SENDCOs - Print version

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What is SEND support? 

Special educational support is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for others of the same age, ie provision that goes beyond the differentiated approaches and learning arrangements normally provided as part of high-quality, personalised teaching. This is called Ordinarily Available Provision [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/5427/ordinarily_available_provision_-_early_years_school_age_and_post_16].

Four broad areas of need give an overview of the range of needs that should be planned for, not to fit a pupil into a category.      

The broad areas of need are: 

  1. Communication and interaction 
  2. Cognition and learning 
  3. Social, emotional and mental health
  4. Sensory and/or physical needs.

Children who receive SEN Support usually have a written plan or a provision map prepared for them that describes what additional or different support the school will offer, and how together parents/carers and school will help the child make progress. Our schools will work together with parents/carers to plan and monitor the impact of the SEN Support. 

SEN Support might include extra help with reading, writing and maths but might also focus on other things such as speaking and listening, visual enhancement, motor/movement or mobility skills, or social and emotional development. SEN Support can be delivered by staff from the school or from outside professionals such as specialist teachers. Even when support is delivered by these external professionals, it is the responsibility of the child’s class teacher to monitor the progress the child is making as a result of that and any other support as part of the assess, plan, do review cycle.

Where can I get support?

In Coventry we have a range of specialist inclusion teams who support children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND).

You can find information about these support services:

The EHCP process

Find out about statutory assessment [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/coventrys-special-educational-needs-disability-send-local-offer/statutory-assessment].

What is provision mapping?

You aren't required to have a provision map, but the SEND Code of Practice [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25] (see paragraph 6.76) suggests them to help you keep an overview of programmes and interventions for different groups of pupils.

Why use a provision map?

Think of your special educational needs (SEN) provision map as a tool that can help you:

  • Develop provision that meets the needs of your pupils
  • Evaluate the impact of your provision on pupil progress
  • Identify patterns of need, and areas for staff development
  • Decide which interventions are worth carrying out (whether the time and resource invested are worth the outcome) 

It does this by showing you, at a glance:

  • What interventions are taking place in your school
  • The evidence base you have for running those interventions
  • The time and resource invested in an intervention
  • How effective those interventions are
  • Your provision map should set out any provision that is additional to or different from your differentiated curriculum.
  • The SENCO should be using the provision map to monitor the level of interventions and make strategic decisions about SEN provision.
  • In some schools, the responsibility for using and maintaining the provision map sits squarely on the shoulders of the SENCO, and other members of staff rarely engage with it. It's worth challenging this assumption in your school, so your SEN provision is as effective as possible.

Further resources

Transition for Children with SEND

Dimensions Tool

The Dimensions of Health and Wellbeing is a free accessible locally developed online tool [https://dimensions.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/Default.aspx] that provides a personalised profile and information to support adults, children and young people in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Coventry guidance for SENCos: My Support Plans

SEN Inclusion Fund (EYFS SEND) relevant documentation

Coventry support services and training links

Coventry School Nursing

The Coventry School Nursing Team have created several videos that they would urge schools to share with parents who are facing issues with the following:

  • Anxiety (youtube.com) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZiSutc6Ax4] This session provides information on how to best support your child if they are struggling with anxiety. It gives a brief understanding of why the child is feeling anxious and offers advice and practical strategies to help combat how they are feeling and to build emotional resilience. The session runs for just over 26 minutes and includes a relaxation story you can listen to with your child.
  • Challenges in Eating (youtube.com) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lay0LGZRdpM] Challenges with eating can be a very normal part of childhood, however can be very distressing for parents. In this session, we explore techniques and strategies to encourage your child not only to eat, but to eat the right foods and to promote their body to be healthy. The session runs for just under 20 minutes and includes other resources to help promote healthy eating with your child.
  • Sleep (youtube.com) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LEReKIeGYY] This session focuses on providing techniques to improve your child’s ability to fall asleep. It focuses on bedtime and the lead up to it and also offers information on how to help if they wake during the night. The session runs for just under 23 minutes
  • Toileting (youtube.com) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKoe_jTeSHA] This 20-minute-long session discusses all aspects of toileting. This includes daytime wetting, nighttime wetting, soiling, toilet training and much more. The session is designed to lead you through the best ways to promote effective toileting with your child- these techniques are simple and easy to implement, however vital in helping children overcome these struggles. 
  • Behaviour - YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRvcxt7Nx3I] When children misbehave it can be a source of considerable stress for parents. When this is constant it can make life very difficult. In this session, which runs for just over 24 minutes, we provide coping strategies and techniques to help guide children towards choosing better behaviour, we talk about how to implement them and answer some frequently asked questions to try and support you in helping your child to choose better behaviour.

These videos are also available on the www.healthforkids.co.uk [https://url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/Q_jhC3lkjtLlZqkUvuXuOv9wS?domain=healthforkids.co.uk] in the 'Grown-ups' section.

This is the most up to date Coventry School Nursing referral form [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7929/coventry-school-nursing-referral-form]

Coventry Speech and Language Therapy Team

The Speech and Language Therapy Team in Coventry [https://www.coventrychildrensslt.co.uk/] have created some videos sharing information and ideas around their frequently used approaches. Take a look at strategies and activity ideas [https://www.coventrychildrensslt.co.uk/resources/]. 

See details of Coventry Children's Speech and Language Therapy universal training sessions [https://www.coventrychildrensslt.co.uk/professionals/training/]. These sessions are free of charge for professionals working in settings within Coventry. Schools and settings can also buy in additional speech, language and communication training from the NHS from Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust (CWPT).

Coventry and Warwickshire Occupational Therapy

Children’s Occupational Therapy has designed 6 programmes to choose from, arranged in a developmental sequence. Starting with foundation skills in movement and body awareness, moving on to more complex fine motor and pre-writing skills, all the way up to handwriting fluency.

Each programme is designed to run for a half term (6 weeks), with 3 short sessions (approximately 20-30 minutes) per week. The programmes are ideal for a small group setting and the booklets contain all the information you need to deliver the programmes, with a session-by-session plan.

A simple checklist helps you decide which programme would be most suitable for each child, and there are accompanying baseline and outcome measures, and a form for recording each session. Use the following link and scroll down to the tab 'How can I help the child at school?' for more information, checklist and intervention guides: Occupational Therapy (Children) :: South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust [https://www.swft.nhs.uk/our-services/occupational-therapy-children]: 

SEND

The SEND Local Offer [https://www.coventryfamilies.co.uk/send-home] brings together information about the local services and support available across education, health and social care for families with children and young people aged 0 to 25, who have special educational needs and/or disabilities

SENCO NPQ

NASEN

Whole School SEND

Whole School SEND [https://www.wholeschoolsend.org.uk/index.php/]

Teacher Handbook: SEND | Whole School SEND [https://www.wholeschoolsend.org.uk/resources/teacher-handbook-send]

SENsible SENCO

Join Thousands of Members Benefiting from SENsible SENCO [https://www.sensiblesenco.org.uk/] 

Starting in September, SENsible SENCo are introducing a series of new sessions designed specifically for SENCOs, Heads, Governors, and TAs: SENsibleSENCO [https://events.sensiblesenco.org.uk/events]

SEND Network

An online CPD library, collaboration spaces, SEND discussions and articles, downloadable resources to support SENCOs [https://send-network.co.uk/]. Free to subscribe with access to the above- option to become a premium member at a cost for greater access to training videos and courses.

Chiltern Teaching School Hub

Creative Education

  • Range of courses with a SEND focus to purchase at a reasonable cost

Special Needs Jungle

Special Needs Jungle [https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/]

Schoot [https://schoot.co.uk/training/]

Schoot is a subscription-based, online platform, designed to inspire successful educators through on-demand, high-quality training and opportunities for collaboration with other primary, special and secondary schools: Training Catalogue [https://schoot.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Schoot-Training-Catalogue-2023-24-Dec-v5-1.pdf]

Beacon School Support

Positive Young Minds

A place for teachers, SENCOs, parents and children to find support with inclusion, SEND, wellbeing and mental health: SENCO Resources - Positive Young Minds [https://positiveyoungmind.com/senco-resources/] 

High Speed Training

Amazing Things Project

Short videos to share with children to help understand different needs:- 

#ImWithSam: raising awareness of learning disabilities and autism: Mentally Healthy Schools [https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/imwithsam-raising-awareness-of-learning-disabilities-and-autism/]

This lesson plan, for students aged 11 to 13, aims to give students a better understanding of learning disabilities and autism, and the impact of potential bullying and discrimination.

Learning about neurodiversity at school (LEANS): Mentally Healthy Schools [https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/learning-about-neurodiversity-at-school-leans/]

A free curriculum introducing pupils aged 8-11 years to the concept of neurodiversity, and helping them explore how it impacts experiences at school.

What is neurodiversity? videos for children: Mentally Healthy Schools [https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/what-is-neurodiversity-videos-for-children/]

Two simple animations for children which look at different ways brains work and explain how we may all differ in our behaviours and understanding of the world. The videos are very short and simple, and could be used as part of a wider discussion about neurodiversity - for example for Neurodiversity Celebration Week.

Curriculum

Whole School SEND Webinar: Curriculum design: access and ambition for all: [https://www.wholeschoolsend.org.uk/resources/webinar-how-develop-curriculum-which-ambitious-and-accessible-all-each-age-and-stage]

This webinar recording explores why it is important for all children to have access to an ambitious curriculum and how schools and colleges can ensure that their curriculum is ambitious and accessible. The training addresses why it is important for all children to have access to an ambitious curriculum, why it is important to know or master certain content and what do I really need to do, how you ensure that the curriculum is accessible and that the curriculum content prepares the CYP for the next stage. 

Inclusion 2024 Inclusive PE hub [https://education.activityalliance.org.uk/] This site has lots of support for you as teachers or school staff to review and improve your inclusive physical education and school sport delivery. It is all made possible through the Department of Education funded, Inclusion 2024 project.

Whole School SEND Webinar: Early identification of needs [https://www.wholeschoolsend.org.uk/resources/webinar-ensuring-accurate-identification-sen-school-and-college-settings]

This webinar recording supports you in developing effective systems and processes to enable the early and accurate identification of SEN in your setting.  It offers strategies to enable you to use national SEND data to support identification systems in your own settings, and includes discussion on how the pandemic has impacted on the development of CYP, and consequently the identification of SEN in education settings 

NASEN SEND Leadership Series: [https://www.wholeschoolsend.org.uk/resources/webinar-send-foundations-leadership]

 A chance to learn more about and reflect on leadership of SEND. Covers 1. Foundations in Leadership 2. Distributed Leadership of SEND 3. SEND: Legacy of Leadership 

Writing an EHCP

Accessing children’s ‘voices’ on what matters to them

Twilight Talks Research Series: Accessing children’s ‘voices’ on what matters to them: An overview of the research and recommended practices | Nasen [https://nasen.org.uk/resources/twilight-talks-research-series-accessing-childrens-voices?check_logged_in=1] This session will provide a wide-ranging overview of the research evidence available on how the ‘voices’ of children are currently being captured in their Education Health and Care plans. In addition, recommended practices for accessing children and young people’s perspectives on the support that is provided to them will be presented and critically examined. At the end of this session, participants should be able to critically identify concrete strategies to enable children’s ‘voice’ for statutory and non-statutory purposes, as well as barriers and facilitators to be considered in that process.
Graduated Approach Prompt | Nasen [https://nasen.org.uk/resources/graduated-approach-prompt] A useful tool for EYFS, primary, secondary and post-16 settings. This resource is designed to help teachers work their way through the graduated approach for those pupils that haven’t necessarily yet been identified with SEN but for whom there are initial concerns.

Visual timetables

Inclusion Expert [https://inclusionexpert.com/]

Inclusion Expert provides targeted training, consultancy and resources to help schools achieve outstanding inclusion practice.

Information for neurodivergent people and their families - Happy Healthy Lives [https://www.happyhealthylives.uk/staying-happy-and-healthy/improving-access-experience-and-outcomes/learning-disability-autism-and-neurodiversity/neurodiversity-autism/information-for-neurodivergent-people-and-their-families/]

This e-booklet created by the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System aims to bring together the different information and advice offered locally. The e-booklet was produced by professionals from different organisations, neurodivergent people and their families. It provides useful information about services and support available for those who are diagnosed or who self-identify as neurodivergent and those who care for and support them.

CASS Sessions for school-based professionals

Access our pre-recorded, on-demand sessions.

  • Anxiety – Professional Toolbox [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ExLrw6z-o0]
  • Masking | CASS on-demand professional workshop
  • School avoidance | CASS on-demand professional workshop
  • Sensory processing | CASS on-demand professional workshop
  • Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) | CASS on-demand professional workshop

Training opportunities from Coventry Mind

Some future events and past recorded webinars: Coventry and Warwickshire Mind - Children and Young People's Services Events [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/coventry-and-warwickshire-mind-children-and-young-peoples-services-19981499207]

Nip in the Bud | Child Mental Health Resources for Parents and Teachers [https://nipinthebud.org/]

'Nip in the Bud' has a brilliant website full of straightforward, quick reads, short videos and podcasts covering a range of needs. 

Helpful list of charities and organisations that may be helpful for school staff and parents/ carers: Where to Get Help | Nip in the Bud | Child Mental Health Awareness Charity [https://nipinthebud.org/where-to-get-help/]

'When The Adults Change' (WTAC) resources and courses

WTAC Behaviour Training

WTAC Publications 

Books [https://www.whentheadultschange.com/books]

WTAC Positive Noticing Day

WTAC Quick Reads

WTAC have lots of short blogs to help with practice in school and/or time for reflection on how we do things in our schools: Our news [https://www.whentheadultschange.com/blog]

WTAC Early Years Course

Early Years Behaviour Change Course [https://www.whentheadultschange.com/early-years]

Our Behaviour Change for Early Years Course is everything you need to support each child as a unique learner at the most critical stage of their development. The course is totally flexible. Do it all in one go, or take your time learning in small chunks while testing strategies with your children. The importance of your own behaviour cannot be underestimated. It frames everything. So we start with that. 

WTAC Resources

Poster pack: WTACPosters [https://www.whentheadultschange.com/_files/ugd/8de48c_5d6c8cd52e484b3299b41f602211a987.pdf]

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