Summer Edition 2014
The Herefordshire SENCo Newsletter
In this edition of the SENCo Newsletter
For more information contact:
Jacqui Healey, Learning Inclusion Consultant
(jhealey2@herefordshire.gov.uk)
Tel: 01432 261780
Please feel free to send any
contributions for the next edition
 Council to receive more cash for schools
 Council doubles funding for family contact support
 Children and Families Act 2014 – changes to the SEN System
 SENDirect Project
 SEND Gateway – an online portal offering education professionals
free, easy access to high quality information, resources & training
 Interesting SEN Data
 Closing the Gap
 Autism and Girls
 PD Update
 Providing Positive Feedback
… Plus lots more
Welcome,
“Every teacher is a teacher of every pupil”
In March nearly every mainstream school in the county (86%) were represented at
our series of SEN seminars and we were reminded of this message that Lorraine
Peterson left us with at last year’s conference. For me it is as relevant today, if not
more so, in the light of the Children and Families Act and like you, I now look
forward to consolidating the rhetoric in practice.
To this end and on behalf of the Children’s Wellbeing directorate, I invite you, your
colleagues, governors and school partners to participate in our shared aim of
raising standards for all school aged children in Herefordshire by joining us at
conference again, or may be for the first time, this July at the Three Counties Hotel.
Hope to see you there.
Jacqui
James Robertson, Travel Trainer
(starts 19th May)
Sarah Parker, SEN PA is currently on maternity leave.
Claire Rushworth, SEN Assistant
Reclocation of Additional Needs Teams:
We are now settled in our new surroundings of Plough Lane Offices and Nelson House.
Please could post for all the Additional Needs Teams be addressed to Plough Lane Offices,
Plough Lane, Hereford. HR4 0LE.
Telephone Contacts:
Liz Rowberry, Business Support Officer – 01432 260867
Emily McHugh, Business Support Assistant – 01432 260877
WHAT’S NEW? …
Council to receive more
cash for schools
Herefordshire is one of sixty local authorities in
line to receive more money for schools with
effect from April 2015. The announcement
came from the Department for Education, and
was shared with colleagues at a meeting of the
council’s Cabinet yesterday on 13th March.
Herefordshire Council has long argued that the
funding it receives per pupil is unfair and one
of the lowest in the country. For example, the
current national average is £4,550 per pupil,
but in Herefordshire it is just £4,306. The
council has lobbied the government for years
through the F40 group. This year Councillor
Jeremy Millar, cabinet member for children’s
services, joined colleagues from other poorly
funded authorities to meet ministers and MPs
to discuss the impact of this inequality and
lobby for fairer funding.
This followed a council motion in January that
was passed and submitted to Michael Gove.
The amounts of extra funding to be allocated
vary across the country, but for Herefordshire it
works out at an increase of 2.9 percent, or an
extra £124 per child.
Cllr Jeremy Millar, cabinet member for
children’s services, said: “We have fought long
and hard to get the county’s school funding
situation looked at and redress the existing
imbalance. Although the government’s
announcement still leaves Herefordshire
children receiving less than the national
average, it is definitely a move in the right
direction and is greatly welcomed.
“The detail still needs to be drawn up, but for
Herefordshire schools, this means an extra
£2.6m a year, a significant amount which will
be allocated to schools through the national
school funding formula following consultation
with schools in the autumn term.”
Council doubles
funding for family
support contract
Herefordshire Council is set to help local
families by doubling the funding it gives to
Home-Start, the voluntary family support
service.
Home-Start Herefordshire has received
funding from the council for the last ten
years to help families who need some
support through a befriending service.
This involves volunteers going into family
homes and helping with issues like
parenting, child behaviour problems,
school attendance and debt
management.
Last year, the council had to manage with
reduced budgets and as a result HomeStart’s funding was reduced. The
organisation was asked to change the
way it helped families by offering a 12
week intervention programme instead of
open-ended support. Home-Start
Herefordshire changed its approach and
as a result, gave positive help and
support to 55 families. The new way of
working has been so successful, that the
council has now raised the bar and
offered to double the money for double
the number of families to be supported.
Councillor Jeremy Millar, cabinet member
for children’s services, said: “HomeStart’s volunteer workforce has given
many families a real boost and helped
them deal with issues at an early stage
before things get out of hand. We
appreciate changing the way
organisations work is challenging, but
Home-Start has risen to the challenge
and produced excellent, positive
outcomes for our families.
“I am delighted that we have been able to
double their funding and targets: it is an
investment well made as it prevents many
families from requiring further support. It
also means that the council’s own family
support workers are able to focus on
those families who have greater
challenges and need more intervention.”
Mandie Preece, scheme manager from
Home-Start Herefordshire, added: “This
new way of working has been a very
positive experience for Home-Start
Herefordshire and for the families
receiving our befriending support. With
the additional funding we shall be able to
continue recruiting and training more
volunteers and give help and support to
even more vulnerable and fragile families
throughout the county.”
SEN UPDATES …
Children and Families Act
2014 – changes to the SEN
System
The Children and Families Act received royal
assent on 13th March 2014. The Act reforms
the systems for adoption, looked-after
children, family justice and special
educational needs. Details of the wider
reforms can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landma
rk-children-and-families-act-2014-gains-royalassent; what follows focuses on the key
changes to SEN.
The Children and Families Act makes the
biggest reform of the legal system for SEN for
30 years. The headlines include:
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From September 2014, integrated
education, health and care plans (EHC
Plans) for children and young people
aged 0 to 25 with the most complex
special educational needs will be
introduced.
The EHC Plan will replace Statements of
SEN and s139a Learning Difficulty
Assessments (LDAs).
The definitions of SEN and disability and
the legal criteria for when an EHC Plan
will be required (i.e. need to make
provision that is additional to/different
from that ordinarily available) have not
changed and the expectation is that those
currently with a Statement or LDA will, in
the vast majority of cases, receive an
EHC Plan. The DfE advise that the
conversion to an EHC Plan from
September 2014 should take place within
three and a half years.
The statutory assessment process for
new entrants to the system will be person
centred and will take no longer than 20
weeks.
Single category for SEN replacing School
Action and School Action Plus.
The EHC Plan will need to describe
clearly and specifically the desired
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outcomes and quantify and describe the
provision required to deliver these
outcomes with clear responsibility and
accountability.
Parents and young people will have the
right to request a Personal Budget as part
of their EHC Plan.
A Local Offer will be published so that
parents, children, young people and those
who work with them can see the support
that should be available to them. As well
as the Local Authority Local Offer,
individual Local Offers must be published
by educational settings.
In mid-April a further, unexpected
consultation on the SEN Code of Practice
was issued. The timescale for response is
very tight (by Tuesday 6th May 2014) so it
may already have passed by the time you
receive this newsletter. It is worth noting
that the publication of the final SEN Code
of Practice is now expected in ’summer
2014’.
During the coming months we will continue to
work hard to ensure that we can deliver on
the vision of holistic, integrated services for
children and young people with SEN and
disability that focuses on the needs of
children and young people and their families.
Please look out for more updates as details
emerge but in the meantime if it would be
helpful to discuss please contact
Ed Edwards, SEN and Disability
Implementation Manager on 01432 260817
or via e-mail
ededwards@herefordshire.gov.uk
Making it easier for local families with disabled children
get the services they need – The SENDirect Project
Herefordshire Council is working with eight leading disability charities to develop a new
service to make it easier for families with children who have special education needs or
disabilities (SEND), find and use local education, health and social services.
The way people access education, health and social services is changing. The government
recently set out plans to give all families of children with SEND and an education, health
and care plan, the option to access a personal budget - money allocated by local
authorities to carers so they can arrange and pay for essential support services for their
disabled child themselves.
However, research carried out by the eight disability charities – known collectively as the
SEND Consortium - showed that the majority of families with disabled children remain
unaware about personal budgets or don’t know how to use them effectively.
As a result, Herefordshire Council is working with the SEND Consortium to produce and
pilot SENDirect - a ground-breaking ‘brokerage’ service that aims to help improve
understanding, use and access to personal budgets for families with disabled children in
the area.
“By working with the SEND Consortium of disability charities we have a real opportunity to
help shape the new brokerage service so confusion and misunderstanding about personal
budgets is reduced and more families with disabled children in the Hereford feel confident
about how to access the vital support services their child needs.”
“As well as supporting families to be more aware of what services are available for their
disabled child it will provide the tools and information to support them to have more control
over their personal budgets. At the same time, SENDirect will support providers and
commissioners fill any gaps in the services they provide.”
The SENDirect project is funded by the Department of Health and the Department for
Education. The SEND Consortium plan to pilot SENDirect with ten local authorities,
including Herefordshire, with a planned launch of the finished product in March 2015. The
SENDirect website www.sendirect.org.uk is a source of further information. It will continue
to be developed as the project develops.
At this stage we need Herefordshire parents, carers and professionals supporting
families to sign up to try out the system as it is developed. We also need those
providing services to agree to do the same. If you would be willing to do this, please
contact me via e-mail (jhealey2@herefordshire.gov.uk).
Jacqui Healey
Learning and Inclusion Consultant and Project Lead for SENDirect in Herefordshire.
(The SEND Consortium currently consists of 8 leading disability charities: Ambitious about Autism;
Contact a Family (currently acting as secretariat for the SEND Consortium); Dyslexia Action; I CAN;
Mencap; National Autistic Society; Scope and KIDS. The Send Consortium is a group of leading
disability charities who come together to facilitate joint-working across key national third sector
organisations, to developed new products and services to meet the requirements of families with
children and young people with special educational need and disabilities).
SENDirect will form part of the ‘Local Offer’ of services that Herefordshire will need to publish in
order to meet the requirements of the Children and Families Act (2014).
News from SENDirect’s March 2014 Newsletter
‘We have updated our website - take a look here
Expert Panel Meeting
We asked parent carers and professionals about sharing information online. What
sort of information are people willing to share about their families online, and why
might they like to do this? We created walk through pages for the panel to look at
and discuss, and we are using what they told us to help shape SENDirect. You can
read all about the meeting here.’
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Draft 0-25 special educational needs (SEN) Code of Practice: disabled
young people’s views
This report presents the combined findings and key messages arising from 19 focus groups
involving 168 children and young people undertaken during Nov-Dec 2013 by the Council for
Disabled Children.
Although it represents the views of a very small proportion of those with SEN and disability, it
provides a valuable insight into their perceptions, experiences and fears of the SEN process
and as such will be of great value to the local authority and schools in moderating our
processes aiming to increase stakeholder involvement and ownership.
The full report is available to view at
http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/media/528850/draft-0-25-special-educational-needs-sendraft-code-of-practice-participation_young-peoples-views.pdf
SE7 Local Offer: Framework and Guidance
In support of schools formulating their own local offer SE7 have devised 14 questions in
consultation with parents/carers and other agencies, which reflect stakeholders’ concerns
and interests. Referring to the answers provided will allow you as a school to demonstrate
how you will meet the needs of all your learners when producing your school’s own local
offer.
The full comprehensive document can be viewed here and the questions in particular can be
found on pages 17-18.
http://se7pathfinder.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/se7-local-offer-framework-final.pdf
South East 7 (SE7) is the name given to seven local authorities, NHS partners and Parent Carer Forums
working together. The areas involved are Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Medway, Surrey
and West Sussex. SE7 is one of the government’s Pathfinders trialling the SEND reforms
COMING UP …
SEND Gateway- an online portal offering education professionals
free, easy access to high quality information, resources and training
for meeting the needs of children with SEND
Edward Timpson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, is to be one of
the key figures in attendance at the launch of the SEND gateway, which takes place on May 21st at
NASEN Live 2014 at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.
It is hoped that having a central resource bank will support schools and education professionals,
helping them to navigate the current reforms and enrich the provision offered to vulnerable pupils.
For more information go to:
http://www.nasen.org.uk/latestnews/?news=219
INTERESTING SEN DATA …
Number of pupils in Hereford recorded as SEN for the Spring Census 2014 is 4,886; (as a percentage of school roll
on average a 21.3% including special schools) down from 5,076 in 2013.
Trends in Primary category of Need as recorded from the Spring School Census from 2009 to 2014 for
School Action plus and Statemented pupils looking at Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) and Speech
Language and Communication Needs (SLCN); other categories available on request.
SLCN as above/ BESD as below
SpLD as above/ ASD as below
BES
DIY Evaluations
The EEF (Education Endowment Fund) last year published a DIY Evaluation Guide. It is quite a
sophisticated tool and significant to us currently as a means of evaluating the impact of
interventions and therefore benefit to pupils with SEN, especially as the new Code of Practice
requires us to focus on the delivery of evidence based programs. How will we gather that
evidence?
As a resource it is accessible to teachers (SENCos) as it introduces the key principles of
educational evaluation and provides guidance on how to conduct small-scale evaluations in
schools.
The guide explains the importance of “Do It Yourself” evaluation. It outlines a range of options
open to teachers who want to improve the way they evaluate new interventions or strategies
and provides practical advice on designing and carrying out evaluations.
The link to the Education Endowment Fund site is here and the guide is downloadable from
http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/library/diy-evaluation-guide
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What is PIPS? (Performance Indicators for Primary Schools)
PIPS (Performance Indicators in Primary Schools) is a standardised assessment system that is
designed to monitor pupils’ educational progress throughout the Primary phase. Established
since 1991, PIPS is one of the longest running projects to be offered by the Centre for Evaluation
and Monitoring at Durham University.
What does PIPS do?
PIPS provides an annual assessment of attainment in the core curriculum areas of reading and
mathematics. In addition there is an assessment of developed abilities, which may be regarded as
a measure of each child’s academic potential. Comparison of academic attainment with academic
potential, and also with previous academic performance, allows teachers to build a powerful
profile of individual progress for every child throughout the Primary phase.
http://www.cem.org/pips/pips
CLOSING THE GAP
A school is only as good as the progress of its most vulnerable, challenging child. This has never been
more true than now, as Ofsted has increased the pressure on schools to ensure they are meeting the needs of all
pupils, especially those with learning challenges.
Closing that gap – between the children who succeed at school and those that, for whatever reason, struggle to
achieve is the key role of the SENCO and their team. However, this won’t be done solely by providing one-to-one
support, or nurture groups, or even a team of enthusiastic, retrained teaching assistants. The only way to really
help these children to make outstanding progress is through the high expectations of every teacher in
every classroom, every hour of every day for 38 weeks of the year. These children may not be getting the
type of emotional support that creates resilient learners at home, so school could be the only chance they have!
Progress and Achievement of pupils with SEND
The following identifies questions that a SENCo might reflect upon in order to establish the progress and
achievement of pupils with special educational needs and or disability and lists where the information needed to
answer the question might be obtained from.
1. How are the pupils with SEND identified?
National Curriculum level tracking; Standardized tests; Checklists; Parent concern; staff concern;
information from previous settings; external professional concern.
2. How are pupils with SEND progressing in comparison with other groups across the school?
RAISEonline by pupil characteristics; school tracking; subject tracking
3. To what extent have the pupils with SEND made expected progress?
RAISEonline eg KS1 to KS2/KS2 to KS4 progress Expected vs Actual (filtered for SEN);school tracking;
progression material data sets eg CASPA, FFT live.
4. How does attainment of pupils with SEND compare with local and national levels of attainment?
Local Authority SEN data (Additional Needs profiles); national statistic website
5. Is the attendance of pupils with SEND at expected levels for all pupils?
School attendance data; FFT live
6. To what extent can the school evidence pupil safety from bullying?
Anti-bullying questionnaires; bullying log; feedback from school council.
7. Are pupils with SEND being excluded disproportionally compared to pupils without SEND?
School fixed term/permanent exclusion data.
8. To what extent can schools evidence parent’s confidence in SEND provision?
Parent questionnaires;feedback from review meetings; complaints and compliments records.
9. What information does the school have that evidences the positive experiences of pupils with
SEND within the school?
Pupil questionnaires; parent feedback; participation in extended school events; school web site blog.
Further useful information on ‘Using data to identify vulnerable learners and their needs’ is available from the
National College for Leadership of schools and Children’s Services. here at
www.nationalcollege.org.uk
Assessments for SEN
Special Needs Information Press has produced a really useful resource for SENCos to use in
school as a general guide to assessments which I am asked about on quite a regular basis.
So for your future reference I can recommend this link, and as you will see it was updated in
2011.
www.snip-newsletter.co.uk/pdfs/downloads/assessment_book.pdf
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Pupils at school with medical conditions
From September 2014 the school governing body will have a duty to make arrangements to support children at
school with medical conditions
Individual schools will have the freedom to determine their own arrangements on the following guidance which
will be overseen by a named person in school:
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Procedures to be followed when advised by a medical practitioner that a pupil has a medical condition.
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Individual healthcare plans
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Staff training and support
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Children’s role in managing their own medical needs
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Managing medicines on school premises
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Emergency procedures
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Day trips, residential visits and sporting activities
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Home to school transport for pupils requiring special arrangements
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Unacceptable practice
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Liability and indemnity
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Complaints.
Full details of the Department for Education DfE’s statutory guidance is available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions
Equality Act duties – disabled pupils
In the last edition I reminded you about Les Knight’s letter regarding the auxiliary aids duty. We now have a web
page which summaries the duties for schools and local authorities under the Equality Act for disabled children
and young people. The address is: www.herefordshire.gov.uk/disabledpupils. The page includes links to relevant
national and local guidance which I hope you will find helpful.
Under the planning duties all schools are required to publish an accessibility plan, which could form part of your
local offer from September 2014, preferably published on your website. The plan should include details of
identified barriers around your school site, with possible solutions (including sensitive timetabling of accessible
spaces as required).
To support this, we are developing a system to give each school an accessibility rating to be added to the webbased directory of schools. Schools will be contacted to discuss their rating before it is published.
Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES)
In the last edition I reported that from April 2014 a new contractor will be providing this service. I can now confirm
that the new contractor is Nottingham Rehab (NRS) Healthcare. Training has been carried out so that therapists
will be able to assess and order equipment efficiently.
David Leitch
Specialist Teacher – Physical Disabilities T: 01432 260875
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Additional Funding for children with significant medical & health needs
Schools can request additional medical funding
support by making an application to the special
educational needs (SEN) team at the Local Authority
The application needs to be supported by the school
nurse or other relevant medical practitioner, for
diabetes schools can directly contact the diabetes
nurse.
Depending on the nature of the child’s condition and
their ability to self-manage this condition the funding
is generally awarded for twelve months, from
September at the start of the school academic year.
The school will need to review the provision annually
and reapply for funding depending on the outcome
of the review.
A member of the SEN team will discuss the
application with the person in school with
responsibility for overseeing the implementation of
the child’s healthcare plan, ensuring that the
provision within school is clinically appropriate in
meeting the child’s individual medical health needs.
Recommendations for the appropriate clinical
provision is confirmed by a representative of the
Clinical commissioning Group (CCG) and the
responsible local authority officer and the funding
agreed
For children with diabetes there is a pathway of
support leading to self-management of the
condition. In the vast majority of cases it is expected
that children with Diabetes will follow this pathway.
However, exceptional cases will be considered on
their own merit.
For more information on this pathway and details on
training for additional funding for supporting the
management of diabetes in school including training
of staff etc is available here.
FAQs about changes to school information regulations
Regulations no longer require schools to publish a prospectus and have a curriculum policy, thus
avoiding duplication of effort, and unnecessary cost. Instead, schools are required to publish key
information online. What if a school does not have a website? Schools will need to ensure they
have the facility to publish the specified content online and staff resources to create and maintain
the content. Most schools already have their own websites, or make arrangements to publish
information on the web through a commercial company or local authority offering schools an ‘online
presence’.
(We are offering a workshop at the SENCo Conference to inform staff of the tools available and how
schools can use social media, websites and other digital technology to promote school activities and
communicate formally and informally with pupils, parents and your local community).
   
P Scale moderation
We have 2 dates available for the P scale moderation this term:
Thursday 22nd May - 4-5pm at St Martin’s Primary School, Hereford. HR2 6AF
Friday 23rd May -1.30-3pm at the Nelson Building (opp Sainsbury’s/ next to Aldi’s)
If you are interested in attending either of these events please contact Jacqui Healey and/or Liz Rowberry and
bring along samples of pupils’ work, together with some photocopies for distribution during the meeting.
This is an opportunity to not only looking at work completed by your students in school but also to share advice
and good practice with other professionals from both mainstream and special school settings.
Remember it is a legal requirement for all pupils working below the National Curriculum levels to have their work
moderated for their end of key stage teacher assessment.
Attendance at either meeting will allow you to verify the level pupils are currently working at before they enter
year 2/year 6 in September 2014.
Contact details as follows:
Jhealey2@herefordshire.gov.uk
lrowberry@herefordshire.gov.uk
PROVIDING POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Providing effective feedback has been identified in meta-studies undertaken by Professor John Hattie as the
most important strategy a teacher can take to improve the learning outcomes and rate of progress for pupils. His
findings suggest that pupils receiving this would make approximately an additional eight months progress in a
year ( http://www.teacherstoolbox.co.uk/T_effect_sizes.html)
There is no evidence that the traditional forms of feedback used within schools, eg marking errors and giving a
grade for every piece of work leads to increased success for pupils and SEN pupils in particular.
The National Strategies provided useful information to schools on providing effective feedback that suggested
that feedback needed to include that provided in the following ways:
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Peer and self-assessment
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Feedback provided orally
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Written feedback
It is essential in any feedback that time is provided for pupils to respond to the comments either through
spending a short time discussing developmental points with peers, adults, or redrafting a sentence, for example,
to demonstrate the point has been understood.
Barriers to providing effective feedback for pupils with SEN, may include the language used in the comments
being inaccessible to the child and hence depleting the child’s understanding and therefore limiting
improvement. Equally it is not helpful if the same comment is being made repeatedly.
In addition the impact of the feedback can be reduced as often there is insufficient time allowed for the teacher
to provide quality feedback, hence diminishing the effect of the feedback because of the delay between the
comments and the completion of the work.
For more detail and future reference go to the ‘National Strategies-Assessment and feedback’ site here
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110809091832/http://teachingandlearningresources.org.uk/collect
ion/23211/node/30426
For more general articles on the power of feedback and how it can be used in the classroom go to:
http://growthmindseteaz.org/Feedback.html
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Autism and Girls
Until recently, it was thought that boys outnumbered girls on the autism spectrum by a significant margin.
However, recently more girls have started to be identified. This is reflected in my current caseload where more
girls are coming through, many of whom are well into secondary school before a diagnosis is made.
So why are girls so much harder to identify than boys? Tony Attwood addressed this issue at a recent conference
hosted by Autism Oxford. These were some of the points raised:
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Girls exhibit less repetitive behavior than boys
They often have less severe difficulties at school
Generally girls have better fine motor skills than boys
Girls have the same pattern of social communication impairment as boys
Girls tend to have more emotional difficulties
When difficulties come to light, often in the teenage years, it is often because of the greater social
expectation of girls.
Girls tend to “fake it” in order to cover their difficulties.
Autism Network Meeting
The next Autism Network meeting will focus on Autism and Girls, using the recent material from Tony Attwood
and including the experiences of women who have grown up with the condition. We will explore the issue of
“faking it” and look at ways that school can help girls who are on the spectrum. There will also be the usual
opportunity to look at newly available resources and network with like-minded colleagues. !
These meetings are open to teachers and TAs with an interest in ASD and are held between 4.00 and 5.30 p.m. at
a local school. They are normally free of charge. The next meeting will be on Thursday 12th June at Hampton
Dene Primary School Hereford. Look out for information and booking details on herefordshirecpd.co.uk.
Social Thinking Workshops
Following our ASD network meeting last autumn several schools have introduced “Social Thinking” strategies for
more able pupils with ASD. Social Thinking develops the following four areas.
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Thinking about people and what they think and feel
Being aware of your physical presence and the physical presence of others
Using your eyes to think about others and what they are thinking about
Using your language to relate to others
Using Social Thinking in a whole school context to help pupils with deficits in their social understanding is
explored as part of my workshop at the SENCO conference this year entitled “Creating an Autism Friendly School
Environment”
In practical terms, Social Thinking aims to teach pupils with ASD to pick up on social cues and to develop greater
facility in fitting their behavior to that expected in the social situations met in everyday life at school. An informal
workshop is available to staff working with pupils who would benefit from this approach.
For more details contact csoble@herefordshire.gov.uk
** NEW PUBLICATION **
‘A Practical Guide to Congenital Developmental
Disorders and Learning Difficulties’
By Judith P. Hudson, PhD
A former SENCo at Weobley High School, Hereford, assessor and lecturer in SEN and specific learning disorders
at the University of Gloucestershire and is currently an Honorary Research Associate at the University of
Tasmania, Australia
Published
18th April 2014
PB: 978-0-415-63379-6/ £21.99
HB: 978-0-415-63378-9/ £80.00
20% discount ordering online using discount code IRK70*
*This 20% discount is only available on titles ordered directly from our website, until 31st December 2014, and cannot be combined with any other
offer or discount.
To give children with congenital developmental conditions that manifest special learning needs and specific
disabilities their best chance to succeed, early identification and appropriate interventions and support, is necessary.
This text highlights what to look for when there are concerns about a child’s development. Practical and accessible, it
is divided into three sections:
 Part 1 looks at the theory and policy context, discussing the social model of disability, the responsibility of health,
social care and education services to the child and family and the role of reviews and assessment in recognising
developmental disorders.
 Part 2 provides a reference guide to atypical developmental conditions and disorders. For each condition, aetiology
(the study of the cause of a condition-editor), prominent theories and research, profile of features – including triggers
and behaviours, diagnostic assessment procedures and appropriate interventions are given and links made to
sources of further information and support.
 Part 3 explores practical issues how to work sensitively and effectively with children and their families, looking at the
psychological implications of diagnosis, and how to plan, promote, deliver and evaluate multi-agency support.
Designed to support professionals working within a multi-modal, collaborative approach to assessment and
intervention processes, it is suitable for health visitors, allied health therapists, nurses, teachers and social care
practitioners.
For more details, or to request a copy for review please contact: Radostina Christova, Marketing Assistant
Radostina.Christova@tandf.co.uk
More New Reads …

Tony Attwood and Michelle Garnett have new books on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy CBT for teaching
affection to children on the autistic spectrum “from LIKE to LOVE” and “Young People with Asperger’s
Syndrome or Mild Autism to Understand & Express Affection”

Tony’s other latest book “The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome” has both paperback and hardback
versions.
Information on the development and support for children and young adults with Asperger’s is also available on
Tony’s web site www.tonyattwood.com.au
  
Screening Toolkits
Baseline screening toolkits to inform future planning and target setting is produced by the
Learning Difficulties team from the City of Bradford. These toolkits provide a framework for the
initial assessment of pupils’ needs in the areas of literacy and numeracy and provide an excellent
starting place to identify concerns and begin the discussion process with parents and external
specialist teams.
 Primary Schools - http://preview.tinyurl.com/ondfm4n
 Secondary Schools – http://preview.tinyurl.com.pvdnshj
(extract from Special Educational Needs Information Press – May 2014)
  
Press Release: April 2014
Is your school the best?
Herefordshire Young Carers supports children between the ages of 8 and 18 who are caring for a
family member with an illness or disability. April 2014 sees the launch of two new local awards to
recognise and encourage best practice amongst schools and their members of staff for the
support they offer to Young Carers.
The awards are for the Best School: to find the school which provides the best overall support to
Young Carers; and the Best Member of Staff: for the person who has shown a real
understanding of the role and needs of Young Carers in their school.
Young Carers Community Link Worker, Susan Brace said “We know that having a teacher who
really understands what it means to be a Young Carer is a huge help. Sometimes Young Carers
don’t even know that they are a Young Carer, they assume this is just part of family life, and
schools who recognise that these children are caring for someone at home and then refer them on
to Herefordshire Young Carers make all the difference.”
The School Awards will be presented at our “Think Family” Conference in November and the
closing date for nominations is October 24th 2014.
It’s easy to nominate a school or member of staff, just visit our website
http://www.herefordshirecarerssupport.org/young-carers or email
help@herefordshirecarerssupport.org or call the office on 01432 356068
.
About Herefordshire Young Carers:
Herefordshire Young Carers is a registered charity providing free practical support and advice to
Young Carers in the county.
Young Carers are children and young people up to the age of 18 who help to care for somebody
at home who has an illness, disability, mental health issue or a problem with drugs or alcohol.
They may be caring for a parent, grandparent or sibling.
The latest census shows that there are 175,000 young carers in the UK and approximately 4,000
young carers in Herefordshire (8% of population of under 25s). It’s estimated there could be up to
30 young carers in each secondary school.
27% of young carers (aged 11–15) miss school or experience educational difficulties; 68% of
young carers are bullied and feel isolated in schools.
For more information contact: Sharon Pugh or Susan Brace on 01432
356068
Herefordshire Young Carers
School Awards
Is your school the best?
Is there a member of staff who has really supported you?
HEREFORDSHIRE YOUNG CARERS has launched a local award this year to allow
Young Carers to nominate their school and/or a member of staff, if they feel they
have received support and understanding from them, helping them to continue in
their caring role.
To find out more or to make a nomination you can:
Call: 01432 356068
Visit: www.herefordshirecarerssupport.org/youngcarers
Email: help@herefordshirecarerssupport.org
Closing date for nominations is October 24th 2014.
You are cordinally invited to:
On: Friday 4th July 2014
At: The Three Counties Hotel, Belmont Road, Hereford.
Keynote Speaker:
Gareth D Morewood is Director of Curriculum Support [SENCo] at Priestnall School, Stockport, a large
comprehensive secondary school in the north-west of England, awarded an ‘Outstanding’ judgment by
Ofsted in June 2011. As a passionate advocate for inclusive education, Gareth has written extensively on
his philosophy of inclusive education and provision over the past few years and regularly speaks at and
chairs national conferences on provision within mainstream settings for students with complex needs. His
publications include eBook The Role of the SENCo: an insider’s guide (2010) , and most recently the
training pack Successful Classroom Partnerships: making the most of teaching assistants In July 2013 he
was appointed Vice-Chair of the DfE-hosted ‘Senco-Forum’ Advisory Group and also sits on the SENCo
Advisory Group for nasen.
Also:
Professor Amanda Kirby – Chair in Developmental Disorders in Education, University of South Wales
PLUS A CHOICE OF 8 VARIED WORKSHOPS
Places are bookable via CPD Online
www.herefordshirecpdonline.co.uk
For further information email: lrowberry@herefordshire.gov.uk
A Spotlight on … Robert Mudge
John Masefield High School
Survived my first year in the role!!!
Well my first year as a SENCO is almost over and what a year it has been. I feel like my feet have not
touched the ground, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it, the ups and the downs.
I am about to finish my 9th year of teaching, all at the same secondary school, John Masefield High
School. My path to becoming a SENCO started after my NQT year when I was the SEN rep for the science
faculty, admittedly it wasn't a big role, but it is where my interest in supporting students with SEN began.
However, before becoming the SENCO I was a pastoral leader for 4 years. This was fantastic preparation
for being a SENCO, developing leadership skills which are so prominent in the modern SENCO, and
building relationships with students and parents.
To say I was nervous this September, starting my first term as SENCO and about to deliver whole staff
INSET training, is an understatement. What did I actually know? A few weeks ago I was a science teacher
and pastoral leader, now I was SENCO and suddenly I was an expert on SEN support, legislation, policy
etc!! Yes, September was a steep learning curve.
It has been an interesting year to be a SENCO with the new code of practice due out soon, and for me I felt
like I was learning so much, but it was already changing and becoming outdated! Add to this the
requirement to complete the national award for SEN co-ordination, I was close to crumbling in the autumn
term. However, completing this course gave me to opportunity to meet other SENCOs, most of which were
also new to the role and also feeling bewildered and lost, but also enthusiastic.
Now not everyone has enjoyed the national award for SEN co-ordination, but I really have. It has given me
the opportunity to reflect upon current practice and critically analyse our systems and ways of working,
something we don't always get the chance to do. As a new SENCO this has been invaluable as it has
allowed me to learn, whilst making changes. It has also been a fantastic way of keeping up to date with the
exciting changes to SEN education (I have done mine at Worcester university in case you were
interested!).
I have learnt so much this year as a SENCO, firstly I made the right choice to become one, secondly it is a
really demanding job, but also extremely rewarding. I finally feel that I am in a position to influence young
people and support them in their journey, which is massively helped by the team I work with, a supportive
SLT and teaching staff who work with you and not against you. I still feel clueless at times and just when I
think I fully understand something, I realise I don't!.
HEREFORDSHIRE PARENT PARTNERSHIP SERVICE
Sue Miller & Bev Rodgerson
We are now located at
Franklin House, 4 Commercial Road,
Hereford HR1 2BB
Tel: 01432 260955
parentpartnership@herefordshire.gov.uk