Teaching, Learning and Support

Many children on the SEND register will be able to participate in most aspects of an ordinary classroom and make progress within the curriculum but may need some support and waves of intervention. All class teachers take responsibility for meeting the needs of the learners in their class.

The Three Waves:

• Wave 1: Quality First Teaching (QFT) takes into account the learning needs for all the children in the classroom. This includes providing differentiated work and creating an inclusive learning environment.

• Wave 2: Wave 1 plus additional, time-limited, tailored intervention support programmes. This is to support some children who need help to accelerate their progress to enable them to work at or above age-related expectations. Wave 2 interventions are often targeted at a group of pupils with similar needs.

• Wave 3: Wave 1 plus increasingly individualised programmes. This targets provision for a minority of children where it is necessary to provide highly tailored intervention to accelerate progress or enable children to achieve their potential. This may include one to one or specialist interventions.

All class teachers take responsibility for meeting the needs of the learners in their class. Differentiation is visible through groups, work tasks, levels of support, and resources. Learning objectives are made clear and are achievable for all pupils. Teachers are aware of each child’s strengths and difficulties, and will plan for them accordingly. All pupils are encouraged and supported to become independent learners, and this is done in various ways, depending on the pupil. For example, a pupil with writing difficulties may have their own personalised word mat, or prompt cards; a pupil who has concentration difficulties may have task lists, and a timer, having their tasks broken down into more manageable parts. All pupils, including pupils with SEND, are provided with reading, writing and maths targets, and these are regularly monitored by the teacher and by the pupils themselves, so that they know exactly what they need to do in order to progress to the next level. As far as possible, tasks are matched to the strengths and abilities of each pupil in order to ensure that they meet their learning targets.

For pupils that need extra support in order to meet their targets, the class teachers are encouraged to discuss different approaches towards differentiation with the SENCo. We work with outside agencies and follow their advice and use specialised resources where required, for example sloped writing boards.

All additional provision for pupils with SEND is overseen and monitored by the SENCo. The SENCo evaluates any interventions that have taken place by looking at the pupils’ progress and discussing with the class teacher what next steps should be taken.