Delivering Inclusive High Quality Teaching Strategies for SEND Pupils
Natalie Packer, author of The Perfect SENCO and The Teacher's Guide to SEN shares insights on developing inclusive high quality teaching.
'High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN. Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching.' SEND Code of Practice, p. 99
In the 2010 report on the teaching of pupils with SEN, subtitled A Statement Is Not Enough, Ofsted noted that the key priority for all children must be ‘good teaching and learning’. This may sound like a fairly obvious conclusion, but the Ofsted survey found that some of the most vulnerable pupils in our schools were not getting the highest quality teaching and learning and this was resulting in underachievement. The outcomes of this report paved the way for the increased focus on delivering high-quality teaching as the key to ensuring all pupils, including those with SEN, make good progress. A key message within the SEND Code of Practice is that all teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of all pupils, including those who have additional needs.
Inclusive high-quality teaching (HQT) ensures that planning and implementation meets the needs of all pupils, and builds in high expectations for all pupils, including those with SEN. This is a basic entitlement for all children and young people and should be underpinned by effective whole school teaching and learning policies and frameworks. High-quality teaching is about the day-to-day interactions that take place in the classroom and the different pedagogical approaches used to engage, motivate and challenge learners. It is about the way teachers use assessment and feedback to identify gaps and help pupils to move on in their learning. It is about providing both support and challenge in order to enable pupils to achieve more.
A key responsibility for the SENCO is to provide advice, guidance and support to colleagues on how they can practically implement inclusive HQT in the classroom in order to remove barriers to learning.
Natalie Packer has shared, and will continue to update, information with teachers about the practical aspects of high-quality teaching, based on evidence, and how leaders of SEN can ensure they make inclusive HQT a priority in their school.
The Teacher’s Guide to SEN by Natalie Packer provides further practical advice on implementing inclusive High Quality Teaching in the classroom and is available from Amazon or Natalie's website.
