In Buckinghamshire, there is a drive to promote a consistent ethos of inclusivity and supportiveness for individuals with SEN across all schools in the county.

A cornerstone of this ambition is the concept of ‘ordinarily available provision’: the principle that pupils at SEN Support should expect to receive the same core offer of help and intervention irrespective of the school that they attend. This links to the Children and Families Act 2014, Equality Act 2010, Education Act 2011 and the SEND Code of Practice.

Schools, parents/carers and professionals collaborated to produce Buckinghamshire’s Ordinarily Available Provision documentation, which outlines the special educational needs that children and young people may have across the four broad areas, with easy to use provision suggestions for all members of school staff and families alike, as well as strategies for the whole school and quality first teaching.

About SEN Support

Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support is the name given to the special educational provision that is delivered within a mainstream school – that which is different from or additional to what is typically available for children and young people.

It describes support that goes beyond quality first teaching, and as such can include intervention programmes, targeted assistance from TAs or LSAs, and the potential involvement of external agencies.

SEN Support is also the name given to the category/status of learners in receipt of such provision, as distinct from those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). On the Department for Education’s school census return, those pupils at SEN Support would be given a K code.

Levels of support

Universal support

Universal support, quality first teaching for all in the classroom.

Record of concern

Quality First Teaching, high expectations of students, will need differentiation according to their need.
May or may not have a diagnosis.
May have small group interventions such as lexia, nurture.
Needs met mainly within the classroom through high quality teaching.

SEN Support

Has higher need of support, mostly met with QFT, but will also have one to one possibly bespoke interventions.
May have external agency support and additional funding and some LSA support in lessons.

EHC

High level of complex needs, statutory provision.
Additional funding.
Mostly met with QFT in lessons but will have additional support.

Good practice

SEN Support is therefore a broad concept, capturing a wide range of type, depth and complexity of special educational needs.

Buckinghamshire Council’s SEN Toolkit aims to provide information, guidance and resources to help assist schools with the delivery of SEN Support to the children and young people who present with these special educational needs.

Good practice in terms of SEN Support within schools should include:

• Quality First Teaching
• Making reasonable adjustments where necessary
• Keeping expectations high and achievable
• Securing excellence in support and provision for vulnerable groups of pupils
• Strong teaching and learning
• Well-designed curricula
• Adjusting the pace of lessons to reflect how children and young people are learning
• Differentiating language and tasks to support learning
• Completing accurate assessment and identification – supported through moderation tasks
• Having clear routes to gain specialist external support such as CYP Therapies (speech and language therapy, occupational therapy) and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

Buckinghamshire Council operates the ‘graduated approach’ to SEN.

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 defines the graduated approach as “a model of action and intervention in early education settings, schools and colleges to help children and young people who have special educational needs”.

The approach recognises that there is a continuum of special educational needs and that, where necessary, increasing specialist expertise should be brought to bear on the difficulties that a child or young person may be experiencing.

Buckinghamshire’s graduated approach sets out principles and provides key information and guidance on how high-quality educational outcomes for all children and young people can be achieved.

Key to the success of all learners is timely and effective intervention from a range of partner agencies working in a consistent and coherent way in partnership with each other.

The graduated approach sets out the different ways by which all children and young people may have their needs met, not just those with Education, Health and Care Plans.

It aims to ensure all children and young people receive an appropriate education, one that is appropriate to their needs, promotes high standards and the fulfilment of potential.

This means that once a pupil has been identified as having SEN, they should enter a four-part cycle of:

• Assess
• Plan
• Do
• Review

This process will help to inform what, if any, amendments or additions need to be made to the package of support being put in place for a student.

The toolkit has been developed collaboratively with the view that it will be a resource that schools actively use and revisit, to ensure that you have the tools to provide for the range of presenting SEN at the earliest opportunity.

Engagement with children, young people and families, through the development of the toolkit, has told us that they want and need to understand and be involved in the identification of additional needs. They also want to be fully involved in the planning and review of support from the start.

The Toolkit aims to provide resources that facilitate schools working with families collaboratively, in an open and honest way to support best practice and provide the best opportunities for all children and young people to thrive.

The toolkit has been put together collaboratively with:

• Educational Psychologists
• SENDCos
• Parents
• Children and young people
• Health professionals
• Family Support Service
• Participation workers
• Specialist teachers

The resource will evolve over time to reflect the changing picture of SEND and ensure that resources reflect current best practices and support implementation within any school setting.

Let us know your feedback

Email us to let us know your feedback so we can continue to improve the toolkit.