SEND: Built in, not bolt on.

On Friday I attended the UCET (Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers) Conference for SEND (Built in, not Bolt on) at Swiss Cottage School, for Initial Teacher Education (ITE).

Early in the day, delegates were asked, when in their teaching career did they feel confident to work with SEND pupils. A straw poll survey demonstrated that it was around three years after completing an ITE course.

Throughout the day, there was continued recognition that ITE was the start of a journey and for New Teachers; their teaching journey is just beginning in their NQT year. I had last week submitted a commissioned piece on integrating SEND into the NQT programme, for a professional magazine. To continue the debate, I have included a version of the piece here.

ITE, NQT and the GBBO

As an NQT takes ownership of their classroom for the first time, they face a technical challenge, not dissimilar to baking an item on the GBBO. A new teacher on an ITE programme, will have started their teaching journey by choosing a recipe book and then modelling skills and styles suggested by their chosen book, but they will not have had time to learn all the technical vocabulary in the book and put it into practice.

After undertaking around a hundred and twenty days of teaching practice on an ITE course, of which an NQT will have taught another teacher’s class or classes, worked within existing structures and routines and following schemes of work created by someone else, an NQT will have a class of their own. This will be the first time they will have worked with a class from the beginning of the year, or the beginning of the term and it may not be until an NQT opens to the door to their own classroom for the first time, that they are aware that some of the key components to complete the technical challenge are missing.

The one key component that is commonly considered to incomplete is around working within SEND processes and providing provision for pupils with SEND. All ITE programmes, whatever form they take, address SEND and are obliged to prepare all new teachers to be able to support SEND in their classrooms. Some courses may include placements in Specialist provision, but these are not always available, so many of the skills and strategies that have been introduced may have only been observed in a narrow context.

The coverage of SEND content on ITE programmes, is not the only area which warrants more input, it does sit alongside other classroom preparation, which is equally valid and important and needs ample time spent on it, such as, planning & assessment, national assessments & exams, child development & learning, managing pupil’s behaviour, early reading, assessing & evaluating teaching and the use of evidence and research to inform teaching.

The ITE programme should be considered a starting point, and then the responsibility for the next stage of the journey lies with both the school to which the NQT is employed and the NQTs themselves. It has been advised in the Standards for Teachers Professional Development, that teachers ‘keep their knowledge and skills up to date, take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development, responding to advice and feedback from colleagues and demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how pupils learn and how this has an impact on teaching’ (DFE 2016). This links to the School Development plan (SDP) for every teacher’s performance management and for an NQT this will be no different.

The continuous evaluation of SEND processes and provision should be a feature of the School Development Plan (SDP) as part of SEND Reform (2014) and its focus on ‘every teacher is a teacher of SEND’. An NQT will be part of this process, and will undertake the same activity, but they should also have their own professional development plan which will focus on their development as a class teacher and supporting pupils with SEND should be part of an integrated programme of support.

Existing teachers will already know what ‘best endeavours’ are and who the designated person for coordinating SEND is in their school. An NQT will need to know how the school assesses the progress of pupils, how the school identifies the pupils who are making less than expected progress, what this looks like and interventions are available to support pupils.

Supporting an NQT to becoming a Teacher of SEND

An NQT will have a mentor during their induction year, who may or may not be the School SENCO. If the SENCO is not involved in the support package then this should be adjusted to make them an integral part.

The school SENCO should not be planning all the interventions for each individual class, but they will have an overview and knowledge of the provision that is taking place and what strategies can be used and this overview should be the first part of the induction process, from then on, the school SENCO with the mentor should develop a specific support plan for SEND which could include the following,

School Policy

• Plan sessions on school policy, including how SEND pupils are identified, how they are supported and procedures for Statutory Assessment
• What provision is available across the school and how is it allocated. What is available for the year group/subject that the NQT is currently working with
• How to informally and formally gather evidence to demonstrate a pupil’s needs
• Undertaking an assess, plan, do, review cycle
• Managing TA staff and managing without a TA in the classroom

Understanding SEND Process & Procedures

• Explain the process of acquiring an Education Health Care Plan (ECHP) and the statutory responsibilities around these.
• How to integrate individual targets into lesson planning
• Assessing pupils who are not working within the National Curriculum. Many schools are still using P levels, but others may be using other methods
• Attend an Annual Review as an observer

Learning from others  

• Plan times to visit other classrooms across the school and within other schools.
• When visiting other colleagues, ask NQTs to observe the support pupils with SEND are receiving, how the room is organised, what resources are used
• Spend time looking at children’s individual support plans and ask class teachers to explain how they support individual pupils in their classrooms.
• Find opportunities to meet with external agencies, such as Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists. Some MATs hold sessions for NQTs where specialists are invited, if available, encourage NQTs to attend.
• Visits specialist provision, such as Special Schools and PRUs

Managing personal professional development

• Read key publications such as TES, Guardian Education, SchoolsWeek, TeachSENCO
• Consider joining membership organisations such as The Chartered College, Nasen & The British Dyslexia Society
• Sign up to news updates from Ofsted and the DFE, as well as organisations specifically supporting SEND such as Whole School SEND and the Driver Youth Trust
• Attend networking events such as Teechmeets and ResearchSEND

 

• Join twitter and follow some of the key voices and advocates for SEND, for example, Special Needs Jungle, Starlight McKenzie, Barney Angliss, Nancy Gedge, Gareth Morewood, Cherryl Kidd, Natalie Packer, Maria Constantinou, Lorraine Peterson, Marc Rowland, Simon Knight, Alison Peacock, Rob Webster, David Bartram, Michelle Haywood

 

• Sign post to information areas such as The SEND Gateway and key publications such as Inclusion for Primary Teachers by Nancy Gedge

 

Ultimately when supporting an NQT in school, ensure that they do not become overwhelmed and impress upon them, that teaching as a profession is a learning journey, and we are always learning. There is always a new recipe or a variation to learn.

NB – The next ResearchSEND event will be held on the 18^th November at Sheffield Hallam University. To be added to the mailing list please email fehwevents@wlv.ac.uk and put ResearchSEND in the subject line.