Special Educational Needs  My role as SENCO  How does it work?  What can we do?  The home/school partnership

SENCO  Gets to know all children in the school  Meets with the children and the parents to discuss learning needs  Works with all school staff in supporting the learning of different pupils and different groups  Organises resources and provision so that all children get what they need when they need it while not missing out on the rest of the curriculum  Liaises with other professionals to get specialised help when needed  Requests more advice/support/money from the LEA as needed for individual children  Provides and arranges training for staff to ensure that they have the knowledge and expertise they need  Evaluates the impact of provision and decides new steps

How does it work?  SEN register – a way of keeping track, rather than labelling  Not just severe Special Needs, but sometimes a helping hand for a short period of time  Identification – assessment and monitoring  Discussion with other staff involved  Discussion with the child  Discussion with those at home  Next steps…

What can we do? Quality Teaching First  Personalised Learning – Each child is unique, with different strengths and areas to improve  Differentiation  Materials to support learning  Variety of learning styles  Support from parents  Discussion with specialist professionals  Training

What can we do? School Action  Support provided in school by staff using lovely resources  Staff have excellent training and feel enthused about what they do  Specialist professionals come in to support as necessary  SENCO oversees this and evaluates the impact  The children love it!  Examples: phonics booster work, rapid read, maths booster

What can we do? School Action Plus  Support provided either in school or out of school (clinics/hospitals/health centres etc) by specialist professionals  School have to refer/request support and must ask permission first  The SENCO then continues to liaise with the professional and to implement advice in school  Examples include: Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Paediatricians, Educational Psychologist

What can we do? Statementing  For most severe cases of SEN only  Only around 3% of pupils with SEN get a statement  Two thirds of all pupils with statements are in mainstream schools  Statements entitle a pupil to additional money and/or support and/or resources and/or input from specialist professionals  Reviews take place every year to discuss the level of that support.

What does this mean my child might be doing?

We’ve got lots of books, toys, games and ICT programmes to help…

This is how we work on gross motor skills and strengthen our core stability…

This is how we work on fine motor skills and improve our writing and dexterity…

Fidget toy Fidget pencil This is how we concentrate and sit better …

School/Home partnership  If you’re worried – first see your child’s class teacher  Next step, if needed, is to have a conversation with the SENCO  Available every day in the playground; more lengthy/confidential meetings by appointment, usually within a week of request – made by calling the school office  Termly feedback on the provision your child is receiving  Always welcome feedback from home  Expectation is that follow-up work will be completed – a partnership makes all support work better!