SEN changes: An emphasis on quality of support

The draft Code of Practice has nine chapters comprised of 174 pages of statutory guidance on duties, policies and procedures relating to Part three of the Children and Families Bill and associated regulations. It provides practical advice on how to carry out statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children and young people with special educational needs. It had been thought that the new Code would be a slimmer version of the existing guidance; however, this is unlikely given the extent of the draft version.

Making necessary provision
Mainstream schools and further education providers must use best endeavours to ensure that necessary provision is made for any individual who has SEN, and must co-operate with their local authority. Maintained nursery schools and mainstream schools must designate an appropriate member of staff (SENCO) to have responsibility for co-ordinating SEN provision, must ensure that children with SEN take part in school activities together with children who do not have SEN, and must publish information on their SEN policy.
     
The draft Code of Practice explains: “Where pupils continue to make inadequate progress, despite high-quality teaching targeted at their areas of weakness, the class teacher, working with the SENCO, should assess whether the child has a significant learning difficulty. Where this is the case, then there should be agreement about the SEN support that is required to support the child.’
    
The model of support and intervention recommended by the new guidance is assess, plan, do and review. While this is not an entirely new concept in teaching and learning support, the new Code seems a little light on how this single-stage process is to operate in schools and settings. However, this could be a great opportunity to implement systems and processes which you can apply in providing a graduated approach to identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with SEN in ways which you can design. For some, this may like feel a step too far, for others, a confirmation of what they have been doing for some time.
    
The implications of the new Code of Practice will be far reaching as we move to a 0–25-years programme of reform. The requirements of the new Code will impact on early years providers and settings and with colleagues working within the 16–25 sector. For those colleagues in particular, there may be significant challenges in getting to grips with all that the reform agenda will introduce from September 2014

Help is at hand
Nasen will continue to provide support in the implementation for the new Code’s requirements for all sectors across the 0–25 age range. During June and July next year, nasen, in partnership with the Department for Education (DfE), will deliver a string of Implementation Events around the country where education practitioners, SENCOs, health and social care providers can access free training on the details of ‘how’ to make the required arrangements for children and young people with SEN.
    
The devil is always in the detail – nasen will be working with up to a dozen outstanding education providers over the next few months will design and produce an implementation support pack for all providers to access and take away from our Implementation Events programme next summer. In working with providers in this way we can gather the essential good practice evidence necessary both to share with the vast majority of providers and to reassure those who are new to the arrangements for SEN or who require a greater level of clarity on what the reforms may mean for them in practice.
    
The implementation packs will provide practical answers to the many questions raised during our Learning Events and will include a range of useful templates which every teacher and every SENCO should have access to.

Embracing change
The young people in our schools are very different from 15 years ago – we recognise that those children and young people with complex needs require different and creative responses in terms of provision. The draft SEN Code of Practice provides a basis on which to build that effective, creative response. With change comes the freedom to develop the culture of reform and embrace and embed a whole-school response to SEN. Learning and teaching are different now – they have to be  – and we have to evolve too.
    
The pupil premium research carried out by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has shown how, as part of a whole‑school approach, low-cost, high-impact strategies can impacting positively on outcomes for children and young people with SEN and help in narrowing the gap in attainment for our most vulnerable students (http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk). Quality-first learning and teaching need to be central to the new way of working. Many refer to the ‘Bananarama Principle’ – it ain’t what you do but the way that you do it. Or perhaps the way that you spend it… and that’s what get results!
    
Each school or setting is different, but one thing is for certain, we are all accountable in balancing resources against outcomes. Evidence is important but so is quality provision. Whatever our setting, we need to develop 21st-century models of support. As all settings and providers prepare their contributions to the local offer in their respective area, ask yourselves: Why do you do certain interventions? How do you know they are effective? What is the impact? Do they dovetail with whole-school provision? How do you track progress?
    
By providing the answers to these questions you should be on track, or at least have started the journey, to providing high-quality provision for all. The process of change to the provisions and arrangements we make for children and young people with SEN has already begun and nasen looks forward to welcoming you to our forthcoming events and supporting you as we embrace the challenge of change together.

About Nasen
With a membership of approximately 3,200, Nasen is the leading organisation in the UK which aims to promote the education, training, advancement and development of all those with special and additional support needs. For further information visit www.nasen.org.uk