Week 4 – How to tackle Open Evening as a SENCO
How to tackle Open Evening or Parents Evening as a SENCO: Week 4: So, the second week into the post. I’m pretty lucky that this is a non-teaching role as I have lots of students on the register. I need lots of time to get to know them, to advise staff and to liaise...
Week 3 – Everything you need to know about Provisions in Provision Map:
Everything you need to know about Provisions in Provision Map: Week 3 - The first full week getting stuck into the new school. Audit SEN Register: OK, I’ve decided where to start. I need to audit the SEN register now that I have a list. I can start doing a bit of a...
Week 1 – How to set up Provision Map in a new school
How to set up Provision Map in a new school: Week 1 at the new school - An Admin Day. I’ve just walked into a new school as their SENCO and as promised they bought me Edukey’s Learning Plans and Provision Maps to use. So, follow me as I set it up for use in the...
Week 2 – The first ‘normal’ days of term: Looking at control over staff, calendars & templates.
How to set up staff access in Provision Map? Admin, teacher, custom roles.. Week 2 at my new school - The first 'normal' days of term. Looking at control over staff, calendars & templates. [CONTROL OVER STAFF, CALENDARS, TEMPLATES]Now, I’ve had the first few days...
Transitions…
This used to send a cold chill down my spine every year. When I was a Primary SENCO it was making sure I’d passed on all relevant information, as a Secondary SENCO it was making sure I’d got everything I needed and hadn’t missed anyone out. And what about those...
Exclusion vs Inclusion: What’s happening to pupils with SEND?
Just as most schools were breaking up for the summer holidays in July, the DfE published their latest annual statistics on exclusions. Indeed, exclusion is a hot topic at the moment, mainly as a result of the growing concern than an increasing number of exclusions may...
The SENDCO Year
(An adapted extract from The SENDCO, by Abigail Hawkins, Consultant SENCO @ Edukey) There are a great many tasks that the SENDCO has to undertake throughout the academic year. Some are related to the whole school calendar like parents’ evenings, whereas others are...
What does an SEN file look like?
What does an SEN file look like?There are two uses of the phrase SEN file. The first refers to the file that contains all a child’s information about their SEN and provisions in place. The second is the file kept by a SENCO ready for an OFSTED (or other) visit. ...
SEN Money
There are two main sources of SEN funding in schools. The first is the SEN delegated budget (also called element 2 or the notional budget) and it usually comes as a shock to discover that it has nothing to do with SEN nor is it ringfenced to that area. The second is...
Data Collection
If you don’t know what to do with the data you’re collecting, you probably don’t need it. This is an excellent mantra for SENCOs when faced with the mountain of data we inevitably end up with. Education as a whole collects a lot of data and the role of SENCO is no...
Wellbeing in Provision Map
Schools who have the Class Charts Wellbeing package can now display a pupil's Wellbeing graph in Pupil Profiles along with Behaviour. To enable this feature go to School Settings > School Details > Display Class Charts Wellbeing: 'Set to Yes'. The pupil...
5 Steps to Effective Interventions
The term ‘intervention’ is often used to describe a short-term, focused teaching programme with specific intended outcomes aimed at individuals or small groups of pupils with particular needs. Interventions are provided in addition to high quality teaching in the...
Provision Map – New Features March 2019
We are pleased to announce the following features are now available within the Provision Map software. Please refer to our knowledge base on how to use these new features. Users are able to add tables to our new templates – Users can now add ‘tables’ to plan new...
Readiness for additional learning needs reforms – Estyn report October 2018 and Welsh Government response
Reading time: 5 minutes Please find attached links to the October 2018 Estyn report “Readiness for additional learning needs reforms” and the Welsh Government response: "Readiness for additional learning needs reforms" report Welsh Government...
Cabinet Secretary for Education’s update on Additional Learning Needs (ALN) transformation programme
Reading time: 5 minutes Please see below a link to the publication of the Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams’ 17 July update to the Children, Young People and Education Committee (CYPE) on the progress of the Additional Learning Needs (ALN)...
Why all primary schools should introduce One Page Profiles
Reading time: 5 mins When my daughter was a baby it was my job to decipher her noises and know when she wanted to be fed, to be changed or to have a nap. As she began to develop her own unique babble the same remained true, even if her requests were a bit...
All Change for ALN – update
Reading time: 3 minutes The long-awaited Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill was passed by the National Assembly for Wales on 12 December 2017 and after receiving Royal Assent became an Act on 24 January 2018. The Welsh Government...
Statements of Special Educational Need
Reading time: 3 minutes A question being asked by many is ‘are Statements going?’ The answer is ‘yes’. The next question is ‘when will this happen?’ and ‘what will take its place?’ These answers will follow shortly but first, if you are reading this...
Role of the Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo)
Reading time: 3 minutes The SENCo has always been a critical role in ensuring that children with special education needs and disabilities within a school receive the support they need. Gradually over the years the SENCo role has grown in importance. Under...
Person Centred planning (PCP)
Reading time: 3 minutes One of the key elements of the ALN Transformation Programme is: “To improve the planning and delivery of support for learners from 0 to 25 with ALN, placing learners’ needs, views, wishes and feelings at the heart of the process.”...