Working in a dual role as SENDCo and Head of School has always been interesting. Alongside changing a culture and ethos for the whole school community, my heart will always belong to empowering and supporting the SEN pupils within my care. Previously, it had been felt that these children were more of a hindrance than a fundamental need within a school community, and on arrival at my current school, all SEN children, particularly those with highly disruptive behavioral needs, were being taught separately in a room, by a (very patient and talented) teaching assistant.
Not only was this heartbreaking, but it angered me, somewhat. How on earth were we supposed to be a community school, whilst permitting this total exclusion of our most vulnerable pupils? Despite a mountainous job ahead, getting this group of pupils back into class was an urgent priority.
Alongside a really robust, consistent and simple behaviour policy, we made the decision that all children would be in class for all core subjects, no-one would be taught in the corridors, in other classrooms on their own, and no interventions would take place in the mornings. I strongly believe that all children are entitled to be taught by the most qualified person, in their classroom, with their peers. The school does not lower it's expectations, but gives pupils the tools, strategies and resources to allow them to flourish alongside their classmates.
One thing the school has worked incredibly hard at, over the last three years is being fully inclusive, particularly of children with ASC (Autistic Spectrum condition), PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) and attachment conditions. We have found that by making some simple changes across the whole school, and ensuring that all our staff are using the same techniques and strategies, it has led to a much calmer, lower arousal and nurturing environment. In such a small school, this is obviously much easier to achieve, but I hope that some of the ideas and strategies would be useful in any size or age range setting.
The first thing we really looked at was CPD opportunities for all staff. We don't have any money, so I had to really think of a way to get decent training, at a low cost, but of the highest quality. Due to our small school and beautifully spacious building, I decided to offer up a room to the local authority 'Specialist Teaching and Learning Services', so that they could have a satellite Nurture Provision. This meant that the local schools could benefit from accessing support for their pupils and I could tap into some CPD as apposed to renting the space. This really ensured that the quality, time and support was all in the right places, and didn't cost the school a fortune.
ASC Champion
This year, we were really lucky to be able to send one of our support staff to ASC training. This is comprised of seven sessions over a year-long course, which upskills one member of staff in order to cascade knowledge to the staff team and ensure we are doing everything we can to make school a better place for not only our ASC pupils, but the whole community. This person becomes and advocate and 'champion' for this identified group of pupils.
Non-verbal cues
We use lots of non-verbal cues within the school, for all children. The first is in the lower years, so children are reminded of certain items, reminders, or what/where things can be found around the classroom. This builds independence and routines from day one.
The 'have another go' card (I'll come up with a snappier title one day!)
All staff have this card on their lanyard. In order to cut down on the verbal exchanges, particular with our ASC children, the card can be held up so that children can 'have another go' at requesting or suggesting something in a better way. This means the adult has the opportunity to model full sentences, ask in a better way or ask for clearer information. This is used on all children, but particularly supports those with low literacy skills, auditory processing condition, ASC and PDA.
Visual timetables
All classes have a visual timetable. There is a great piece by Lynn McCann about the importance of them. They are pretty much the same throughout the school, changing in age appropriateness from KS1 to KS2, but familiar enough for children year on year. Reception and KS1 create their day, every morning. explaining who is teaching them, where they will be located and what time things will happen. Any changes, absence or differences to the day are communicated to the pupils as soon as possible. This allows our SEN children time to adjust, ask questions or share anxieties with a familiar adult, they can support children with auditory processing to reduce the language load, aid memory recall and support movement across the school during the day: moving from studio, ICT suite, playground, etc. Transitions are communicated to pupils throughout the day in the same way.
The staff will explain:
• Where they are going ('We are going in to collective worship')
• How they are going to go ('We are going to line up in our places')
• What they are going to do ('We are going to be singing today, because it is Wednesday)
• How they will conduct themselves ('We are going to walk quietly to the hall, and then sit in our rows, ready for Mr. _____ to begin')
This means, there are no surprises, the expectations is set and keeps everyone calm and relaxed.
Break and lunchtimes
We know that unstructured time is always difficult for children, particularly those with anxiety or social communication difficulties. We recently changed our lunchtimes to reflect this and offer activities throughout this time, so that although the feeling of 'child initiated' is still there, but it gives enough structure to keep arousal and anxiety lower. We did this by offering multi skills activities run by a sports coach, scrap play (an area which is timetabled for each year group to enjoy on their own, building dens, making swings, team games etc.), football or an adult-led game, like skipping or tag.
Sensory boxes
Each class has a sensory box. This contains a range of sensory items that can be used by SEN children, if or when needed. All children know what it's for, how to use the items and how they may use them to reduce anxiety. Each box is the same in each class, and training for all staff has been given by our great ASC Champion, Julia (HLTA). The children do not access these freely, but adults will decide if necessary and part of an individual plan.
Social Stories
Julia also gave some training to our fantastic team of support staff on the use of social stories. A Social Story is a short story that describes social relevant cues in any given situation. It breaks down a social situation into understandable steps and by being highly-descriptive to help an individual with an ASC understand the entirety of a situation. We use this in very specific areas for pupils, when required.
Implied compliance / Reducing choices
This is a really great strategy for our PDA/ODD children. By changing the language from 'Do this...' to 'Could you, would you, thank you for, we are going to..' it cuts down the direct instruction and gives rise to implied compliance. An expectation that things will be done, not a demand. This works well for all children, and the whole staff understand the theory behind it, thanks to our great Educational Psychologist, Chris Clarke.
From Reception, in order to broaden vocabulary - we all ensure we are reducing choice - simple things like 'What fruit would you like?' is changed to 'Would you like an apple or an orange?' - This is not only opening up the vocabulary but is given two choices, rather than an 'unknown' - We have found that this keeps anxiety low and as children move up through the school, the options may increase, or decrease, depending on subject, need or age.
Behaviour strategies
Our behaviour policy applies to all children. In order to meet this, some children are given a bespoke behaviour plan - this means that they can access other resources or key workers to ensure that they stay on track. Some of these might be - traffic light indicators to go home, emotional check ins at set times, or non-verbal cue-cards that all staff have on their lanyards.
We also have a blanket routines when any sanctions are put in place. This means that ALL children are given their first warning in exactly the same way, every time.
• Say child's name
• Hand up as stop signal
• Child's name again
• This is your first warning for...'very clearly stating what the pupil has done'
This mixes verbal and non-verbal cues so it is accessible to all pupils and has decreased low level disruption to a minimum.
When the team started, there was a real lack of basic communication norms. Eye contact, active listening, responding to questions and not asking for help. I think this was the thing that concerned us the most, and having small classes meant that engagement and passivity was accepted as the norm. In order to raise the expectations and ensure that we could empower children to speak up if they didn't understand or needed further support, we also introduced FUEL, this is used and refereed to in all classes. Again, a really simple idea, introduced in one of the first assemblies and practiced until it became the norm. It is revisited at the beginning of every term and has worked really well.
Routines of the day
All children are greeted at the day by the teacher (no high fives or hugs... bah humbug! )
We don't use alarms or bells to indicate ends of lessons, lunchtimes or breaks, to ensure there is no stress added to children who cannot cope with timed activities and to avoid anxiety between transitions. But, we do use a whistle at break. First whistle to indicate 'freeze', adults then give children time to move on to the playground (if in scrap play, trim trail or on the grass) the second whistle indicates that children walk to their place in the line.
In most classes, children line up in a specific order, everyday. This reduces line up time, any disagreements between children and keeps routines the same, everyday.
When a child needs more
All our SEN children will have their own APDR (assess, plan, do, review) sheet. I devised a version specifically for our school, which is easily understood and used collectively by staff. These are updated at the end of a specific intervention or at the termly pupil progress meetings. This will feed into an EHCP assessment if deemed necessary further down the line.
Reflections
This is not perfect. There is still loads to be done, and of course, mistakes are made, and I and the team, learn from them. Sometimes changes are out of our control, and something or someone will change and we have to rethink why or how we are doing things. As a staff team, we are always sharing what is working and what isn't, there needs to be a constant drip feed of expectations and being open when routines or consistency slips. I'm lucky that my team are super effective and open minded in taking risks and being open to change, but ultimately, our children are calmer, anxiety is lowered and the community is a happier place to work and learn.
Next steps...
Thinking about how we use displays and visuals across the school...
Sharing our knowledge and strategies with the wider community, including families...
Continued work with secondary transition...
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