Sen In Foundation

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

Need some advice as my head is totally swimming! I have a child in my class who has SEN (mainly in the areas of play and social development, communication language and literacy and physical development) and I am trying to organise their learning at the moment. Outside agencies have helped to devise an IEP but I am struggling to know how to organise the rest of the childs learning time....

Do I track back to suitable objectives/developmental matters using the EYFS for when we do adult led activities/direct teaching?

 

or do I use the assessment sheet given by the outside agency to plan for objectives and activities rather than the EYFS as this is specific to the child's learning needs?

 

Do I also assess the child using the FSP scale points as well as the assessment sheet given by the outside agency?

 

Also, I am not sure if it is entirely appropriate for the child to always be engaging in an adult led activitiy because their development is so delayed (they may benefit more from an adult scaffolding their play)!

 

I am soooooooo confused - can anyone advise on how they organise their SEN support alongside the EYFS currciulum and all other assessment tools thrown at you by outside agencies?

 

I have a foundation class of 30 children with only myself and a TA!

 

Thanks everyone!

Edited May 8, 2009 by Guest

[LittleBean]

Hi Tinky,

This is my first ever message so I hope I've done it right. I have quite a lot of SEN children in my setting with varying degrees of needs & have had to devise many different sheets/methods to ensure they are assessed at appropriate levels.

You should only use the EYFS profile if the child is at that level. They might be in some areas but not others. If you have assessment sheets given to you which you feel will help your monitoring of the child's progression then use them. You will need to record levels for this child the same as all your others periodically through the year, so you might have to create a sheet based on the the DM's of younger age groups in the EYFS. Don't forget the IEP's, when filled in, will provide you with written evidence of your assessment of the child's progression. Hope this makes sense and is of help to you.

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone,

Need some advice as my head is totally swimming! I have a child in my class who has SEN (mainly in the areas of play and social development, communication language and literacy and physical development) and I am trying to organise their learning at the moment. Outside agencies have helped to devise an IEP but I am struggling to know how to organise the rest of the childs learning time....

Do I track back to suitable objectives/developmental matters using the EYFS for when we do adult led activities/direct teaching?

 

or do I use the assessment sheet given by the outside agency to plan for objectives and activities rather than the EYFS as this is specific to the child's learning needs?

 

Do I also assess the child using the FSP scale points as well as the assessment sheet given by the outside agency?

 

Also, I am not sure if it is entirely appropriate for the child to always be engaging in an adult led activitiy because their development is so delayed (they may benefit more from an adult scaffolding their play)!

 

I am soooooooo confused - can anyone advise on how they organise their SEN support alongside the EYFS currciulum and all other assessment tools thrown at you by outside agencies?

 

I have a foundation class of 30 children with only myself and a TA!

 

Thanks everyone!

[Guest]

I haven't any experience within school but my foster son has Moderate to profound learning difficulties. He is currently in Primary Yr6, but is in an out of year class (Yr 4), he also has some time in Reception Class to 'help' younger children (that is what he thinks he is doing and is proud to be doing), because he missed a lot of the 'Foundations' during his formative years, being in Reception gives him access to 'sensory', play based curriculum (ie: EYFS).

I have attached a timetable that he was given following his Statutory Assessment allocation of 25 hrs support, it has changed a bit since being written (ie: time in Reception, which I felt he needed). It may help with ideas of tim allocation per curriculum area. He is just within NC levels in some areas, and P scales within others, however at my last meeting with the school SENCO she said she prefers to use the objectives from EYFS rather than the P scale ones. SEN is so diverse and complicated, shown by the fact that his levels can, in essence, be 'measured' within 3 different attainment documents.

 

 

My sons school uses SEAL materials effectively with him.

Clever hands, Fizzy's Training Games for physical development (compiled by Kent Occupational Therapists). These are very much like EYFS type acticities, finger songs/rhymes, puppets, instruments, ball games etc

 

With your child it depends on the level of need, does the child have a statement, or in the process of getting one?

My son needs 'contextual' learning, he is unable to grasp the abstract. He needs support with confidence to learn, trust his own abilities.

I would guess the child will benefit from adult 'scaffolding' unless the adult leader can ensure differentiation within activities that the child can follow/understand. My sons initial experience in his year class was of total bewilderment as most of the curriculum offered was far too advanced for his cognitive levels ( linked very closely to his CLL abilities).

 

Does the outside agencies assessment sheet objectives fit in with the EYFS ones? If the child is functioning below EYFS (for his/her age band) then maybe a statement is necessary and then you can hopefully get more adult funded support for the child.

 

I would say try not to lose the fact that the child's main objective each day is to enjoy being with peers and adults, celebrate his/her achievements, and his/her current level, value what the child CAN do now, in my experience with my foster son his main hurdle is to be confident enough to try, he has picked up messages that he 'requires' additional support and an underlying pressure to 'improve', this fact alone undermines their confidence. They need to know they are special for all the ways they are NOT different as well as the ways they are.

 

Peggy

25_hrs___timetable_of_support_example.doc

[Guest]

Little Bean:

Thank you so much for your advise! The child is achieving on the FSP, mainly 1s,2s and 3s across the 6 areas of learning. The main concern I have is using younger DMs will mean I am doubling my work as I could adapt the 'assessment profile' to create learning intentions and ensure the child's progress this way. I looked at the previous years' DMs and found it very hard to see how I could cross reference whilst ensuring I am aware of the child's small steps of progress?I am just unsure whether I have to use the EYFS for planning or not for children with such significant learning difficulties?

 

Peggy:

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences - they have been a great help! The authority are looking at statementing in preparation for September so that the child is able to have 1:1 support. In the meantime, I am left to try and plan a curriculum and next steps which encompasses the EYFS and the guidance given from outside support! The outside agencies support sheet is specific to a few areas of the EYFS (CLLD, PD, PSED) which is where the child needs most support. However, I am still wary of the need for the child to access learning for PSRN, KUW and CD if i choose to use their guidance to plan appropriate learning opportunities.

 

My thinking at the moment is to maybe plan specific learning opportunities linked to the guidance from the outside agency and use 'scaffolding' during play to meet the EYFS requirements for all areas of learning - what do you think?

[Guest]

I can only comment from my sons experience, as a parent, and preschool experience and not within the context of managing 30 children with just one TA and all the other responsibilities of FS profile judgements etc.

 

I would plan for ALL areas of EYFS, continuous provision and adult led. Keep in mind that progress may not 'appear' to be measurable as the child will need lots of repetition before grasping concepts or skills. Look more at the 'holistic' curriculum, a skill or concept can encompass more than one DM area of the EYFS, it's hard to advize without knowing the objectives set by outside agency, would you like to share them?

 

Adult intervention isn't always the means to enable progress, but on the otherhand for some objectives could be necessary.

 

What has helped with my son is not to think of him as his 'chronological' age but to just meet his current developmental needs, as you would any other child with those needs, irrespective of chronological age. This may sound obvious but it is actually quite difficult, ie: I do find myself thinking...but Cxxxxr, you're 11 yrs old now (when I watch him playing preschool type role play or when he doesn't hold his knife and fork securely, or he gets food over his hands and face when eating. The complexity is, is that we also see him managing to eat like an 11 yr old would, and play with his older brothers is a bit more of a maturer way.

 

I like the way you've described providing 'specific learning opportunities' for the outside agency objectives, rather than adult led activities for these, and yes, scaffolding' is all part of EYFS provision.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

I've just thought, you sound like you are actually doing very well for this child, planing and providing for his/her needs. it's just that we get 'hung up' so much on having to 'measure' and 'evidence' the learning. Tracking and writing down what we know, and could explain verbally, if asked, but writing within the recording systems required of us is the problem here, and not the childs development issues.

 

Maybe don't get stuck on the 'jargon' of EYFS and match as close as you can to DM stages.

 

Peggy

[catma]

The child is achieving on the FSP, mainly 1s,2s and 3s across the 6 areas of learning.

The main concern I have is using younger DMs will mean I am doubling my work as I could adapt the 'assessment profile' to create learning intentions and ensure the child's progress this way. I looked at the previous years' DMs and found it very hard to see how I could cross reference whilst ensuring I am aware of the child's small steps of progress?I am just unsure whether I have to use the EYFS for planning or not for children with such significant learning difficulties?

 

I would just like to add - remember the EYFSP is just for summating his attainment at the point he moves to yr 1. If he is already achieving within the points 1 -3 that's fantastic and well done, and you will need to report his scores anyway to the LA via the normal routines. If there are any scales he has no attainment on yet then you use "AA" = alternative assessment as he also has his IEP etc as assessment targets to cover this. This would appear as 0 i think on the return though. Look at the FS/KS1 assessment and reporting arrangements 2009 found on the QCA website for specific guidance.

 

For planning his learning don't worry about EYFSP - I would stick to the DM framework (where he must be within 30 - 50ish if he is getting 1-3 points as that would be at the same sort of pitch - 1-3 points puts them just below the ELGs developementally) and leave the summative assessment to when it needs to be done.

 

Cx

Edited May 9, 2009 by catma

[Guest]

I can only comment from my sons experience, as a parent, and preschool experience and not within the context of managing 30 children with just one TA and all the other responsibilities of FS profile judgements etc.

 

I would plan for ALL areas of EYFS, continuous provision and adult led. Keep in mind that progress may not 'appear' to be measurable as the child will need lots of repetition before grasping concepts or skills. Look more at the 'holistic' curriculum, a skill or concept can encompass more than one DM area of the EYFS, it's hard to advize without knowing the objectives set by outside agency, would you like to share them?

 

Adult intervention isn't always the means to enable progress, but on the otherhand for some objectives could be necessary.

 

What has helped with my son is not to think of him as his 'chronological' age but to just meet his current developmental needs, as you would any other child with those needs, irrespective of chronological age. This may sound obvious but it is actually quite difficult, ie: I do find myself thinking...but Cxxxxr, you're 11 yrs old now (when I watch him playing preschool type role play or when he doesn't hold his knife and fork securely, or he gets food over his hands and face when eating. The complexity is, is that we also see him managing to eat like an 11 yr old would, and play with his older brothers is a bit more of a maturer way.

 

I like the way you've described providing 'specific learning opportunities' for the outside agency objectives, rather than adult led activities for these, and yes, scaffolding' is all part of EYFS provision.

 

Peggy

 

I think you are right Peggy - I am getting too terrfified of doing the wrong thing by the EYFS framework, the outside agencies but most of all - the child! The guidance given from the outside professional is more an assessment tool than learning intentions. For example under eye-hand coordination there is a statement which says 'rolls playdough etc into sausage shapes. Will answer questions about what he/she is doing'. These are the statements we used to set targets for the child's IEP, working on those which we felt needed the most support. Therefore (and having had sleep), I am now thinking that maybe these statements should only be used for assessment purposes alongside the IEP, rather than a way of planning for learning opportunities. The danger is that if I use these statements for learning opportunities, I may well just guide the child through a long list of 'tickboxes' which is totally against my way of teaching and learning!!!! Hope this makes sense?

Maybe it is best to do as Catma suggests, use DMs appropraite to where the child is at to plan for next steps and learning opportunities and use the outside agency support alongside FSP to assess and track the child's progess?

What do you think?

Tinky

[Guest]

Cancel all panic - I have just discovered the assessment tool from the outside agency links to the early learning goals and tracks back so is in effect is like the developmental stages. Therefore I will be able to use this to plan for next step learning opportunities with an adult and still link to the EYFS.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Guest

[Guest]

Cancel all panic - I have just discovered the assessment tool from the outside agency links to the early learning goals and tracks back so is in effect is like the developmental stages. Therefore I will be able to use this to plan for next step learning opportunities with an adult and still link to the EYFS.

 

 

Looking at your 9:06 post and then your 9:20 post, glad to see you only took 14 mins to come to your conclusion instead of worrying all day (or weekend) about it.

 

Now all you need to do is to look forward to having some 'fun' with this child on Monday. So when you making the playdough, tomorrow???? :wacko:

 

And I agree it is 'best to do as Catma suggests'. Catma is so good at clarifying, she's translated my waffle into a clear course of action.

 

Peggy

[catma]

 

Thank you!

Cx