Welcome to the latest edition of Chisnell Chatter. This edition has a range of educational research and publications to inform your role in school. I share guidance for MATs ins strengthening SEND provision, DEF research into reasonable force, adaptive strategies and some top tips for developing cold calling as a pedagogical appraoch.
As ever, I would love to hear from you about your thoughts on this edition. My consultancy offer is varied and includes coaching for leaders, subject lead training, safeguarding reviews, website reviews, research training, adaptive teaching for subject leaders, coaching into appraisal and much more. I am also taking bookings from schools for leadership team coaching for next academic year, places are limited for this so do get in touch soon to secure your coaching support.
How MATs can improve SEND provision
I came across an interesting post by SYCOL regarding Multi Academy Trusts and the support for pupils with SEND. It shared ideas about how trusts can work to avoid the battle with local authorities, and best support staff to feel less isolated.
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has produced a report based on interviews with MAT chiefs, SEND leaders in trusts and Sendcos working in academies.
It warns that MATs and schools face significant challenges recruiting and retaining Sendcos, many of whom say their workload is increasing. It also highlights six key ways in which trusts can better support staff and deliver SEND provision:
1. Appoint MAT-wide SEND leaders
Many trusts have appointed leaders in central teams who oversee SEND across the MAT’s schools and play a pivotal role in improving support, according to the NFER report.
These leaders play “a crucial role in centralising SEND efforts, facilitating collaboration and providing expertise and support to individual schools”, the report says. Leading to enhanced collaboration and strategic support.
2. Help Sendcos feel less ‘isolated’
The report warns that Sendcos have raised concerns about their rising workload, linked to an increase in administrative tasks associated with education, health and care plans (EHCPs).
The report recommends that trusts and schools should strengthen measures to support the mental health and wellbeing of Sendcos and support staff.
It also says that MAT leaders should recognise the importance that Sendcos place on opportunities for collaboration, both across the MAT and locally.
- SEND provision: Have you got the right mindset for inclusion?
- Support staff: TA support for SEND is non-existent, warn teachers
- Funding: Trust leaders call for changes to SEND funding
It says such opportunities “can help to mitigate Sendcos’ feelings of isolation and help foster essential support networks”. The report adds that trusts should empower Sendcos to be “agents of change” within their schools.
During interviews Sendcos spoke about how isolating the role could be. While most reported feeling well supported, they did not always feel that colleagues, including senior leaders, fully understood their role or the pressures they were under.
3. Avoid ‘fighting’ with LAs
The NFER highlights the importance of the relationship between MATs and local education authorities (LAs).
The report says it is “imperative for MATs and LAs to work together in a collaborative and complementary way in order to optimise outcomes for all pupils, but particularly for those with SEND”.
However, interviewees provided many examples of MATs “expending resource on ‘fighting’ with the LA – with many explicitly using similar combative vocabulary”. Some MATs presented themselves as intervening with LAs on behalf of their pupils.
One MAT SEND leader said: “If the local authority are doing something that is not good enough, then I think we have an obligation to push back and challenge. However, that is against a backdrop of, of course, the right thing to do is to work collaboratively and together for the benefit of these children. So you don’t want to damage relationships, but you also don’t want to accept poor practice.”
4. ‘Blend’ SEND and mainstream
The NFER spoke to staff across 19 MATs, six of which included special schools and others incorporated specialist resource bases or AP provision within their mainstream schools.
Its findings provide “tentative evidence for the positive impact of a ‘blended’ MAT approach, where both mainstream and specialist provisions coexist within the same MAT structure”, the report says.
Interviewees said this type of MAT structure provides opportunities for knowledge to be exchanged, training and the sharing of resources between special and mainstream schools.
The report adds: “However, within our sample, this integration appeared to be at an early stage, suggesting this was still a work in progress.”
5. Standardise SEND vision for schools
The NFER found that there was no single blueprint for the role that MATs play in supporting SEND provision.
It found, however, that it was common for MATs to provide a “SEND framework or vision” to set a culture and expectations for schools.
Researchers found that MATs “typically avoided making explicit mandates, emphasising that the MAT’s role was to advise and support schools with SEND”.
The NFER report recommends that MATs develop a standardised suite of templates, forms and data management and monitoring systems for SEND.
It says this can support cross-MAT collaboration and knowledge-sharing between schools, and reduce the administrative workload placed on Sendcos.
6. More research needed
The full potential of the MAT model for SEND provision is still to be unlocked, the report says.
More research is needed to better understand what “effective practice” for SEND pupils looks like within the MAT context
The NFER report is based on interviews with 49 Sendcos, SEND leaders in MATs and MAT CEOs.
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said: “Our members are clear that improving support for children with special educational needs is their biggest priority within quality of education, and this report from NFER rightly recognises the powerful work already being done by trust leaders.”
She added that MATs “need more recognition from government and local authorities” of the role of trusts when it comes to SEND.
DfE research into reasonable force in AP and special schools
DFE have released their research into use of reasonable force in AP and special schools. This builds on the 2013 guidance on the use of reasonable force in schools and is likely to inform the revision of this guidance.
Key implications from the research include:
Training providers play a significant role in schools’ policy and practice around
reasonable force, including physical restraint and restrictive practices. Having been trained by a registered provider, the school often has clear protocols in place that are globally understood and adhered to.
In an effort to reduce reasonable force, including physical restraint and restrictive
practices, some schools had removed stimulus which was felt to trigger disruptive
behaviours. There was disagreement across the sample about whether removing stimulus was best practice, with some school leaders concerned this approach did not
adequately prepare children for adult life. This could be a useful research project for some schools to discern the benefit or not of removing stimulus for pupils.
Variations in recording practices and the language used to describe reasonable
force, including physical restraint and restrictive practices may make it difficult to
compare schools if they were required to report incidents. If reporting was to be
made mandatory for special schools and alternative provision, exploration of the
potential difficulties or unintended consequences of this may be required, including
the potential for it to affect how incidents were classified and at what thresholds
these were reported.
While this is a research paper, it does suggest that there will be an update to the 2013 guidance on the use of reasonable force and may suggest that there will be a requirement to report incidents to the DfE.
Adaptive expertise discussion
Here is a link to an interesting discussion led by the EEF on adaptive expertise.
Stuart Kime and Rob Coe talk about adaptive expertise. In this presentation, the presenters consider how the EEF Teaching Toolkit can be used to support and strengthen the approach to adaptive expertise in the classroom.
They define adaptive expertise as the ability to apply a skill learned in a range of differing situations and subject disciplines.
The key to success adaptive expertise is to encourage pupils to transfer their current knowledge to navigate new learning.
Updated Ofsted IDSR
Ofsted’s Inspection Data Summary report (IDSR) has been updated on 2 May 2024.
This update includes:
- Final key stage 2 performance data for 2023
- Final key stage 4 performance data for 2023
- Final 16 to 18 data for 2023
- 3-term absence data for 2022/23
The IDSR is used by inspection teams to review the school’s published data and inform their pre-inspection analysis of your school.
Top tips for cold calling
Cold calling is strategy where a teacher selects pupils to respond to questions rather than pupils raising their hands to be selected by the teacher. The practice, when embedded in a classroom, motivates pupils to remain ready to respond to their teacher and encourages active learning. Evidence Based Education have produced a helpful top 5 for embedding cold calling.
Keep cold calling warm. Cold calling is not about “catching students out” or putting them on the spot to feel uncomfortable. Cold calling encourages active learning for all students. This also allows the teacher to provide feedback to students based on their responses. The use of names, instead of pointing at students, can also make cold calling feel more friendly and personable.
Ask again. It is important to ask a student a subsequent question to ensure learners remain focused. If students believe they won’t be called on again to answer a question, then they may switch off and stop paying attention. Allow wait time for all students (including those who have already responded!) to rehearse and prepare an answer, prior to selecting the student to answer.
Scaffold questions to support learners. Teachers should be mindful of the cognitive bias, the so-called “curse of knowledge”. This is where an individual assumes that other people possess the knowledge they have. Teachers should not make assumptions, but instead check for knowledge and understanding. This can be achieved effectively through questioning. Questions can begin with factual recall and short answer questions; they can then progress to “higher-order” thinking and more complex questions that require an extended answer.
Observe others and seek feedback. Cold calling requires practice and thoughtful reflection, just like many other teaching techniques and strategies. It can be very helpful to observe other teachers using cold calling in their classroom. In addition to observing others, it can be useful to gain feedback through someone observing your questioning in the classroom. If you have access to The Great Teaching Toolkit, the video observation tool is already at your disposal. Video observation tools enable teachers to capture their practice, reflect, and seek feedback from trusted colleagues; this can facilitate high-impact conversations around strengths and strategies to try in the classroom.
Explain cold calling to students. If a teacher is introducing cold calling to their classroom, they should explain the rationale to their students. Students may not initially like cold calling, particularly as some students have become accustomed to volunteering and sharing their answers! On the other hand, other members of the class may have been content to not engage in question-and-answer discussions. Students may develop misconceptions if this strategy is not explained clearly to them. They may believe the teacher is being unfair by asking a question without hands up. Instead, students should know the importance of everyone contributing in a lesson, not just a few. Indeed, asking all members of the class to think hard about a question promotes more learning for everyone—it’s actually more fair than a hands up approach!
Here is a link to the full cold calling article by Kate Jones.
Irresistible Learning 