Case Study: New to the SENCO Role Developing a Provision Map

lti_casestudynewtosencorole.doc

Case study: New to the SENCO role – Developing a provision map

Context

Luckwell Primary is a one-form entry primary school with 210 pupils on roll. The majority of the pupils are White British; 7.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, and 18% have special educational needs (SEN). Attainment on entry to the school is below average, particularly in language and communication.

Sue Roberts came to Luckwell 5 years ago as deputy head, and took up the role of SEN coordinator (SENCO)3 years later, in 2004. As SENCO, her first step was to seek out appropriate training – SENCO induction training and short courses on a range of different interventions. Among the courses was one on provision mapping. Sue invited a speaker to provide input to a local SENCO network meeting, and worked with a teacher from the local authority (LA) learning support service to develop a way of planning provision that would meet the needs of the school.

Tracking children’s progress

Sue was able to build on an effective and established system for tracking children’s progress. All class teachers monitor children’s progress in terms of National Curriculum sublevels on a termly basis. This information feeds into twice-yearly learning reviews, held for all children. These take place in December (or January in Reception) and July. The December review involves the class teacher, the deputy headteacher/SENCO and the headteacher. In the July reviews, the child’s next class teacher will also join the meeting. The team discusses the successes and difficulties for the child and complete a summary record. They draw on a wide range of data – the Foundation Stage Profile, end-of-key-stage tests, teacher-assessed levels and a range of standardised tests used in different year groups.

Identifying children in need of intervention and making a year group plan

The learning reviews identify children who would benefit from intervention to increase their rate of progress in learning. In July 2005, Sue used the summary records from the learning reviews to complete a must/should/could chart (a sample is available on this CD-ROM) for each year group, showing the provision that the school wanted to make for each child who required intervention.

This allowed her to identify the interventions that her team of teaching assistants would need to deliver in the 2005–06 school year. For each year group, she put together a detailed map of this provision, recording:

the area for support
the people involved in delivering the intervention
how often it would be offered and for how long
the children who would be targeted.

This working document guides everyday management of the school’s interventions. Appendix A shows an example, for Year 4.

The provision map

The final step for Sue was pulling together each year group’s detailed map into a summary provision map for all year groups (Appendix B). Sue wanted to use the whole-school map as a communication tool – something she could use with parents/carers and with staff to make clear what provision would be available. To help with this, she added information about the entry and exit criteria for each planned provision. She also used the provision map to help manage the budget for intervention, working out the cost of each provision, as a whole and per pupil, using LA-average hourly costs for teaching assistants (TAs) and teachers. Finally, to make her provision map a tool for evaluation as well as planning, for each intervention she added a space for data about children’s progress and for evaluative comments.

The interventions used

When Sue took up her SENCO post, the school was using Early Literacy Support (ELS), Additional Literacy Support (ALS) and a phonics-based programme called Reading Mastery. The provision map now includes other literacy interventions (Catch Up, Direct Phonics) and a number of interventions aimed at developing children’s oral language and social skills. The school is also exploring how they might use the Primary National Strategy (PNS) mathematics Wave 3 materials Supporting children with gaps in their mathematical understanding, and a locally developed mathematics intervention based on Numicon resources.

Luckwell operates six teaching blocks of 5 weeks over the year. Interventions are planned in 10-week blocks.

TAs are not routinely deployed to classes to provide general in-class support. They work mainly on planned time-limited interventions.

The range of interventions now used has meant considerable investment in training, for class teachers but particularly for TAs. They have welcomed this opportunity to extend their already-high levels of expertise. Once TAs have been trained in a particular intervention, they are later observed and coached on the job by a member of the LA support services.

Adjusting provision over the course of the year

Sue uses the December learning reviews to review the provision map put in place at the start of the year. Some interventions will have achieved their aims after a 10-week block, and come off the map for the rest of the year. Some may be extended; new interventions may be added. In this way the map is responsive to the changing needs of the children, as indexed by the termly data on their progress

Evaluating interventions

All the interventions on the provision map are rigorously evaluated. Sue uses standardised reading, spelling and language tests before an intervention begins, and again at the end. Assessment tools used include the tests of phonological awareness from the PNS Playing with Sounds CD-ROM, the Individual Reading Analysis, the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability, the Vernon spelling test, and the Renfrew speech and language scales.

The benefits of provision mapping

Sue feels that developing her provision map took a lot of time initially, but, now that she has developed a system that works for the school, the process will be relatively straightforward in future. The immediate benefits are an increased focus on evaluating the impact of interventions, and clarity for staff and parents about what additional provision the school is able to offer when tracking and monitoring show that children need help to increase their rate of progress. In the longer term, the benefits will be the impact of carefully tailored interventions on standards in the school.

Next steps

Sue is planning to add a movement programme into the provision map, to meet the needs of children with coordination difficulties. Which of the existing interventions go into the next map will depend on outcomes from this year.Interim evaluation has led Sue to reconsider how best to use pre-tutoring (in which the TA prepares children ahead of time for the work they will do in class the next week). She also wants to reconsider one-to-one speech and language therapy programmes (planned by the speech and language therapist and delivered by a TA) and is wondering whether it might be better to support the large numbers of children with language needs by increased training and support for class teachers – so that language work can increasingly be built into everyday practice. She is keen to see her evaluation of Wave 3 provision feed back into Wave 1 teaching, so that children who might be identified as needing extra help can have their needs met more economically and effectively at Wave 1. Sue would also like to develop her costed provision map so that it includes all the additional provision the school makes for underachieving groups – Wave 2, Booster groups, and provision for more-able pupils as well as for those with identified learning difficulties or disabilities.

lti_casestudynewtosencorole.doc

Appendix A: Additional support 2004–05

YEAR 4

Area for support / Details of support / Times and people / Children / SEN stage/IEP target if appropriate
Literacy support / Acceleread/Accelerwrite / Wed: 1.50–2.10 JJ
Thu: 1.50–2.10 JJ
Fri: 1.50–2.10 JJ / Emma / SA teacher to note on planning and SENCO to see parents
Literacy support / Acceleread/Accelerwrite / Tue: 9.30–10.00 RS
Wed: 9.00–9.30 RS
Thu: 9.00–9.30 SR / Chöe / SA + SENCO to see parents
IEP target – To increase reading accuracy age from 7.1 and reading comprehension age from 7.9
Numeracy / Doubles and halves / Mon: 11.00–11.30 JJ
Wed: 11.00–11.30 RS
10 min each 1:1 / William, Joe, Chlöe / SA + SENCO to see parents
IEP target – To be able to recall doubles and halves to 20; to use doubles and halves and near doubles to aid mental arithmetic
Numeracy / Springboard 4 / Thu: 2.30–3.00 RS / Harry, Emma / SA
Teacher to note on planning as part of class differentiation and to see parents
Social skills / Learning together – social skills / Fri: 1.00–1.30 RS
Group of 4 (mixed age) / Leighton / Teacher to note on planning and SENCO to see parents
Pre-tutoring / Anticipation of and preparation for areas of possible difficulty in forthcoming week’s work
In-class follow-up support / Fri: 2.00–3.00 SR / William, Chlöe and Joe / SA + SENCO to see parents
IEP target – To participate more fully in class discussions – contributing once or twice per day
Able to complete one or two tasks independently each day using learning mat as prompt to stay on task
Literacy support / Direct phonics / Tue: 9.00–9.30 SR
Wed: 9.00–9.30 SR
Thu: 9.30–10.00 SR / William, Joe / SA + SENCO to see parents
IEP target: William – To increase reading accuracy age from 5.6 and reading comprehension by scoring an age; Joe – To increase reading accuracy age from 5.6 and reading comprehension by scoring an age
Handwriting / Handwriting / Mon: 11.30–12.00 LG / Leighton, Louis P, Matthew / SA – Leighton and Louis, teacher to see parents and note on planning
Speech therapy / Programmes as devised by speech therapist / Tue: 9.00–9.30 RS
Thu: 9.00–9.30 JJ
15 min 1:1 each / Joe, William / SA + SENCO to see parents
IEP target: William – To be able to put five sequence cards in the correct order; to be able to predict what might happen next in a story; Joe – To be able to follow an instruction in which the time concepts before/after are keywords; to be able to apply before and after to the days of the week

Appendix B Provision map 2005–06

Provision / Entry criteria / Exit criteria / Time/staff / Cost per pupil / Total cost
Acceleread Accelerwrite
Aut Y4 – 3 ch (2 LSA, 1 SENCO)
S/S Y4 – 2 ch (2 LSA)
Aut Y5 – 4 ch (3 LSA, 1 SENCO)
S/S Y5 – 3 ch (2 LSA, 1 SENCO)
Aut Y6 – 1 ch (LSA)
S/S Y6 – 2 ch (2 LSA) / Reading age 18 months or more below chronological age
Grapheme/phoneme knowledge in place for alphabet
Can read most YR and Y1 keywords
Able to segment and blend CVC words
Y3 or above with English level 2c minimum / Double rate of progress, e.g. 6months in 3 months
Gap between reading age and chronological age reduced to 9 months or less / 3 × 30 min per week for 10 weeks
1:1 = 15 hours each child / LSA = £9 × 15 hours = £135 per child
SENCO = £27.50 × 15 = £412.50 per child / Autumn
Y4 – £682.50
Y5 – £817.50
Y6 – £135.00
Spring/Summer
Y4 – £540.00
Y5 – £1365.00
Y6 – £540.00
TOTAL – £4080.00
EVALUATION OF ACCELEREAD/ACCELERWRITE (July 2006)
Average gain: To be completed following final reading age assessments
SENCO and LSA comments: Very easy to use. Improvement in reading accuracy but doesn’t address comprehension. Fast pace and progression in places with similar sounds causes some confusion. Children enjoy using computer. Improvement in keyboard skills.
Direct Phonics
S/S Y1 – 6 ch (6 LSA)
S/S Y2 – 2 ch (2 SENCO)
Aut Y3 – 2 ch (2 SENCO)
S/S Y3 – 2 ch (2 SENCO)
Aut Y4 – 2 ch (2 LSA)
S/S Y4 – 2 ch (2 SENCO)
Aut Y6 – 1 ch (1 LSA)
S/S Y6 – 1 ch (1 LSA) / Generally for Y1/2/3 with children insecure in phoneme/grapheme correspondence and segmenting and blending
Working at P levels in early reading / Double rate of progress (e.g. 6 months in 3 months)
Children secure in segmenting and blending and initial sounds and blends in CVC, CCVC and CVCC words
Reading and spelling minimum of 20 keywords / 3 × 30 min per week for 10 weeks in group or 1:1 / Cost per pupil 1:1 then divide by no. in group (varies from year group to year group)
LSA = £9 × 15 hours = £135
SENCO = £27.50 × 15 = £412.50 / Autumn
Y3 – £412.50
Y4 – £135.00
Y6 – £135.00
Spring/Summer
Y1 – £270.00
Y2 – £825.00
Y3 – £825.00
Y4 – £825.00
Y6 – £270.00
TOTAL – £3697.50
EVALUATION OF DIRECT PHONICS (July 2006)
Average gain: To be completed following final reading age assessments
SENCO and LSA comments: Very easy to use. Good value for money. Very clear indications of success with regular assessments built in. Easy to adapt pace to suit groups. Easy to monitor. Boring to deliver initially. Children enjoy the structure.
Speech and Language therapy
(min per week)
S/S YR – 1 ch (75min)
Aut Y3 – 1 ch (80min)
S/S Y4 – 2 ch (30min each)
Aut Y6 – 1 ch (80min)
Aut Y6 – 1 ch (110min) / Programmes devised to meet individual needs assessed by speech therapist / Speech therapist – decision that sufficient progress made against targets / ALL delivered by LSA – time of intervention dependent on child’s needs, but all for 10-week blocks / LSA = £9 × 10 weeks = £90 per child per hour / Autumn
Y3 – £120.00
Y6 – £120.00
Spring/Summer
YR – £225.00
Y3 – £240.00
Y4 – £180.00
Y6 – £330.00
TOTAL – £1215.00
EVALUATION OF SPEECH THERAPY (July 2006)
SENCO and LSA comments: In some cases targets could relate to whole-class teaching, allowing support in class – children don’t always understand why they have these targets.
Learning together – various groups
Aut Y2 – 4 ch (30 min)
Aut Y3 – 4 ch (30 min)
Aut mixed KS2 – 4 ch (30 min)
S/S Y2 – 4 ch (30 min)
S/S Y3 – 4 ch (30 min)
S/S mixed KS2 – 4 ch (30 min) / Speech and language programmes that cover the following areas of concern – listening and attention, social skills / Child making appropriate choices in activities / ALL delivered by LSA – time of intervention dependent on child’s needs, but all for 10-week blocks / LSA = £9 × 10 weeks = £90 per group of 3 per hour / Autumn
Y2 – £45.00
Y3 – £45.00
KS2 – £45.00
Spring/Summer
Y2 – £90.00
Y3 – £90.00
KS2 – £90.00
TOTAL – £405.00
EVALUATION OF LEARNING TOGETHER GROUPS (July 2006)
SENCO and LSA comments: Initially planning was very time consuming – still requires some preparation. Difficult to monitor progress.
Talking Partners
Aut Y1 – 3 ch (3 LSA)
Aut Y2 – 3 ch (3 LSA & SENCO) / Language programme
Children identified as nervous to talk in class
Children who have little or no understanding of the conventions of speaking and listening / At end of 10-week programme
Use of Renfrew to show progress
Teachers reporting increased participation in class discussions / 3 × 30 mins per week for 10 weeks in groups of 3 = 15 hours per group / LSA = £9 × 15 hours = £135 per group of 3
SENCO = £27.50 × 15 = £412.50 per group of 3 / Autumn
Y1 – £135.00
Y2 – £182.00
Spring/Summer
TOTAL – £317.00
EVALUATION OF TALKING PARTNERS Renfrew data: TBC
SENCO and LSA comments:
Catch up
Aut Y4 – 3 ch (2 LSA, 1 SENCO) / Minimum of 15 high-frequency words
Y3/4/5 reading at level 2
Y6 borderline for achieving level 3–4 in NC tests / Able to read and spell 90% Key Stage 1 key words
Able to use range of reading strategies to decode
Maximum of 1 year on programme / 2 × 30 min per week for 10 weeks 1:1 = 10 hours per child / LSA = £9 × 10 hours = £90 per child
SENCO = £27.50 × 10 = £275.00 per child / Autumn
Y4 – £455.00
Spring/Summer
TOTAL – £455.00
EVALUATION OF CATCH UP Average gain: To be completed following final reading age/NC assessments
SENCO and LSA comments: Easy to administer and built-in monitoring. Children enjoy routine of programme. Poor choice of books in bought packs and high costs of resourcing with levels of appropriate books.
Pre-tutoring and consolidation
Aut Y1 – 1ch (SENCO)
S/S Y1 – 2 ch (2 LSA)
Aut Y4 – 3 ch (3 SENCO)
S/S Y4 – 3 ch (3 SENCO)
Aut Y6 – 2 ch (2 SENCO)
S/S Y6 – 2 ch (2 SENCO) / Difficulty accessing curriculum – language and literacy difficulties affecting all areas of the curriculum
Advice from outside agencies – educational psychologist / Child able to access curriculum with increasing independence / Delivered by SENCO and LSA – time of intervention dependent on child’s needs, but all for 10-week blocks / SENCO = £27.50 × 10 = £275.00 per group / Autumn
Y1 – £275.00
Y4 – £275.00
Y6 – £275.00
Spring/Summer
Y1 – £45.00
Y4 – £550.00
Y6 – £550.00
TOTAL £1970.00
EVALUATION OF PRE-TUTORING
SENCO and LSA comments: Children finding it difficult to relate to language and concepts they haven’t yet covered. More beneficial to support in class and have sessions out of class after to clear up misconceptions and difficulties?
Typing skills
S/S Y6 – 1 ch (SENCO) / Particular literacy problems resulting in need for alternative methods of recording / Increased speed
Familiarity with keyboard / 30 min per week 1:1 with SENCO / SENCO = £27.50 × 10 = £275.00 per child for 1 hour / Autumn
Spring/Summer
Y6 – £275.00
TOTAL £275.00
EVALUATION
SENCO and LSA comments: Difficulty finding appropriate resource – best to date is BBC Dance mat typing.
What happened next
S/S Y1 – 1 ch (LSA) / Children whose language and communication difficulties impact significantly on their ability to access the curriculum / Use of Renfrew assess impact
Progress averaging 12 months after 10 weeks
Completion of 10-week programme / Delivered by LSA / LSA = £9 × 10 hours = £90 per child / Autumn
Spring/Summer
EVALUATION OF WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
SENCO and LSA comments: Very similar to Talking Partners. Child enjoys but query whether it’s increasing vocabulary at fast enough rate.