Whole Setting Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

"Good practice for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities is good practice for all" (Jane Friswell, 2017).

On this page, you can find:

Context
An Ideal School for SEND in Doncaster
Inclusion
The Social Model of Disability
Neurodiversity
High Aspirations
Reasonable Adjustments and Ordinarily Available Provision
Ordinarily Available Provision Guidance
Reasonable Adjustments Guidance and Checklist
Teaching Assistant Deployment Information
Learning Environment Checklists
Resources
Websites

Context

6.4 The quality of teaching for pupils with SEN, and the progress made by pupils, should be a core part of the school’s performance management arrangements and its approach to professional development for all teaching and support staff. School leaders and teaching staff, including the SENCO, should identify any patterns in the identification of SEN, both within the school and in comparison with national data, and use these to reflect on and reinforce the quality of teaching.

As a response to the rising level of need across the city and country we recognise that professionals in settings need further support to be as responsive as possible to removing the barriers for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities across all settings. All of the developments made to the SEND systems in Doncaster are in line with the relevant legislation and national expectations. They are also in line with a variety of influential researchers, educators and campaigners across the area of inclusion.

An ideal school for SEND in Doncaster

Has a warm and welcoming ethos for all
Works well with a range of specialist and outreach professionals
Adapts and differentiates learning effectively
Provides 'help at every level' using the Graduated Approach
Listens to the voices of children, young people and their families
Uses financial resources effectively and creatively
Uses the EEF SEND 5 a day
Actively welcomes and includes children and young people with SEND
Uses the resources on the SEND Toolkit
Leads by example by promoting diversity through lessons, assemblies, visuals, role models and recruitment
Has a staff culture of reflection and learning
Identifies additional needs early and accurately
Has strong leaders who champion their skilled and empowered staff
Aims for equity for all children and young people
Changes the environment and the approach and accepts the children and young people

Learning Differently, Learning together!

Inclusion

“Inclusion is regarded as a principle that must inform all educational policies, not least those concerned with the curriculum, accountability, funding and teacher education. In this sense, it is seen as being everybody’s responsibility." Mel Ainscow

"Inclusion is not bringing people in to what already exists; it is making a new space, a better space for everyone." George Dei

Inclusion as Belonging

Inclusion – Belonging in School – a school-level resource for developing inclusive policies (cam.ac.uk)

Belonging-in-School-Executive-Summary-v1.0.pdf (cam.ac.uk)

Belonging-in-School-Part-1-v1.0.pdf (cam.ac.uk)

Belonging-in-School-Part-2-v1.0.pdf (cam.ac.uk)

Publication and resources (theartofpossibilities.org.uk)

Compassionate Leadership for School Belonging (ucl.ac.uk)

Social Model of Disability

In Doncaster we are further embedding the social model of disability (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) which means trying to understand and remove the barriers for children and young people in accessing education and their community. The social model is a different way of understanding Special Educational Needs and Disabilities that encourages acceptance of difference. It moves away from the medical model which places the difficulties 'within' the person and suggests that they can be 'fixed'.

The following short video provides a clear example of how removing barriers can promote inclusion of disabled people:
Social Model Animation

Neurodiversity

In Doncaster we promote neuro-inclusive practice across our settings and this means working to accept and remove barriers for children and young people with differences in their communication style, learning style and sensory processing. In order for this to be successful adults must reflect upon their practice and their communication styles to ensure that they include and remove barriers effectively for all learners.

"Neurodiversity is a basic scientific truth: people vary in the way that their brains take in, process, and respond to information. This diversity of information processing gives rise to a diversity of experiences in the world (Chapman, 2020). The presence of neurodiversity in the human race explains why it is that we are not all the same, and gives rise to the types of variation that are often labelled with a diagnosis – neurodiversity begets autism, ADHD, Developmental Language Disorder, Down Syndrome, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Fragile X Syndrome, and Tourette Syndrome." (Dinah Aitken and Sue Fletcher-Watson, December 2022).

"The word difference should point us to acceptance of needs without judgement, rather than denial of needs without support."
(Dinah Aitken and Sue Fletcher-Watson, December 2022).

High Aspirations

Assumptions can have a huge impact on the way that a child or young person is viewed or views themselves.

If we assume that a child or young person will never be able to achieve certain milestones such as independent living, going out independently with friends, achieving qualifications and succeeding in extra curricula activities it affects the opportunities that we provide and therefore limits what these children and young people can achieve. Instead we must assume that everything is possible and children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities are given all the opportunities for them to shape their own future.

Reasonable Adjustments and Ordinarily Available Provision

Reasonable adjustments are a setting's legal obligations to remove barriers for those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND), there is a natural overlap across reasonable adjustments, differentiation, and ordinarily available provision. This type of provision should be a base line offer available in all educational settings regardless of academy trust expectations or specialisms. Having robust provision available to any child or young person with SEND, will make for smoother processes when learners need an increase in provision, a SEND plan or EHC Needs Assessment referral.