SEND Solutions have had extensive experience in SEND education. Significantly teaching, lecturing, inclusion consultancy and training. We are able to take a strategic view of whole school SEND provision, advising on aspects from criteria for the school improvement plans to specific child centred teaching and learning needs.
Rachel and Helen both have Associate Membership of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA) as specialist teachers and assessors, with Rachel writing and delivering many of the BDA’s training packages. Rachel has also delivered training and conferences nationally for schools, local authorities and teaching unions. Helen is a qualified SENDCo with a Masters in SEND, and event lead for the Leeds Dyslexia Festival in her role as Chair of West Yorkshire PATOSS (Professional Association of Teachers of Students with SpLD). Together they work closely with the local charity branch of the British Dyslexia Association & Yorkshire Rose Dyslexia.
All of our work is underpinned by the foundations of the Person-Centred Approach of ‘empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence’ for a growth promoting climate (Rogers, C. 1957, 1959). These values form the basis of a trusting relationship for working towards reaching potential, at individual pupil to whole organisation level. Whilst we have expertise and specialist knowledge in SEND, we respect that you know your students, staff and setting best, so we take the time to listen and understand that fully. Tapping into your core values and inherent strengths means that projects will be invested in the ethos, have the greatest impact and contribute towards your greater vision.
Working with a Person-Centred Approach means our service offers are bespoke to each client. We understand that like every pupil, every setting has its own challenges and possible solutions. We work to guide you in identifying and understanding those needs and your unique school culture, so that we can tailor a package that meets them with your ethos and wider priorities in mind. It may be that you require a light touch training course in a given area or your organisation may need a larger long term piece of work to improve SEND provision, systems and strategy. This could form part of management restructuring or OFSTED action planning. Whatever your stage, we are here to work with you in the here and now, as well as in the future and look forward to developing an ongoing relationship for all your SEND needs.
We do not want to focus on the negatives or dwell on the past. Together we will look at the current situation and the desired outcome and plan a strategic path between them. This will take into account the strengths of your culture, team and community and build on successes. We will provide dynamic training, consultation and support that is practical and achievable.
Planning for a desired outcome can include finding a solution for funding for our SEND services. We recognise funding cuts have impacted on school budgets. We work with a talented bid writing consultant who can work with you to secure funding for your SEND Solution.
We pride ourselves on maintaining the highest standards in our professionalism, specialist knowledge and interactions with our clients. Part of this is ensuring that we and our partners, are suitably trained, vetted (enhanced DBS), registered and insured to undertake specialist SEND work. You can be confident that the service you receive is excellent quality, well informed by current research and legislation and has an impact.
Our approach fits seamlessly with the SEND Code of Practice 2014 model of the Graduated Approach, so can integrate fully with your organisation’s and local authority’s SEND systems and documentation processes. The elements of the Graduated Approach cycle are mirrored in our process for a project with a setting: We assess the situation or individual pupils. We plan next actions with you. You undertake the work with consultation support. Together we review the progress and begin the cycle again to ensure continued improvement.
You can be confident that our current knowledge of current legislation means that our processes complement it, such as how we plan opportunities for pupil and family voice into our projects.
We know that your time and resources are limited. We will endeavour to work in a way that helps you to make maximum impact for your learners from the project we design. For example; the way we complement consultation with whole staff training, so that there is a whole school shift in awareness and systems, therefore having a lasting positive effect on all learners. Another possibility for maximising the impact for all may be that a dyslexia project may focus around one pupil who is in receipt of Pupil Premium grant, and be funded by their grant this year. In addition we can screen and consult on another five pupils, and train all staff in Dyslexia Friendly Classroom and Awareness, for less than that initial pupil’s grant for one academic year. We want you to be able to squeeze out every drop of value from the process, to create a whole school SEND approach that ties in with your vision and has longevity.