SEND –which has a negative impact on their experiences at school and their development. Ofsted also highlighted that high-quality provision for students with SEND is underpinned by a good understanding of the individual needs of the child, as well as positive relationships with parents.
Meeting the needs of individual students is one of the key challenges in the school system, and
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this is, clearly, even more pronounced for children with SEND. Fewer resources and more responsibilities often mean that teachers are under high levels of pressure and are unable to meet all of the demands in the classroom. However, the latest developments in technology may offer a solution. Increasingly, edtech is being harnessed by schools to tailor learning and improve accessibility for students with additional needs, enabling teachers to deliver an impactful and well-rounded educational experience to all learners. Critically, the advances in intelligent technologies bring new automation and predictive elements to today’s classroom edtech, which supports teachers to better identify and deliver specialist support for children with SEND.
Creating pathways to success
One of the observations from Ofsted’s report into provision for students with SEND was that sometimes schools were teaching a curriculum that was not well sequenced or well matched to students’ needs. This then hinders students’ learning and means they find it difficult to progress as they lack the necessary foundational knowledge and skills to get to the next level. One of the defining aspects of a smart edtech resource is its ability to help teachers create individualised learning pathways to meet the needs of the student.
Intelligent digital tools, such as intelligent learning platforms, work by incorporating learning goals, recommendations, automation and analytics to provide a more personalised
March 2023
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