This section provides a range of assessment materials, resources and links to useful SEN information.
A suite of materials aimed to support teachers and TAs to increase their knowledge and skills in working with pupils with SEN. The IDP should not replace specialist knowledge, rather it is intended to support specialist advice and guidance to make quality first teaching more effective and the aspirations for the outcomes of these groups of pupils greater.
Training materials for teachers of learners with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties
- SEND Code of Practice (COP)
- Schools guide to the SEND COP
- Parent / carers SEND guide
- Parent / carers and young people easy read SEND guide
- Equality Act 2010: Advice for schools
- Equality Act Technical Guidance for Schools in England (Equality and Human Rights Commission)
- Children and Families Act 2014
- School census guidance
- Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school
-
Parent support - information about independent advice and support through PIAS (Plymouth Information, Advice and Support for SEND) should be provided to parents/carers and young people, especially where parents might have concerns around provision for their pupil with SEND.
- P scales: attainment targets for pupils with SEN (DfE)
- Statistics: special educational needs (SEN)
- Analysing School Performance SENCOs should request a log in through their Head teacher
- Primary School Accountability
Phonic, high frequency words and handwriting assessment tools can be found on the SEND SAS assessment and tracking progress page.
Useful information and tools about person centred approaches.
Secure phonological awareness (PA) skills are an essential foundation to allow the secure development of literacy skills. The five key skills of PA to be developed are:
- Auditory discrimination
- Word boundaries
- Rhyme
- Syllables
- Phoneme blending and segmenting
It is vital to review the PA skills of any pupils who have persistent difficulties with literacy development, as well as to ensure high quality provision of PA activities, particularly in Foundation and KS1.
SEND SAS has developed a games based structured PA Intervention programme that can be used to support the PA skills development of pupils with significant PA difficulties. Further information is available on our central and school based training page.
There are useful documents and links to external websites on the SEN useful resources page.
Do not expect access to ICT to be a magic answer in overcoming pupils' difficulties. It will take time and training to develop efficient use of equipment and software.
For pupils with significant recording difficulties it is important to develop their word processing skills, or use of alternative recording tools, and use transcription above use of a scribe. This will develop the pupil’s independence skills and avoid dependency on adult support. For more information please see the using ICT as a support tool page.
The Downs Syndrome Association free resources provide useful advice and practical strategies which can be applied to many pupils working significantly below age related expectations. The phase specific resources include:
- Celebrating Success case studies of good practice in inclusion
- Education support packs with detailed information and practical examples covering inclusion strategies, language, behaviour and curriculum areas such as reading, writing and maths..
These resources can be downloaded from the Downs Association website.