Children with Challenging Behaviours – Are we missing the point?

Wendy Casson, head of the largest PRU in the UK, describes how trying to understand the root causes of the presenting behavioural problems in emerging younger children has led to a huge drop in school exclusions.

I am the Headteacher of Educational Diversity, a diverse Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) in Blackpool, supporting young people unable to access mainstream education due to their behavioural, medical, social or emotional needs.

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      string(5839) "The Vision for a schoolHeartlands High School is a new 8 form entry community school in Haringey, North London. It has a specialism in performing arts and media and is currently oversubscribed. The ASD faculty runs alongside the mainstream school.The number of students receiving free school meals is almost double the national average. The number of students from minority ethnic backgrounds is 88% and the number of students with English as a second language is more than 4 times the national average.Imagining a schoolIt is a rare treat for architects to design a new secondary school, particularly on a central London site. TP Bennett are architects who have worked with Haringey on the refurbishment and extension of a number of existing schools and were given the opportunity to be involved in the creation of Heartlands High. Haringey has a growing population and its secondary schools were oversubscribed, leading to the need for additional school places to be created. The new school would need to accommodate 8 mainstream forms of entry as well as autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) provision for 25 students. The initial brief and vision for the school was developed through a series of early design workshops with the education team at Haringey.  We explored their vision for the school as a whole and how the ASD provision would sit within it. These initial workshops took place over a number of days with key members of the Haringey Education team, and led to a vision for what the school buildings needed to deliver and how the spaces should feel and relate to one another. Haringey’s vision for Heartlands HighTo build a school for the next 75 years not just the next 5 years.The School should bring together the best of the previous great eras of school building:1870 Board Schools – civic pride, a safe and secure feel & built to last.  1970 ‘System Built’ – flexible and adaptable. To avoid the mistakes of the relatively recent past:Long, narrow and featureless corridors that breed antisocial behaviour. Flat and faceless buildings that don’t relate to their context.To create a calm and welcoming environment.The school should be broken down into distinct faculties with a strong sense of their own identities.The Vision for the ASD FacultyThe school is designed around 6 faculties, each with a strong visual identity and their own resource and social area.  It was a key part of the vision for ASD provision that it was a seen as a faculty within the school rather than a unit separate from the school. 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At the ends of the classroom wings are the faculty hubs, with enhanced ICT flexible teaching spaces, Faculty staff work bases, faculty stores, and other supporting activities grouped together to create out of hours learning support bases.Pupil Support Centre (BESD). A classroom for six pupils along with support facilities is located by the main entrance and staff office. Further support facilities are provided as a series of small teaching rooms dispersed throughout the school.  SEND. SEND consists of a Year 7 Shelter Group Classroom, a staff work base, group room, induction group room, and a tutorial/Classroom. This area offers pastoral care provisions in the heart of the Forum. This also includes and internet café area so that all students will be using the SEND hub, integrating it into the mainstream life of the school.ASD students. Students who do not require the level of support provided by the faculty, attend mainstream classes with support. 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Catering Facilities

Heartlands High Integrating autism provision

8 Jul 2015

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      string(5955) "language therapy but it never happens.”Child with SLCN4) Support that makes an impactThe review found that although we now have more evidence about the prevalence of SLCN and the efficacy of interventions, decisions about the funding and design of support services are often not based on this evidence, and often apply arbitrary restrictions. In several places we heard that speech and language therapy services were rationed on the basis of age – for example, in some areas no speech and language therapy service is commissioned for children over the age of 11. “Now children who would have been seen in the past are rejected as not high needs enough. They’re given strategies and discharged.” SENCO5) Early identification and intervention are essentialAlthough our survey found that the expertise of school and early years staff to identify and support children and young people’s SLCN has improved since 2008, there are still many children whose needs are identified too late or not at all. Opportunities to identify SLCN are missed, both in the early years, and in settings where we know that young people are much more likely to have SLCN, such as the care system and alternative provision settings.“Our journey before, during and after her diagnosis though has been a great struggle. Her downward spiral into the friendless, socially isolated, dependent 17-year-old we have today has been heart-breaking to see… What has been difficult? This could be summed up in one sentence: not having R’s needs identified in primary school.”  Parent of child with selective mutismMaking change happenUnder each of the five themes the report includes recommendations to national government and system leaders to seek change which is sustained and embedded in policy. Our recommendations for positive change in the education system include that Ofsted inspectors should be trained to explore how schools assess and monitor spoken language, and that the new framework for newly qualified teachers should include specific content around how to support speech, language and communication.But we also know that local leaders and professionals on the ground have the ability to make a dramatic change for the children and young people they work with, and so the report is supported by a website which includes actions that can be taken by school leaders, teachers and other education practitioners.Local good practiceA partnership of 10 schools in Brighton, most of whom have a speech and language lead, have formed a network to share resources and information. The network provides a safe place for schools to discuss how they can use their funds effectively, also providing a vehicle for sharing and disseminating ideas.Features of effective practice in schoolsThrough thematic analysis of the evidence, we identified recurring themes in the examples of good practice that people shared with us. While there was no one-size-fits-all solution, it was possible to identify common features of effective practice which all schools can evaluate their practice against.  1. Demonstrating leadership: In the most effective schools there was clearly defined leadership for speech, language and communication. In some schools this was a responsibility taken on by the SENCO; in others it was a standalone position, or a role shared by a group of teachers working together. 2. Embedding spoken language throughout the curriculum: Schools that recognised the importance of communication skills ensured that supporting spoken language was seen as everybody’s business, and embedded it throughout the curriculum, rather than seeing it as the sole domain of the English department.3. Quality-first teaching: For specialist interventions to be effective, teachers must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to differentiate their teaching to the individual needs of children and young people with SLCN. In the best schools, communication-friendly practices were in place across the whole school.4. Staff development: A one-off training session in SLCN is not sufficient – speech, language and communication should be a regular and ongoing part of the school’s Inset programme with frequent refresher sessions and opportunities to share expertise with colleagues through coaching and observations. 5. Providing support at three levels: Schools that effectively support children and young people with SLCN provide support at three levels – in addition to quality-first teaching, appropriately skilled teaching assistants provide targeted support to small groups, and speech and language therapists deliver specialist intervention to individual children. Key to the success of this approach is ensuring that there is speech and language therapy involvement at all three levels.6. Working in collaboration: Close collaboration between teachers, teaching assistants and speech and language therapists had benefits for all involved. Where speech and language therapists were part of the school team, this meant school staff increased their knowledge of how to support children with SLCN, and the speech and language therapist had a more holistic view of the pupils’ strengths and needs.7. Using the evidence: Schools that use the available evidence – such as the Education Endowment Foundation’s teaching and learning toolkit, and The Communication Trust’s What Works Database – are able to use their resources more efficiently, and with the greatest impact.8. Tracking progress: Although there is no statutory requirement to report on spoken"
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Conditions

Communicating for Life

10 Sep 2018

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      string(5965) "Vol 3.3 n www.teachingtimes.comPolicy: conditionsEvery Child Journal40Over a million children have speech, languageand communication needs and the impact on theirdevelopment is startling. Clare Geldard analysesan issue that is racing up the policy agenda.Communicationand the PolicyagendaSpeech, language and communicationunderpin all areas of a child’s developmentfrom birth. In the classroom, spokenlanguage is the primary medium throughwhich teachers teach and children learn. Childrenneed their language and communication skills tointeract with their peers, to make and maintainfriendships and develop their thoughts and ideas.Competence in language is closely associated withliteracy development, academic performance,behaviour at school and emotional wellbeing.Image suppliedby ICANwww.teachingtimes.com n Vol 3.3Policy: conditions Every Child Journal41Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) affect over a million children in theUK today. A very significant proportion of language difficulties can be long-term andpersistent – in other words children and young people won’t ‘grow out of it’.1 In someareas, particularly areas of social deprivation, an additional 50 per cent of children arestarting school with poor language which affects their ability to access their education,make friends and achieve their potential. But with targeted and timely support, thesechildren have the potential to catch up to their peers.2Unaddressed, speech and language difficulties carry with them high risk ofproblems with literacy, numeracy and learning; difficulties with social relationships andbehaviour; and – in the worst case – offending. In adolescents and young adults, thesedifficulties are strongly associated with mental health problems. People with speech andlanguage difficulties are significantly over-represented in the young offender and prisonpopulations. SLCN represent a significant risk factor for social exclusion.Without support at the earliest opportunity when difficulties arise, SLCN can go onto become more significant. Evidence shows that children who have a few months’ gapin their oral language skills at age 5 from their expected age level will have a five yeardifference in their reading age by the age of 14.3 Likewise, only a quarter of children withSLCN reach the expected levels for their age in English and Maths at age 11. In 2010, only11 per cent of pupils with SLCN achieved five or more GCSE grades A*-C including Englishand mathematics.4 We know that SLCN is an issue in schools across the UK; in 2011, 24.2per cent of primary aged pupils with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) werestatemented because of their SLCN, making SLCN the most prevalent identified form ofSEN in primary schools.Review of servicesIn September 2007, the Secretaries of State for Children, Schools and Families and Healthasked John Bercow MP to lead an independent review of services for children and youngpeople with SLCN. The Review, supported by an advisory group which included thechildren’s communication charity I CAN , undertook extensive evidence gathering. TheBercow Review in July 2008 found inconsistent provision to support children with SLCN.While there were pockets of good practice, the Review found the system to supportchildren with SLCN to be characterised by high variability and a lack of equity, particularlyin the context of their access to speech and language therapy (SLT). It also found serviceswere not ‘joined up’ in the ways they supported children’s SLCN, particularly health andeducation. In December 2008, the Government launched the Better CommunicationAction Plan which outlined how it would improve services for children and young peoplewith SLCN. Now known as the Better Communication Research Programme , BCRP is dueto be reporting in the coming weeks.Another recommendation from the Review was a national year of communication (in2011) which also saw the appointment of a ‘communication champion’, Jean Gross, whoreported at the end of her two years in this role. The report, Two Years On, acknowledgedthe progress that had been made as a result of the national year of communication5. Grosssaw an increased awareness of the centrality of good communication skills to children’slearning, wellbeing and life chances, and identified some measurable improvements inchildren’s speech, language and communication skills.Over the last four years, Government policy has seen some promising moves forchildren’s communication: the need for teachers to be proficient in teaching ‘articulacy’6and a requirement that teachers support children’s communication, as well as literacyand numeracy, in the revised Ofsted evaluation framework. However, with a move awayfrom guidance on pedagogy, there remains much to be done to ensure that the reviewednational curriculum and revised SEN code of practice7 have an appropriate focus onchildren’s speech, language and communication.“Unaddressed,speech andlanguage difficultiescarry with themhigh risk ofproblems withliteracy, numeracyand learning;difficulties withsocial relationshipsand behaviour; and– in the worst case– offending.”http://www.ican.org.ukhttps://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DCSF-00632-2008https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DCSF-00632-2008http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_091972http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_091972"
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Special Needs

Communication and the Policy agenda

21 Dec 2012

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Leadership Briefing issue 7.06 (78)"
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      string(4664) "ResourcePROFILES OF NEED AND PROVISION FOR CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS IN MAINSTREAM SCHOOLSOriginal DocumentProfiles Of Need And Provision For Children With Language Impairments And Autism Spectrum Disorders In Mainstream Schools: A Prospective Study. This report presents the findings from a three year prospective study of pupils identified with language impairments (LI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as their primary educational need (SEN). The study aimed to explore their characteristics and needs and the provisions made to meet these needs within the education system.KeywordsCognitive, behavioural profiles, pupils, SEN, ASD, LI, language, autism, education, performance, measuresSummaryDespite increasing research examining the cognitive and behavioural profiles of pupils with language impairments (LI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) relatively little is known about the needs of these pupils in mainstream classrooms, the ways in which their needs are met, or the extent to which the level of support provided is related to the severity of their language difficulties and/or social behaviour.This report presents the findings from a three year prospective study of pupils identified with language impairments (LI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as their primary educational need (SEN). The study aimed to explore their characteristics and needs and the provisions made to meet these needs within the education system. It focuses on:1. Cohort differences and overlap in performance on measures of language, cognition, memory, literacy, autism features, quality of life, behaviour and school attainment2. How schools addressed the pupils’ needs3. How parents understood their children’s needs and the ways in which they were being addressed in schoolFindings:· The majority of pupils with language impairments (LI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are educated in mainstream schools and specialist resources.· Pupils with ASD showed greater impairments across instruments designed to tap autism symptomatology whereas pupils with LI showed greater need on measures of language, and in some cases literacy.· Reports from parents and SENCOs indicated that pupils with ASD were significantly more likely to attract resources than those with LI.· The current data suggest that a diagnosis of ASD results in receiving more resources despite the fact that on measures of core language (and in some cases literacy) pupils with LI often exhibit greater difficulty.· The report collected information from parents, teachers and SENCOs on how pupils were supported. It found that the main sources of support to address pupils’ needs occurred within the schools. This support in schools included both SENCO and teacher expertise and the use of LSAs.· The report results indicate strongly that national curriculum data and/or establishing a pupil’s primary need provides insufficient information to plan services and differentiate the curriculum.Conclusions:· Substantial overlap between the needs of pupils with LI and ASD, as well as differences between these cohorts, highlights the importance of a personalised approach to teaching and learning which reflects an understanding of a pupil’s:a. language learning and literacy needsb. social and communication difficultiesc. and academic progression· The ways in which pupils’ needs are identified at school, Local Authority, and national levels requires reconsideration. More sensitive data than are currently collected (Key Stage assessments) will allow better:a. identification of needb. and monitoring of progress· There is a need to examine the ways in which SLT support and working practices support pupils across:a. the primary and secondary school sectorb. language learning and social communication· Resources need to be targeted according to both language learning needs and social communication needs.· Pupils’ needs will primarily be met within schools and classrooms. Schools will need to:a. be aware of the wider impact of language and communication on well-being, behaviour and peer relationshipsb. consider explicitly addressing these issues in the support of these pupilsActionNotesAuthorR ChimaDate CreatedJanuary 2013Enquiries to:raspal.chima@yahoo.co.uk(Authoring Unit)Month / YearPage 1 of 1©Birmingham City Council"
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Leadership

Transitions Between Categories Of SEN Pupils With SLCN & ASD Through The Education System

8 Jan 2013