SEND in Mainstream Schools

Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools A briefing paper for section 5 inspectors

Inspectors should have received the mainstream special educational needs and/or disability training provided by Ofsted before leading an inspection. This guidance is for quick reference only.

Age group: All Published: January 2011 Reference no: 090162 The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email [email protected]. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. This publication is available at www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-all- by/Education-and-skills/Schools/Supplementary-guidance-and-resources-for-inspectors. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

Introduction 4 Background 4 Special educational needs and/or disabilities – definitions 4 Mainstream schools 4 Preparing the inspection 4 During the inspection 5 The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress 5 Behaviour 6 Attendance 8 The quality of teaching and the use of assessment to support learning 8 Curriculum 9 Access and participation 9 Additional intervention/provision 10 Foundation learning 10 Alternative provision 11 Safeguarding 11 Writing the report 12 Mainstream schools with specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities 13 Preparing the inspection (schools with specially resourced provision) 14 During inspection (schools with specially resourced provision) 15 Achievement 16 Behaviour 16 Teaching and learning 17 Curriculum 17 Care, guidance and support 17 Leadership 17 Writing the report (schools with specially resourced provision) 17 Introduction

Inspectors should have received the mainstream special educational needs and/or disability training provided by Ofsted before leading an inspection. This guidance is for quick reference only. Background Special educational needs and/or disabilities – definitions

1. The term ‘special educational needs and/or disability’ is used if children have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A ‘learning difficulty’ means:

 they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age; or  they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities, of a kind generally provided for children of the same age, in schools within the area of the local education authority; or  they are under compulsory school age and fall within one of the definitions above, or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them.

2. A disabled person is defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as someone who has:1

'a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'.

3. Inspectors should note that pupils identified with special educational needs may or may not have a disability and disabled pupils may or may not be identified as having special educational needs. Mainstream schools

Preparing the inspection

4. Check to see if there is a specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and, if so, should read the information on page 13 of this guidance on ‘Mainstream schools with specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities’.

5. Use pre-inspection information from RAISEonline and the school to build up a picture of identified needs, progress and provision within the school including:

1 The Disability Discrimination Act will be superseded by the Equality Act 2010 but the definition remains.4 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162  numbers and proportions of learners identified with special educational needs and/or disabilities throughout the school and by year group  any significant changes of identification between one year and another  anything disproportionate, for example in identification, exclusions, absence, attainment, progress (these may inform inspection trails)  analysis of value-added scatter plots for progress of pupils with special educational needs  numbers attending alternative provision. During the inspection The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress

6. Inspectors should:

 use RAISEonline and the Progression materials 2010–11 datasets 1 to 3,2 alongside other assessment information provided by the school for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to help to form a view about progress. Data for the last three years must be considered and discussed with the school and used as part of the evidence alongside evidence from lesson observations  recognise that gaining accreditation is not evidence of progress and moving from level 1 in Key Stage 2 to entry level 1 qualifications at end of Key Stage 4 is unlikely to reflect satisfactory or good progress  find out about the rigour of the moderation procedures for any teacher assessment including P-scales (at minimum this should be across the school, best practice is across local authority/region/or group of schools)  above all, focus on the progress being made by pupils by using their ages and starting points (baseline) alongside the time pupils have been receiving specialist support/been at the school to analyse progress  remember that a category of ‘need’ for example autistic spectrum disorder does not give any information about actual or expected levels of attainment (one pupil may be working towards 12 A* GCSE grades whereas another pupil of the same age may be working towards Level P6)  remember that levels of identification and definitions of need vary considerably from one area of the country to another  maintain high expectations of learning for all pupils in lesson observations  analyse the impact of usual provision, any additional and different provision and the impact of both together on learning including during lesson observations

2 http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/437685 5 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162  not assume pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities always need adult help. The evaluation schedule grade descriptors include ‘Too many pupils fail to work effectively unless closely directed by an adult and give up easily’ and this is also relevant for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Consider the opportunities pupils have to work independently or with their peers  recognise it is difficult to evaluate the degree of challenge set by individual education plan targets unless they are effectively linked to moderated expectations outlined in the Progression materials 2010–11. Therefore evaluation of these targets is unlikely to contribute strongly towards the judgement on the quality of learning and progress unless this is the case (be aware there is no statutory requirement to have individual education plans; reviewing and reporting progress against the objectives within a statement is all that is required)  determine what systems are in place to identify quickly any underachievement of pupils including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities  determine what action has been taken for any child not making sufficient progress, and whether it has made a difference to their rate of progress. Expect the school to be able to tell you about the effectiveness of interventions – not just what is provided  explore how, if the school uses external packages to help analyse progress of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, this information is used to evaluate its performance and set challenging targets. Behaviour

7. Consider the following:

 Do pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities feel safe in school (particularly from bullying)?  What do observations around the school at break and lunchtime show about the way in which pupils treat all others?  How does the school support its most behaviourally challenging pupils, even where there is a small number? This reveals much about a school’s ethos and its approach to equality and diversity.  For pupils with behavioural, social or emotional difficulties, or identified disabilities such as autistic spectrum disorders, are ‘reasonable adjustments’ made to help them to be included in school (a requirement of the disability discrimination act) or is exclusion the only or main response to their behaviour?

8. Where exclusions are high or exclusions are not high but behaviour is a concern, during the inspection, consider the following: 6 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162  In lessons, are all learners engaged well in learning? Where learners need additional support to engage, does this occur?  Are learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties given enough support and structure (in lessons and around school) to allow them to engage successfully for a reasonable proportion of the time, and therefore to succeed?  Exclusions: look at the breakdown of exclusion data. If necessary, ask the school to provide further exclusions data, clarifying which pupils are identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities and at which stage (school action, school action plus, statement of special educational needs) – does this look reasonable or disproportionate? If exclusion is used, does it have an impact? Repeated exclusions indicate that, for that pupil, exclusion is not effective.  Links between behaviour and low literacy levels: Is there an appropriate focus on literacy in lessons for those pupils who need it? If this may be a concern, look at the end of KS2 English scores for those who have the most exclusions in Years 7 and 8. If these scores are low, explore the links – how robust is the school’s action to address literacy difficulties? How good is this in lessons other than English?  Links between behaviour and achievement: look at the school’s tracking data – choose a group of frequently excluded pupils or those who have the poorest behaviour records. Ask the school to provide information about their attainment and progress, and the guidance and support they are receiving for their behaviour. Is this good enough?  Behaviour in lessons: spend 10 minutes in a series of lessons with bottom sets and groups with a large number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities – does the school recognise the vulnerability of some of these pupils who may spend much of their time with those with the most challenging behaviour, and is support appropriate? Are teachers able to manage the most challenging groups?  Vulnerable pupils’ experiences: speak to a group of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities about their school experiences.  Excluded pupils’ experiences: speak to a group of pupils who are frequently excluded.

9. The school should be able to provide all this information easily. If they cannot then this in itself raises concerns.

10. Further guidance on evaluating behaviour can be found in the supplementary section 5 inspection briefing: www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and- guidance/Browse-all-by/Education-and-skills/Schools/Supplementary-guidance- and-resources-for-inspectors

7 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162 Attendance

 consider attendance of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities compared with the rest of the school and other groups  investigate links between low attendance and levels of progress and attainment as well as the identification of pupils as having special educational needs and/or disabilities  when making the judgement for care, guidance and support ascertain whether these pupils are being given the appropriate amount of support and challenge to improve their attendance and whether this is being effective  when making a judgement for safeguarding include attendance of the possible additional vulnerability of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are persistently absent or excluded.

12. Further guidance on evaluating attendance can be found in the supplementary section 5 inspection briefing: www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and- guidance/Browse-all-by/Education-and-skills/Schools/Supplementary-guidance- and-resources-for-inspectors. The quality of teaching and the use of assessment to support learning

 find out if pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are making the same progress in acquiring attitudes and skills leading to greater independence in learning – how are pupils’ curiosity and persistence promoted by the staff and are pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities encouraged to use their initiative?  challenge the assumption that additional adult support always improves progress for pupils by evaluating the effectiveness of staff deployment and recognise this is teacher’s responsibility. Do the teaching assistants always work with the lowest attaining group?  find out, at what stages of learning does the teacher become involved with pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities who are frequently supported by other staff, for example introducing new concepts? The work the pupils are doing should be overseen closely by a teacher to ensure the next step in learning is carefully planned. For pupils with more complex needs, specialist teachers should also be involved. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure the work is at the right level for the pupils involved  ensure a teacher does not rely solely on information from a teaching assistant to know how much progress pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are making 8 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162  evaluate the amount of teacher/adult talk versus the amount of contribution from pupils. What interaction does the teacher have with pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities?  investigate if pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have a chance to interact with their peers or if the majority of interactions are led by or with the teacher or other adults. Does working with support staff prevent social interaction with other pupils?  consider if support staff have sufficient subject knowledge to ensure their input, for example questioning, promotes thinking and learning as opposed to task completion?  consider if the organisation of the lesson and the physical environment enable full access for all pupils regardless of disability?  are teachers and other staff clear about what they want pupils to learn as this may not always simply be the subject content. For example challenge assumptions that pupils with certain needs ‘cannot’ join in with a group – if they find this difficult find out how teachers/adults are helping them to learn these skills?  look at the books/work of some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities; compare aspects with what you see in other pupils’ books (challenge of tasks, evidence of motivation and independence, presentation, marking); ask them about progress and support as appropriate. Curriculum

14. Make sure the curriculum (and the result of any setting arrangements) helps to raise aspirations, provide realistic progression opportunities and does not present ‘glass ceilings’ for any pupil including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Access and participation

15. Access and participation should be challenged, with regard given to the Disability Discrimination Act.

16. The participation of different groups in all aspects of school life including residential visits and other regular extra curricular activities and opportunities should be explored. Schools should be able to tell inspectors the proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities who are participating in additional activities and should know if this is in line with other groups. If there are pupils with disabilities, how are ‘reasonable adjustments’ (Disability Discrimination Act) made – for example, lack of access to transport is not an acceptable reason for pupils being unable to participate; or how does the school enable a child with Aspergers Syndrome and related challenging behaviour to participate in off-site activities?

9 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162 Additional intervention/provision

17. Investigate how the interventions are selected (including additional adult support) – they should be driven by the pupils’ needs, interests and aptitudes as well as strong evaluation of what works best.

18. Evaluate the impact of the chosen interventions on improving outcomes.

19. Consider how the interventions link into other lessons in school – pupils should not be ‘missing out’ or be expected to ‘catch up’.

Foundation learning

20. Some schools may be offering Foundation Learning, provision for learners aged 14–19 working at entry level or level 1 (it may be delivered by mainstream and special schools, colleges and other private or voluntary providers, either singly or in partnership).3 It offers a personalised and flexible programme of learning, based around qualifications from the Qualifications and Credit Framework and is focused on progression.4 It offers learners flexibility, choice and the opportunity to concentrate on a specific vocational area.

21. The Foundation Learning programme is made up of three components listed below; the balance between each element depends on individual need:

 vocational or subject learning  personal and social development  the three functional skills.

22. There is a greater emphasis than with previous programmes on accrediting achievement at entry level and level 1, with qualifications available on the Qualifications and Credit Framework offering flexible and inclusive mechanisms for recognition. The key objective is to increase the proportion of learners who achieve Level 2 post 16. It is up to each local authority, working with schools and other partners, to determine which schools are delivering Foundation Learning in 2010/11. For young people post-16 all provision at entry level and level 1 will now be funded as Foundation Learning.

23. Inspectors should evaluate the appropriateness of pupils on this programme and their outcomes. Personalised programmes should be based on an initial assessment to identify a pupil’s prior achievements, educational needs and future goals. This may be working towards a learning programme at level 2, a return to GCSE study, skilled work or Apprenticeship programme, or it may be towards independent living or supported employment. Both the content and duration of learning programmes are flexible, to suit individual needs. Initial

3 For further information on Foundation Learning visit: www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx? o=190318. 4 For further information on the Qualifications and Credit Framework visit: www.qcda.gov.uk/qualifications/60.aspx10 . Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162 and on-going advice, guidance, review and support are an integral part of Foundation Learning and programmes can be revised as the learner progresses.

24. Inspectors should evaluate this programme in the same way as any other course, evaluating the effectiveness by the progress and other outcomes for the young people involved.

25. More details available from the briefings for learning and skills inspectors. www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-all- by/Education-and-skills/Learning-and-skills.

Alternative provision

26. There is no need for pupils to be disapplied from the National Curriculum to follow alternative courses at Key Stage 4 but it may be necessary earlier in a child’s school career. However much time the pupils are attending alternative provision for they are still the responsibility of the school. When reviewing alternative provision which is often used for pupils with special educational needs inspectors should:

 investigate how the courses are selected – they should be driven by the pupils’ needs, interests and aptitudes and not by convenience or just availability  find out how safeguarding checks, including risk assessments, are carried out – the school should be clear about the outcomes of these, and they should be repeated if pupils’ needs change  consider the levels at which the pupils are working – this should be challenging and not ‘time filling’ and find out the possible accreditation which will be gained – again, is this at the right level? Are the pupils making sufficient progress, including but not solely in their personal development?  consider how pupils’ attendance is monitored – this should be on each occasion, there should be alerts to the school if the pupil does not turn up, this should be logged and tracked by the school (this is a safeguarding issue as well as attendance)  consider how good pupils’ actual attendance is (it should be high if the provision is set up well and pupils find it motivating)  consider how the courses link into the courses in school – pupils should not be ‘missing’ other courses and be expected to ‘catch up’. Safeguarding

 analyse bullying – what do records show? Any disproportionate bullying of pupils with disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs? What actions are taken by the school? 11 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162  identify any indication of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities bullying others (this may be an unmet behavioural or social difficulty and there should be evidence of action taken)  consider off-site provision – for example for alternative curriculum – have the relevant safeguarding checks been made, risk assessments?  review risk assessments for other activities – has the school considered the specific risks which pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities may experience or present (including behaviour)?  find out from pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other feedback from the school – for example surveys of pupils’ views – do pupils with disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs feel safe?  review staff training – and any evidence of awareness of specific safeguarding issues related to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, particularly from designated teacher for child protection  observe practices to ensure safety at break and lunchtimes – adult supervision, ‘safe’ spaces in the playground (bear in mind the vulnerability of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs to bullying, and that some disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs may also not understand how to stay safe in less structured situations). Writing the report

28. The language used should promote disability equality and reflect a positive image of disabled people in line with the Disability Discrimination Act and Ofsted’s communication policy. We need to ensure that:

 non-discriminatory language is used throughout the report  terminology is accurate throughout  the text explains the judgement for the learning and progress made by those with special educational needs and/or disabilities in terms of their outcomes (the text should not simply re-state the judgement or only refer to the provision made)  the provision section does not simply say that pupils have good support without explaining why the support is good  language used does not imply a low level of expectation because of a particular special educational need or disability (glass ceilings)  writing focuses on what pupils achieve  the report does not reference any commercial schemes, for example, refer to a symbolic communication system rather than the specific one

12 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162  reporting is evaluative and specific about outcomes, participation and challenge for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities  any reporting about additional intervention, provision or partnerships reflects the difference this makes to the outcomes for pupils  writing reflects a group made up from pupils with differing needs not a uniform group (reporting should be clear about progress made by pupils working from very different starting points or who have very different needs)  punctuation cannot be misconstrued, for example by inappropriate use of exclamation marks which express surprise at the achievements of the pupils. Mainstream schools with specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities

29. The following expectations apply to schools with a specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Resource-based provision is the generic term used for any additionally resourced school, in which the special educational needs and/or disabilities provision is sometimes called ‘a unit’ or ‘specialist facility’ or ‘designated special provision’. It is important to establish whether or not the resource-based provision is delegated to the school or whether it is a local authority service provision. Where the management of the provision has been delegated to the host school or where the local authority maintains direct responsibility, for example, an ‘area behaviour base’ and

 the pupils in the provision spend some or all of their time within mainstream classes at the school being inspected  the school has the day-to-day management of staff of the resource unit.

30. Under these circumstances, inspectors should include the resourced provision base/unit when making judgements about the school. However, where the designated unit is not managed by the school and where the pupils are not on roll of the school or spending some of their time in the school’s mainstream classes the inspection should not embrace the designated unit. This will be inspected within the inspection of the pupils’ ‘home schools’ (the schools where they are on the roll). Inspectors will only need to consider how well the school works with the service to meet the needs of any pupils in the school who access the service.

31. Inspectors need to recognise that many specially resourced provisions are the same size as some special schools and therefore give the provision sufficient time and priority during the inspection.

13 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162 Preparing the inspection (schools with specially resourced provision)

32. In order to check that the tariff and expertise on the team are appropriate for the inspection it is important to do the following.

Find out from the inspection service provider:

 if your team has a specialist, special educational needs and/or disability inspector. As far as is reasonably possible there will be an inspector on the team who has an special educational needs and/or disability specialism appropriate for the school’s designated resource. Where this is not possible, a specialist who has a different area of special educational needs and/or disability expertise will be deployed.

Find out from the school:

 the number of pupils on roll of the specially resourced provision  the range of needs catered for by the specially resourced provision (additional guidance is currently being prepared about inspecting provision for deaf, hearing impaired; blind or visually impaired pupils)  a general idea of admission criteria  the type/s of language/communication systems used within specially resourced provision  numbers of staff in resourced base provision only and number shared with the mainstream school  what the timetable is like for the resource-based pupils, for example how much they are in mainstream class (with and without support), and how much they receive specialist support in separate resourced provision  if the resourced provision runs any outreach services particularly for dual registered pupils.

Find out from pre-inspection information:

 if these pupils are a significant group in RAISEonline data. Inspectors need to be aware that RAISEonline only reflects pupils working on ‘expected’ National Curriculum levels for their age, in a specially resourced provision this may be all pupils, no pupils or any number in between. Inspectors also need to take into account the impact a large provision may have on the overall attainment and progress data if all the pupils are included in RAISEonline reports  if RAISEonline scatter plots for value added use compensatory average point scores for some pupils. This may or may not reflect an accurate level for each pupil 14 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162  if the school uses national strategies Progression materials 2010–11 to challenge the progress pupils are making within their school and resourced provision. This guidance should be used by inspectors to challenge expectations and the school targets for groups and for individuals to inform a hypothesis about progress. This information should then be considered alongside evaluation of teaching and learning, analysis of pupils work and teachers records as well as any information from other analysis chosen by the school including any commercial schemes  if P-scales are used and, if so, plan to evaluate the moderation system (there is no statutory moderation of P-scales) during inspection. There should be convincing arrangements within school and across a local authority to assure the accuracy of the progress data being used by the school  what additional funding is in place for the places (resource bases can have very high funding, for example £7500 per place). During inspection (schools with specially resourced provision)

33. As a minimum on each inspection, the lead inspector must ensure:

 a discussion is held with the person in charge of the resourced provision. The designation of this person will vary from setting to setting and may be a teacher in charge, a special educational needs coordinator or a member of the school’s senior leadership team  there is analysis of attainment and progress made by this group of pupils separate from other pupils identified with special educational needs in the mainstream school. Inspectors should:  not hold preconceived notions about pupils’ abilities  check on the attainment of pupils on admission to the provision and their current attainment level

 that they discuss pupils’ learning and progress and the quality of the provision with children/young people in the resourced provision  that adequate opportunity is provided for lesson observations of classes involving pupils from the resource base/unit. Some of these observations should be carried out by the special educational needs and disability specialist but it is not expected that all would be carried out by this inspector.

34. Inspectors should consider all the outcomes for the group of pupils attending the specially resourced provision and identify similarities with, and differences from, the main school.

15 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162 Achievement

35. The achievement and standards judgement grade for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is made up from evidence from pupils in the main school and those in the resource-based provision. Whenever there is a discrepancy between the outcomes for learners in resource-based provision and other learners in the school, explain these fully, indicating the reasons and indicate the differences in outcomes from the different provision of groups of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Inspectors should use pupils’ ages and starting points (baseline) alongside the time pupils have attended the specially resourced provision to analyse progress, not make judgements by category of need. They should maintain high expectations of learning for all pupils in lesson observations both within the provision and in mainstream lessons. Behaviour

36. Some specially resourced provision may be for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. If this is the case the incident books/records need careful examination alongside other evidence, as some pupils may not be present on the day of inspection. There should be systematic recording of every significant incident where restraint or physical intervention has been used in accordance with the school’s policy and procedures on the use of force and its child protection requirements. Care should be taken to check there is not an excessive use of restraint or physical intervention (also sometimes referred to as ‘positive handling’). Where physical intervention is used it is important to ascertain whether staff have received appropriate training. Some courses have been accredited by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities. The number and range of recorded incidents is also an important indicator of how successfully schools are managing very challenging behaviour. The base should offer more than just behaviour management strategies if it is to be judged good. Preventative and social and emotional learning opportunities should be high profile and rigorously evaluated. There should also be clear systems for identifying and making referrals for suspected mental health needs.

37. In all cases the following points are important.

 Do not base judgements solely on behaviour observed during the inspection. Check data and records, talk to pupils and staff, take note of parental views and follow these up as appropriate  Explore relationships between attendance and behaviour. Check whether behaviour is good because those who misbehave are absent.  Does the school provide additional support for pupils’ social and emotional barriers to learning, in the same way as it might provide literacy or numeracy interventions?  To what extent do pupils modify their behaviour in response to the school’s behaviour management strategies, including the impact of exclusion 16 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162 strategies? What progress is made in social skills and behaviour, by pupils in the specially resourced provision?  If the specially resourced provision is working well there should not be a reliance on exclusion to manage behaviour.  If pupils are withdrawn for intervention group work, check whether behaviour is a reason for this. If so, are they receiving support and guidance to improve their behaviour so that they can return to working with the rest of their class?  When judging and reporting on behaviour it is important to consider its impact, for example the criteria in the evaluation schedule makes reference to impact on achievement, relationships and use of time. Teaching and learning

38. Inspectors must remember that it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure the work is at the right level for each pupil, whether they are being supported by the teacher or by a teaching assistant. Curriculum

39. In curriculum provision, it is helpful to reflect the quality of inclusion or why changes to the curriculum are made. The outcomes of those changes should be reported with regard to equality of opportunity and any restricted choices. Information should be given about the different curricula on offer for the identified group/s or if they follow the same curriculum as others in the school. Participation of different groups in the extended curriculum opportunities should be analysed – transport difficulties are not an excuse for limited access to extended provision (equality of access issue). Care, guidance and support

40. In the care guidance and support section once again differences in the type of support or guidance should be evaluated and linked with outcomes. Leadership

41. Inspection should investigate leadership of the resourced provision and the impact this has for different groups of learners, both in terms of participation and achievement. Writing the report (schools with specially resourced provision)

42. A report of a mainstream school with specially resourced provision must:

 have a description of the resourced provision base/unit which should include the nature of the designated special educational need (usually linked to 17 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162 admission arrangements), the number of pupils involved and the age range if it differs from the main school. In the first instance, use the term ‘specially resourced provision for special educational needs’ then subsequently use the term used by the school  include sufficient detail in the main findings to show how well the pupils attending the resourced provision are learning and making progress, and their attainment, as well as the quality of provision and leadership and management that contribute to their outcomes. This should be in addition to the outcomes and provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities in the rest of the school  explain and clarify any differences in outcomes and levels of provision between those with special educational needs in the main school and those attending the resource-based provision.

43. The report will not include a separate overall effectiveness judgement about the resourced provision. The effectiveness of provision for children/young people in the resourced provision should be captured in the main findings and included in the overarching judgements for the school.

18 Special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream schools: briefing for section 5 inspectors January 2011, No. 090162