Meeting all children's needs

The Draft Code lays out statutory guidance and practical advice on the statutory duties involved in identifying, assessing and making provision for children and young people’s special educational needs (SEN) as set out in the Children and Families Bill currently before Parliament. The way in which legislation and regulations concerning children and young people with disabilities works alongside the code is also outlined. After publication, the Code and Draft Regulations have been sent to the Children and Families Bill Committee for consideration during the second reading debate, with full consultation expected to begin in the latter part of this year and regulations for the Code laid out in early 2014.

The initial draft regulations and the initial draft Code of Practice show the broad content but they will be developed considerably further before they are finalised in light of the experience of the pathfinders and debates within the committee. Early identification of needs, along with high expectations and an emphasis placed on choice for young people and parents and the effective collaboration of education, health and social care partners all underpin the new Code. The Code also focuses on the importance of skills and knowledge of those working with children and young people, identifying all teachers as being teachers of children with special educational needs.

Divided into several sections, the Draft Code outlines the role of local authorities, who will be expected to publish information about the provisions that will be available in their area to support SEN pupils. The Code states that children and families should be involved in the planning and development of the local offer, which will also link to joint commissioning, with local needs identified by Health and Wellbeing Boards.

Amongst the guidelines for schools, the Code emphasises the need to improve outcomes for all SEN pupils. The Code identifies the four primary areas of SEN as communication and interaction, cognition and learning, emotional, social and behavioural development and sensory or physical development. Schools, as well as local authorities, will have a duty to publish information regarding the application of its SEN policy and those in the secondary or further education setting also have a duty to provide independent career advice for pupils.

Feedback on the Draft Code
The Draft Code was discussed in a number of DfE led sessions at this year’s nasen Live in order to gather feedback from education professionals. Delegates at the sessions voiced appreciation for the graduated response under the current system but expressed concerns over the lack of resources that are allocated for interventions at school action and school action plus level. When discussing problems with the current approach, delegates identified a need for clear criteria for when to seek advice from external agencies, along with funding for any necessary additional support. Issues with  over-identification were raised, amid concerns over too much emphasis on targets rather than placing priority on addressing the needs of individual students.

When discussing changes that should be made to improve practice in schools, along with the role that the SENCO can play, delegates called for additional training for all staff to support Quality First Teaching and clarify the intervention pro is a lack of SEN continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for staff, which effectively hampers early identification, quality of provision and opportunities for early intervention. The lack of rigorous SEN course content at Initial Teacher Training (ITT) level was also highlighted as a concern, along with the lack of SEN knowledge across the workforce, an issue compounded by funding not being provided for CPD.

The Draft Code states that maintained mainstream schools, maintained nurseries and academies must ensure there is a teacher designated as a SENCO, who must have day-to-day responsibility for the operation of SEN policy and must ensure that the school can track and record support plans. Delegates at the DfE sessions called for SENCOs to be an acknowledged part of the school leadership teams, particularly in the absence of ring‑fenced funding for SEN pupils. Professionals also called for clear categories for different levels of need and discussed the need to move away from relying upon teaching assistant support and instead enabling investment in improving the quality of whole school provision. Moreover, the role of the SENCO was identified as integral to the success of the collaboration between education, health and social care that the Code outlines. SENCOs discussed the need for clear guidance on when they need to consult on outside agencies and what the correct protocols are for evidencing interventions which might not be immediately recognised in pupils’ academic work.

Overall, the regulations must identify the expected outcomes for these young people, their targets and how their learning will be supported in the classroom. The interventions and strategies are to support them must be clearly outlined and decisions as to who measures progress and success must be made. Although the Code may well contain guidance for teachers and SENCOs if no progress is made, there is a clear and immediate need for support in this area. A guide to school inspections, developed by nasen and leading SENCOs, offers support in this area to help ensure SENCOs can begin to address those issues that will directly address the quality of provision in their setting as part of a whole school structured approach to meeting all children’s needs.

A series of DfE funded SEN learning events will be run  by nasen from November 2013 in order to tap into the knowledge and expertise of SENCOs when developing the Draft Code.

Further information
www.nasen.org.uk