Special Educational Needs(SEN)

Allows a Greater Scope for Differentiation.Teachers develop teaching styles to suit all learners.

Allows pupils to participate together in class, when they may not normally work together outside of class.

Inclusion allows a real working environment with differences in opinions and styles for teachers.

Allows SEN pupils in your lesson a chance to enjoy time with their peers and gain valuable social

learning.

STRENGTHS

The Pupil Feels More Included

Pupils with SEN often feel on the outside.

Inclusion can often improve self esteem and a sense of self worth in SEN pupils.

Surrounding SEN pupils with their peers can also motivate learning alongside their peers.

STRENGTHS

Money, Money, Money!

Pupils who have a Statement of SEN bring funding with them to the school.

This money should be used to make learning more accessible.

TA’s/LSA’s can support SEN pupils to help with learning and maintain classroom

management.

STRENGTHS

Real Support?

SEN pupils may have a talent which needs more individualised attention to nurture it.

Sometimes, SEN pupils may feel “thrown into” some aspects of mainstream school.

Funding does not often equate to the pupil having full time support, so sometimes they

may be in one of your lessons, alone.

WEAKNESSES

Where Does the Money Go?It is not a legal obligation for the school to spend

the money on the specific pupil.

If the parent feels that their child is not getting full support and wish to take their child out of school,

the money goes with the child… (most of the time.)

As a teacher, you could face pressures from the SENCO, parents and a multitude of outside agencies to provide accessible learning to a pupil with SEN.

WEAKNESSES

Are SEN Pupils Really Part of the School?

Pupils with a SEN are usually accepted into the school on a term-to-term/yearly basis.

This usually includes:• Constant target setting from teachers and support staff • Daily phone calls home to inform of progress/difficulties• Pastoral Reviews which can be annual or even termly.

Constant pressure on a SEN pupil can cause extra stress when they may already be in a fragile state of mind.

WEAKNESSES

SEN Being Wrongly Diagnosed?We all have special needs – if we look hard enough!

One parent recalls the “Kafka-esque” process that resulted from an inexperienced teacher's misplaced concern

• “He draws with a blue pencil!”

• He is referred to the SENCO, After observation, he was then referred to a speech and language therapist because of "poor listening skills" and because he gave "incomplete, irrelevant or no response to

questions".

• The next October, he finally saw the therapist and months later came a nine-page report. To the parents delight, her son's attention and listening skills came within "normal limits". However the report also said that her son had poor "expressive or spoken language", a new concern that hadn't been identified by the

school.

• More assessment, more labelling, more worry.

• It took just under two years to finally get him discharged from the list.

• What her son needed was nothing more than kindness and understanding from an experienced teacher.

WEAKNESSES

Ofsted says:

• As many as 50% of children diagnosed as SEN

• In one primary school, pupils were "inappropriately" identified as having special needs because their fathers had been deployed to Afghanistan.

• Ofsted visited a high school which identified all year 11 students – 15-16-year-olds – who were at risk of falling short of their expected GCSE grades as having special educational needs.

• Ofsted found that about half the schools and nursery providers visited used low attainment and relatively slow progress as their principal indicators of SEN. In nearly a fifth of these cases very little further assessment took place.

• Many of the school's mainstream provision was not good enough, and expectations for students were too low

• Schools should focus on improving teaching and learning for all, with individual goals for improvement.

• Better teaching and pastoral support is all that is required in most cases

WEAKNESSES

Exclusions• Those with special educational needs are eight times more likely to be

excluded.

• Permanent exclusion rates in academies are twice those at state-funded secondary schools, the figures from the Department for Children, Schools

and Families show.

• England's 83 academies permanently excluded 0.42% of pupils, compared with 0.21% in secondary schools, the DCSF said.

• "There is no indication that academies take on twice as many 'difficult' children as maintained schools, so the fact that the government allows

academies to get away with excluding twice as many pupils is astounding. We would be very concerned if exclusions from academies were of

children and young people who might depress the exam results at those institutions.

WEAKNESSES

Promoting Diversity

A great chance in lessons to promote diversity and respect for others in their lessons.

SEN pupils can often lack empathy with their peers. A chance to include SEN pupils within

mainstream lessons can help include the teaching of this.

A teacher can also teach other pupils tolerance to others who may be different to them.

OPPORTUNITIES

Develop Teaching Styles

A teacher should include differentiation, but inclusion of SEN within their class is a

great opportunity to think creatively.

What works with the majority of the class will often not work with a SEN pupil, so

“thinking outside of the box” is essential.

In essence, this helps a teacher continually develop their own teaching skills.

OPPORTUNITIES

A Better Public Image?

Schools have increasingly become a bigger part of the community, ditching their image of

segregated learning areas.

The inclusion of SEN can promote a better public image, as a school without prejudice.

This can help with school events open to the public, where there will be a sense of everyone

being welcome.

OPPORTUNITIES

I Want a Statement and I Want It NOW!

To get a child on a School Action / School Action+ / Statement of SEN is a very lengthy process.

In order to prove one child’s case of SEN, it often requires a

lot of work and effort from: • The SENCO

• Teachers/support staff• The parents

• The multitude of outside agencies

During this time, what happens to the child? Do they simply have to get on in lessons with no support?

THREATS

Who Should Change?

A Statement of SEN requires the school to adapt to the individual.

In an ever changing world, shouldn’t the key focus be on gentle reintegration to a

mainstream environment with the idea of preparing a child for change?

This would mean not allowing SEN pupils into an environment where EVERYTHING must meet

their needs.

THREATS

Don’t Forget the ‘Average’ Child!

Teachers can run the risk of solely focusing their efforts on trying to cater for pupils with SEN.

Teacher’s adapting their teaching styles and using their time to include SEN pupils can mean that

other pupils may feel less catered for.

Without as much 1:1 support, ‘average’ pupils with no indication of SEN can fall into the danger

of falling behind with their learning.

THREATS