Working with Parents/Carers
Most SENCOs will know the importance of ensuring that families of children/young people with SEND are well informed about provision and approaches used in their setting/school. This can be done through clear communication systems that provide regular sharing of information between home and setting/school.
It is also important to gather the views of families of children/young people with SEND about what they would find helpful more broadly and then feeding families’ views into the wider planning of support across the setting/school. For example, through the use of questionnaires and multi-agency coffee mornings alongside sharing information about other SEND support services.
Best practice includes where SENCOs are able to support parents/carers to understand the whole of the SEND pathway and how their child/young person’s needs are currently met on this pathway/s. It is also important that where possible the voices of children/young people with SEND are regularly and authentically gathered and used to inform development work and practice across the setting/school. Parents/carers of children/young people with SEND are used as experts to inform the package and approaches to support their child.
More support for parents/carers?
- For information on services for children and young people with SEND please see the Tameside Local Offer, at: tameside.gov.uk/localoffer
- Umbrella – The Tameside Parent Carer Forum, please visit their Facebook page for more information: Tameside Umbrella Parent Carer Forum | Facebook
- OKE is a local charity run by volunteers who are local parents of children who have special educational needs. They offer support, information and activities to families with children with special needs/disabilities:
- Tameside SENDIASS provides impartial information, advice and support to children and young people (aged 0-25 years) with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and their parents and carers, on education matters and health and social care matters in relation to their education and learning: Together Trust Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) | Together Trust
Leadership
Part of the role of SENCo is the leadership and management of staff involved in delivering SEND provision, often including Teaching Assistants (TAs). This includes considering deployment, and where TAs would be best placed to support the development and progress of children with SEND. Considering the balance of in-class support alongside structured check ins and targeted, small group interventions involves careful consideration of the systems and capacity in your setting, as well as the needs within the cohort of children or young people. Nasen provide a useful reflection tool to consider deployment within your setting here: Teaching Assistant Deployment Review Guide | Whole School SEND.
SENCOs also need to consider how to monitor the effectiveness of support by measuring progress of children or young people. Similar monitoring tools to those used to identify need can be used to gauge the effectiveness of provision, following cycles of assess, plan, do, review and pre and post-intervention assessment. Monitoring the effectiveness of provision is useful to inform future deployment so staff can do more of what works.
