Workforce Development for SEND
The SENCO and the class teachers should decide on the action needed to help the child to progress in the light of their earlier assessment. There is sometimes an expectation that this help will take the form of the deployment of extra staff to enable one-to-one tuition to be given to the child. However, this may not be the most appropriate way of helping the child. A more appropriate approach might be to provide different learning materials or special equipment; to introduce some group or individual support; to devote extra adult time to devising the nature of the planned intervention and to monitoring its effectiveness; or to undertake staff development and training to introduce more effective strategies.
SEND Code of Practice
The following resources and support materials are also available free of charge to schools to support workforce development:
1. Advanced training materials for autism; dyslexia; speech, language and communication; emotional, social and behavioural difficulties; moderate learning difficulties: The materials consist of five learning modules, each of which focus on one of the above areas of SEND. The materials feature reading-based and practical training tasks, some of which will need to be completed at school with colleagues, pupils or parents. There is also a range of audio/video resources, all of which can be accessed via this site.
2. Training materials for teachers of learners with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties: The training materials cover severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties and complex learning difficulties and disabilities. They are presented in 16 modules within 4 subject groups and look into topics such as communication and interaction, working with families etc.
3. Excellence and Enjoyment: social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL): The resource aims to provide schools and settings with an explicit, structured whole-curriculum framework for developing all children’s social, emotional and behavioural skills, and is intended for the whole school community.
4. NASEN SEN Gateway: An online portal offering education professionals free access to information, resources and training for meeting the needs of children with SEND. The site is intended as a ‘one stop’ hub of resources, providing an opportunity for the education workforce to develop new skills and understanding of SEND, and its development was funded by the DfE for this purpose.
Focus on SEND Training - provides on-line free courses for teachers and practitioners across the 0-25 age range to help them develop high quality practice to better meet the needs of learners with SEND. Each module explains: high quality practice and what this means for SEND; participation and engagement of children and young people and their families; identifying needs and the role of assessment, how to arrive at meaningful outcomes; and meeting needs by a cycle of Assess - Plan - Do - Review.
Other useful websites: