SENCO - Teaching Expertise

Following our last e-bulletin, this SENCO Week looks at how SENCOs can provide effective training and development for TAs providing SEN support, and how their work can be monitored and evaluated

Are your TAs valuable and valued members of the school’s curriculum support team, or more of a liability? With SENCOs having to delegate more and rely on assistants to maintain a professional standard, this issue of SENCO Week looks at recruiting and deploying TAs

New technology has made virtual schooling an option for pupils unable or unwilling to attend the 'real' thing. Sal McKeown discovers what's on offer

Members of the therapy team at St Nicholas School in Canterbury describe the Shared Goals Project, an innovative approach to supporting students with profound and complex needs

Jenni Whitehead looks at a document she believes to be essential reading for those working with disabled children, which can be used to audit your school's safeguarding provision

This issue of SENCO Week discussees the attention that should given to SENCO's professional development (CPD) and the importance of taking a well-rounded professional approach to the role

Michael Farrell considers the mathematics disorder dyscalculia, and looks at ways of supporting students who struggle with its effects

This article discusses the GTC's Making SENse of CPD resource, which includes a summary of research findings about the effectiveness of CPD for SEN, as well as the emerging themes in CPD for SEN

Dyslexia is the subject of this issue of SENCO Week, which looks at providing support for dyslexic learners, raising awareness of dyslexia amongst teaching staff, and improving pupils’ and parents’ understanding of the challenges the condition poses

The first SENCO Week of the new term looks at the importance of planning how to share information and how to develop good inclusive practice

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This resource provides practical tips and strategies that will help Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) support pupils with mutism

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Spelling is an area of difficulty for many children. As a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), you have a pivotal role in embedding the skills your pupils need to improve their literacy development

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This resource will help you implement an effective approach to support pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) - specifically profound or complex needs

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Special Children magazine is for everyone involved in the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

This week we look at some of the ways to collect and interpret information about pupils' achievements

Outdoor and out-of-school activities are summer term features that should be equally as accessible to, and enjoyable for, children with SEN. This article explores how SENCOs can ensure this is the case

In our second subject-specific issue of SENCO Week, we consider some of the issues involved in teaching science to pupils with SEN and how teachers and TAs can support their learning

PE is the theme of our third subject-specific issue of SENCO Week, in which we look at the inclusion of pupils with SEN in all kinds of physical education and sport

When pupils find it difficult to write legibly and reasonably quickly, it can significantly disadvantage them in school. We look at how SENCOs can organise additional support

Continuing last week's inclusion theme, SENCO Week provides a downloadable checklist to help you achieve an inclusive classroom environment

SENCO Week looks at behavioural, emotional and social development (BESD)

How can SENCOs establish effective support for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD)? This SENCO Week looks at strategies for when working with children with autism

As an extended school, Chesnut Lodge School in Halton provides inclusive after-school and holiday provision for children with additional needs and mainstream children. Heather Austin, their deputy head, explores why it has been a success

In March 2008, a four-year investigation into whether Glaxosmithkline had withheld negative information about the effects of Seroxat on under-18s ended with a decision that there was insufficient evidence to mount a successful prosecution. Special Children reports read more

Following the government's rejection of the recommendation that the link between assessment of children's SEN and funding for their provision be broken, John Wright discusses the reaction of the select committee who proposed the change

Louise Coigley enhances and develops the communication of SEN children and adults through inclusive storytelling. Michael Jones describes seeing her in action

Are pupils with special educational needs receiving the level of music provision they ought, as LAs and schools are getting more money for it than ever before?

Sound is now an integral part of the sensory environments that exist in many special schools, and the latest technology involved encourages interaction, stimulation and feedback

With 20% of children leaving school with lower than expected literacy levels, additional support is needed. Reading Recovery, a reading intervention programme developed in 1993, offers exactly that, say Rebecca Jenkin and Isobel Goss read more

Crispin Andrews speaks to practitioners in order to examine the challenges and the opportunities for pupils with SEBD in PE

Michael Farrell considers a wide range of provision for pupils with development coordination disorder, or dyspraxia

Jason Wood describes a groundbreaking project in which two Cornish schools carried out research comparing the views of SEN students and their peers on ECM outcomes read more

Developing a common understanding of pedagogy is intrinsic to ensuring continuity and progression along all stages of an individual's learning journey, advises a recent DCSF booklet

The rulings of two recent legal cases indicate that an SEN pupil's attitude and application will now be key in assessing educational negligence claims, writes Mark Blois read more

Bill Goler examines how the Common Assessment Framework is working in practice and how SENCOs can and should be involved in its implementation

Michael Farrell considers provision for pupils with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) read more

Nasen promotes the development of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). Chief executive officer Lorraine Petersen explains their CPD offering read more

At times the collaborative partnership process for SENCOs and senior leaders in schools can be challenging and time consuming. Rita Cheminais looks at how to establish effective partnerships, and describes a new ECM self-evaluation tool that will help to strengthen partnership working read more

It all depends on the SEN and disability discrimination regimes. David Ruebain, Chris Barnett and David Wolfe examine a recent case that sets out some limits read more

SENCO Update reports a framework for local authorities that contextualises SEN/LDD issues within the five outcomes of Every Child Matters will be helpful to SENCOs read more

Special education consultant Michael Farrell considers provision for pupils with severe learning difficulties (SLD) read more

All statutory services are being measured against the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda. New research on what disabled children and their parents wish to achieve from service provision suggests that ECM does not take proper account of their wishes read more

Consultant Harriet Goodman describes two years' work with staff at New Rush Hall special school to help build even more reflective practice read more

Who gets the final say in deciding when a statement of SEN comes to an end? David Ruebain, Chris Barnett and David Wolfe unravel a complex new case read more

The Reading Recovery programme has established a reputation as an effective intervention for pupils at risk of failing to learn to read. A new research review examines its strengths and weaknesses

A recent Ofsted survey of 28 good or outstanding PRUs sought to identify what contributes to effective practice. It also reveals some of the barriers to it, including insufficient data from schools and LAs and inadequate decisions about long-term placement read more

Carol Frankl describes how the concept of the Learning Walk has been adapted for accredited SENCO training and the positive effect this has had on trainees' perception of their work read more

Pauline Holbrook, national inclusion coordinator for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, talks to SENCO Update about the nature and role of specialist SEN schools and gives advice on how to make the most of the expertise within them and the services they provide

Significant numbers of children with epilepsy attend mainstream schools. If they are to get the most from their education it is important for schools to know what, and how, to tell all pupils about their condition. Ann Lewis and Sarah Parsons of the University of Birmingham School of Education outline the findings of a one-year research project funded by Epilepsy Action read more

SENCOs will have a significant role to play in carrying out the new duties set out in the Disability Discrimination Act, writes Bill Goler