Ask the team

There isalwaysasteady streamofquestionsarriving at nasen House and,of course, the Education Team answers them as soon as possible. But, while many of them are specifictoa particular context,the answers to anumberof themcould be helpful to the wider nasenmembership.‘Askthe team’ providesthe space to share these questions andanswers.

01827 311500

@nasen_org education@nasen.org.uk @nasen.org education@nasen.org.uk you can always give nasen House acalltoo.

Teacher Training

Iattended atraining course about high quality teaching and learning for all students and was surprised to hear that differentiation is now no longer to be used. This was the key partofmytraining as ateacher and now,eight years in, Ifeel that my style of teaching is not applicable. The talk was all about adaptive teaching and how all pupils should be learning the same thing with different scaffolding and supporttohelp them access the curriculum. Does this fit with the SEND Code of Practice statement of ‘different from and additional to’?

Teacher,Hastings

Youare right to bring up the statement within the Code of Practice around the requirement that SEN provision be “different from or additional to that normally available to pupils or students of the same age”. However,times have moved on since 2014 when this was written, and the development of inclusion by design and provision at universal level is much more appropriate for young people, including those with SEN. The term‘adaptive teaching’ has gained prominence, partly due to its inclusion in the Ofsted Inspection Framework and is, in effect, differentiation but at amore universal level. It is about considering those pupils in the margins at the startoflessonplanning, and providing for them will ensure that you are providing for all. There are some resources available on the nasen and Whole School SEND websites that may help: Webinar on adaptive teaching: https://bit.ly/3IMwdYO

Adaptive teaching: https://bit.ly/3W7U6Np

Inclusive Classroom language: https://bit.ly/3ZBht4M

Online modules: https://bit.ly/3QBNJAF

Access Arrangements

Ihave ayoung person in KS2who has a diagnosis of autism andADD and does nothave an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Can Istillapply foraccess arrangementsfor them?

SENCO, Derbyshire

In KS2 there is no requirement for formal testing to be used for access arrangements and their teacher would be the one to make the application as they know that pupil’s normal way of working. There are several different access arrangements that you can www.nasen.org.uk consider; extra time is the most common, or reader,scribing, the use of aword processor, aprompt, etc. Rest breaks may be more beneficial for young people than extra time as these give an opportunitytotake time out to relax and then restart. All must be considered from the earliest opportunity in view of their normal way of working in the classroom so that pupils are adept and prepared for using the arrangement that is most suited to their needs.

Further information is available here: https://bit.ly/3IHp2Rw