High expectations for children with SEN

Using role-play to support writing and having high expectations of every child, including those with SEN, has produced impressive results...

Reading levels and progress at our school have long been good, but our last Ofsted inspection drew attention to pupils’ writing and prompted a review of our literacy strategy, which we decided had become too formulaic and dry.

We knew it was time to introduce a more engaging, relevant and creative curriculum, but were conscious it should be an inclusive, whole-school programme within which we could target appropriate groups, especially those with SEN.

With this in mind, the offer to join Achievement for All (AfA) – the charity run programme proven to have a profound impact on the outcomes of pupils with SEN, and school improvement – came at an opportune moment. As well as helping us to build on existing good practice, we could see it would raise the profile of our special education needs provision.

Helping children with SEN to make progress meant setting high expectations for all of our children, regardless of their perceived ability and, as senior leaders, it was important for us to embody this way of thinking. We held open discussions with the whole team and encouraged honesty. It became clear everyone felt as though they’d had a ‘difficult’ child in their class at some point, but we agreed this view would no longer be accepted in our school community. A reappraisal of our pupil progress meetings also brought to light that, while some children were frequently discussed, others were never mentioned. As a result, the progress of every single pupil is now examined so that no child becomes ‘forgotten’.

Redesigning the curriculum

We introduced a creative curriculum to ensure children would always be totally immersed in a topic before being asked to write about it in literacy lessons. Previously, pupils struggled with writing when they had insufficient knowledge of a subject, or didn’t feel emotionally engaged with the theme. The solution has been to ensure topics such as World War II are explored through drama, art, history, music and PE, which gives children real experiences to draw on when it comes to putting pen to paper.

Unusually for a junior school, we also chose to include role-play areas in every classroom. During Y5’s Robin Hood topic – we are a school set in Nottingham! – we had a major breakthrough with a boy who had been totally disengaged with literacy. The pupils were involved in constructing a giant hollow oak tree in one corner of the classroom, big enough to fit several children inside. Following his involvement in a reenactment of the story of Robin Hood, this child sat down in the tree and wrote several lively and engaging pages about his experience. The transformation was stunning and his confidence has continued to grow from this point onwards.

Start right

Many of the changes we made were practical. Reading sessions had been timetabled to take place after lunchtime and were proving challenging at best. These were moved to take place at the beginning of every day, with a timetable of guided reading with the teacher, shared reading with a teaching assistant and independent reading.

We felt comprehension lessons lacked engagement, so we began using topic-related texts as the basis for ‘response to text’ activities. Widening our range of reading materials to include comic books, factual texts, online resources and films has also proved effective, and we are currently taking part in the Premier League Reading Stars programme (literacytrust.org.uk).

We rarely take children out of class during morning sessions for interventions. Our belief is that every child should enjoy the benefits of taking part in the class. However, all teachers and some TAs run groups at assembly time which focus on writing and numeracy targets, or address specific gaps that have been identified in children’s learning. There are also numerous intervention programmes running in the afternoons, which include phonics lessons for around 50% of children. Spelling is something we are working hard to improve this year – along with other basic skills such as handwriting – for which the children have personalised targets.

In Autumn 2011, we looked again at our data and identified that boys had particular issues with writing. We carried out pupil interviews to explore whether we were catering to their needs. The findings were interesting: the boys wanted more film and online clips to illustrate materials; they particularly liked the ideas that came from working in mixed groups with girls; and they wanted more topics that addressed their interests. We have since instituted these changes and ensure that all topics are engaging for both boys and girls, such as including Macbeth within the Tudors module – the boys particularly like the battle scenes.

The next level

The key lessons for us have been to have high expectations for all our children, and to make sure our teaching is flexible enough to help pupils succeed. It’s still early days, but over the past three years our writing levels have improved significantly. In 2011, of our 13 SEN boys, 11 achieved 13.5 points of progress and the remaining two achieved 12. What’s more, pupils identified with SEN are now achieving Level 5 in literacy. Instead of disaffection, we now have engagement and a motivated group of children who are willing to give things a go. And if, for whatever reason, they are not, we have the strategies to help them achieve.

Find out more
The Achievement for All programme is being rolled out nationally by education charity Achievement for All 3As, supported by PwC and with an investment of £14 million over three years from the Department for Education. During a two-year pilot, 37% of the 28000 SEN pupils involved achieved or exceeded expectations for all pupils nationally for literacy. Information on how to be involved is available at afa3as.org.uk

Half term homework
We found that giving out weekly writing homework meant that few pupils actually participated, and the results were often lacklustre. Instead, we now give out homework every half term, expecting children to choose from 16 optional projects and hand in 4-5 pieces over the course of the break. Half of the choices relate to the class topic, and the remaining tasks reflect the children’s own interests. For example, a piece linked to WWII asked pupils to design an air-raid shelter, imagine what it must have been like to spend the night there and write about it. Previously, only a handful of children in a class were completing their homework; we now find the majority participate. We celebrate their successes and share their ideas, which encourages others to take part as well.