Key Responsibility of a SENCO

Following the plan phase, key educational professionals, SENCO, parent/carer should meet to review the plan.

The review should include:

• Evidence of the impact of the plan, both in terms of the desired outcomes and the success criteria.

• Everyone’s views on progress and impact, including the pupil themselves.

• A plan for next steps. Does there need to be another cycle of ‘assess-plan-do-review’ or can the child/young person’s needs now be met through Ordinarily Available Provision? Does a referral need to be made to another service?

• A written record. If it is agreed that the child/young person would benefit from further support, then a second round of ‘assess-plan-do-review’ should begin.

Clear and comprehensive assessment of the pupil’s needs by key educational professionals, SENCO, parents/ carer and child/young person, based on a combination of:

• Discussions to gather the views and aspirations of the child/young person and their family.

• Universal and targeted in-house assessments and observations carried out by a range of setting/school staff.

• Child/young person’s current attainment and progress.

• Child/young person’s previous attainment and progress.

• Tracking of data and comparisons with national data.

• Any relevant assessment information provided by external agencies e.g. Health, Educational Psychology, and Social Care.

In this phase the plan is put into action. The SEND Code of Practice makes it clear that it is the responsibility of setting/school staff to implement the plan on a day-to-day basis. This should be supported by the SENCO. The ‘do’ phase should involve teachers/support staff:

• Delivering Ordinarily Available Provision to all pupils.

• Implementing any adjustments, specific strategies, interventions, or approaches to teaching that have been identified as teacher-led within the ‘plan’ phase.

• Managing any support staff who are supporting pupils with SEND within the class.

• Continually assessing and monitoring the child/young person’s progress and making any necessary adjustments.

• Communicating with support staff and any other teachers providing interventions to pupils and making plans for them to generalise their skills within lessons.

• Communicating how things are going with the pupil, their family and the SENCO. Robust information should be gathered during this phase so that the following can be discussed at review.

• How the intervention/adjustment has been implemented e.g. whether there have been any absences or delays.

Following the assessment phase, key educational professionals, SENCO, parent/carer and pupil, meet and agree a plan of action. This plan should be outcome focussed (e.g. improve, develop, and achieve) and should include:

1. SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-based) targets. 2. Details of the adjustments, equipment, support, and interventions that need to be put into place to fulfil the plan.

3. Details of who will be running the programme and when.

4. Details of success criteria, including how progress will be measured, when and by whom.

5. A date for review, typically 6-8 weeks. The plan should be recorded and circulated to all relevant parties before it begins. Any training needs should be identified and addressed prior to the start of the ‘do’ phase.

At the end of each cycle there should be an explicit pause built into the process within which, professionals, the family and the pupil reflect on what has been learnt (e.g. regarding their learning preferences, motivation, approach, strategies that support and those which do not). This learning should be explicitly incorporated into any subsequent cycles of ‘assess-plan-do-review’ and into all Ordinarily Available Provision that the pupil receives. In this way there should be a clear thread linking subsequent plans and approaches.