Partnerships with colleagues, parents and other agencies

SPA

The National Strategies Inclusion Development Programme aims to support schools and Early Years settings by raising awareness and confidence among all staff about meeting the needs of children with different types of SEN.  The programme supports partnership projects to help schools develop effective inclusive practice bringing together education, health, social care and the voluntary sector. The aim is to build consensus about how to implement good practice effectively.

Partnerships with colleagues, parents and other agencies

Course aims

• to raise teachers’ awareness of the arrangements commonly in place within schools to support learners who have SEN
•  to review the support provided by partner agencies - taking account of national/regional variations
•  to help teachers understand the different planning frameworks available for pupils who have SEN

Learning outcomes

In this 5-hour course, a classroom teacher will develop a knowledge and understanding of:

• a range of support for pupils and their learning provided in schools
• the role of partner agencies in meeting pupils’ additional needs
• the different planning frameworks used to support pupils’ needs
• access arrangements for assessments and examination

Course content
This 5-hour course is presented in 3 sections, with some sections broken into smaller parts each of which may be completed in about 20-25 minutes online. The course presentations include video clips and web links which have been carefully selected to provide additional information about the topic being considered. Extensive course materials are provided in the form of:

There is a brief quiz at the end of each section to help course participants review progress and a longer quiz at the end of the course to enable users to reflect on what they have learned and to plan next steps.  An interactive forum allows direct contact with the course tutors and other course members and there is a useful glossary where terminology may be checked.

Section 1  Working together within the school
This 6 part section explores arrangements commonly in place within schools to support learners who have SEN.  It includes:

• social and pastoral support for pupils with SEN and disabilities 
• roles of the SENCO and SEN/learning support teachers 
• roles of teaching/learning support assistant teams 
• partnership with parents

Provision within recent legislation for resolving disagreements is reviewed briefly in this section.

Section 2  The Roles of Partner Agencies
The main focus of this 5 part section is the support provided by partner agencies - taking account of national/regional variations - in the context of National Strategies and the Inclusion Development Programme (IDP).  Partner Agencies include those provided by Education and Children’s Services that are not based within all schools, and those provided by another local authority department as well as those from other sectors, including voluntary agencies.  These include:

• Educational Psychologists
• bilingual or EAL services
• specialist SEN teachers including specialists in sensory impairments
• visiting and outreach teaching services
• healthcare providers
• advisory services/voluntary agencies

Course members are encouraged to explore provision in the context of their own schools and authorities and to identify regional differences. 



Section 3  Planning Frameworks to Support Learning

This 4 part section explores the different planning frameworks available for pupils who have SEN, the criteria that inform the type of plan required and information about the SEN planning process. Planning/support frameworks include:

• personalised learning and the graduated approach to meeting SEN
• School Action and School Action Plus
• Individual Education Plans
• Statements of SEN and statutory assessments
• Health Care Plans and Pastoral Support Programmes

Examples of good practice across the country are identified.  Course members are asked to find out about provision with their own schools and authorities.


Next Steps
If you found this course useful, you may wish to go on to do more in the CPD Bytes Inclusion series: Introduction to special educational needs for classroom teachers

Defining and Identifying SEN    

Barriers to Learning


Look out for:
Our forthcoming follow up courses Developing a Pupil Profile (5+ hours CPD) This course includes practical classroom activities and offers the opportunity for course members to submit the profiles they have developed to course tutors for comment.

CPD Bytes is a registered CPD provider with Learning & Teaching Scotland