OFSTED Inspections focusing on attainment of SEN pupils

The new OFSTED inspection arrangements have an increased focus on closing the attainment gaps for pupils supported through the pupil premium, disabled pupils and pupils with SEN. 

Inspections will focus on the learning and progress of pupils in these groups – in the context of overall achievement nationally and locally.  Inspectors expect to see all pupils actively engaged in their learning and making good or outstanding progress.

This link gives you some insight into OFSTED’s approach to inspections with regard to SEN pupils:

  

OFSTED News

ASEND Advisors support teaching staff and offer whole school strategies for addressing these issues.  A child’s disability cannot be presented as evidence for a failure to engage or progress.  This will be a significant, and important, challenge for some schools.  But is evidently of benefit to pupils and the achievement of meaningful outcomes.

If you are interesting in support from an ASEND Advisor in preparation for an OFSTED inspection then get in touch.  We can run a “health check” and help to identify areas that may need some attention.  

Contact office@asend.co.uk

Recruiting ASEND Advisors

• Flexible working on assignments that fit with your other commitments
• Competitive daily rates according to experience
• Working in schools and colleges across London and the South East, individually or as part of a multi-agency team
• Regular events for continuing professional development and networking with other Advisors
• Advisor Handbook and DBS (formerly CRB) provided

Closing date for applications – 5pm Friday 12^th April 2013

Interviews – In the week commending 22^nd April 2013

About ASEND

ASEND provides schools and other educational provision with comprehensive and competitive specialist support and advice for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).  We offer training, consultancy, advice, strategic planning and support   for the whole school or advice for an individual pupil or a particular group of children.

We are a team of professionals with many years’ experience across all aspects of SEN and Disability. Our service responds promptly to schools that require specialist services, which may have been affected by current changes in local government and health provision, or find their provision is not as cost effective as it could be. We will find solutions that are specific, innovative and creative and will enable them to meet the Ofsted requirement to demonstrate good progress for all pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disabilities.

We provide unequalled value for money by bringing together all the services and support available from different agencies, making it easier to co-ordinate children's health, education and social care needs. 

ASEND was established in 2011 by Barbara Ball, and is a company limited by shares registered in England and Wales.  Registration number: 7574863

ASEND Advisors – Specialists needed

We are seeking to increase our team of Advisors and are particularly interested in speaking to people with the following experiences and qualifications:

-       Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators

-       Dyslexia and specific learning difficulties specialists

-       Autism specialists

-    Experience as senior leaders in special or mainstream schools

-    SEN Local Authority caseworkers

You will be flexible and professional in your approach; committed to improving outcomes for disabled children; familiar with the UK education system and upto date with new developments; able to impart your knowledge and share your skills through coaching or modelling best practice; committed to creative and practical solutions.

Contact office@asend.co.uk for a Registration Form or ring 020 8166 8347

Independent Review Panels, and the role of the SEN Expert

The new Exclusions Framework, introduced in September 2012, provides parents with the right to appeal to an Independent Review Panel in some circumstances, where a child has been excluded from school. 

 

Parents can request the appointment of an SEN expert to provide impartial advice on the nature of the SEN in relation to the exclusion.   The SEN expert must be independent, with no connection to the local authority, school or family in question.

Exclusion should be the last resort, when all other options have been exhausted.  Often a fresh perspective from an independent viewpoint can identify a positive way forward.  It is hoped that the new process will help schools to understand their responsibilities and enable them to develop alternative responses to behaviour management. 

SEN experts will need to have a good knowledge of the Equality Act (2010) as well as expertise across a range of disabilities and SEN.  Barbara Ball took on this role recently at a secondary school in London.   She says, “This was a huge responsibility within a fairly formal meeting involving members of the school leadership team and a head from another school.  As an SEN expert I had a lot to add to the discussion and advice to give on measures that could be taken to enable the child to return to school.  There are elements of mediation involved and I think it is a highly skilled role.”

More information about Independent Review Panels can be found here - Independent Review Panels

If your school is planning an Independent Review Panel and would value an experienced SEN Expert, then contact office@asend.co.uk

Sutton Report on the Pupil Premium

The aim of the Pupil Premium (PP) is to reduce the attainment gap between the highest and lowest achieving pupils, to increase social mobility, to enable more children from disadvantaged backgrounds to get to top universities and to support Looked After Children and service families. 

The sums involved are significant, especially in schools where there are large numbers of pupils receiving free school meals.  In 2012-13 the PP is £600, and this will rise to £900 in 2013-14 and is expected to be £1200 in 2014-15.  The challenge for schools is to use this money wisely to achieve lasting positive change for the target pupils.

At the last ASEND Advisor Network Meeting, Barbara Ball presented the Sutton Report analysis of different uses of the PP, and their relative effectiveness.  It challenges a number of beliefs.  For example, smaller classes, ability group settings, class teaching assistants, performance pay and the provision of after school clubs do not seem to have a significant impact on performance.  Some of the responses are costly, and so it is helpful to consider what schools actually get for their money.

More promising uses of the PP include strategies falling into the “conscious competence” category – use of feedback, peer tutoring, meta-cognition approaches to developing thinking strategies and homework (!).

Follow this link for a schools toolkit on effective ways to use the Pupil Premium 

Schools Toolkit

This is useful information to introduce to schools when exploring effective, low cost strategies for SEN provision.   ASEND Advisors are able to support schools to explore their options and to implement new approaches that will make best use of limited resources.

Contact office@asend.co.uk if you would like to explore this further.