Quality First Teaching for All

SENJIT

16th October 2012

Quality First Teaching for ALL

A Top Priority for Schools!

Context and Background

National Developments

• A clear move to reduce the number of pupils identified as having special educational needs and requiring ‘additional to’ or ‘different from’ provision.

• An emphasis on the importance of improving teaching and learning for all.

The special educational needs and disability review – A statement is not enough

• However, we also recognise that as many as half of all pupils identified for School Action would not be identified as having special educational needs if schools focused on improving teaching and learning for all, with individual goals for improvement.

Ofsted, September 2010

The special educational needs and disability review – A statement is not enough

• At School Action level, the additional provision was often making up for poor whole class teaching or pastoral support.

The special educational needs and disability review – A statement is not enough

• Inspectors saw schools that identified pupils as having special educational needs when, in fact, their needs were no different from those of most other pupils. They were underachieving but this was sometimes simply because the school’s mainstream teaching provision was not good enough, and expectations of the pupils were too low.

The special educational needs and disability review – A statement is not enough

• . . . some pupils are being wrongly identified as having special educational needs and that relatively expensive additional provision is being used to make up for poor day-to-day teaching and pastoral support. This can dilute the focus on overall school improvement and divert attention from those who do need a range of specialist support.

The special educational needs and disability review – A statement is not enough

• The characteristics of the best lessons were:– Teachers’ thorough and detailed knowledge of the children

and young people– Teachers’ thorough knowledge and understanding of

teaching strategies and techniques, including assessment for learning

– Teachers’ thorough knowledge about the subject or areas of learning being taught

– Teachers’ understanding of how learning difficulties can affect children and young people’s learning.

• These were the essential tools for good-quality teaching with any group of children or young people.

The special educational needs and disability review – A statement is not enough

• . . . further changes to the system should focus on:• Improving teaching and pastoral support early on so

that additional provision is not needed later• Ensuring that schools do not identify pupils as having

special educational needs when they simply need better teaching.

The Green PaperSupport and aspiration: A new approach to special

educational needs and disability

• . . . our proposals in this Green Paper will mean that:

• teachers and other staff in schools and colleges are well trained and confident to: identify and overcome a range of barriers to learning; manage challenging behaviour; address bullying; and intervene early when problems emerge;

• teachers feel able to identify effectively what a child needs to help them to learn and to plan support to help every child progress well, reflecting the specific needs of children with SEN and those who may just be struggling with learning and need school-based catch-up support which is normally available.

The Green PaperSupport and aspiration: A new approach to special

educational needs and disability

• International evidence shows that the most important factor in effective school systems is the quality of teachers and teaching.

• Teachers who have specialist knowledge and experience in working with young people with SEN are often well placed to develop the skills of other colleagues.

Progress and Next Steps(May 2012)

• School Action and School Action Plus (and early years equivalents) will be replaced with a single category of SEN

• SEN Code of Practice will be revised to give clear guidance on identifying children who have SEN and on the operation of the new single category of SEN.

•

Education Committee pre-legislative scrutiny report on special educational needs

• Teachers report that local authority services are being refocused to concentrate on the needs of children and young people with the most severe and complex needs and they are unable to access support for pupils who do not have a Statement (e.g. pupils at School Action Plus). […] The cuts to services also mean that mainstream teachers are likely to be unable to access the specialist advice and support for pupils whose needs are deemed to fall outside the definition of 'high need'. This will have profound implications for the quality of education that both pupils with SEN and all pupils receive. It will place wildly unreasonable demands on teachers.

NASUWT, December 2012

Ofsted Inspection of Maintained Schools and

Academies from 1st September 2012

Overall EffectivenessOutstanding

• The school’s practice consistently reflects the highest expectations of staff and the highest aspirations for pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.

Overall EffectivenessInadequate

• Disabled pupils and/or those who have special educational needs and/or those for whom the pupil premium provides support, are underachieving.

Quality of Teaching

• Inspectors should consider the extent to which the ‘Teachers’ Standards’ are being met.

Teachers’ StandardsSeptember 2012

Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils

• Know when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches which enable pupils to be taught effectively

• Have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these

• Demonstrate an awareness of the physical , social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development

• Have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with EAL; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

The Sutton TrustImproving the impact of teachers on pupil achievement in

the UK – interim findings (Sept. 2011)

• Teacher impacts• The difference between a very effective

teacher and a poorly performing teacher is large. For example during one year with a very effective maths teacher, pupils gain 40% more in their learning than they would with a poorly performing maths teacher.

The Sutton TrustImproving the impact of teachers on pupil achievement

in the UK – interim findings (Sept. 2011)

• The effects of high-quality teaching are especially significant for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds: over a school year, these pupils gain 1.5 years’ worth of learning with very effective teachers, compared with 0.5 years with poorly performing teachers. In other words, for poor pupils the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher is a whole year’s learning.