Exploring SENCo dilemmas

Day-to-day challenges a SENCo faces can often indicate more serious problems in the school’s wider policy and practice. How, then, can SENCos delve beyond the obvious answers to reveal the broader issues that lie beneath? Dr Amelia Roberts presents three fictional scenarios.

SENCos are the multi-taskers of the education workforce. Due to changes in legislation¹, the SENCo, or special educational needs coordinator, is now responsible for ensuring that the whole school works effectively towards inclusive practice. Many SENCos have, or are currently undertaking, the mandatory National Award for SENCos—a 60-credit, Master’s level, postgraduate certificate in leading and managing special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision—which includes understanding how to undertake and evaluate research, develop and scrutinise school policy, support colleagues, assess attainment and listen to the needs of pupils in collaboration with parents or carers.

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      string(5627) "askingquestions and giving reasons when exploring differentperspectives or dilemmas.At Key Stage Two pupils are expected to develop theirability to participate in group discussions in sophisticatedways, justifying what they think, considering alternatives,considering moral and social dilemmas, weighing updecisions and relating these to democratic processes. Inresponding to texts and other media, they are expected tobe able to distinguish between fact and opinion, to engagewith challenging subject matter and to consider argumentscritically. They are to be taught how to use writing to helptheir thinking and learning.The community of enquiryThe community of philosophical enquiry provides an idealvehicle to address the thinking, social and communicationskills identified in the NC programmes of study.  It is a highlyparticipatory, collaborative process. The process of enquiryis shown below. The learning opportunities appropriate toeach phase of enquiry are noted.Night shimmy is real because… Night shimmy is not real because … Not sure/other thoughts …● It might be somebodyhelping him● He might be real in Eric’s mind● He talks● He is real to Eric● Real to Eric in his imagination● Real to Eric because heneeds a friend● It’s not real because it’s a story book● Not real because nobody else cansee him● Fiction book● Nobody can fly● It’s just a saying● Things can’t disappear● It might be a ghost● It’s a dream but what kind?● Ghost or imaginary friend32 Teaching Thinking  Autumn 2003www.teachthinking.comFocus on: EnglishFocus on: EnglishFocus on: EnglishFocus on: EnglishFocus on: EnglishThe phases of work in a community ofenquiry.This is a cyclical and flexible process – each phase is valuablein its own right.Agreeing ground rules for working. Re-negotiating ormodifying rules that don’t work.Sharing a stimulus drawn from a wide range ofpossibilities: picture book, myth, legend or folk tale, poem,animation, photograph, painting, comic strip, newspaperarticle, TV programme.Thinking time. This can be done alone or in pairs/smallgroups with access to paper and pencils.Framing, developing and sharing questions. All childrenare involved in creating and choosing questions that theclass as a whole will discuss. The teacher records eachquestion in the pupil’s own words, dwells on the meaningand encourages elaboration about the thinking behindthe question.This phase involves text and media interrogation drivenby readers’/listeners’ responses.Building on ideas to develop the dialogue that seeks toanswer the questions chosen.The building is oral and then recorded in the form of notes,lists and mind maps.The teacher offers questions to deepen the discussion andto promote progress, whilst holding back on her/his ownviews and avoiding taking the lead.Closure and reviewLearning opportunities, skills and valuesthat can be developedExploring the conditions that make for good-qualitydialogue such as listening, showing respect for oneanother, taking turns, ensuring that all are included.Children are invited to make a personal response. Workingwith the material helps to focus attention on the sequenceof events in a story, on the detail of representation andthe diversity of interpretations of words, images orartefacts.Pupils are invited to consider their own responses. Noparticular answers are sought. Ideas can be developedon paper through drawings (sometimes annotated), websand brainstorms. Writing is used as a tool for thinking.Pupils express their thinking in different ways.In response to the teacher’s question: ‘What puzzles orinterests you?’ children offer questions. These questionsare recorded for all to see. During this phase questions,are clarified; they may be connected and grouped by theparticipants (either working as a whole class or breakinginto smaller groups). 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Creative Teaching & Learning

Philosophically Speaking

24 Feb 2011

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Leadership

New training for a new role

10 May 2009

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      string(5617) "controversial Sutton Trust report which seemed to suggest that teachingassistants had little or no impact on pupil outcomes was enormously influential and led toa number of projects aimed at exploring how best to deploy TAs and how to ensure thattheir work did genuinely have an impact.One such project was led by The King’s School in Ottery Saint Mary, working with otherschools in the Jurassic Coast Teaching School Alliance (TSA). A significant DfE grant hadbeen secured, the aims of which were described as:n to develop long-term system leadership capacity to maintain the momentum andcoherence in the development of SENn to provide recommendations to the National College/DfE on policy developments andkey challengesn to coordinate and share the key findings from all activity across Teaching Schoolsalliances with the National College/DfE and the national Teaching Schools Network.In order to drive this forward, it was decided to focus on the leadership and deployment ofTAs. The first step was for SENCos from schools across the alliance to get together simplyto discuss how TAs were deployed in each of their schools.The initiation of a simple discussion such as this is hardly rocket science, but it isamazing how infrequently colleagues are given opportunities to get together to focuson one issue in any depth. 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Thanks to the DfE grant, the Jurassic Coast TSA was quickly able to organisea conference specifically for TAs, and this turned out to be much more of a success thananyone could have imagined.The keynote speaker was the Devon-based educational Psychologist Jon Maxwell-Batten, who proved to be quite inspirational, but the most important feature of the daywas simply time for TAs to meet each other and compare their roles. It is also important topoint out that the very fact that a conference had been arranged specifically for TAs gavethose involved a terrific confidence boost and sent a powerful message about their valueand status.Following the conference, a series of good practice visits were arranged andopportunities provided for SENCos and TAs to spend time in other schools shadowingcolleagues and discussing the issues of the day. Some visits were more specific – forexample, experiences of programmes such as Read Write Gold were shared, and oneschool put on some intensive training in the use of Numicon. This was useful in itself butthere was clearly room for more targeted development opportunities and more intensivetraining.Vol 5.2 n www.teachingtimes.comIn-depth Every Child Journal56Developing the use of TriosThe Jurassic Coast TSA, led by The Woodroffe Schoolin Lyme Regis, has done a significant amount of workin developing CPD based on colleagues working inTrios. Indeed, the school is one of the case studies inthe recent National College Publication, Leadershipof great pedagogy in teaching school alliances1. It wastherefore natural for Kings to opt for a Trio approachin developing the skills of the TAs in the alliance.Eight schools signed up to take part, and therewere 20 TAs involved in the programme. They chose tofocus on a range of activities, but all were classroombased and all were aimed at exploring ways toimprove pupil progress. At the end of the project,experiences were shared and conclusions drawn. Asexpected, the most valued aspect of the programmewas the chance to compare notes with colleaguesand to spend time talking about good practice.TAs and pupil progressThe next step is now to continue to strengthenthis emerging network and to provide furtheropportunities for collaboration. A key issue at themoment is the focus on pupil progress. How can TAshave a greater impact on progress?The Sutton Trust evidence suggests thatthey can have a positive impact on academicachievement but effects tend to vary widely. Itseems that where TAs provide general administrativesupport, there isn’t a positive benefit, and wherethey support individual pupils or small groups, onaverage it shows moderate positive benefits. It isthe aim of the Jurassic Coast TSA project to exploreways in which TAs can be much more than simplymoderately beneficial to young people in theclassroom.References1. National College for Teaching and Leadership (2015) Leadership of great pedagogy in teaching school alliances: case studies. [online] Available at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-and-development-network-leadership-of-pedagogy-report [Accessed 03/06/2015].School contextThe Woodroffe SchoolHeadteacher: Dr Richard StewardNumber of pupils: 1,076Type of school: Comprehensive foundationPupils entitled to Pupil Premium: below averagePupils with SEN: below averageOther information:"
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Special Needs

Teaching schools - the SENCo's friend

23 Jul 2015

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      string(5644) "also theirlack of power and status in everyday life. If you do not getthe chance to make important decisions, how can youexperience the pull of different possible courses of action?A notable exception is in the context of the story of TheThree Robbers (Ungerer 1991) where children often chooseto explore the relationship between moral character andaction, for example by asking whether it is possible for arobber to do something good or to change from being badto good.How can we create situations in school that stimulate youngchildren to experience making moral decisions? Havingreflected on the first day of experimentation, we deviseda scenario that would recognise the children’s powers ofimagination but also require them to exercise moralTeachers at Tuckswood use a wide variety of teachingmethods, embedded in contexts that make sense to thechildren. Children are given time and space to express theirideas in different logical, creative and artistic forms(through words, pictures, objects and actions). The highlyinclusive practice at Tuckswood demonstrates youngchildren’s capacity to think, question, reason, concentrate,listen, contribute and  engage with other people in allaspects of everyday life. The children’s experience and skillsin collaborative discussion about things that matter madeit much easier for us to try out the six-steps approach tomoral decision making with them.Using stories to explore moral choicesAt Manorbier Primary School, Karin had stimulated ideasabout moral dilemmas by reading the Year 6 class Plato’sstory of The Ring of Gyges. In Tim Taylor’s Year 2/3 class atTuckswood we decided to use the idea of a ring with specialpowers as an imaginative context for exploring moralchoices. With eyes closed and through visualisation,children were guided on a walk that culminated in thediscovery of a ring, a ring with the power to make its wearerinvisible.We asked the class to think about what they could do ifthey were invisible. Several children suggested that theywould be able to get away with robbery. One girl said ‘Iwould steal a lot of money and go round the world givingit to homeless people’ Another girl said ‘ I would take alittle bit of money from the bank, to make meals and foodto eat and to wash clothes’. The children’s discussion ofthese scenarios through role play allowed them to thinkabout the difference between borrowing and stealing andwhether the using stolen money for good purposestempered our disapproval for the act of stealing. Theyreasoned through the mechanics of stealing from a bankand inferred that invisibility did not guarantee protection– you might be heard opening the drawer of the till. Buthow far would these lines of reasoning within a magicalsituation connect to moral choices in their own lives?What dilemmas do young children have?We really wanted to know about the kinds of moraldilemmas the children experienced. We talked to the classabout everyday decisions and asked for examples of goodand bad decisions. The children worked hard to graspexactly what we were asking for and offered a variety ofpractical decisions such as what to call their kittens,whether to have a hot or cold dinner and what to watchon TV.  The word ‘decision’ does not necessarily convey thesense of sustained inner conflict that we tend to associatewith moral dilemmas. So in smaller groups we shifted52Discussing dilemmasDiscussing dilemmasDiscussing dilemmasDiscussing dilemmasDiscussing dilemmas               www.teachthinking.comTeaching Thinking&Creativity  Winter 2004decision-making. Working with Emma Hamilton-Smith’sYear 2/3 class, we adapted a ‘true story’ and asked the classto give advice to some other children who wereexperiencing a dilemma. The dilemma arises when afamily finds a tin containing £700 in the basement of ahouse they have recently bought. The request for advicearrives in the form of a letter (see Figure 1) from the twoyoung children in this family saying ‘we don’t know whatto do – should we keep the money or not?’ It was evidentthat most of the children were aware that this was aninvented situation and at the same time they were willingto engage with the story and its dilemma, perhaps toplease us as adults, perhaps because this is what you doat school.Figure 1Dear friends,Our names are Jo and Megan. We live with ourparents. We really need your help to solve adilemma.Not long ago we moved to an old house near thesea. It had been empty for a long time before wemoved in, except for some bits of furniture belongingto the old man who used to live here. He died acouple of years ago.Mum and Dad have been fixing up the house andturning the basement downstairs into a new kitchen.Every weekend dad gets his mucky old clothes onand goes down there to dig out the floor andsometimes we help him.Last weekend we were all digging together and weunearthed a box. When we opened the lid andlooked inside there was a huge pile of money. Wecounted it and there was £700. We were all soexcited at first – but the thing is, we don’t know whatto do. Should we keep it or not? What do you think?Please help,Megan and JOFigure 2Using the stepsThe six-steps approach enables participants to explore adilemma as a choice between two right courses of action,rather than between right and wrong. The processemphasises  identification and analysis of reasons fordecisions and the ‘weighing up’ of reasons. To start with(Step one), we asked the children for their first reactions byvoting for or against the family keeping the money. Werecorded the vote. Step two"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

What Should I Do

1 Nov 2006

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      string(418) "In this article, Chris Brown questions whether the English education system will ever be able to achieve a systemic approach to evidence-informed self-improvement. Instead, he argues, growth in the use of evidenced informed practice will only occur slowly and from the bottom up. He concludes that whilst collaborative networks provide useful spaces for learning, they do not necessarily act as key drivers for change."
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      string(5118) "andpractice31……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………of evidence use. The small numbers of heads that arenow pioneering this approach (or the staff working forthem) will gradually move elsewhere and recreate thispractice. Simultaneously, visitors to these settings whoare suitably inspired will establish their own evidenceuse ethos and practices within their own organizations.Networks are necessary but for different reasons: theyprovide the ateliers within which artisan practitionerscan hone their craft – places to improve learning andto engage with new evidence or evidence informedpractices. But schools will only take from them whatthey will, which is likely to be affected by context, ethosand many of the factors listed above. The real driversfor change then, as ever, are situated inside the other‘self ’: the individual school rather than the school aspart of the system.References: Berwick, G. (2010) Engaging in Excellence: The Approach, (London, Olevi). ■ Brown, C. (2013a) Growing your own evidence!Professional Development Today, 15, 4, pp. 22-31 ■ Brown, C. (2013b) Making Evidence Matter: A New Perspective on Evidence-Informed PolicyMaking in Education, (London, IOE Press). ■ Bubb, S. (2014) Bringing evidence into teaching, ldr: The National College online magazine forteachers, available at: http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/index/resources/ldr-magazine/ldr-latest-articles/bringing-evidence-into-teaching.htm, accessed on 11 January, 2014. ■ Christakis, N. and Fowler, J. (2009) Connected: The surprising Power of social networks and how theyshape our lives, (New York, NY, Little Brown). ■ Coburn, C., Choi, L., Mata, W. (2010) I would go to her because her mind is math: networkformation in the context of a district-based mathematics reform, in: Daly, A (ed) Social network theory and educational change, (Cambridge,MA, Harvard Education Press). ■ Day, C., Sammons, P., Hopkins, D., Harris, A., Leithwood, K., Gu, Q. and Brown, E. (2010) Ten strong claims aboutsuccessful school leadership, (Nottingham, National College for School Leadership). ■ Earl, L. and Katz, S. (2006) Leading schools in a data richworld (Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press). ■ Earley, P. (2013) Exploring the school leadership landscape: changing demands, changing realities,(London, Bloomsbury). ■ Earley, P. and Higham, R. (2012) Review of the School Leadership Landscape, (Nottingham, NCSL). ■ Fullan, M. (1991)What’s worth fighting for in headship, (Buckingham, Open University Press). ■ Fullan, M. (2011) Change Leader, (San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass)■ Gilbert, C., Husbands, C., Wigdortz, B. and Francis, B. (2013) Unleashing Greatness: Getting the best from an academised system, (London,Pearson). ■ Goldacre, B. (2013) Building evidence into education, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/building-evidence-into-education, accessed on 27 January 2014. ■ Greany, T. (2013) Shaping an IOE R&D or… Innovation and Impact… network, Paper preparedfor the IOE R&D Network Event, December 2013. ■ Greany, T. (2014) The self-improving school system: competing policies undermine thecoalition’s admirable aims, 6 March 2014, available via: http://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com, accessed on 8 March, 2014. ■ Hargreaves, D. (2010)Creating a self-improving school system, (Nottingham, National College for School Leadership). ■ Hargreaves, D. (2012) A self-improving schoolsystem: towards maturity, (Nottingham, National College for School Leadership), available at: http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/docinfo?id=177472&filename=a-self-improving-school-system-towards-maturity.pdf, accessed on 24 December, 2012. ■ Jackson, D andTemperley, J. (2007) From Professional Learning Community to Networked Learning Community, in: Stoll, L. and Louis, K. S. (Eds) ProfessionalLearning Communities: Divergence, Depths and Dilemmas (Maidenhead, MCGraw-Hill). ■ Kotter, J.P., (1990) A Force for Change, (New York,The Free Press). ■ Sharples, J. (2013) Evidence for the front line, available via: http://www.alliance4usefulevidence.org/publication/evidence-for-the-frontline/, accessed on 8 March, 2014 ■ Southworth, G. (2009) Learning Centred Leadership, in Davies, B. (ed), The essentials of schoolleadership, (London, Sage). ■ Stoll, L., Bolam, R. & Collarbone, P. (2002). Leading for change: Building capacity for learning, in: Leithwood, Kand Hallinger, P. (Eds), Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration, (Dordrecht, Kluwer). ■ Stoll, S., Earl., L.,Anderson S. and Schildkamp, K. (2014) Changing teachers and teaching: the relationship between educational effectiveness research andpractice, in: Chapman, C., Muijs, D., Sammons, P. and Teddlie,"
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Professional Development

The Self-improving School System Or A System of Self-improving Schools

13 Mar 2015