Secondary Special Needs: SEN Pupils in Transition

Subtitles
Associated Teachers TV programme

Secondary Special Needs: SEN Pupils in Transition

0001 10:00:11:10 10:00:14:23

(narrator) This is PlashetSchool

for Girls in the East End of London.

0002 10:00:14:23 10:00:18:08

It's a popular local school which

achieves above-average results

0003 10:00:18:08 10:00:20:03

for its pupils.

0004 10:00:21:00 10:00:24:19

It's the middle of the summer term

and Attia is a special-needs pupil

0005 10:00:24:19 10:00:27:05

who is going to start at the school

in September.

0006 10:00:27:05 10:00:31:17

Hello, Attia. We're going to look

around the school this afternoon.

0007 10:00:31:17 10:00:34:04

Looking forward to it, aren't you?

0008 10:00:35:06 10:00:38:11

First of all we'll go across

the road to the other side.

0009 10:00:40:22 10:00:43:24

(narrator) She's come with the SENCO

from her primary school

0010 10:00:43:24 10:00:45:13

to have a look around.

0011 10:00:45:13 10:00:49:00

It is a big transition

from primary to secondary.

0012 10:00:49:00 10:00:51:22

It's a big change

from mainly one class teacher

0013 10:00:51:22 10:00:54:06

to lots of different teachers,

0014 10:00:54:06 10:00:58:08

new subjects, new demands,

more children,

0015 10:00:58:08 10:01:00:16

bigger buildings,

finding your way around.

0016 10:01:00:16 10:01:02:18

There's lots of different issues.

0017 10:01:02:18 10:01:06:02

- Computer room.

- You all have access to computers.

0018 10:01:06:02 10:01:09:18

And do you recognise

this lady in here?

0019 10:01:09:18 10:01:13:04

No? Mrs Bezley,

who will be your head of year.

0020 10:01:13:04 10:01:16:12

- Did you come for induction day?

- Yes.

0021 10:01:16:12 10:01:19:07

- So who's your form tutor?

- Miss...

0022 10:01:19:07 10:01:21:10

- Who?

- Miss Barry.

0023 10:01:21:10 10:01:24:09

Oh, you'll get on very well

with Miss Barry. She's lovely.

0024 10:01:24:09 10:01:26:24

I shall look forward

to seeing you then.

0025 10:01:30:00 10:01:33:03

(narrator) As part of Plashet

School's transition policy,

0026 10:01:33:03 10:01:36:18

all prospective pupils

visit the school in advance.

0027 10:01:36:18 10:01:39:17

This is particularly important

for special-needs pupils,

0028 10:01:39:17 10:01:42:15

so the school can assess any

difficulties they might have

0029 10:01:42:15 10:01:45:16

and what arrangements

might be needed for them.

0030 10:01:45:16 10:01:48:14

You OK walking around?

Nearly finished. Won't be long.

0031 10:01:48:14 10:01:51:21

(narrator) Attia has some weakness

on the left side of her body,

0032 10:01:51:21 10:01:54:03

so the school's

primary liaison officer

0033 10:01:54:03 10:01:57:03

is keen to see how she manages

with the extra distances

0034 10:01:57:03 10:01:59:05

and stairs she'll have

to tackle here,

0035 10:01:59:05 10:02:01:00

compared with her primary school.

0036 10:02:01:00 10:02:06:09

- Do they get a plan of the school?

- They get two helpers the first day

0037 10:02:06:09 10:02:08:07

taking them from lesson to lesson

0038 10:02:08:07 10:02:13:05

and somebody with difficulties may

have someone, like a buddy system.

0039 10:02:13:05 10:02:16:17

This is a nice area, isn't it?

Do they come and sit out here?

0040 10:02:16:17 10:02:20:11

They can play or sit out here

at break times and dinner times,

0041 10:02:20:11 10:02:23:04

and there's a garden area

round there.

0042 10:02:23:04 10:02:26:12

So now for drama and music...

0043 10:02:26:12 10:02:28:02

(singing)

0044 10:02:29:23 10:02:32:23

That's the actual teacher

singing to her class.

0045 10:02:32:23 10:02:36:12

It's karaoke, isn't it? That would

be good. Would you like karaoke?

0046 10:02:36:12 10:02:39:11

So they all have music lesson

once a week as well,

0047 10:02:39:11 10:02:42:02

so they either come to there

or that room there.

0048 10:02:42:02 10:02:43:14

Two music areas.

0049 10:02:44:15 10:02:48:02

When you have Urdu you're either

gonna come to this room here

0050 10:02:48:02 10:02:52:19

with Mrs Bats, or the room on

the end down there with Dr Zafir.

0051 10:02:52:19 10:02:54:15

So it's one of these two rooms.

0052 10:02:57:05 10:03:00:07

There's six floors on this side,

0053 10:03:00:07 10:03:02:23

- so obviously...

- You'll need the lift, won't you?

0054 10:03:02:23 10:03:07:08

When you have RE it's right

at the top on the sixth floor.

0055 10:03:07:08 10:03:09:24

- So, erm...

- You'll definitely need that.

0056 10:03:09:24 10:03:11:17

So we can sort that out.

0057 10:03:11:17 10:03:15:16

Or if she's with an LSA they will

automatically take her in the lift.

0058 10:03:15:16 10:03:17:16

Fine. That's good.

0059 10:03:19:24 10:03:24:00

It's a busy term

when we are doing as much as we can

0060 10:03:24:00 10:03:26:11

so that we're ready

for 1st September,

0061 10:03:26:11 10:03:28:18

we're up and running.

0062 10:03:28:18 10:03:32:18

We have a staff meeting and the

teachers will get a profile book.

0063 10:03:32:18 10:03:36:04

And each new student will have

0064 10:03:36:04 10:03:39:00

their own individual profile

with a little picture.

0065 10:03:39:00 10:03:40:16

We will tell the teachers,

0066 10:03:40:16 10:03:44:12

we'll highlight anything

in a staff meeting from day one,

0067 10:03:44:12 10:03:47:01

that they'll know

the new students they're having

0068 10:03:47:01 10:03:51:10

and what their particular needs are

and some strategies.

0069 10:03:51:10 10:03:53:13

(narrator) These are

year 7 students.

0070 10:03:53:13 10:03:57:17

It's now nearly a year

since they started at the school.

0071 10:03:57:17 10:03:59:23

Among them is Ollironke.

0072 10:03:59:23 10:04:03:10

She has a hearing impairment

and since she's been at the school

0073 10:04:03:10 10:04:07:01

various special arrangements

have been put in place for her,

0074 10:04:07:01 10:04:10:04

including a microphone transmitter

for the teacher.

0075 10:04:10:04 10:04:13:24

Can I have everyone looking this way

and listening, please?

0076 10:04:13:24 10:04:16:08

If you need to collect

a new book from the shelves

0077 10:04:16:08 10:04:18:14

or if you want to ask me...

0078 10:04:18:14 10:04:21:00

(narrator) This is

a timetabled library session.

0079 10:04:21:00 10:04:22:13

Let's say that by half past

0080 10:04:22:13 10:04:26:24

we're all busy getting on with our

reading or our reading journals.

0081 10:04:26:24 10:04:28:12

What's it like for the teacher

0082 10:04:28:12 10:04:30:20

to have a hearing-impaired pupil

in her class?

0083 10:04:30:20 10:04:33:19

I was quite intimidated at first

because I hadn't had

0084 10:04:33:19 10:04:36:09

hearing-impaired children

in my class before.

0085 10:04:36:09 10:04:39:21

In the beginning of a year

when you've got a whole new class

0086 10:04:39:21 10:04:43:17

and all the different names to

learn, you can sometimes forget

0087 10:04:43:17 10:04:47:22

that there are children for whom the

transition is even more difficult.

0088 10:04:47:22 10:04:50:12

Initially Ollironke wasn't...

0089 10:04:50:12 10:04:53:19

didn't have the right microphone

in her earpiece to use this,

0090 10:04:53:19 10:04:57:06

so we had to be very careful to

ensure that we were very clear

0091 10:04:57:06 10:05:01:03

about enunciating

clearly and loudly,

0092 10:05:01:03 10:05:05:19

and with Ollironke she takes

a lot of cue from reading lips.

0093 10:05:05:19 10:05:07:12

We make sure

she sits at the front.

0094 10:05:07:12 10:05:10:04

It's a whole-class thing.

We all have to be conscious

0095 10:05:10:04 10:05:13:09

that there are girls in here

with additional needs

0096 10:05:13:09 10:05:15:15

and that we all

don't forget about them.

0097 10:05:15:15 10:05:20:10

Ollironke is a very special case

because she came from Canada.

0098 10:05:20:10 10:05:26:01

She was in a very small special

school with just deaf children

0099 10:05:26:01 10:05:31:19

and she arrived in this enormous

girls' school in the East End.

0100 10:05:31:19 10:05:34:01

I think it's been quite remarkable

0101 10:05:34:01 10:05:37:05

how well she's adjusted

to this enormous place

0102 10:05:37:05 10:05:40:08

and just finding her way

from one thing to the other.

0103 10:05:44:03 10:05:47:07

(narrator) Ollironke also has

one-to-one reading sessions.

0104 10:05:47:07 10:05:49:01

Let's read this one.

0105 10:05:49:01 10:05:54:07

"When he's a nice roly-poly pudding,

I'm going to eat him."

0106 10:05:54:07 10:05:57:14

- OK. "Pudding."

- "Pudding."

0107 10:05:57:14 10:06:03:18

"We shall put a quiet...

and find..."

0108 10:06:03:18 10:06:04:22

Yes.

0109 10:06:04:22 10:06:07:19

How does the story end? Do you know?

0110 10:06:07:19 10:06:12:17

I think they went back to their

father's house or something.

0111 10:06:13:08 10:06:15:11

So they didn't get eaten

by the witch?

0112 10:06:16:18 10:06:19:14

- Huh?

- Did they get eaten by the witch?

0113 10:06:19:14 10:06:21:13

Mm... Um...

0114 10:06:21:13 10:06:26:24

Gretel destroyed the witch

inside the fire...

0115 10:06:26:24 10:06:29:03

OK. Good. You're reading very well.

0116 10:06:29:03 10:06:31:22

You're pronouncing well. Thank you.

0117 10:06:31:22 10:06:35:19

She arrived with a low reading age

and a low spelling age

0118 10:06:35:19 10:06:38:11

and we're working to improve those.

0119 10:06:38:11 10:06:41:07

She does find a lot of lessons

difficult to access,

0120 10:06:41:07 10:06:45:00

which is why she has an assistant

with her quite a lot of the time.

0121 10:06:45:00 10:06:50:19

But she is accessing the lessons cos

we cater for every range of ability

0122 10:06:50:19 10:06:54:04

and we're seeing what happens.

0123 10:06:54:04 10:06:57:02

Encore une fois - recreation.

0124 10:06:57:02 10:06:59:08

(children) Recreation.

0125 10:06:59:08 10:07:02:10

- Description.

0126 10:07:02:10 10:07:04:13

(narrator) This is

a year 7 French lesson

0127 10:07:04:13 10:07:07:15

and Ollironke is sitting at

the front with her support worker.

0128 10:07:07:15 10:07:10:02

- Recreation.

0129 10:07:10:07 10:07:12:22

- Recreation.

0130 10:07:12:22 10:07:15:12

Excellent. Excellent.

0131 10:07:15:12 10:07:19:20

When she first came

she was very withdrawn, very shy.

0132 10:07:19:20 10:07:25:02

I think we've seen such a change

in her in the last couple of months

0133 10:07:25:02 10:07:27:22

and it gets better every lesson.

0134 10:07:27:22 10:07:30:01

She's so much more responsive

0135 10:07:30:01 10:07:32:10

and there's a little light

in her eye

0136 10:07:32:10 10:07:34:22

because she really understands

what's going on.

0137 10:07:34:22 10:07:40:23

Louis a six cours le lundi,

le (...) et le vendredi.

0138 10:07:40:23 10:07:44:09

Qu'est-ce que vous pensez?

0139 10:07:44:09 10:07:46:18

- (whispers) Which one?

- The next?

0140 10:07:46:18 10:07:47:22

Which one?

0141 10:07:47:22 10:07:51:05

Louis a six cours le lundi, le...

0142 10:07:51:05 10:07:54:07

- samedi?

- (some children) Non.

0143 10:07:54:07 10:07:57:14

- (Ann) Non. Samedi il n'y a pas...

- Not that one.

0144 10:07:57:14 10:07:58:23

The next?

0145 10:07:58:23 10:08:00:22

(Ann) OK. Bien. C'est le jeudi.

0146 10:08:02:07 10:08:04:11

Toi?

0147 10:08:06:17 10:08:10:07

- Quel est le mot? Re...

- Recreation.

0148 10:08:10:07 10:08:12:07

Oui. Tres bien.

0149 10:08:19:00 10:08:22:24

Voila. Tres bien. Il y a

une recreation a dix heures

0150 10:08:22:24 10:08:25:19

et le dejeuner commence a...

0151 10:08:25:19 10:08:29:06

(Yvonne) We're still learning about

what Ollironke can and can't do

0152 10:08:29:06 10:08:31:04

and where her difficulties are.

0153 10:08:31:04 10:08:34:15

I don't think that we could

pigeonhole them even now.

0154 10:08:34:15 10:08:36:20

I think we still need some time.

0155 10:08:36:20 10:08:39:14

Certainly I would imagine

by the end of term

0156 10:08:39:14 10:08:42:06

we'll have a much better

picture of Ollironke.

0157 10:08:42:06 10:08:44:12

I've got lots of things to show you.

0158 10:08:44:12 10:08:48:22

Because Meliya isn't able

to speak for herself, we've got...

0159 10:08:48:22 10:08:52:00

(narrator) This is a major

end-of-year review meeting

0160 10:08:52:00 10:08:56:11

for one of PlashetSchool's year 7

special-needs pupils, Meliya.

0161 10:08:56:11 10:09:00:05

Around the table are those who have

supported Meliya through the year,

0162 10:09:00:05 10:09:04:24

including school staff,

outside agencies and her parents.

0163 10:09:05:24 10:09:09:19

Meliya was one of the most

challenging students we've had here.

0164 10:09:09:19 10:09:14:22

She's a student who in many areas

would be in special school.

0165 10:09:14:22 10:09:16:22

She wouldn't be

in a mainstream school.

0166 10:09:16:22 10:09:20:00

- She doesn't speak.

- No.

0167 10:09:20:00 10:09:24:13

She's working at sort of P level 3.

0168 10:09:24:13 10:09:27:17

This is really saying

what has she achieved

0169 10:09:27:17 10:09:30:10

in year 7 at PlashetSchool.

0170 10:09:30:10 10:09:34:10

She can find her way

to the places she needs to go to.

0171 10:09:34:10 10:09:38:09

When she goes over the other side,

she comes straight out of the lift

0172 10:09:38:09 10:09:41:08

and round to her lesson on her own,

cos I walk behind her.

0173 10:09:41:08 10:09:44:18

So she's really got to know

her surroundings.

0174 10:09:44:18 10:09:48:00

I'll explain that she can

concentrate really well.

0175 10:09:48:00 10:09:52:20

She can understand things

that she's shown if we sort...

0176 10:09:52:20 10:09:54:14

(Meliya makes sounds)

0177 10:09:54:14 10:09:57:15

..counters and so on.

Yeah, well done.

0178 10:09:57:15 10:10:03:14

We now know that she does have

autism which wasn't known...

0179 10:10:03:14 10:10:05:24

at primary school.

0180 10:10:07:08 10:10:13:22

So these are just some basic facts

about Meliya as a summary. Erm...

0181 10:10:13:22 10:10:17:11

I've put here

that she taps her objects -

0182 10:10:17:11 10:10:21:08

we can see her when she taps

her objects on her lower lip.

0183 10:10:21:08 10:10:26:02

We can let her handle things.

0184 10:10:26:02 10:10:30:14

When she came it was very hard, she

had so many people to get to know.

0185 10:10:30:14 10:10:35:04

So different to primary school

where she's had fewer people,

0186 10:10:35:04 10:10:38:05

but here... I think

she's done really well

0187 10:10:38:05 10:10:42:17

with working with

so many different staff.

0188 10:10:42:17 10:10:44:24

She goes into the library,

she likes books -

0189 10:10:44:24 10:10:47:16

you can see her there

looking through the books -

0190 10:10:47:16 10:10:50:12

particularly if it involves her.

0191 10:10:50:12 10:10:53:20

Sign-along. Do you want

to explain about sign-along?

0192 10:10:53:20 10:10:57:18

Yes. We have

a weekly group of children

0193 10:10:57:18 10:11:03:01

who work on different subjects and

we use some signs and some speech

0194 10:11:03:01 10:11:07:19

and we use a lot of objects

and pictures and modelling.

0195 10:11:07:19 10:11:10:02

We can see at the moment

she's really happy.

0196 10:11:10:02 10:11:12:18

We know she's really

involved in that activity.

0197 10:11:12:18 10:11:17:00

There are other times

when her face is a bit more neutral,

0198 10:11:17:00 10:11:20:20

maybe she'll tolerate the activity

but not be particularly keen on it,

0199 10:11:20:20 10:11:24:05

and there are times when she

definitely will refuse the activity.

0200 10:11:24:05 10:11:27:11

She will vote with her feet,

she'll wander off,

0201 10:11:27:11 10:11:30:08

so we do know when she doesn't

want to do something.

0202 10:11:30:08 10:11:34:13

How does Meliya communicate?

Obviously that's a really key skill.

0203 10:11:34:13 10:11:37:14

She doesn't speak, but she does...

We've just heard that -

0204 10:11:37:14 10:11:39:09

she makes noises,

0205 10:11:39:09 10:11:42:14

particularly when she's

especially involved in an activity.

0206 10:11:42:14 10:11:47:01

And we've noticed

quite a range of sounds, haven't we?

0207 10:11:47:01 10:11:51:12

Actually starting to make

almost like consonant sounds.

0208 10:11:52:16 10:11:56:23

So when we do work with her we do

try to establish eye contact...

0209 10:11:56:23 10:12:00:08

- (makes sound)

- ..and make sure you're hearing us.

0210 10:12:00:08 10:12:02:22

Yeah? Which you are at the moment.

0211 10:12:02:22 10:12:05:05

Aren't you? (laughs) What's this?

0212 10:12:05:05 10:12:06:22

You rubbing noses?

0213 10:12:08:20 10:12:10:05

Erm...

0214 10:12:10:23 10:12:16:10

Now, we're trying to develop

her use of technology... (laughs)

0215 10:12:16:10 10:12:19:11

She's just looking at

some technology there.

0216 10:12:19:11 10:12:21:07

(Yvonne) If you're watching her now

0217 10:12:21:07 10:12:25:12

she's really very interested

in what's going on with the filming

0218 10:12:25:12 10:12:28:12

and she's making lots of

good communication about:

0219 10:12:28:12 10:12:32:02

"I want to see that

and I want to know what's going on

0220 10:12:32:02 10:12:36:13

and I'm interested." I think

there's lots of communication there.

0221 10:12:36:13 10:12:39:24

We just need to tap in

and be able to answer her.

0222 10:12:39:24 10:12:42:04

(Linda) It is interesting.

Given time,

0223 10:12:42:04 10:12:45:07

she's starting to really explore

her environment now.

0224 10:12:45:07 10:12:49:08

She's looking around and seeing

what's new and what's different.

0225 10:12:49:08 10:12:53:05

You may want to build in all those

things that she feels familiar with

0226 10:12:53:05 10:12:56:12

and safe about...

0227 10:12:56:12 10:13:01:19

in order to make sure her transition

into year 8 is successful.

0228 10:13:01:19 10:13:03:18

(Linda) Right. That's a good point.

0229 10:13:03:18 10:13:06:16

Well, thank you all

very much for coming.

0230 10:13:06:16 10:13:11:02

And well done, Meliya,

because she's really kept going

0231 10:13:11:02 10:13:14:01

and shown us so much

during this meeting, so well done.

0232 10:13:14:01 10:13:15:23

Anyway, thank you very much.

0233 10:13:15:23 10:13:17:19

You do very hard work.

0234 10:13:17:19 10:13:20:01

I know it's no easy job.

0235 10:13:20:01 10:13:24:04

If we're not continually evaluating

what they're doing,

0236 10:13:24:04 10:13:27:11

what we're doing,

how what we're doing is making...

0237 10:13:27:11 10:13:30:02

is giving them

the opportunities to progress

0238 10:13:30:02 10:13:33:05

and to access the environment,

then we're not doing our job.

0239 10:13:37:19 10:13:42:04

Visiontext Subtitles: Sarah Emery