SEN Introduction

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Objectives for the session

Special Educational NeedsOnline Session 1

• Reflect upon your own perceptions of SEN• Develop an awareness of the diversity and the

range of provision in mainstream schools• Develop an understanding of the SEN Code of

Practice for pupils with SEN• Develop an awareness of what we mean by

“Inclusion”

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Brief history of SEN/Inclusion

• 19th century: idiots, imbeciles and feeble minded kept in hospitals

• 1970: Education (Handicapped Children) Act took severely subnormal children from health care into education

• 1978: The Warnock Report – change vocabulary – special educational ‘need’ not ‘handicap’

• 1981: Education Act - ‘integration’ and ‘statements’

• 1994: Salamanca Statement on the rights of children with SEN to a mainstream school place. Also first SEN Code of Practice

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Brief history of SEN/Inclusion

• 1995: Disability Code of Practice set out the rights of disabled pupils

• 2000: National Curriculum inclusion statement

• 2001: SEN Code of Practice set out procedures for assessing the needs and providing for pupils with SEN

• 2001: Inclusive Schooling’s framework for inclusion

• 2004: Removing Barriers to Learning – embedding inclusive practice into every school setting

* Also refer to Handout 1: A brief history of inclusion

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What does What does “Special Educational “Special Educational

Needs” mean to Needs” mean to you?you?

Personal ReflectionWhat do you recollect about SEN from your own childhood/schooling? Do any images stand out?

Can you recall any of the terms/expressions which you have come across in respect of SEN?

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A child has

special educational needs

if he or she has a

learning difficulty

which calls for

special educational provision

to be made for him or her

The Education Act 1996

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(a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age;

A child has a learning difficulty if he or she ...

(b) has a disability which either prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority;

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For a child over two, provision which is additional to, or different from, the educational provision made generally for children of the child’s age in local schools

Special Educational Provision means …


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Definition of disability from SEN and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA)

Disabled pupils are those who ‘have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’

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Range and Diversity of S.E.N.

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Average classroom - 20%

Statemented pupils – 2%

Range of difficulties/disabilities

The pupils with Special Educational Needs

Inclusion means more pupils with SEN in mainstream schools!!

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“Effective teaching for children with SEN shares most of the characteristics of effective learning for all children.

But as schools become more inclusive, so teachers must be able to respond to a wider range of needs in the classroom.”

DfES Removing Barriers to Achievement 2004

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The S.E.N.

Code of Practice

2001

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Special Educational Needs Code of Practice November 2001

Fundamental Principles

The SEN Code of Practice-2001

• A child with SEN should have their needs met.• The SEN of children will normally be met in

mainstream schools or settings.• The views of the child should be sought and taken

into account.• Parents have a vital role to play in supporting their

child’s education.• Children with SEN should be offered full access to

a broad, balanced and relevant education.

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The SEN Code of Practice 2001“Each child is unique”

“There is a wide spectrum of special educational needs that are frequently inter-related.”

“Children will have needs and requirements which may fall into at least one of 4 areas and many children will have inter-related needs.”

“The impact of these combinations on the child’s ability to function, learn and succeed should be taken into account.”

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The SEN Code of Practice 2001 Categories of need

1. Communication and Interaction

2. Cognition and Learning

3. Behavioural, Emotional and Social Development 4. Sensory and/or physical

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Categories of need from SEN code of practice 2001Cognition and Learning Needs includes:

Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD)Moderate Learning Difficulty (MLD)Severe Learning Difficulty (SLD)Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty (PMLD)

Behaviour, Emotional and Social Development Needs includes: Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulty (BESD)

Communication and Interaction Needs includes:Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)

Sensory and/or Physical Needs includes:Visual Impairment (VI)Hearing Impairment (HI)Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI)Physical Disability (PD)

Pupils with medical needs are usually included in the final section.

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Able, enabled or disabled?

Personal Reflection

Can you?

1. Read very small print? 2. Hear what they are saying in the room next door?3. Find a street you don’t know, in an unfamiliar area, when

driving or being driven in a car?4. Fly to the moon!5. Assemble a complicated piece of flat-pack furniture?6. Write or type a long assignment with no spelling mistakes?

If you think you cannot do any of these activities – what would enable you to do so?

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Images of disability…

Would a pupil who uses a wheelchair be disabled ifthe local school had ramps and lifts as well as

steps? Will dyslexic pupils be disabled readers and writers once the technology that can transform speech to print and vice versa becomes universally available and will they still have SEN?

Personal Reflection

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The ‘Medical’ Model of disability

1. Sees SEN as a “within child” problem

2. Locates the disability in the child

3. Focuses on the child’s difficulties and asks, “What is wrong with the child?”

4. Child seen as having a deficiency

5. Deficiency needs to be remedied

6. Outside experts need to ‘cure’ the child

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The ‘Social’ Model of disability

1. Sees Education as inclusive with children having a range of needs

2. Locates the impairment in the person, but the disabling factors in the environment

3. Focuses on the child’s needs and asks, “What does the child need?”

4. Recognises the traditional curriculum does not always provide for all children’s needs

5. Specific needs may require specific provision – curriculum may need to be adapted

PGCE Session 1 21

A final thought…. Impairments are always very real but they may be disabling only to the extent that the external environment fails to provide the relevant supports…

Medical and Social Models of disability

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What do we mean

by “Inclusion

?”

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Features of an Inclusive Environment

• Feeling welcomed as individuals• Feeling respected• Listened to• Contributions valued• Knowing routines

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Inclusion – Principles (1)• A process by which schools and LEAs

develop their culture, policies and practices to include pupils

• Nearly all pupils with SEN can be successfully included in mainstream schools

• Schools and LEAs should actively seek to remove barriers to learning and participation

• All pupils should have access to an appropriate education that gives them the opportunity to achieve their personal potential

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Inclusion – Principles (2)• Mainstream education will not always be

right for every child all of the time – equally it should be possible for the child to be successfully included at a later stage

• “Inclusive Schooling: Children with SEN”

DfES Guidance November 2001

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Inclusion

• There is a clear expectation that many pupils with SEN will be included in mainstream schools

• Schools may not refuse to admit a child because they feel unable to cater for their special educational needs

• Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001

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Effective Inclusion

Inclusive schools have:

An inclusive ethos

A broad and balanced curriculum for all pupilsSystems for early identification of barriers to learning

High expectations and suitable targets for all pupils

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Inclusion

The National Curriculum “Inclusion Statement”

3 principles:

1. Setting suitable learning challenges

2. Responding to pupils’ diverse learning needs

3. Overcoming potential barriers to learning

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Inclusion Principles

Setting suitable learning challenges

1. Opportunity to achieve success

2. Teach in ways which suit pupil’s abilities

3. Use of earlier or later key stages

4. Flexible approaches

5. Greater degree of differentiation

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Responding to pupils’ diverse learning needs

1. High expectations

2. Creating effective learning environments

3. Securing pupils’ motivation & concentration

4. Awareness of different learning styles

5. Setting appropriate targets for learning (SMART)

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Overcoming potential barriers to learning

1. Awareness of SEN – type and extent – learning difficulties/physical disabilities…

2. Use of human resources

3. Use special arrangements during end of key stage assessments

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InclusionPupils with SEN in Social Sciences - independent learners?

1. Independent tasks – clearly explained & modelled

2. Clear guidelines and well-defined parameters

3. Time limits and updates

4. Prompts, both verbal and visual

5. Scaffolded support in pairs or small groups

6. Adult guidance before ‘having a go’ themselves

Maximising Progress: ensuring the attainment of pupils with SEN. KS3 National Strategy 2005 (DfES 0105-2005)

PGCE Session 1 33

Inclusion

“Inclusion is not a matter of where you are geographically, but of where you feel you belong.”

(Warnock, 2005)

“There are many children, and especially adolescents, identified as having special educational needs, who can never feel they belong in a large mainstream school.”

(Warnock, 2005)

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The S.E.N.

Code of Practice

2001

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The SEN Code of Practice


A 3 Stage (Graduated) Approach

School Action

School Action Plus

Statemented provision

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School Action:

When a class teacher identifies that a pupil has SEN they provide interventions that are additional to or different from those provided as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum. An IEP is usually devised.


School Action Plus:

When outside agencies are brought in to help with provision for the pupil. A new IEP is usually devised.

Statement of SEN:

A document issued by the LEA to show what provision should be made for a child with SEN.

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Individual Education Plan:

A planning, teaching and reviewing tool which should:

Raise achievement for pupils with SEN

Be a working document - simple format, jargon free

Detail provision additional to or different from those generally available for all pupils

Detail targets (max 3 or 4) which are extra or different from those for most pupilsShould result in…

Good planning and intervention by staff

Achievement of specific learning goals for pupils with SEN

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Role of the SENCO

• Oversees the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEN policy

• Co-ordinates provision for pupils with SEN• Liaises with teachers• Manages teaching assistants• Oversees the records of pupils with SEN• Liaises with parents/carers• Contributes to in-service training• Liaises with outside agencies

PGCE Session 1 39

Protection from

discrimination

Two key duties: responsible bodies:

* must not treat disabled pupils less favourably*must make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils

SEN and Disability Act 2001

PGCE Session 1 40

Less favourable treatment

Disability discrimination is less favourable treatment than that received by someone else

- for a reason related to the pupil’s disability

- when it cannot be justified

PGCE Session 1 41

Reasonable adjustmentsReasonable adjustments

•The steps taken by responsible bodies•The term ‘reasonable’ allows flexibility in interpretation•The duty to make reasonable adjustments is an anticipatory duty

PGCE Session 1 42

Personal Reflection

Which of the following might be a reasonable adjustment?

a) choosing an accessible venue for a school trip

b) playing football with a sounding ball

c) swapping round classroom accommodation

d) setting up a buddy system

e) planning lessons so that all pupils make progress

f) demolishing the school and rebuilding it as single storey building

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Differentiation

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“Ensuring that children are all working on something at which they can succeed and move forward at their own level.”

Teacher (2008)

Differentiation

“Matching teaching methods to an individual’s learning strategy.”

John Visser (1993)

“A planned process of intervention in the classroom to maximise potential based on individual needs.”

NCET (1993)

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Links to special educational needs information

www.teachernet.gov.uk/senGo to: Removing Barriers to Achievement

Useful SEN LinksSEN Glossary of terms

www.everychildmatters.gov.ukGo to: Aims and outcomes

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Talk to the class teacher and the SENCO about the needs of the pupils with SEN in your classes

During your placement

Seek out any IEPs and use them when planning the content and delivery of your lessons

Provide the pupils with SEN with work that challenges them, without being discouragingly difficult

If you are not sure about anything to do with a pupil with SEN – ASK!

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Pupil profiles:

Is information on pupils with SEN in your classrooms readily available?

During your placement - consider these SEN issues…

IEPs:

How effective are they in guiding your teaching? Eg’s? Differentiation:

How are you using this in your teaching? Examples?

Inclusion:

Is it an “Inclusive School?” Evidence?

Documents

SEN Introduction