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Secondary Phase School Action

School Action happens when a subject teacher, member of the pastoral team or Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) sees that a child has special educational needs and gives work/time which is additional to or different from the school's normal differentiated curriculum.

The triggers for School Action are when a child or young person:

makes little or no improvement even when different teaching approaches have been tried
shows signs of difficulty with literacy or mathematics skills which produces poor results in some other subject areas
has continuing emotional or behavioural difficulties which are not helped by the behaviour management methods usually used in school
has sensory (hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch) or physical problems which do not improve even with the help of specialist equipment
has difficulty communicating and/or socialising and continues to make little or no improvement even with an adapted curriculum. (6.51)

An important part of School Action is the collection of all information known about the pupil and any further new information from the parents. The SENCO should take this process forward through either the pastoral team or the named link workers (link SENCOs) as appropriate. It is good practice for any outside agencies (Social Services, Health, and Local Education Authority Support Services) involved with the pupil to work with the school. This information will act as the foundation on which to plan appropriate means of support. (6.54)

Nature of Support

This could be:

individually or with a group of pupils
extra adult time to plan and monitor the support
different learning materials or special equipment
occasional advice from LEA support services
training for staff in useful strategies

Parents should always be consulted and kept informed about the actions taken to help the pupil and the result of the actions. (6.56)

The numbers in brackets relate to the section and paragraph number of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice which can be obtained, free of charge from: DfES Publications, P O Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottinghamshire NG15 0DJ. Tel: 0845 60 222 60, E-mail: dfes@prolog.uk.com

Secondary Phase School Action Plus

School Action Plus happens when, after talking with parents at the meeting where the Individual Education Plan (IEP) is looked at again, a decision is made to ask for help from outside agencies. Schools should always ask the advice of specialists when School Action Plus is taken. (6.62)

The triggers for School Action Plus are when a child despite receiving support under School Action:

continues to make little or no progress in certain areas over a long period
continues working at National Curriculum levels well below that expected of pupils of a similar age
continues to have difficulty in developing literacy and mathematics skills
has emotional or behavioural difficulties which regularly interfere with their own, or others, education even though they have an individual behaviour programme
has sensory (hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch) or physical needs and additional specialist equipment or regular advice/visits are needed by a specialist service
has on-going communication or social difficulties that stop the development of social relationships and makes learning very difficult. (6.64)

Means of Support

All staff and outside specialists should consider a range of different support, appropriate equipment and teaching materials including use of Information Technology.

Outside specialists may:

give advice on strategies
provide additional specialist assessments
be involved in teaching the pupil directly. (6.66)

The carrying out of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be the responsibility of the subject teachers. (6.67)

If the subject teachers, SENCO or outside specialist want to seek further advice from other professionals they must ask for the parents permission.

The SENCO should note in the pupil's records:

what further advice is being asked for
what support is to be provided for the pupil while awaiting this advice.

The numbers in brackets relate to the section and paragraph number of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice which can be obtained, free of charge from: DfES Publications, P O Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottinghamshire NG15 0DJ. Tel: 0845 60 222 60, E-mail: dfes@prolog.uk.com

Secondary Phase Individual Education Plans

Plans to help a pupil to make progress should be written in an Individual Educational Plan (IEP).

The IEP should include information about:

goals set for or by the pupil which can be reached within a short period of time
the teaching plans
the equipment to be used
when the plan is to be looked at again
success and/or exit criteria
results (to be noted when IEP is looked at again). (6.58 )

The IEP should only have in it anything that is additional to or different from the differentiated curriculum that is in place for all pupils.

The IEP should be brief and have three or four goals in the areas of:

communication
literacy
mathematics
behaviour and social skills

The IEP should always be discussed with parents/carers and the pupil. (6.59)

Where a pupil with SEN is at serious risk of opting out of school, or exclusion, the IEP should have appropriate plans to meet their needs. (6.60)

IEPs should be looked at regularly and at least twice a year, ideally for some pupils it could be once a term. Parents/carers views about their child should be asked for as a matter of course. The pupil should, as far as possible, be involved in setting goals and their comments and ideas taken into account. (6.61)

The numbers in brackets relate to the section and paragraph number of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice which can be obtained, free of charge from: DfES Publications, P O Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottinghamshire NG15 0DJ. Tel: 0845 60 222 60, E-mail: dfes@prolog.uk.com

Secondary Phase The Role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator

The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) together with the headteacher and governing body, plays a key role in planning the Special Educational Needs (SEN) policy and arrangements within school to raise the achievement of children with SEN.

The SENCO takes the day to day responsibility for carrying out the SEN policy and organising the provision made for individual pupils with SEN, working closely with staff, parents, the Connexions Personal Advisers and other agencies. (6.32)

The SENCO together with Heads of Department/Year, the literacy and numeracy co-ordinators and pastoral members of staff should make sure that learning for all pupils is given equal priority, and that all available means are used in the best possible way. (6.34)

In mainstream secondary schools the key responsibility of the SENCO may include:

the day to day running of the school's policy
linking with and advising fellow teachers
monitoring the SEN team of teachers and Learning Support Assistants
organising arrangements for pupils with SEN
making sure correct records are kept of all pupils with SEN
making sure there is communication with parents/carers of children with SEN
contributing to the in-service training of all staff
communicating with outside agencies including the Local Education Authority (LEA), Support and Educational Psychology Services, the Connexions Personal Adviser Health, Social Services and voluntary organisations. (6.35)

In most secondary schools the SENCO role will be a definite responsibility for one member of staff, and many schools find it useful for the SENCO to be a member of the senior management team. (6.37)

The numbers in brackets relate to the section and paragraph number of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice which can be obtained, free of charge from: DfES Publications, P O Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottinghamshire NG15 0DJ. Tel: 0845 60 222 60, E-mail: dfes@prolog.uk.com

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