SENCO Year Part 5
The SENCO Year using Tes - Provision MapThe fifth half term: So, we trundle into the Summer term and whilst those who have the delights of Y11 are normally counting down to the exams and ‘gain time’ on their timetables, SENCOs are as busy as ever. In secondary, my...
Links between Provision Map and Class Charts
If you are reading this post then the chances are you have one of our products already, but not everyone is aware of the other products in the Edukey suite or how some of them link together. Standalone Products First let us address two completely...
Interventions (or Provisions)
Back when I started provision mapping (which feels like a century ago) I had a lovely collection of sticky sheets with the relevant information that would get duly moved around a board in my office as required. No one asked me how much something cost, or what an...
Provision Map Print Centre
Working with our students there will always be a need to share information with other professionals and not all will have access to your Provision Map software – this is where the print centre is a handy feature. The print centre does exactly what you would imagine a...
SENCO Year Part 4 (Passports)
The SENCO Year using Tes - Provision MapThe fourth half term: Well, if this was a normal year – which it very definitely isn't – then I would be looking at the reviews for my provisions, setting up my summer term interventions, and putting in place transitional...
SMART targets for SEN plans
A goal without a plan is just a wish Antoine de Saint-Exupery I would be surprised if you are unfamiliar with the concept of SMART target setting, however, familiarity doesn’t always make us very good at it, I’ll admit to struggling at times and sometimes we need to...
Pupil Premium
Whilst Free School Meals may have been the focus of headlines and the digital divide for those students, those of us based inside the walls of education know that it actually encompasses a far larger group of students. Those who are currently in receipt...
Remote Education and Lockdown #3
When we experienced the first lockdown, there was a message that schools were ‘childcare’, and the national curriculum was suspended. That message eventually changed, and schools were expected to provide some form of education, although being new to the...
Wellbeing in Schools
Having an app to track wellbeing is great (and we offer a brilliant one, more details here: https://pages.classcharts.com/wellbeing/ ) but gathering data is no use unless we are going to put something in place to support the identified issues. Here is a...
Managing your Provision Map account during lockdown
Provision Map – Lockdown – What do I do with my account?This blog was presented as a webinar on 15th and 22nd January 2021. To access a recording of the webinar please click here. Lockdown 3 – and the semi-closure of school gates along with a lot of unanswered...
Measuring Outcomes
My background is in science and I like maths – sorry! It does, however, mean that I like to be able to use the same scale to compare several, unrelated things and that comes in really handy when we transfer over to looking at SEN data. The reason we put interventions...
Templates – (IEP’s, Learning Plans & IDP’s)
As a long-term veteran of the SENCO world, I have seen variations of learning plans come and go and often cycle back round again with a different name. I like the good old-fashioned “learning plan” that is loaded as default on the system, it has everything I need:...
What do governors need to know and how can your Provision Map software help?
Governors – part one Whilst your Head Teacher or Principal is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the school, the strategic responsibilities lie with the governing board (or if you are a multi academy trust with the trustees who may have delegated to local...
School Robins
School Robins: I’ve been teaching for too long! I recall the days where you needed information about a particular student and would send little Freddie, who was in need of a sensory break, on an errand with a piece of paper in a large brown envelope marked with staff...
The SENCO Year Part 2: Using Tes – Provision Map
The SENCO Year Part 2 using Tes - Provision MapThe second half term:Join an intimate SENCO Webinar with our in-house SENCO Abigail Hawkins. We want to provide SENCOs with tools to help them reduce their workload and support them through the phases of the SENCO Year...
Is it Provision?
Is it Provision? SEN has so many acronyms that when we come across a normal word we try to add multiple meanings to it! In Edukey’s Provision Map we use ‘PROVISION’ to mean anything that you provide to a student that is additional to or different from what the...
The SENCO Year Part 1: Using Tes – Provision Map
The SENCO Year using Tes - Provision MapThe first half term:Join an intimate SENCO Webinar with our in-house SENCO Abigail Hawkins. We want to provide SENCOs with tools to help them reduce their workload and support them through the phases of the SENCO Year 13th...
Special educational needs in England 2020: How does your school compare?
Special educational needs in England 2020: How does your school compare? On 2nd July 2020, the DfE released their annual special educational needs (SEN) statistics publication, providing a summary of data taken from the January 2020 school census. The report...
SEND in Mainstream Schools: Implications of the EEF report for school leaders
SEND in Mainstream Schools: Implications of the EEF report for school leaders Pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND) have the greatest need for excellent teaching and high quality support in order to achieve positive outcomes and have a rich and...
Back to School Planning: Suggestions for SENCOs
Back to School Planning: Suggestions for SENCOs As leaders continue to plan for all pupils to return full time to school from the beginning of the autumn term, one of the challenges they face is how to ensure pupils with SEND return successfully. The government...
Provision Map – New Features April 2020
We are pleased to announce the following features are now available within the Provision Map software. Please refer to our Knowledgebase on how to use these new features. Safeguarding Features Allow the main DSL to access the “Staff Details” page We now allow the main...
Finance during School Closures
In these unprecedented circumstances we ask that all payments and invoices are paid for electronically where possible via BACS. Please do not send cheques where at all possible, contact support@edukey.co.uk if our bank details are required. We thank you for your...
Pupil Premium
Did you know that Edukey’s suite of products can be used to support your Pupil Premium (Deprivation Premium) Pupils? On ClassCharts, you can add the Pupil Premium status to the cards so that your eligible students are easily spotted in the class. This can help where...
Abigail Hawkins, nominated for a NEXUS award
Nexus Awards Our resident SENCO, Abigail Hawkins, was recently nominated for a NEXUS award. Under the category of Curriculum Innovation, her blog post about SEN Funding has been viewed many times. (See the NEXUS post here:...
WEEK 5 – Staff SEN CPD
WEEK 3 – Staff SEN CPD SEN CPD session - SEN graduated response for our school and the differences in the different phases followed by a session on where they can find SEN information Where did last week go? This week I’m delivering staff SEN CPD. I was dreading...
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...
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...
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.”...
Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Innovation Funding
Reading time: 2 minutes As part of the implementation of the ALN Reform Programme the ALN Innovation Fund made available across all Welsh regions is supporting to develop and promote innovative, multi-agency and cross-sector working to support learners...
Summary of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018
Reading time: 3 minutes In March, a paper was released that summarises the provisions of the Act and its passage through the National Assembly for Wales. Here are the headlines from the Act: The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act...
Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill
Reading time: 3 minutes Welsh Government ALN Study Welsh Government has commissioned Arad Research and the University of South Wales to conduct research into the systems in place to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and...
Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal
Reading time: 3 minutes The wheels of motion continue to gather momentum. The last major milestone was in December when the National Assembly for Wales passed the...
ALN Bill – Where are we now and what is next?
Reading time: 3 minutes Where are we now and what is next? 2 major next steps 1. ALN...
Individual Development Plans (IDPs)
A key feature of the ALNET Bill is to provide an Individual Development Plan (IDP) for all pupils aged 0-25 with Additional Learning Needs. This also includes replacing all existing Statements of Special Educational Needs with IDPs. Reading time: 3 minutes Individual...
National Assembly for Wales passes Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill
National Assembly for Wales passes Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill Reading time: 3 minutes Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill On Wednesday 13th December, The National Assembly for Wales passed the Additional...
Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill – Aims of the Bill
The introduction of the term Additional Learning Needs (ALN) The Bill replaces the terms ‘special educational needs’ (SEN) and ‘learning difficulties and/or disabilities’ (LDD) with the new term ALN. This will help to avoid some of the stigma associated with the...
Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill – The story so far
This is the first in a series of updates on the changes in ALN legislation taking place in Wales. The aim of these updates is to provide an overview of key developments as part of the ALNET - Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill. Reading...