Page Contents
Pupil Voice
- Children’s views are integral in all discussions and planning and should be at the heart of the APDR (Assess, Plan, Do, Review) process.
- All staff value, listen to and help Children and young people to share their views.
- Developmentally appropriate strategies are used to gather pupils' voices. Visuals support the process where expressive or receptive language is a barrier. All staff understand that behaviour is a means of communication. All staff will seek to understand what is being communicated, as a diverse range of behaviour may be exhibited by a child or young person.
- Staff consider what behaviour is communicating and the possible implications for learning.
- A range of diverse ways are in place for pupils to share worries with adults in school. This could include a self-referral system that is age appropriate and understood by pupils and acted on by school staff.
- Staff consider what behaviour is communicating and the possible implications for learning.
- When on an individualised plan, are there clear systems to regularly involve children and young people in the next steps planning and to give feedback on progress and wishes for the next steps?
- Observation of a child’s preferences can supplement the pupil's voice.
- Ask questions such as: “What does a good day look like for you?”, “What does a bad day look like for you?”.
- Children are asked what they find helpful or unhelpful in terms of support.
- Social, emotional, and mental health issues within the school are a standing item within school council (or similar) meetings.
- All children and young people, regardless of need, are included in the school council and other such roles within the school.
- All staff take account of the relationship between learning needs and behaviour.
- Pupil surveys highlight areas of need, from individuals up to the whole school. They are acted on and reviewed.
- Programmes of support are tailored to children’s interests and aspirations.
- Support and Intervention address and develop areas of skill and interests as well as areas of need.
- Use person-centred approaches in school: try the Helen Sanderson website for resources and ideas.
- children and young people are supported in developing their self-efficacy as well as their learning-based skills.
- Allow child or young person (CYP) to select books for the classroom.
- Ensure the level of text meets the CYP’s needs.
- A range of books is offered to meet the CYP’s lower level, but suitable interest books are available.
- Create a WOW book with a child where they select pieces of work that they are proud of and choose whom to share it with, both at school and home. This could also include observations and comments from staff about attitudes to learning.
- Assessments inform the next steps.
- Use one-page profiles, the targets and format need to be child friendly. These need to be discussed with the child and written in the first person.
- Create one-page profiles or passports as needed with the child or young person and ensure these are shared and referred to during day-to-day teaching, covering teaching and transition.
- The school will ensure all staff working with the CYP have read the information from passports or one-page profiles.
Working with Families
- School staff talk with families about the child or young person’s developmental history.
- When CYP receive a diagnosis, staff will discuss with parents how they would prefer the information to be shared, with the CYP, peers and the wider community. This may differ for each CYP and family.
- Parents’ (or other key family members) knowledge and understanding of children is valued and considered when making sense of and addressing needs (such as developmental history, vision and hearing screening, allergies, independence at home etc.)
- Encourage parents to share any private assessments with the school.
- Parents' (or other key family members) knowledge and understanding of children are valued and considered when making sense of and addressing needs. Such as developmental history, vision and hearing screening, allergies, independence, and behaviour at home etc.
- Parents (or other key family members) have an active role in discussions with professionals and in designing learning programmes so that home and school are working together. Invited to meetings that take place.
- Parent or carer involvement and engagement is valued at the whole school level and reinforced by all staff. Parent views will form part of the passport or one-page profile.
- School feels like a welcoming environment for parents (or other key family members) where everybody is working together with equal value to support children.
- Schools could offer parent-to-parent support groups or coffee mornings with the Mental Health (MH) lead.
- Schools could invite parents to share their views on aspects of MH and well-being towards the co-production of policy and strategy
- Actively promote Pinpoint and SENDIASS to support parent voice: consider inviting a parent to become a ‘Pinpoint champion’ in school.
- The school will signpost the family to relevant national and local organisations and charities, which may be able to offer support (see further support section).
- Information on how reading and maths are taught in school is shared with parents. This could be through parent evenings, website videos, or meetings with individual parents.
- Shared reading is modelled through family reading sessions, such as setting up a reading café.
- If parents have literacy difficulties consideration is given to alternative forms of communication.
- The following example can be adapted to the specific circumstances of each school. Always consider the accessibility text used.
- There are clear and regular commitments to two-way communication about needs and progress.
- Consideration is taken to ensure that all communication is fully accessible (jargon is avoided, neutral language is used, and technical terms are kept to a minimum). If parents have reading difficulties consideration is given to alternative forms of communication.
- School learning platforms are used to address targets together and communicate effectively.
- Regular communication with parents is essential if support is offered to children and young people in school
- Regular meetings (Team Around Family or similar) are held to support communication between home and school
- Staff will gather the parent and carer’s views, wishes and feelings. They will be involved in discussions and decisions relating to their CYP's needs and the support in place.
- Information about the CYP’s welfare and educational progress is shared with parents or carers regularly, through the Assess, Plan, Do and Review meeting.
- Families should always be involved when accessing support from outside agencies.
- Home or School reading records are shared. Schools work with families to find a solution when parents cannot read with their children at home.
- Targeted support team involvement can be requested via early help assessments (EHAs).
- Parents or carers will always be involved in referral processes for seeking external agency involvement, their views relating to the CYPs strengths and difficulties will be captured as part of the process.
- School staff should recommend specific behavioural management courses to help parents to support their child or young person’s needs. Examples include Triple P, The Incredible Years, and Mind Ed for families.
- NHS Cambridgeshire Community Paediatric Services has help with autism and social communication.
- NHS Cambridgeshire Speech and Language Therapy Services helps with children's speech and language therapy.
- NHS Cambridgeshire Occupational Therapy Services provides information about children occupational therapists and children therapy assistants.
- SCIP is the Special needs Community Information Point. An information and advice service.
- Pinpoint help parents who have children with additional needs and disabilities.
- Spectrum provide events, sessions, and support for families of children with Autism and disabilities.
- SENDIASS offers information, advice and support to parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs.
- National Autistic Society help autistic people.
- Autism Education Trust has resources for parents with autistic children.
- District Early Help and Targeted Support Teams have information.
- Anna Freud Centre - On My Mind has resources co-produced with young people to help and empower other young people.
Resources
SEND Service Guide - Pupil Voice Information Sheet81KB–word
Size: 81KBFile format: word
Social Battery and Masking Leaflet262KB–pdf
Size: 262KBFile format: pdf
Social Battery and Masking Leaflet (Print)262KB–pdf
Size: 262KBFile format: pdf
Glossary
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