This document discusses strategies for supporting learners with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream classrooms. It covers national policies on SEN, the graduated approach of assess-plan-do-review, involving specialists, requesting Education, Health and Care plans, the Disability Discrimination Act, and mental health issues in schools. Specific strategies are provided for difficulties with literacy, numeracy, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, dyslexia, attachment issues, and complex learning needs. The importance of understanding individual learners, pupil-centered planning, and developing nurturing classroom environments is emphasized.

1. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCbrQp3
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2. Inclusion and supporting
learners with SEN
Thursday 4th December
Led by
Diane Greaves – Vice Principal - Greenacre
Verity Watts – Vice Principal – Springwell

3. Remove the label
See the child

4. Feed forward
Share what you have put in place from
your last session…

5. Knowledge run around

6. Aims
• Feedback in groups from the feedforward
session
• Know the EHC agenda and the implications
for a mainstream classroom teacher
• How well do you really know and
understand the children you teach?
• So what? What are the strategies you can
implement?
• Now what? What next for your practice?

7. National context and
the new EHC plans
‘All schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010
towards individual disabled children and young people’
‘Teachers are responsible and accountable for the
development of pupils in their class… ‘
‘High quality teaching, differentiated for
individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils
who have or may have SEN.’
Schools: guide to the 0 to 25 SEND code of practice

8. SEN support –
a graduated approach
‘Where a pupil is identified as having
SEN, schools should take action to
remove barriers to learning and put
effective special education provision in
place.’
SEN code of practice July 2014

9. 4 part cycle
Assess
Intervention
• Applying more detailed approaches and make parents aware
of planned support and interventions
Plan
Do
Review

10. Involving specialists
‘Where a pupil continues to make less than
expected progress, despite evidence-based
support and interventions… the
school should consider involving outside
agencies…’

11. Requesting an Education, Health
and Care needs assessment
• If the child is not making progress in spite
of interventions the school/parents can
request an EHC needs assessment
• Before an EHC plan can be agreed, the
local authority will need to see evidence of
action taken by the school in the way of
SEN support.
• Date everything as it can be used for
evidence!

12. What the Disability
Discrimination Act Says…
• Disability discrimination in
education is unlawful. Schools must
not treat disabled pupils less
favourably than others. They must
make “reasonable adjustments” to
ensure that disabled pupils are not
at a substantial disadvantage …

13. • It is unlawful for the body responsible
for a school to discriminate against a
disabled pupil by excluding him from the
school, whether permanently or
temporarily....

14. Mental Health and Behaviour in
Schools
• ‘Where a school has identified that a
pupil needs special education provision
due to their mental health problems,
this will comprise of educational or
training provision that is additional to or
different from that made generally for
others of the same age.’
DFE June 2014

15. Are they just naughty children?

16. How well do you know your pupils?
Task:
List the pupils in your class who struggle
to engage and you don’t know why or who
have a condition.
At the side of each pupil make notes of
the strategies you are already using.

17. One size fits no-one teaching
When we teach the same thing to all (students)
at the same time,
1/3 already know it,
1/3 get it
1/3 never will.
So 2/3 of the (students) are wasting their time.
Scott Willis
Or, more importantly, YOU are wasting their time.

18. Or…pupil centred planning
What to consider?
• Literacy difficulties
• Numeracy difficulties
• ASD
• ADHD
• Attachment Difficulties/Social,
emotional and mental health difficulties
• Dyslexia

19. Literacy difficulties
• (Provide scaffolding) gap fill
• Clozed activity
• Multi-sensory props
• Words and symbols
• Writing frames
• Help sheets
• Words and phrases to piece
together (kinaesthetic)
• Role Play, hot-seating etc
• Immersive approach
• Classroom Organisation (peer support)

20. Numeracy difficulties
Consider:
• Physical equipment – props, counters,etc
• Contextualise – know your students
• Purpose – what’s in it for me?
• Classroom Organisation

21. 5 minute task
• Plan an activity for a pupil from your list
taking into consideration the points just
mentioned on shape, space and measure

22. If only it were that simple!!!
There is often even more to consider…
Task:
Watch Di’s teaching and give her advice
on where she is going wrong.

23. Autism Spectrum Disorder
NB – a lot of students with general learning
difficulties will benefit from strategies used
for students with ASD
• Relationships – Show that you care and can be trusted
BUT this doesn’t mean woolly boundaries
• Consistency and routine
• Now, next and then
• Visual cues
• Preparation for change
• Use of language
• Imagination…
• Purpose and relevance
• HEALTH WARNING – what works for one child with ASD
may not work for another – Know your child!

24. What do you do when a child has
been backed into a corner?
• Stop and think
• Give the child space and time
• Deflect
• Change face
• Provide limited choices (to give the child
a get out)
• It’s not about winning

25. How many of you have pupils who..
• Shout out
• Can’t sit still
• Can’t focus
• Disturb others

26. So what do you do?
5 minute activity – consider your
approaches for:
• Teaching
• Activities
• Classroom organisation

27. Insert you tube link
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
xM1X7if3SU

28. ADHD
• Rules, routines, re-inforcement, rewards
• Kinaesthetic/hands on/multi sensory
• Brain breaks/stretches/exercises
• Small chunk tasks
• Limit instructions
• Specific praise
• Immediate rewards
• Limited choices
• Visual aids
• Study buddy/social buddy
• Seating arrangement

29. Looking at the world from another
point of view
http://youtu.be/gwZLFTW4OGY

30. How do you know a pupil has traits of
dyslexia?
What behaviours might they display?

31. Specific Learning Difficulties
(Dyslexia)
• Multi-sensory approach (VAK) – children should be active
participants involved in the learning experience. Drama/role play
can be particularly effective
• Overlearning – repetition BUT in a range of contexts and
situations
• Opportunity to access texts below their level – this supports
their understanding of inference
• Learning through games
• Reading/spelling/thinking buddy
• Provide writing frames and key words to support tasks
• Model the mental process – what are you thinking as you read
and write?

32. • Pale pastel backgrounds to whiteboard
presentations
• Pale pastel paper (not white)
• Coloured overlays for reading
• Dyslexia friendly font (e.g comic sans)
• Structure, routine, short chunked up tasks
• HEALTH WARNING – what works for one
child with SpLD may not work for another
– Know your child!

33. Over to you…
• Plan a lesson on adjectives, focusing on a
couple of pupils from your earlier list
• Take into account the strategies and
approaches suggested.
• Work in pairs – each sharing ideas

34. Social, Emotional and Mental
Health Difficulties
What does this include?
Attachment difficulties:
• Insecure avoidant
• Insecure ambivalent
• Insecure disorganised

35. Internal Working Model
Positive:
I am loveable
Others can be trusted
The world is a safe place to be
Negative:
I am not loveable
Others cannot be trusted
The world is not a safe place to be

36. Characteristics of Attachment
Difficulties
• They work very hard to control all situations, especially
the feelings and behaviour of caregivers
• They relish power struggles and have a compulsion to win
them
• They feel empowered by repeatedly saying ‘no’
• They cause emotional pain and sometimes physical pain to
others
• They strongly maintain a negative self-concept
• They have a very limited ability to regulate their affect

37. Organised v’s Disorganised Attachment
Secure
Insecure/
Organised
Avoidant Ambivalent
Insecure/
Disorganised
Disorientated

38. Anxious Avoidant Children will
• Learn not to ask for help
• Act as if nothing is wrong when distressed
• These behaviours lead the carer to feel
unwanted, not needed, so they back off
and ‘deactivate’ their caregiving or ignore
the child.

39. Strategies for
Anxious Avoidant pupils:
• Focus on tasks not your relationship
• Left brain activities (sorting, organising)
• Pupils need to feel in control
• Choice of tasks
• Need to see big picture and tangible outcomes
e.g. making something
• Peer teaching can work well
• Use of story as a projection tool – avoids
discussing themselves

40. Anxious Ambivalent Children will:
• Act with exaggerated anger and need when
distressed. These are provocative, noisy
children who convey a baby state of
helplessness
• These children can make the carer feel
inadequate to soothe or meet the child’s
needs
• Carers feel exhausted

41. Strategies for
Anxious ambivalent pupils:
• Small step tasks to encourage
independence
• Use of timers
• Comments to reassure you are will get back
to them and when
• Avoid doing their work for them
• Transition object so they know you haven’t
forgotten them
• Acknowledge their difficulty in doing
things independently

42. Anxious disorganised pupils will…
• avoid being cared for
• Try to remain in control and is self
reliant, aggressive, rageful, bossy,
fighting for control
• Make the carer feels helpless and angry
so they are tempted to stop caring

43. Strategies for:
Anxious disorganised pupils
• Clear structures, routines
• Visual timetables for all ages
• Prepare for any change however small
• Acknowledge with them how they feel
about change
• Key worker to build a positive
relationship with the pupil

44. Also refer to ‘Mental health and
behaviour in schools’ DfE June 2014
Types of needs:
• Conduct disorders: ADHD, ODD
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Substance misuse
• Self harm
• Post traumatic stress disorder

45. Some intervention strategies
• Working with/ involving parents
• Nurture groups
• Whole school working to nurture
principles
• Boxall profiling to bridge developmental
gaps
• Play based approaches inc play therapy
or filial therapy involving the whole
family

46. Work to the
six nurture principles:
1. Children’s learning is understood
developmentally
2.The classroom offers a safe base
3.Nurture is important for the development of
self esteem
4.Language is understood as a vital means of
communication
5.All behaviour is communication
6.Transitions are significant in the lives of
children

47. More pupils have
complex learning difficulties
WithCLDD, we frequently see:
 ADD/ADHD
 ASD
 FASD
 PMLD
 Neurological difficulties
 Prematurity

48. How Do We Define Complex Need?
CChildren and young people with complex learning difficulties
and disabilities (CLDD) include those with co-existing
conditions (e.g. autism & attention deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD)) or profound and multiple learning disabilities
(PMLD). However they also include children who have newly
begun to populate our schools – among them those who have
difficulties arising from premature birth, have survived
infancy due to advanced medical interventions, have
difficulties arising from parental substance and alcohol abuse,
and/or have rare chromosomal disorders. Many may also be
affected by compounding factors such as multisensory
impairment or mental ill-health, or require invasive
procedures, such as supported nutrition, assisted ventilation
and rescue medication”

49. Common Mental Health
Difficulties in CLDD.
• Anxiety Disorders (32-42%)
• Depression (30%)
• Oppositional Defiant Disorders (30%)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (28-53%)

50. Engagement is key to progress
• Engagement profile and scale for looking
at the level of engagement of pupils
with complex needs
• http://complexld.ssatrust.org.uk/projec
t-resources/engagement-profile-scale.
html

52. Observation … A Key Factor
• Appearance &
behaviour
• Speech or talk
• Affect (non
reactive)
• Mood
• Thoughts
• Perceptions
• Cognition (alertness)
• Insight

53. Where to look next?
• Report on Complex Learning Difficulties
and Disabilities Research Project 2011
• Briefing packs with strategies for
different special needs
• http://complexld.ssatrust.org.uk/projec
t-resources/cldd-briefing-packs.html
• Further training materiasls
www.complexneeds.org.uk

54. An Integrated Approach to
Intervention
FAMILY
SYSTEMIC &
ENVIRONMENTAL
INDIVIDUAL
EDUCATIONAL

55. Feed forward task
• Choose a child to case study who is
experiencing problems in engaging with
learning – read their notes, background
information and observe objectively to
identify what their issues are. Choose
appropriate to put in place and measure
the impact.

56. Parting thought
‘If children don’t learn the
way we teach, we will teach
them the way they learn’

57. and at Greenacre to day
Come to the edge. He said.
We are afraid, they said.
Come to the edge, he said.
They came to the edge,
He pushed them… and they flew.

58. Essential Reading
Batmanghelidjh, C. (2006) Shattered Lives
Blackburn, C Carpenter, B and Egerton, J (2012) Educating Children and Young People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorders
Bomber, L. (2007) Inside I’m Hurting
Bomber, L. (2011) What About Me
Bomber, L. (2014) Settling to Learn
Boxall and Lucas, (2010) Nurture Groups in Schools
Brower, F 100 ideas fro supporting pupils on the Autistic Spectrum
Brown, S (2010) Play
Cumine, Leach and Stevenson Asperger’s Syndrome – A practical guide for teachers
Curran, A, (2007) The Little Book of Big Stuff About the Brain
DfE (2014) Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years
DfE (2014) Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools
Delaney, M (2009)Teaching the Unteachable
Geddes, H (2010) Attachment in the Classroom
Gerhardt, S (2004), Why Love Matters
Hughes,L and Cooper, P (2007) Understanding and Supporting Children with ADHD: Strategies for Teachers, Parents
and Other Professionals Paperback
Legislation.gov.uk Equality Act 2010
Pavey, B Mehan, M (2013) The Dyslexia Friendly Teacher’s Toolkit
Sunderland, M. (2006) What Every Parent Needs to Know