Specific Learning Difficulties
Tameside Guidance
June 2007
1. The purpose of these guidelines:
- These guidelines aim to promote a shared rationale for matching provision to needs of pupils experiencing SpLD;
- To promote a common approach for the identification of and intervention for Specific learning difficulties;
- The document has regard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (DfES 2001) and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995: Part 4 Code of Practice for Schools (Disability Rights Commission 2002).
2. Principles underlying these guidelines:
- Equal opportunities for provision irrespective of ability, age, religious beliefs, culture, geographical location, gender and socio-economic status;
- Equality of access to the mainstream curriculum for all pupils;
- Collaboration between pupils, teachers, professional support services, parents, private associations and the LEA;
- The use of recent and relevant research;
- A consistent and equitable approach throughout the Local Authority;
- Regular review and evaluation of policy and practice.
3. Aims:
To meet the diversity of children’s literacy learning needs through appropriate provision in a mainstream setting.
To overcome barriers to learning for pupils experiencing Specific Learning Difficulties by:
- Raising awareness of Specific Learning Difficulties in all schools (dyslexia friendly school)
- Improving assessment and intervention practices so that children’s learning differences are noticed and teaching is adjusted as early as possible in a pupil’s school career and continually throughout all key stages.
- Enabling systems in schools to provide quality learning opportunities for pupils with Specific Learning Difficulties.
- Improving training opportunities for teachers, support staff and governors.
- Ensuring that parental concerns are acknowledged and addressed.
4. Definition:
It is generally recognised by educational practitioners that a small minority of children do have exceptional difficulty in learning to read or spell, and may require additional support or specialist teaching in school. Many practitioners use the term ‘specific learning difficulty’ (SpLD) as an alternative descriptor because it avoids any assumptions about causality, and highlights the apparent specificity of the difficulty. It also enables an exceptional difficulty to be recognised without recourse to a medical model of assessment that relies on ‘diagnosis’ from a pre-determined collection of ‘symptoms’. For similar reasons, the British Psychological Society (BPS) proposed a ‘working definition’ of dyslexia which focuses on effects, rather than possible causes: Children who have low potential, often referred to as low intelligence, may also have dyslexia.
"Dyslexia is evident when a child continues to demonstrate great difficulty
in acquiring accurate and fluent word reading and/or spelling over a period
of time. This focuses on literacy learning at word level and implies that the
problem is severe and persistent despite appropriate learning opportunities.
It provides the basis for a staged process of assessment through teaching".
British Psychological Society (1999)
5. Department for Education and Skills view of SpLD / Dyslexia
The following paragraphs are the relevant sections taken from the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (DfES 2001).
5.1 Children who demonstrate features of moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties, such as Dyslexia or Dyspraxia, require specific programmes to aid progress in cognition and learning. These children may require some, or all, of the following:
- Flexible teaching arrangements.
- Help with processing language, memory and reasoning skills.
- Help and support in acquiring literacy skills.
- Help with the organisation and co-ordination of spoken and written English to aid cognition.
- Help with sequencing and organisational skills.
- Help with problem solving and developing concepts (7.58).
5.2 The school will need to consider on an individual basis how programmes can be provided through intervention at School Action Plus/or Wave 3 provision. Wave 3 provision may vary according to need but the focus will always be on enabling access to the curriculum. (7.59).
5.3 All services for children with SEN should focus on identifying and addressing the needs of children and enabling them to access the curriculum through:
- Identification of SpLD/Dyslexia at a reasonably early stage.
- Regular and frequent engagement with the child and parents.
- Focused intervention.
- Dissemination of effective approaches and techniques.
- Effective differentiation strategies. (10.3)
6. Practice:
The BPS report recommends a staged process of assessment through teaching over time linked into the Code of Practice and the National Literacy Strategy. From the working definition it follows that assessment of Specific Learning Difficulties should include three strands of evidence and show that:
- fluent and accurate word reading and/or spelling has been learnt / is being learnt very incompletely.
- appropriate learning opportunities have been provided.
- progress has been made only as a result of much additional effort/instruction and difficulties are, nevertheless, persistent.
Guidance on the assessment of these aspects is available for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators from the school’s Advisory Teacher, who are part of the Education Psychology and Learning Support.
Overview of local procedures:
Click on blue text boxes to read more information about that stage.
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Evidence Based Practice:
When parents, staff or others raise concerns about educational and/or developmental
progress, clarification and confirmation should take place. The class teacher
and/or SENCO should determine if others share that concern, and identify the
areas of difficulty commonly reported.
Matching Provision to Needs: MPTN 3.1
Support and develop a dyslexia friendly school. This is essential to improve
attainments and enable the most complex needs to be accommodated through a
cycle of consultation and intervention via working agreements. A review of
progress should be held after a minimum of three months of intervention at
School Action to determine next steps.
Matching Provision to Needs: MPTN 3.3-3.5
Next steps may include the celebration of early success and / or the continuation,
review and refinement of targets and strategies. The monitoring and recording
of progress through the use of data will support future decision-making.
A review of progress should be held after a minimum of three months of further
intervention at School Action to determine next steps.
MPTN 3.3-3.5
The absence of evidence of adequate progress should trigger further action
planning at School Action Plus in partnership with the Advisory Teacher.
A review of progress should be held after approximately six months of intervention
at School Action Plus to determine the rate of progress and success of interventions
before a decision is made to continue at School Action Plus or return to School
Action.
MPTN 3.6
Where a second phase of school action Plus intervention has been implemented over a six month period, progress will be compared to that of other students across all Local Authority schools. Most pupils’ needs should have been met through school action with support from external consultants. A very small proportion of pupils may have persistent and complex learning needs that may meet the criteria for statutory assessment set out in MPTN.
Schools have money allocated within their annual formula funding to support pupils with non-statemented special educational needs. Every school receives delegated funding from the Local Authority to support pupils with Special Educational Needs including those experiencing specific learning difficulties. Those pupils identified before the end of Year 5 that do meet the criteria set out in MPTN will have access to a one year fixed term intervention co-ordinated through a working agreement between the Advisory Teacher [EPALS], school, pupil and parents.
7. Monitoring Arrangements:
All pupils with special educational needs (including pupils with Specific Learning Difficulties) at School Action level or above on the Code of Practice are monitored by an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and its regular reviews, following the guidelines laid down in the Code of Practice and Matching Provision to Needs. Additionally, pupils with statements have the benefit of a statutory annual review. These procedures will also contribute to teachers’ and schools’ evaluations of their planning for, and implementation of support programmes for pupils experiencing Specific Learning Difficulties.
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