Early identification and support for children with special needs HLTA Development Events 2015

Presentation slide 2.1 First thoughts.... What are special educational needs (SEN)? What is the difference between SEN and disability? How can we contribute to inclusion and the achievement of pupils with SEN and/or disabilities?

Presentation slide 2.7 Legal definition of ‘disability’ People have disabilities if they have any mental or physical impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities

Presentation slide 2.2 The nature of special educational needs Pupils with SEN could have: difficulties with some or all school work difficulties with reading, writing, number work or understanding information difficulties in expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying difficulty in making friends or relating to adults difficulty in behaving properly in school difficulty in organising themselves some kind of sensory or physical need which may affect them in school

Presentation slide 2.3 When pupils do not necessarily have SEN Pupils are not regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because: the language or form of language of their home is different from the language in which they will be taught they have a disability they have a medical diagnosis or condition

Presentation slide 2.5 The four areas of need Communication and interaction Cognition and learning Behaviour, emotional and social development Sensory and/or physical Explanation of need: Communication and interaction – eg. Expressing themselves, understanding others Cognition and learning – eg. reading, writing, number work Behaviour, emotional and social development – eg. making friends, relating to others, behaving appropriately Sensory and/or physical – eg. visual impairment, hearing impairment, limited physical movement

Maslow

Presentation slide 2.9 What factors influence learning? Support Task Child Environment

SEND reforms The new Special Educational Needs code ofSpecial Educational Needs code of practicepractice sets out that all early years providers must follow the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the EYFS Framework 2014 and theEYFS Framework 2014 learning and development requirements. These arrangements should include a clear approach to identifying and responding to SEN (Chapter 5)

Early intervention is essential Independent reviews conducted in recent years are all united in their call for early intervention. “Building their essential social and emotional capabilities means children are less likely to adopt antisocial or violent behavior throughout life. It means fewer disruptive toddlers, fewer unmanageable school children, fewer young people engaging in crime and antisocial behaviour. Early intervention can forestall the physical and mental health problems that commonly perpetuate a cycle of dysfunction.” Graham Allen Early Intervention: The Next Steps

Finding out about a child Where does the information come from? Information from parents The voice of the child Observations within the setting EYFS Outcomes and tracking The progress check at age two Health and development review at age two Bringing it all together

Consider..... How well does your setting gather information through the different routes? How well does your setting bring the information together, analyse and act upon it? (provision mapping ) How well does your setting manage conversations with parents during the decision-making process? Do you bring in, or contact, or visit other professionals/ settings for advice and support and to observe their practice, i.e. A local resource base, special school, etc.

1. Assess 3. Do 4. Review 2. Plan High quality inclusive teaching (inc. differentiation, wave 2 intervention) SEN Support in Schools: The Graduated Approach Builds on more frequent review and more specialist expertise in successive cycles, Whole school processes for assessing, tracking and monitoring progress Not making expected progress 1. Draw on info from above, views of child / parent, external services. Assess against SEN criteria 2. Teacher, SENCO, parent, child agree interventions and support / expected outcomes. Record on school system / inform staff. 4. Impact assessment, along with views of parent / child used to review overall impact of support. Revise plan in light of outcomes. 3. Implement plan. Class / subject teacher remains responsible for working with child on a daily basis and assessing impact of plan. Starting Point Progress means SEN support no longer required

Using the graduated approach of ‘assess, plan, do, review’ think about your team in school and how you work together. Who does what? Where and how are you involved in this process? What works well? What could be better? 1. Assess 3. Do 4. Review 2. Plan

Inclusion – key factors for success Attitudes Skills Resources Inclusion is about creating a secure, accepting, collaborating and stimulating school in which everyone is valued, as the foundation for the highest achievement for all pupils (adapted from Index for inclusion, CSIE) What helps?

Resources Words for life: Foundation Years SEND Gateway TES early years hub Bsquared 2simple software (tracking and assessment)

Resources Interventions for literacy – identifying and teaching children with dyslexia and literacy difficulties tifying-and-teaching children-and-young-people-with-dyslexia-and-literacy- difficulties-2009/ National Children’s Bureau – what early years providers needto know oviders_need_to_know.pdf

Some final thoughts make time to listen to children, find time to think, be prepared to ask for advice, share responsibilities and worries know your strengths...and know the strengths of others.