January nasen news update
TeachMeet SEN – Leicester 2012 – Saturday 28th January
A TeachMeet is an informal meet up of people working in and passionate about education - they support grassroots professional development. Events are framed by short talks and demos from people working within education - sharing practice that works.
http://fraser.typepad.com/socialtech/2012/01/teachmeet-sen-2012.html
National Award for SEN Co-ordination
The NASENCO training for new to role SENCOS is now in its third year and funding for 2011-12 will end in March. Training providers have until the middle of February to recruit to this current round of training. Nasen is hoping that additional funding will be available in 2012 – 13 but we are still awaiting notification from the DfE. Therefore if you are a new to role SENCO applications to your chosen provider need to be submitted now. For more details and a full list of providers visit http://www.tda.gov.uk/school-leader/school-improvement/sen-and-disability/advanced-skills/senco-training-providers.aspx?keywords=National+Award+for+SEN+Co-ordination
The Schools Network Academies resources 2.0 – Special Educational Needs
The Schools Network has recently published a second series of academies resources which reflect some new and current priorities in education. The resources are relevant to all secondary schools and are a great starting point for anyone who wishes to be well informed about the various themes. The second series includes a resource on special educational needs. These are available from the School Network website.
https://www.ssatrust.org.uk/ssat/Pages/BrowseProducts.aspx
Pupil Premium Update
In December 2011 Ministers announced that the Pupil Premium would increase to £600 per pupil for the year 2012 – 13 and they have also decided that eligibility for the Pupil Premium will be extended to pupils who have been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years. This will be based on the January 2012 School Census. In addition, pupils in non-mainstream settings who are publicly funded will also receive the Premium of £600 per pupil as will children who are looked after continuously for more than six months. A Service Child Premium of £250 will be available for those pupils whose parents are in the armed forces.
Schools will be required to publish details of their Pupil Premium allocation and plans to spend in the current year. For the previous year a statement confirming allocation and how the money was spent and the impact this had on educational attainment will be required.
It is really important that all you working in schools know what your schools allocation is and how it is being spent. There is a high correlation between FSM and SEND and therefore this additional funding will support the attainment and progress of those with additional needs.
Year 1 Phonics Screening Check Update
The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.
It will identify the children who need extra help so they can be given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to re-take the check so that schools can track until they are able to decode.
The check will be carried out in all maintained schools, Academies and Free schools with all pupils in Year 1 between 18th and 22nd June. It is a statutory requirement for all schools to carry out this check.
The check will be a short, simple screening check that will make sure that all pupils have grasped fundamental phonics skills and to ensure no pupil slips through the net. It comprises a list of 40 words and non-words, which a child will read one-to-one with the class teacher. Administering the phonics check requires teacher’s professional judgement so it is important that this is carried out by a teacher familiar to the child.
The guidance from the Department of Education is very clear that the check should be taken by as many pupils as possible, where necessary with adjustments being made and appropriate guidance provided.
For pupils who are working well below the level of the screening check (for example, if they have shown no understanding of letter-sound correspondences ) , there will be a disapplication process so that they do not have to take part. Schools will need to inform parents if a child is disapplied.
There is no additional funding for the phonics screening check as national assessments are part of a school’s core work. Any schools wishing to purchase phonics products and resources or training to support their teaching can receive match-funding of up to £3000 when they buy through an approved catalogue which was circulated to schools in the Autumn Term 2011.
For more information about the Phonics Check visit the Department for Education website. http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/pedagogy/phonics/
