The panel of special educational needs (SEN) experts addressed key challenges and strategies for supporting students as they return to school post-lockdown, emphasizing the importance of technology, parent engagement, and mental well-being. They highlighted the need for adaptability in teaching methods and resource accessibility, particularly for students with specific learning difficulties. Additionally, they stressed the importance of maintaining communication and collaboration among teachers, students, and families to foster a supportive learning environment.

1. Panel Q&A
What does the future look like for SEN?

2. Following on from their #SENFutures webinar,
our panel of SEN experts answer the most
commonly asked audience questions from the
day. Raising interesting points about access to
technology, engaging parents, key challenges
for the future and supporting students
emotional & mental wellbeing.

3. Adjusting to a new normal
"We've been sharing pictures of what the classrooms
will look like when pupils come back. Which is quite
helpful for ASD students, with less distractions. We're
focusing a lot on well-being and resilience for our
pupils on return to the classroom."
Vicky Schoenhofen, Specialist Support Teacher from
South Lanarkshire, local authority

4. Q) How can we incorporate these newly discovered different
learning styles into our new normal of learning once back to
school?
We know that technology has seen considerable growth in
usage over the period of remote learning, and it’s brought
out many strengths in our pupils. It's going to be important
that we support and maintain this use going forward -
embracing tools that have worked well, or that pupils have
responded to. Helping to keep the consistency of learning
in ways that pupils have enjoyed - CPD will be key to this.

5. Q) With social distancing still in place, support will be hard.
How can we provide consistent, quality support with current
guidelines in place?
Guidance is changing now on an almost daily basis - from
smaller class sizes to new models of student bubbles. We’re
going to have to be adaptable. We may have a long way to
go before things are even close to how they were.
Challenges may well be around device access more than
classroom layout, because even if social distancing is less in
place than first thought, cleanliness of technology may well
become challenging.

6. Q) We see a big regression in literacy levels (spelling and
writing especially) not only in students with SpLD but in
general, any suggestion on how to address that?
There may be many reasons for this - we’ve seen a lack of
motivation in students and a thought that perhaps work
wasn’t being checked or assessed as it usually would. We’ll
need a focus on better feedback and a real effort to
understand how to better motivate students when they are
learning outside the classroom.

7. It’s also been important to strike a balance between
technology and paper, and that balance still has to
be found - it’ll be individual for most students.
Technology though has a role to play here. As an
example for writing in particular we need to
understand how to provide motivation. These are
all key to driving the levels upwardly. Level and
frequency of feedback is crucial as has been
providing work in smaller chunks than perhaps we
did at first.

8. Q) In terms of cultural poverty do the panel feel that there
are any ways around this being an issue when such a lot of
generic work being issued electronically - especially for
students with SpLD dyslexia?
In terms of accessibility every teacher should be aware of
the need to have resources be accessible, and the help and
support to enable this. It’s also vital to provide students
with the technology they need to support their learning.
Tools such as Read&Write can help both ways - teachers to
create accessible resources quickly and easily, and provide
students with the support they need to have genuine equity
of access.

9. Q) For SEND children that have alternative provision as part
of their 'usual' support package, how has this been
accessed/supported during remote learning? How would you
see this evolving moving forward?
Each student has been treated on a case by case basis. For
the vast number of students who require access to
clinicians, carers or therapists that has continued unless of
course they fall into the vulnerable category - we expect
that to continue as the situation unfolds next academic
year.

10. Using technology to support your SEN
learners
"We need to continue the work we've been doing.
Students have been getting more confident but the
big thing we've noticed is that we need to up-skill
parents and carers, particularly with our vulnerable
groups."
Charlie Love, Education Support Officer for Aberdeen
City Council

11. Q) Please can you share the apps/tools
that some of you are using?

12. Purple Mash, Loom, Screencastify (for video notes
or creation), Seesaw, Read&Write, Google
Classroom and YouTube have been the main tools,
plus a variety of apps that support literacy and
numeracy. Another great resource has been Oak
Academy who now have both EYFS and SEND
resources. There are also some good examples of
tools on the DfE website.

13. Q) We have been told that safeguarding does not permit
any video connection with pupils under 16. What other
support tools do you recommend to engage directly with
students?
The current guidance on this is now thankfully much clearer
- it is now up to the individual school to allow the use of
video, assuming they are satisfied with safeguarding. There
are a number of sensible steps to take around video, and
tools such as Google Hangouts and Zoom now meet the
requirements for safety and security.

14. Union positions may well differ from this, but this is
the official position of education departments now
across all four regions in the UK. Video provides an
important connection to students - but
safeguarding is crucial.

15. Q) Have there been any settings using a blend of physical
and digital resources, for those SEND learners who need a
more physical learning experience?
Some schools have provided physical resources as part of
the ‘take home’ packs to students, whilst others have
encouraged parents to include physical resources and
integrate them. There has been no formal approach to this -
individual teachers know best.

16. Engaging schools, students and parents
“We took a very inclusive approach, so we were aware
that this was an unusual situation, and it was really nice
that parents felt that if they had a problem, or they had
a concern, they could, kind of, chat using the Google
Classrooms as well.”
Kath Lawson, Director of Inclusive Services at Arete
Learning Trust

17. Q) How has parent confidence in supporting students with
SEN been?
It’s been exceptionally good and supportive. For the
majority of SpLD parents, they have been very aware and
involved in supporting their children, in the main because
parents understand the individual needs and have been
integral to supporting their children prior to lockdown.

18. For parents where children require more general
support, we’ve found parents are engaging with
technology in particular and seeking help in how
best to support them. We’ve had to ensure
throughout lockdown that parents get support on
both learning and on technology - that's been
critically important. The parents role has been
considerable.

19. Q) How can it be advised to SLT that no engagement
doesn't mean it's a SEND department responsibility? How
can we encourage a whole school/all teacher
responsibility?
Every teacher has to be a SEND teacher. The lock down has
brought this home very clearly. DfE have driven the
messages, as have SENDCos and teachers are now seeing
first hand the real need to put accessibility and individual
support front and centre. We’ve a lot of work ahead to do
on this.

20. Engagement in general has been a challenge
throughout lockdown - the average student is
working on school work for two hours per day.
While some students have excelled, many simply
lack the structure or the access to be more
engaged.

21. Level of work has also been an issue - in the early
days of lockdown, the level of material sent to
students was overwhelming. There are many
reasons for lack of engagement, and as we reflect
on remote learning SLT will have to understand the
many dynamics that are outside of the SEND
departments control and remit - this is about
shared responsibility.

22. Q) Do you advise hosting web tutorials with parents to
show them Read&Write and other tools?
Absolutely, this is key to successful learning at home.
Parents want to understand what these tools are, how they
help and what they can do to utlise these tools to support
their children. At Texthelp, we’ve built special areas for
parents to help them in all these areas, and we've hosted
webinars just for parents.

23. We need to see others in the industry doing the
same so teachers can help support the nuances of
usage with individuals. There's no better time than
now to get parents involved in learning and
hopefully keep them there going forward!

24. Approaches to Early Years
“We must be mindful of how tech is being used in
younger years. We need to ensure it doesn't hinder
socialisation, emotional development and speech and
language development. It can't solely be the delivery
method for intervention."
Simon Tanner, Director of SEND at Bohunt Education
Trust

25. Q) We are using Seesaw but struggling with 4 and 5 year
olds with SEN - using picture exchange, thinking skills, turn
taking and team building - still not sure how this can be
covered through technology?
It's vital to have parents involved with the technology at this
age level. We also have to remember that technology has a
time and a place for being effective, and understand its
limitations. Turn taking and collaboration are hard remotely
- so we have to focus on the areas we can work on. We’re
never going to be able to replicate the classroom remotely
and offer genuine holistic experiences.

26. Q) I work as a SEN EYFS teacher. We’re really struggling with
behaviour changes since returning. Any recommendations on
how best to support students returning to school, especially
younger learners?
As things look ahead, we may be in a more ‘normal’
environment than we first expected with less distancing
and a reliance on bubbles. Taking time to settle students, to
provide consistency and to reduce the visibility of obvious
changes is important. These radical shifts in their young
lives are hard, it’s going to take time.

27. Managing mental health and well being
“When we haven't seen anybody for that first three
months, it's been really, really helpful, I think to help
people feel that connection.”
Deborah Kennedy-Martinet, SENCo and Assistant Head
of A'soud Global School

28. Q) We have done primary and secondary live assemblies that
have pulled the community together. What is the panel's
experience of this?
These have been brilliant and very useful. School is about
community, and live assemblies have been a great way to
link everyone together, albeit briefly. But it’s not for
everyone and we’ve had to respect that.

29. Q) What strategies have been used to address mental health
and wellbeing needs during this time? Have interventions
been taking place to support students with this - the change,
anxiety, isolation?
There are a number of steps to put in place that apply
equally to classroom life, but the most important thing is
communication - little and often has worked best. We’d
recommend you...

30. ● Stay in contact as much as possible
● Encourage them to think about their support
networks
● Ask what support would help
● Have a conversation about routine and structure
● Help them access all their work simply
● Send work in small bites
● Work in partnership with other key members of staff
and families
● Direct them to useful resources.
● Look after yourself!