SEN
Check for handouts uploaded yesterday (21-09-11).
G and T not included within SEN statutory framework but may be considered SEN on a more local scale (i.e. in your school).
SEN shift from 'within child' to 'within the environment' touched on again. The concept of SEN as fluid (i.e. may be applicable to any child, rather than owned by any one group of kids) introduced in the Warnock Report (1978). Does grouping kids and providing SEN for them affect their self-esteem? Or does the provision of aid make up for this?
2005: big change with promotion of equality of opportunity for the disabled in schools etc.
E.g. of Assembling furniture.
Do you use written instructions, pictures and diagrams or trial and error? As a teacher you must be prepared to meet all of these needs so that no-one is dis-abled from the task. The learning environment can enable or disable children from a task.
If the technology exists to remove the SEN (e.g. an app for reading written print to blind kids), are they still disabled?
2 types of model when it comes to disability:
'the medical' and 'the social'. Important for examining how things have changed in SEN.
The medical model suggests the problem is within the child, whereas the social model suggests the problem is the environment.
Schools are asked to make 'reasonable adjustments' to allow children to access learning (even on a very small scale, something like the provision of larger balls for children with mobility issues). Even though many of these will seem natural (differentiating the distance you stand from a child while throwing a ball to them), these adjustments must be properly thought out.
Strategies:
Consistency (ensuring strategies are carried on through)- meaning the right approach must be in place from the beginning.
Monitor your language: use key language, don't talk in abstracts, chunk together.
Whole classroom activities to stamp out any stigma that has been developing by the time kids reach KS2.
Have a conversation with school SENCO. Discuss any Provision Mapping / School Policy etc. Read through a Statement of SEN. Have a look at P scales (sub- Level 1).
A graduated approach
School Action - School Action Plus - Statement of SEN.
School Action: Putting the child on a register. Decided by SENCO and class teacher. Must be discussed with parent. Will write an IEP (Individual Education Plan)- more than differentiation, something different or extra. (Called Early Years Action in EYFS). IEP reviewed termly at a minimum.
If there is still a discrepancy with the child's learning, it's stage 2: Action Plus. The school reaches out to a specialist, outside of school (a range of them, depending on what is available). Collaboration to movie different teaching strategies and resources to provide for the child.
If there is still no reasonable developments or improvements, then you have the Statement of SEN. Issued by the LA. A specific, legal document is issued (e.g. his child will receive 30 minutes of … per week). Some children will go straight to this stage, and some children will come to school with it. Can be initiated by parents.
IEP
Some schools do it for groups of children or every child.
Key elements of an effective IEP (see slide). Specificity is a grounding principle. Sometimes targets brought under the umbrella term of SMART. Seek support from the SENCO when writing an IEP if you have trouble.
TDA website SEN Toolkit: resources to study SEN available.
Word symbols: pictures to reinforce meanings of words. Mayer-Johnson PCS is one type. Another is Widget. See an IT programme called 'Boardmaker' (supports you to make resources).
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