SEND ASSESSMENT:ASTRENGTHS-BASED FRAMEWORK FORLEARNERS WITH SEND

Author: Judith Carter

Publisher: Crown House Publishing

ISBN: 9780367632861

Price: £18.39

Reviewed by: Dr James Galpin, education officer,nasen

Assessment of needs is the critical foundation for effective supportfor children and young people. JudithCarter’shighly practical book not onlyrecognisesthis but also, refreshingly, focuses on learner strengthsas opposed to simply looking at where ayoung person might be experiencing difficulties. This implicit rejection of adeficit-focused approachtosupport is reinforced through the ‘seven Cframework’ detailedwithin the book.The Cs cover allareas of development, notonlyacademicattainment. Compassion, creativityand controlare so pertinenttodevelopmentbut often overlooked; within the seven Cs, they are framed as being equally important to academic achievement. The importance of involving children and youngpeople in understanding their own strengthsand needs is also very welcome to see

Carter outlines three specific ways that the seven Cs can be applied through alearning portfolio, with varying degrees of ease of application. Importantly, afourthapplication is highlighted: ‘your way’. This acknowledges how each setting and situation will be unique, and the framework is flexibleenough to accommodate arange of different applications.

Packed with ready to use, easily photocopiable and printable online resources, the book is built for use in practice. Theframeworkprovides a common language that all staffcan use to ensure consistency in how support is provided, and that implicitly looks to shiftmindsets, helping to avoid the cycle of low expectation that students with SENDcan often be caught up in.

the ‘shortand sweet’ aspect; Ten MinuteBox can fit easily into busy schedulesand thepupils enjoyed thatthe activities aren’ttoo long, so it seems easier to get through. being givenwordlistsand sentencesfor writing meant thatI didn’thave to make them up myself; this was agreat timesaver easy,concise record keeping system.

To findout more, https://bit.ly/3isOTC5