SEN Code of Practice Top Ten need to know impacts on your school

(1)

(2)



Psychological Services for Schools

The future of community focused psychology



Embedded & Integrated Support

Enhancing resilience, well-being and attainment



Inclusive Practice

Improving educational and social outcomes



Holistic Delivery

One team, no referrals, no waiting

(3)

By James Randall

A former senior Local Authority manager with first-hand experience of managing significant organisational change resulting from government legislation in the complex area of children and young people, our Business Manager is uniquely placed to assess the impact of the latest SEN Code of Practice on SEND provision within schools.

(4)

SEN Code of Practice

Top Ten ‘need to know’ impacts on your school

Is your school ready for September 2014?

The SEN Code of Practice is the statutory guidance on Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, it relates to children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and

disabled children and young people. The Code of Practice will have a profound impact on all schools in England and Wales but it is a complex and daunting read (253 pages). In this report we present our list of the top ten ‘need to know’ facts for schools from the guidance.

(5)

The Code of Practice is statutory guidance and specifically applies to many organisations, including the governing bodies of maintained, non-maintained and independent schools, specialist schools and early years providers.

It applies equally to all age ranges from 0 to 25. The majority of the regulations and the Code of Practice come into force in September 2014.

You can’t just ignore it….

(6)

www.focuspsychology.com

SEN Code of Practice - Top Ten ‘need to know’ impacts on your school

The Code is clear in its anticipation that “High quality teaching that is differentiated and

personalised will meet the individual needs of the majority of children and young people”

Under the Code, schools need to continually demonstrate the effectiveness of the approaches they are putting into place to support children and young people who have or may have SEND. This means that all teaching staff need to understand the strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils, not just the SENCo and School Improvement staff.

Everything starts from Quality First Teaching

(7)

The principles of the code are very clear that schools must have regard to the views, wishes and feelings of the child or young person and their parents/guardians, this includes being able to demonstrate that they have participated as fully as possible in any decisions.

Consideration of whether SEND provision is required should start with the desired outcomes of all concerned, including the expected progress and attainment and the views and wishes of the pupil and their parents/guardians.

(8)

The Code contains significant information on Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, however schools need to be very aware that the coordinated assessment process is not a replacement for the statutory assessment process in terms of a gateway for additional funds. EHC plans will only be used for children and young people with significant need, the vast

majority of children with SEND will not get an EHC plan.

Schools need to consider the financial implications of this new situation, they are required to support children and young people with SEND but cannot expect additional targeted funding.

Don’t rely on EHC plans

Impact #4

(9)

A child or young person that has SEND but does not have an EHC plan must be educated in a mainstream setting and schools must not refuse to admit or continue to support a child who has SEND but does not have an EHC plan simply because they do not feel able to cater for their needs.

With budgets tight, schools would be advised to enhance their in-house ability to identity and support children and young people with SEND; basic capabilities such as an understanding of how children learn and meta-cognition are essential for ALL teaching and support staff, not just the SENCo.

(10)

Sadly the historical response to many children and young people with SEND has been to

employ a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) within the classroom who ‘works’ specifically with them, allowing the teacher to ‘get on with the rest of the class’.

The Code requires a continuous ‘Plan Do and Review’ cycle which requires their class or subject teacher to remain responsible for the child on a daily basis. Not only will the use of LSAs in the ‘Velcro’ role work against this cycle, it is also highly inefficient from a financial perspective. LSAs with appropriate training and management can support significantly more pupils in more effective ways.

Eliminate the ‘Velcro



’ LSA

(11)

Many schools already understand the importance of the SENCo role, but it is still common to see the duties of a SENCo simply added to the responsibilities of a full-time teacher.

Post September 2014 the role of the SENCo becomes even more vital to the performance and effectiveness of schools. Your SENCo needs time to do their job productively (in larger schools the role should be full time), they need continuous professional training and the ability to manage support staff (such as LSAs) to maximum benefit.

(12)

The Code places significant additional accountabilities on schools to identify and support children and young people with SEND and it recognises the clear link between SEN, socio-economic and health factors. All staff within schools therefore need to understand nurture based practice.

No matter how long you stare at RAISEonline, our most vulnerable learners will fail to meet expectations, not because they don’t want to but because they can’t. Neglect and chaos fails to support development of resilience, self-efficacy, motivation, self-worth, executive functioning… the very skills that are needed to be a successful learner. If we don’t concentrate on nurturing these first, no amount of booster sessions are going to work.

The importance of Nurture based practice…

Impact #8

(13)

By its nature the Code relies to a certain extent on the ability to ‘identify’ SEND within schools and appropriate identification is, of course, a prerequisite for effective intervention. However the

process of labelling a child or young person is not an end in itself; a poor assessment of need is one that simply labels without suggesting action, just because a class teacher can now say Jonnie has ‘ASC’ does not mean they are going to know how to effectively support him.

Schools will be held to account on the effectiveness of their SEND interventions, not for the number or variety of labels assigned to pupils.

Beware of labels…

(14)

Schools have many pressures on their finances, the Code makes it clear however, that much of the funding for SEND provision has already been allocated directly to schools and they are expected to account for this spend.

While schools are not expected to meet the full costs of more expensive provisions these are likely to be the exception rather than the rule. Schools must therefore think smart to maximise their limited spend on SEND; approaches such as flexible and competent LSA utilisation, targeted

training to enhance knowledge and skills and increased group, rather then individual, intervention can all make the money go further.

Learn to make the money work harder

(15)

of Practice, after all, there are so many pressures on

modern schools it can feel like just another burden.

However, understanding the vision behind the Code and

making your approach to SEND a significant part of your

school strategy can help to deliver very real, positive

(16)

Tel: 0845 130 5837

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.focuspsychology.com

FocusPsychology is a trading name for FocusChange limited