Chapter 1: Understanding the context for the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (2015)

This is an extract from A Critical Guide to the SEND Code of Practice 0-25 Years (2015) by Janet Goepel, Jackie Scruton and Caroline Wheatley.  

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This chapter provides:

• an understanding of the framework for the SEND CoP within the context of past legislation and guidance;
• identification of the current principles underpinning the current CoP;
• a consideration of definitions and terminology within the field of SEND;
• a discussion of medical and social models of disability.

Legislation and guidance

The 2015 SEND CoP makes reference to other relevant legislation which can be seen in the table at the beginning of this book.  It is important to note that while much of the legislation shown originates from, and is relevant to, education; this is not exclusively the case. Other legislation has particular relevance to health and social care services.

Understanding the historical context

The 1913 Mental Deficiency Act identified four categories or labels of mental deficiency:

1. idiots;
2. imbeciles;
3. feeble minded; and
4. moral imbeciles.

This terminology is rooted in medical/psychological diagnosis. The impact of such a label on the individual might have meant the difference between living at home or being placed in an institution.  This was a period where CnYP were considered to require medical intervention or support and where a deficit model was at the forefront. 

The 1944 Education Act continued to use labels to categorise CnYP. The Act introduced 11 new categories of disability, together with a new generic category ‘educationally sub normal’ of which there was a secondary ‘severely’ label.  These CnYP did not have a right to education and fell under the responsibility of the local health authority.

The Warnock Report (DES, 1978) was influential in the passing of the 1981 Educational Act.  This Report introduced the term ‘special educational needs’ and represented a shift towards a more inclusive system of education especially given that it stressed the importance of professionals working with parents as partners.  The subsequent Education Act (1981) adopted much of the philosophy of the Warnock report.  The key aspect of the Act was the introduction of a ‘Statement of SEN’, a legally binding document outlining a CYPn’s needs and the provision required to meet those needs.  A further Education Act in 1993 resulted in the introduction and implementation of the SEN Code of Practice (DfE 1994[GJ1] ).  This code has been revised, most recently in 2015 after the introduction of the Children and Families Act (2014).  Interestingly with each change of government came new legislation and a revision of the Code of Practice. 

Other milestones during the development of education for CnYP with SEN include the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1995), and the 2001 Special Educational Needs and Disability Act which enshrined in legislation the fundamental right for a CYPn with a Statement of SEN to be educated in a mainstream school, albeit with some caveats.  Additionally, the 2009 Lamb Report based on detailed research, underpinned the need to strengthen parental voice and confidence to help improve the quality of partnership working.

The Children and Family Act (2014) replaced the Statement of SEN with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and subsequently a new Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 0 to 25 (2014) was introduced, with a further revision in 2015. This requires teachers to make high quality provision through a differentiated approach and following the four-part cycle of assess, plan, do and review.  We examine this in more detail in Part 2.

More recently the House of Commons Education Committee has published a report with a focus on how the SEN system works.  It recognised the Children and Families Act 2014 originally set out the ambition to transform SEN provision and put CnYP at the heart of that transformation.  These transformations were seen as positive; however, this report identifies that the current political environment has meant that these reforms have not been fully realised.  Factors influencing this are poor administration, a challenging funding environment and, lack of ability in local authorities (LAs) and schools in understanding and carrying out the reforms.  The report also recognised that there is a tension between CnYP’s needs, the provision available and lack of accountability.  However, it confirms what many CnYP and their parents are experiencing.  ‘This generation is being let down – the reforms have not done enough to join the dots, to bring people together and to create opportunities for all young people to thrive in adulthood’ (House of Commons 2019, p 4).

Principles underpinning the SEND CoP (2015)

The principles which underline the legislation in terms of education, health and social care are as follows:

• CnYP and their parents are involved in discussions and decisions about their support;
• CnYP and their parents are involved in planning and commissioning services;
• the needs of CnYP are identified early and early intervention is given;
• CnYP and their parents have greater choice and control;
• there is greater collaboration between education, health and social care services;
• there is high quality provision;
• a focus on inclusive practice and removing barriers to learning;
• support to make a successful transition to adulthood.

These principles are examined in more detail in Parts 2 and 3 of this book.  

Definitions and terminology

This section aims to enable you to develop a wider understanding of the complexities of terminology and definitions within SEN, as these are often different depending on which practitioner you are talking to – it is the dilemma of defining difference.

The notion of SEN has been subject over the years to a changing environment in language and categorisation.  Mittler (2000, p 9) suggests that: ‘SEN terminology has survived for so long because it is not easy to find an acceptable substitute ….it is embodied in legalisation’.

In examining the CoP, while there is a clear legal definition, the terminology could still be said to label, with words such as special educational needs or greater difficulty in learning.  Interestingly the only reference to labelling issues is seen in the 1994 CoP and not the most recent (Lehane, 2017), yet the practice of labelling children is rife within education, health and social care.

In regard to legislation for social care, a child with a disability by default is defined as a child in need (Children Act 1989).  Therefore it is important to understand that the use of a range of definitions/terminology can cause difficulty for all practitioners including parents.

However, even with different definitions we are constrained by the legal definition and these are used throughout this book, namely:

‘A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to made for him or her.’

(SEND CoP, p 15)

and

‘a child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or other post-16 institutions’.

(SEND CoP, p 16)

The definition for disability as stated by the DDA (1995, 50 1 (1)) uses language that might be better suited in a medical context.  It defines disability as: ‘A physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.’

The use of terminology within the field of SEN can be complex and confusing, as each sector has its own language. See Table 1.1 below for some examples.

Table 1.1 Some of the terminology used across sectors

SEN	Special Educational Needs	Education – schools
SEND	Special Educational Needs and Disability	Education – schools
LDD	Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities	Post 16 – Further Education, Health and Social care contexts
AEN	Additional Educational Needs	Education – schools
ASN	Additional Support Needs	Education – schools
	Children in Need	Children Services
	Disabled Children	Children and Health Services
ALN	Additional Learning Needs	Education – schools

Scenario

You are a practitioner (from education, health or social care) who has been asked to meet the parents of a young person (YP) aged seventeen who has a diagnosis of Asperger’s.  You have been given a number of reports and letters from all the agencies involved who are working with the YP.  These include the local further education (FE) college, the social worker and the community paediatrician.  These reports use a large number of acronyms and terminology you are not familiar with and as a result you are struggling to get a clear picture of the YP. 

Critical questions

• How might you find out what the acronyms all mean?
• In your role what can you do to ensure there is consistency and continuity of terminology?
• What could you do to ensure the YP and their parents understand each organisation’s terminology, how it relates to them and what this means for the support they offer?

As already identified, different terms can be used to describe a CYPn.  Many of these stem from the framework each profession uses within that particular context. These frameworks can be influenced by different models of disability.  These are explored in the next section along with implications for practice.

Models of disability

Within the field of SEN there are a number of theoretical frameworks or models that are used.  In order to understand your role as part of a multi-agency team you need to have an understanding of these frameworks and how they might have influence on practice.

The traditional and perhaps commonly used model is known as the medical model, which focuses on a CYPn’s impairment; on what they cannot do rather than what they can do.  It can be viewed as a deficit approach.  There is a focus on ‘cure’ and ‘rehabilitation’ (Frederickson and Cline, 2015, p 11) where treatments and strategies can cure or ameliorate the disability (Hodkinson and Vickerman, 2012), using normal functioning as a bench mark.  Within the CoP phrases such as ‘majority of others of the same age’ and ‘making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age’ (SEND CoP, 2015, p 16) are used.  Both implicitly infer difference from what is considered to be the norm. No external factors such as environment are taken into account (Frederickson and Cline, 2015; Garner, 2009).  The medical model is best summed up by listening to the voice of the disabled:

‘it has kept people focused on our difficulties and deficits so it is easy to think we are useless, burdensome and dispensable’.

 (Mason, 2008, p 33)

The social model of disability arose from the disability rights movement during the 1970s and 1980s (Oliver, 2000) and takes a more inclusive approach.  It suggests the fault lays with society, it is society that places barriers in the way and in doing so hinders and prevents participation in wider society.  It is not the CYPn’s impairment that is the barrier, rather society’s difficulty in accommodating difference (Frederickson and Cline, 2015).

Both models are not without their critics, the medical model does not consider the social characteristics of disability, while the social model may be deemed to over socialise the causes of disability (Terzi, 2005).  It should be noted that nowhere in the CoP, in any of its iterations is there an explicit mention of models of disability, yet the language seems driven by the medical model with the use of vocabulary such as ‘additional to’ (SEND CoP, 6.14) and ‘disorders’ (SEND CoP, 6.32).  While only two models are examined in this chapter, there are others such as the charity and affirmative models.  You can find out more about these through the links in the further reading section at the end of this chapter.

Critical questions

Think about your personal role in supporting CnYP with SEN and use this as the basis for reflecting on the following critical questions.

• What language do you use when you are describing a CYPn? Does it reflect one of the models of disability we have discussed?
• Does your use of language ‘label’ in either a constructive or a negative way?  How do you know?
• How does your service define SEN and disability?  Does it follow any of the models we have discussed? Is the approach used one that is enabling or disabling?
• How might you effect change in your organisation to ensure CnYP are seen as individuals and are not defined by their label?

Implications for practice

With reference to your own profession or role in supporting CnYP with SEN:

• identify which legislation is pertinent to that role;
• explain how you would ensure you comply with the legislation.

Conclusion

Having knowledge about the legal and historical background to SEN is an important part of understanding the current context for your professional practice.  Chapter 2 develops this theme and explores working together for joint outcomes.

Further reading and web-based materials

Models of Disability: the following two websites provide a clear explanation of these models.

 The affirmative model:  www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk/affirmative-model-of-disability (accessed 31 July 2019)

The charity model: www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1016/S1479-3547(01)80018-X (accessed 31 July 2019)

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This is an extract from A Critical Guide to the SEND Code of Practice 0-25 Years (2015) by Janet Goepel, Jackie Scruton and Caroline Wheatley.  

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Essential Guides for Early Career Teachers: Teaching Early Years and Professional Behaviours

I have written these books with colleagues to help guide early career teachers (ECTs) to thrive at what often can be a challenging time in their professional career. We have each  been in education many years and have loved the work in Early Years, Primary School and working with new teachers. No matter in which key stage they may find themselves, being new to the profession will mean having the sole responsibility for a class. While having your own first class is memorable and exciting, it can also be daunting. Linked to this, is the weight of accountability which will be ever present in teachers’ thoughts and associated actions. By engaging in these books, it is hoped that individuals will consider how they are responding to being accountable across the breadth of their newly formed audiences. These include the children in their charge, other professionals, their setting, families and those responsible adults they are now engaged with. We also intend that these books will support in finding effective ways to quickly settle in to the new role as an ECT.

Having graduated from teacher training it will no doubt feel like the ‘L plates’ are off. For some individuals it may feel like there is no-one sat beside them to advise and reassure them in their actions and decisions. However, at the heart of these books is a key message for ECTs:, remember you will never be alone.

These books are designed to help readers learn from more experienced and established teaching professionals. It is worth remembering all experienced individuals can learn from others: we are lifelong learners! I have been fortunate enough to have the wisdom of both Lorna and Rachael to write important chapters and to help guide and inform my thoughts and writings. I hope these texts will allow the reader to gain insight into professional practice in areas they have developing expertise in. Also, that they will form a bridge into the teaching profession, allowing the reader to build on all those valuable experiences gained whilst on their training courses and school-based practices.

Each book covers two key aspects of starting and being in the teaching profession. Firstly, with regards to our teaching in early years book, such practitioners establish the building blocks on which all future educational successes are established. Such teachers do not, as others might consider, just play. They establish the knowledge, values and attitudes for a child’s future success. Everything they do will be considered and organised to promote the best of educational experiences. While our professional behaviours book, considers and explores the key notion that professional skills and behaviours will be needed by all if they wish to be effective ECTs.

Both books are underpinned by current research and literature linked to the practice and teaching of early years and the establishment of professional behaviours. We also intend them to be a springboard for learning by offering suggestions for further reading around the themes explored. It is intended that these cited readings and further links to literature will not only serve to allow the reader to ground their practice in theory but also serve as a means to promote critical self-reflection. This being the key to successful improvements in practice and self-development.

 In both books, an exploration of an emerging sense of professional identity is a vital aspect that underpins the early chapters. This is important since it helps the reader to consider what it is that makes them so unique and special. Also, how formative elements of their lives, for example their life experiences and narratives can serve to influence and form not only who they are but also who they will become.

In our early years book we hope the reader will  consider the importance of building outstanding provision whilst supporting children to be unique individuals. Fundamental to this is the notion of effective relationships and the values these bring to working with children and other adults in each setting. Whilst our professional behaviours book also seeks to reaffirm the value of promoting outstanding provision but also the significance that others can provide in helping and allowing a teacher to improve and develop. No one should consider themselves an island, but see the importance of engaging with others, the value of professional development as well as the importance of looking after oneself.

Both books are full of case studies, reflective questions and tasks with the end to all chapters prompting the reader to engage in critical thinking. The case studies are intended to allow the reader to reflect on their own and others lived experiences at differing periods in their professional development. As with the professional behaviours books our writings have been enriched by the voices of mentors and senior leaders across a range of settings and geographical areas. No matter the experience of individuals, the values of the tasks and questions provided lie in the focus and spotlight they allow for the promotion of the themes covered. Their power lies in their ability to engage the reader and others mentoring or supportive others/colleagues to discuss their views and conclusion on the items provided.

In conclusion, I hope these books will provide valuable and accessible go to support for the development of ECTs. That they will allow the reader to dip in and out as needed to form that valuable voice on one’s shoulder. Thus, guiding ECTs to make informed choices and decisions as their careers evolve and develop. I hope, as with myself, the reader will see their careers to be part of a learning journey: informed by others, by experiences and the items that we engage with. It will be the choices that we make that will serve to enrich own personal and professional lives and will allow for the betterment of others.

Colin Howard, November 2022

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Foundations of reading- the final extract

We’re all happy its Friday but we’re also SO GUTTED that today is the last day of extracts from Carol Hayes‘ new book.

We’ve saved the best for last so enjoy!

DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING

When you are reading critically it is important to distinguish whether what the writer is saying is fact or opinion. Sometimes this is hard to ascertain but consider the following and try to decide whether it is fact or opinion.

This is more difficult and could fall into both camps, as it depends upon your definition of the word ‘good’in this context. If you are saying that Letters and Sounds  receive Government support as a ‘good’ way to teach reading, this may well be fact. However if you are saying that most teachers consider it to be good for their children, this is opinion.

You can see from this that critical reading requires a different approach to that of reading a novel or a magazine. You need to actively engage with the text in a sustained manner, to learn from it rather than simply be entertained by it.

For more information visit our website where all our titles are a whopping 15% OFF!

Email hannah@criticalpublishing.com with any queries or feedback.

Development of Writing- the penultimate extract from Carol Hayes’ new book.

Oh Thursday has come around so quickly and it genuinely saddens me to have to say that this is the penultimate extract from Carol Hayes’ book ‘Language, Literacy and Communication‘.

Each chapter in the book is filled with diagrams, case studies and points of reflection to encourage and promote critical thinking- this extract is a good example of this.

Critical Questions

With a colleague consider the following.

• Look at the picture below by Lewis, aged 3 years 5 months. What do you think you can learn about Lewis’ stage of development from studying this?
• Can you guess what Lewis feels is the value of having recorded this?
• What kind of setting/environment do you think would encourage this type of communication?
• What do you think this child understands about writing at this stage?

Comment

Lewis is at a pre-schematic stage, when there are connections between the circles and lines that make up the drawing. There is a clear attempt to communicate an idea. In this case he has gone beyond the basic ‘tadpole’ shape or ‘head-feet’ symbol. Interestingly in this case he has omitted the arms and this is common at this stage (Jolley, 2006). It could be that his preoccupation is still with the face, which is quite detailed, including ears.

For more information make sure to visit our website where all titles are 15% OFF.

Email hannah@criticalpublishing.com with queries or questions.

Receptive Language and Listening

Happy mid-week to all you of you! We have your third free extract from Carol Hayes‘ book ‘Language, Literacy and Communication‘.

In this lovely snippet, the text discusses the mechanics of the hearing process. Enjoy and please email with feedback!

Do we acquire language through the eye or the ear? 

When you listen to someone speaking, you are not only taking in information from your hearing and auditory processing, but you are also watching them, their physical gestures and mouth movements. Without this capacity to combine the visual sense with the auditory, you would be limiting your ability to understand the information from the receptive language. This combining of information across the senses is called ‘intermodal perception’ or ‘intermodal co-ordination’. One example of this is your ability to understand who is speaking when you hear spoken language.

Most humans are much slower than a computer at numerical calculation or recalling numbers or facts, but humans far surpass computers at language related tasks. Pinker (1994) suggested that the ear, as miraculous as it is, acts like an ‘information bottleneck’ constricting the hearing process. In the 1940s engineers attempted to produce a reading machine for blind and partially sighted people, but discovered that merely isolating the phonemes in words and then sticking them back together again in an infinite number of ways to form words, was completely useless. As real speech is understandable at between 10-50 phonemes a second, this showed that it was not possible for you to ‘read’ speech in this way, at approximately three phonemes a second, (approximately the same speed as a ship’s radio officer ‘reading’ Morse code).  To illustrate this, when we hear the tick of a clock we hear each individual sound, if this were speeded up to 20-30 ticks per second it would sound to the human ear, as a continuous sound, as the spaces between the ticks would be indistinguishable from each other.

Speech is a river of breath bent into hisses and hums by the soft flesh of the mouth and throat.                                                          

– (Pinker, 1994, p 163)

For more details on book then go to our website where ALL titles are currently 15% OFF.

Otherwise please feel free to message in with any questions for us or for Carol at hannah@criticalpublishing.com

Learning difficulties- free extract number 2

Enjoy the second extract from Carol Hayes’ book ‘Language, Literacy & Communication‘.

Case Study

Lewis

Lewis was six years of age and the youngest of three boys. Two of them learned to read quickly and apparently effortlessly, but Lewis could not understand what all these shapes on the page really meant. In school the teacher was found him ‘hard work’ as he had become the class ‘clown’, distracting other children, noisy and inattentive. Lewis spent most of the day on his own with a craft or drawing activity (which was the only thing that he appeared to be good at). The other children were surged ahead, but as he found reading so difficult most of the traditional school subjects began to leave him behind. Colouring and craft kept him occupied, but really what Lewis wanted was to be able to read.

At night Lewis sneaked a torch into his bedroom and when his mother put out the light he would get out a book, and under the covers would surreptitiously try to make sense of the words in front of him. Often he ended up crying himself to sleep, having found the task just too difficult.

Critical questions

Lewis’ experiences are in line with many children that have dyslexia, now consider the following questions:

• How do you think this made Lewis feel?
• What effect do you think this had on his social / emotional development?
• How could this have influenced his life choices and experiences?
• What do you think would have helped Lewis and his family at the time?
• How could the teacher have made Lewis’ experience in the classroom more stimulating and challenging?

For more details on book then go to our website where ALL titles are currently 15% OFF.

Otherwise please feel free to message in with any questions for us or for Carol at hannah@criticalpublishing.com

‘Language, Literacy & Communication’- a word from the author

Hello everyone. We have decided to do yet another week of extracts from Carol Hayes book ‘Language, Literacy & Communication‘. This book has received of positive feedback and is commonly credited with being accessible, interesting and necessary, so we thought WHY NOT SHARE a few snippets with our followers!

Just to give you a taster of the kind of feedback this book has received, here is what Dr Amy Palmer from the University of Roehampton thought:

“I really do like the way that key ideas are explained in an accessible way, while drawing on the research literature.  There are also some useful case studies/observation material which could be used.”

To begin the week, we have an entry from Carol Hayes the author.

There are of course, many books written about language development and sometimes students complain that there are too many and that they are dealing with an overload of information. This book however, is written to help to guide students through this and to point them in the direction in which their research can take, by breaking the area down into manageable “chunks” and then drawing these together into an understanding of the holistic and political nature of language development.

Learning more than one language is of particular Importance, in particular to the children of Wales, where a culture of bilingualism has been enshrined in the Early Years Foundation Phase. Students in the Principality often complain that appropriate texts to accompany their courses do not directly refer to education through the medium of Welsh. This book tries to address their particular concerns and integrates this with a general discussion of bilingual and multilingual learners.

Critical thinking is vital to students in higher education and is certainly the difference between a pass and a first class degree or post graduate acceptance. Yet this is an area that students struggle with and tutors find hard to teach. I frequently hear tutors bemoaning their student’s lack of ability to move beyond the descriptive stages. One intention of writing this book was to offer carefully structured activities to guide readers through this complex area of academic development and encourage them to use their practice knowledge to relate theory to practice. These pedagogical features within the book help the reader to go beyond using the text as a ‘gospel’ of information and encourage them to question the unquestionable, thereby enhancing their capacity for critical thinking through a subject specific framework.

For more details on book then go to our website where ALL titles are currently 15% OFF.

Otherwise please feel free to message in with any questions for us or Carol at hannah@criticalpublishing.com

A FREE Short Story for you to Share

It’s National Storytelling Week!

To celebrate this awesome time we’ve got an amazing short-story for you written by Naomi Riley-Dudley, a Creative Writing masters student from Loughborough University.

If you’re a teacher, have a go at reading it to your class. If you’re a parent, why not read it to your kids before bed? If you’re a student, then read it to your mates! If you read this and enjoy it you should definitely SHARE it- after all that is what this week is all about!

This is a great little story about a kid named Arlo who just doesn’t quite fit in at school. Keep reading to find out why!

How to be human

Okay. Breathe, you can do this. Inhale. Exhale. You are normal. I opened my eyes, studying my reflection in the mirror. I smiled, exposing my pointed orange teeth, trying to be positive. I just wanted to fit in. Ever since I’d been on this planet I’d felt out of place. Today was my chance to change everything and I was terrified. I adjusted my purple blazer, staring at the Townsend Church of England School logo emblazoned on it. My blue hands were poking out the sleeves – surely everyone at school would notice. The bare walls of my bedroom were judging me, their simplicity mocking the complexity of my situation. I looked at the clock (what a strange thing time is; where I come from it’s a feeling that cannot be measured; we move to our own beat and dance to sounds that our tears make as they fall to the ground). I needed to leave for school, but the angry rain was falling onto the loft’s arched window, its muskiness filling the air. The sky was grey; even the sun was scared to show itself today. I really wasn’t ready for this. Putting my raincoat on I braced myself for the February downpour. My rucksack was heavy. I wasn’t sure what I needed to pass as human so I filled it with stationary and books. It still didn’t feel as heavy as my brain pounding in my skull.

The school gates were in front of me and I couldn’t remember how to be human. As I walked down Cavan Drive I could hear the thud of my heart and feel the thoughts in my head moving in time with my footfalls. Thud, thud, thud. They were all red, dripping from my hair like hot wax down a burning candle. The muffled sounds of children in the playground talking were painful. My ears became numb, doing their best to forget what sound was. A boy looked at me and smiled. I felt exposed but smiled back, isn’t that what humans do? I tried to focus, putting one foot in front of the other, my grey eyes scanning for the main building. Everyone around me had already endured this place for 3 months; I had so much catching up to do. After spotting what looked like the office, I tried to prepare myself for this interaction. The off-white floor tiles kept squeaking against the rubber soles of my shoes every few paces.

“Hello, my name’s Arlo. Today is my first day and I was told to report to the office once I got here.”

“Ah yes, according to our records you’ll be joining Mr. Heath’s year 8 tutor group. I’ll take you over now. Oh and here’s your planner. The bell won’t be going for another 5 minutes so you can have a look through it.”

“Okay thank you,” I tried to make my voice sound nonchalant, to hide all my fears.

I followed this strange woman down corridor after corridor, getting lost in the posters adorning the walls. Who was Oliver Twist? Why was someone comparing Mice to Men? This was going to be a long day. Finally she stopped outside a dark wooden door, opening its dull metal handle. Mr. Heath didn’t look anywhere near as scary as I thought the teachers would be. I read that they were evil, preying on the vulnerability of aliens like me. He smiled and I smiled back without thinking, maybe this wouldn’t be so hard.

“Hi Arlo, I’m Mr. Heath. How are you settling in so far? I’ll get one of the other students to give you a full school tour tomorrow, but for today I’ve paired you with Ethan. You’re in all the same classes so he can show you the ropes.”

“Okay thank you.” Luckily didn’t seem to notice that I hadn’t answered his question, or if he did, he didn’t bring it up.

I sat down at a table near the back. There was a successive shrill sound that I soon realised was the bell. It was happening. Quickly I put my planner on the beech table and started flicking through it, trying to look busy as I heard the other students getting closer. The chair next to me screeched on the wooden floor as someone sat down. I knew I needed to look up.

“Hey, I’m Ethan, you must be Arlo!” a friendly voice said.

“Hey, yeah I am” I said, trying to match his tone.

“Cool hair, that’s how I want mine to be!”

I couldn’t believe he liked my long hair, I guess I liked it too but it was one of the things that made me different.

“Thanks. Have we got chemistry first?”

“Yeah come on I’ll show you where it is.”

* * *

Walking home I couldn’t believe that I’d survived my first day at school. But more than that, I couldn’t believe how much I’d enjoyed it. Ethan was just as alien as me, and it was such a relief to know that I wasn’t as alone as I felt. When I got home I ran to tell mum about my day.

“Hey you, you look happy! Told you moving schools wouldn’t be as bad as you thought! And I’ve spent the day trying to make the house look more homely.”

“No mum, you were right. I had a really good day!”

I sprinted up to my room, happy to know that the way I see myself isn’t the way others see me.

– Naomi Riley-Dudley, February 2016

Hope you’ve enjoyed that as much as I did reading it this morning! Check out our book ‘Beyond Early Writing‘ to see how you as a teacher can ensure that your students can one day write a plethora of great stories too! For details on any other title go to our website where all books are 15% OFF.

Otherwise please feel free to message in with any questions for us or for Naomi at hannah@criticalpublishing.com

‘There can be no more important subject than English in the school curriculum’

– Ofsted, 2012

Hello fellow humans, I hope the week has treated you well and I hope the weekend treats you even better!

Jonathan Glazzard and Jane Stokoe‘s book ‘Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics and Early English‘ (wow what a mouth-full) explores ways in which teachers can increase attainment and achievement in all aspects of Early English. The book highlights how important it is that learners stay engaged, enthusiastic and committed and in turn teachers must ensure that they are implementing the best practices possible to improve standards.

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has recently announced (see here) that students that fail to achieve a C grade or above in their GCSE English must now retake the exam.

‘Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics and Early English‘ actively discusses ways in which teachers can improve English at a young age, putting them in a better position to eventually go on to take their English GCSEs.

So, here it is-

Your free extract from a book that, in the current climate, is absolutely necessary.

CASE STUDY

Lucy is a trainee teacher, undertaking her first placement in a Year 2 class. The children are learning about alternative versions of traditional tales. Lucy decides to use the text The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. The children enjoy listening to the story which is written from the wolf’s point of view. After reading the story the children are asked to sit in a circle and consider the story. In particular Lucy asks them to think about whether they think the wolf is giving a true account of the version of events. The children are firstly given thinking time and then time to talk through their ideas with the person sitting next to them. Lucy then runs a whole class Community of Enquiry where the children listen to different ideas in the circle, build on what other people have said and offer their own responses. Lucy does not dominate the discussion and she lets the discussions evolve, occasionally prompting them to think about specific points. The children are fee to agree or disagree but know that if they disagree with someone’s point of view this must be done respectfully and they must explain why they do not share the same opinion.

• What support would children need to reach this level of maturity in their discussions?
• How could you use this approach across the curriculum?

Critical reflections 

Some teachers embrace talk and communication in their classrooms. Their classrooms are busy, lively places and talk is used across the curriculum to promote learning. Other teachers in contrast tightly control children’s talk. Why do you think this is?

Critical points 

This chapter has emphasised the importance of:

• creating a rich language enabling environment which provides opportunities for talk and communication;
• extending children’s language development;
• planning opportunities for children to use language and communication across the curriculum;
• early identification of children with speech, language and communication difficulties.

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How can you help learners develop their skills in English and Maths?

Good Wednesday morning! I have another fun snippet from Terry Sharrock‘s ‘Embedding English and Maths‘ for you.

Here the text discusses how you do your marking can impact how your learners improve their English and Maths skills. Terry highlights the importance of encouraging your learners to develop these fundamental skills through changing the way you criticise, correct and clarify their mistakes.

How can correcting written work lead to improvement?

In looking at hundreds of pieces of marked work over the years, one thing that strikes me is how little improvement results from tutors’ feedback on written work. Post-16 educa­tors spend a lot of time going through work and correcting it but often without an effective 14 Embedding English and Maths

system to ensure that these corrections are adopted and lead to improvements in written work. Typically comments are ‘Watch your spelling’, ‘Be careful with capital letters’, or words that are spelt incorrectly are circled or underlined, possibly with ‘sp’ in the margin. Tutors spend a lot of time and effort on this, but does it lead to improvements? Ask learners what they are expected to do with this feedback and you might be surprised to find that you are met with blank looks. It is important to put time and effort into establishing a system for what learners do with feedback on written work. For example, you might want them to establish their own paper or electronic spelling logs. These can be referred to when writing. Chapter 3 looks at what works in improving skills such as spelling and Appendix 2 contains an example of a spelling log that you may wish to adopt. For now, try this simple strategy.

Practical Task

Next time you write ‘sp’ in the margin or underline an incorrect spelling of a word add the num­ber ‘3’ to it, so you might write ‘sp3’. Help learners out by underlining only the part of the word which is incorrectly spelt. Learners rarely spell whole words incorrectly. Look at the example from the computer animation student above. Even here, only parts of words are misspelt. Get learn­ers into the habit of knowing that when they see ‘sp3’ next to a word, it means that you would like them to find and write out – or add to their spelling logs – three words that end in the same pattern. For example, the learner above has written ‘improve’ as ‘inprove’. Using ‘sp3’ you might encourage her to find the correct spellings of three words with a similar spelling pattern. At first you could provide vocationally relevant words as she is on a computer games design course, eg, ‘import’. You might expand this to more general words such as ‘important’ or ‘impress’. As her confidence grows she may be able to find words herself when she sees the ‘sp3’ on her work. The point is that there is a system which is understood by the learners that records improvements in spellings.

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