SEND Review
Strategic Development of SEND Provision and Practice.
(Across the School/Trust/MAT to improve outcomes for all pupils (includes an overview of SEND legislation / responsibilities for all schools)
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Useful for SENCOs and all staff involved in supporting SEND in school.
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Aims to provide-
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An overview of changes in legislation and guidance around SEND
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Effectively identifying and understanding areas of need, and recording evidence
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Using the graduated approach and SEN Support, sign posting support in Cornwall
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Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) – making them fit for purpose
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How to monitor and manage the provision offered to pupils
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Effective working with Children and Young People
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How effectively work in partnership with parents, carers and professionals
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How to ensure the best use of support staff
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Effectively reporting strategic developments in SEND provision to all stakeholders
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(Governors, families, Trustees, Ofsted etc)
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My Ethos
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It is the role of leaders to be the person that carries out actions to make a difference to our pupils, no matter how small. A story that has become the foundation behind my current professional role and has remained with me after many years, is the story of the starfish.
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One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a girl picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.​
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Approaching the girl, he asked, “What are you doing?”​
The girl replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”​
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The man said, “don’t you realise there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”​
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After listening politely, the girl bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.
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Then, smiling at the man, she said…..“I made a difference for that one.”
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The message “it made a difference to that one” is one we need to embed in all schools. It is our role to change the culture of schools through changing the perspectives of the adults within it.
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As leaders we have a role in creating organisations where we believe in our pupils, instilling a growth mind-set culture, where pupils in term believe in themselves.
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The Pygmalion effort is a well-researched phenomenon where teacher’s expectations had been found to correlate highly with pupil performance. It is the leaders who create the context that influence teachers/ staff expectations.
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When pupils struggle with specific aspects there is a tendency to give them more of the same, support the deficits through repetition.
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The problem comes when you look at what is being offered to pupils, are we narrowing the curriculum in such a way as to reduce rather than enhance opportunities for pupils to gain knowledge skills and understanding to be part of wider society?
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How do we ensure the focus is on the removal of barriers to learning as opposed to changing the child/young adult?
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So let’s all be the leader who believes, the leader who makes the least restrictive assumption that everyone can learn anything.
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Let's start this journey together, contact me to find out how I can support you or your organisation to make the changes needed.
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Research highlights some key ingredients that lead to successful and sustained leadership in education.
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High expectations, with enriched curriculum and high aspirations at the heart of your vision.
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Strong vision to raise expectations – you are acting as a role model for what to expect.
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Build collaboration within through redesigning leadership and without through strong and inclusive links with the wider community
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Research into what makes a great and outstanding leader is vast.
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The difference between a leader and a manger is one that is important to remember as we all get pulled into managing situations when we should be leading them.
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The impact of effective leadership is second only to the influence of teaching on pupil learning.
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So, we owe it to our learners to get it right!
I have led and can create training for all aspects of leadership, contact me today and lets start the journey together!