The article discusses the urgent need for bold reforms in inclusive mainstream education as a solution to the pressures of special school placements. It highlights the importance of developing expertise among all staff, sharing best practices between mainstream and specialist schools, investing appropriately, and utilizing research to inform effective strategies.
Tag Archives: SEND
SEND: it’s not just good teaching (but it is good teaching)
When you walk into an inclusive classroom, you can often tell straightaway. It’s in the relationships, the communication, the learning environment. But these things (secure relationships, clear communication, etc.) benefit all pupils – so does that mean teaching pupils with SEND is ‘just good teaching’? Let me elaborate on why, for me, the answer is no.
SEND strategies: live by them, or death by them?
Communication of pupil-level strategies is a fundamental part of the SENDCO role and is an essential part of a whole-school approach. So what is the way forward, in terms of individualised strategies, so that all children can thrive?
SENDCOs and SLT – is it really that simple?
It’s a popular refrain that SENDCOs should be on SLT. So, in order to ensure effective leadership of SEND, should schools be placing their SENDCO on SLT? I wonder if that’s not only over-simplistic as a solution – it may even be that we’re asking the wrong question in the first place.
The flex: reasonable adjustment in the classroom for pupils with SEND
When it comes to getting classroom teaching right for pupils with SEND, it isn’t always about funding. It isn’t always about having years and years of specialist SEND training. It’s about the flex.
SEND provision: Intelligent trial and error?
The SENDCO role in a mainstream school is invaluable, especially when supporting pupils with complex needs. External specialists can be equally as invaluable.
Are there times though when the presence of a specialist – the SENDCO, an Educational Psychologist – can delay teachers and TAs from making good decisions for pupils? In relation to the use of specialists within SEND, care must be taken to ensure colleagues are supported but not disempowered.
The SEND and AP Improvement Plan: 3 things that could feel different for SENDCOs
I don’t know a SENDCO who thinks the SEND system is helping them to work efficiently, focus on the right things and consistently have impact. I don’t know many parents who speak glowingly of their experience of getting an EHCP. I don’t know any Local Authorities who aren’t consumed and overwhelmed by workload.
So something needs to change. But what is going to change for schools? What does the SEN and AP Improvement Plan tell us change is going to look like, and how might that change the SENDCO role?
Hidden at the whole-class level
SEND has an identity crisis. Or at the very least, good teaching practice for pupils with SEND has an identity crisis. This relates to the requirement for ‘additional to and different from’.
A signpost for SENDCOs
I’m about to publish my tenth SEND and SENDCO-related blog on another website, which I hope people here might find useful. I’ve therefore created one blogpost here, with links to the first 9.
The summer term SENDCO
Consider these 8 areas as potential priorities for the summer term, which broadly fit into 2 categories: doing the summer term well and preparing to do next year well
SEND Matters 