SEND Descriptors of Need

Schools are being asked to pilot the SEND Descriptors of Need and provide feedback to Angela Gemmell (angela.gemmell@newcastle.gov.uk) during the autumn term. 

Introduction

The SEND descriptors of need or ranges have been developed:

• to ensure a common language to describe the support expected for children with SEND
• to provide a core framework for all practitioners working with children and young people to help assess and identify the needs of children and young people, and to put in place appropriate support
• to give greater clarity for parents and carers about their child/young person’s needs and how their child should be supported at school. 

Please have a look at the Powerpoint from the SENCo training session on 14 September: Descriptors of Need: SENCO Training September 2022

Take a look at our brief video: Introducing the Newcastle SEND Descriptors of Need:

Descriptors of Need at various levels or ranges can be a useful tool for SENCOs, families and schools/services to assess and identify the needs of a child. This assessment can provide information about what support to put in place to support the child’s progress. It is important to consider a child’s needs within the context of their strengths.

The starting point in determining and describing the needs of CYP with SEND is the four areas of the SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) 

The Newcastle SEND Descriptors of Need  were co- produced with parent/carers and representatives from Education, Health and Social Care at a series of workshops held in 2021 and 2022.

A range of principles were identified which provide the foundations of the Descriptors of Need.

The following factors will also need to be considered when measuring attainment, progress:

• Summer term birthdays (particularly in the case of younger children),
• Attendance rates, both recently and longer term,
• Number of school/setting transitions.

Schools/settings will need to evidence all of their interventions and the impact of these through a SEN Support Plan and other evidence as part of ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycles. A Graduated Response to SEN is expected as outlined in the SEND Code of Practice 2015, and through the review cycle it is expected that children will move between ranges at different points during their journey through education. Some children and young people will make good progress with timely intervention and support so that Descriptors of Need will no longer be required.

This is best practice nationally and Ofsted require this level of evidence of input and impact.

It is expected that the SEN Support Plan provides evidence of how the Newcastle SEND Mainstream Guidance has been implemented and includes well-evidenced interventions with clear entry and exit points. Targets should be SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-limited

Parent/carers and children and young people should be at the centre of any target setting and personalised learning goals.

Descriptors have been developed for the following areas of need for the early years (TBA), school years and for post 16 (TBA). The early years and post 16 documents will be added soon. You can access the descriptors for the school years on the links below or at the bottom of this page.

• Cognition and Learning Needs (3.1) -  Cognition and Learning Needs - The School Years
• Communication and Interaction: Social, Communication and Neurodiversity (3.2)   Communication and Interaction Needs - The School Years
• Communication and Interaction: Speech, Language and Communication Needs (3.3) Speech, Language and Communication Needs - The School Years
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs (3.4) SEMH needs - The School Years
• Sensory and/or Physical Needs:
  
  • Deafness (3.5) Guidance for CYP who are deaf - The School Years
  • Visual Impairment (3.6)  Visual Impairment - The School Years
  • Multi-Sensory Needs (3.7) Multi-Sensory Impairment - The School Years
  • Physical and Medical Needs (5) Physical and Medical Needs-0-25 

In some cases, a child will fall into more than one range, or will have needs in more than one area.

The school/setting will need to study the ranges and to highlight where the greatest need is, as well as strength. This may change over time and as the child develops.

There will be specific times such as during transition where a child’s needs may change because of the differing environments, changes and new expectations and/or, in some cases, due to experiences of trauma.

The ranges are a guide and provide a framework for the evidence that will be required to show how a child is being supported, why and to what effects. 

Preparation for Adulthood (PfA)

Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) starts at the earliest stage in life through the development of early communication, feeding, making choices to becoming an independent adult. Curriculum in early years settings and schools should be shaped around the needs of the child and young person, regardless of any disability. The PfA outcomes give a clear framework for a curriculum model that can be developed for 0–25-year-olds, using the excellent practice that is already in our settings. It will also support effective transition across and between settings building upon the PfA outcomes, working closely with parents and in shaping EHC plans that are realistic and prepare children and young people with SEND for their next stage. Suggestions in relation to PfA outcomes can be found at the end of each area of need.

The Ranges

The levels of needs progress from range 1 through to at least ranges 5 and 6, whilst some go beyond to 7.

The ranges are colour-coded throughout the school section of the guidance as follows

Identifying the Range: A Guide for those Using the Descriptors of Need

Step 1:  Read the descriptors in each document and identify those that best describe your child. You may find it useful to print off a copy of these and highlight ones that apply. A multiagency approach, involving the child and family is best practice and will help you to best understand the child and their context.

Step 2: Use the SEND guidance descriptor information (Description of Need) in the first column of each range to think about how the child’s individual profile affects their access to the curriculum and setting, their wellbeing and functioning.

Steps 1 and 2 above should enable those involved to make a judgement about which range the child is at currently. It is important to recognise that these ranges can alter either because the child’s profile changes or because of context changes such as times of transition/ school/setting placement.

The ranges are intended as a guide for settings.  In reality, a child’s development across the prime areas may be difficult to map directly onto the different ranges. In these cases, some children may sit ‘between’ ranges.

If this occurs, professional judgement must be considered when reviewing the level of support that may be needed. In each of the ranges, all those involved with the child should consider the overarching range descriptor and information in both the ‘Assessment and Planning’ and the ‘Teaching and Learning Strategies/Curriculum and Interventions’ sections.

The child’s developmental profile must not be taken in isolation.

Using this Guidance to Support Learning

Once the range has been established, professionals will find advice about how to support the learning of children at each range.

Quality First Teaching will provide a firm basis upon which to use the additional strategies identified at each range. Strategies and advice from earlier ranges need to be utilised alongside more specialised information as the ranges increase.

Specialist health interventions may also be required at any level.

You may find it useful to complete the overall assessment of a child’s needs on the template at Appendix 1. And attached to this webpage.

Appendix 1: Overall Assessment    

Link to: Template for Overall Assessment of Needs

Training materials for schools and services

In June 2023, a half day event was held for education, health and social care colleagues across Newcastle to look in detail at the SEND Descriptors of Need. The event was designed to be a ‘moderation ‘ exercise to support a consistent understanding and common language across schools and services and also to ensure that the documents were fit for purpose.

The event was attended by 128 people from schools, LA SEND services, Health Therapy Services and Children Families Newcastle.

On the day, colleagues were asked to work in multi-disciplinary groups to scrutinise individual case studies of children with a range of SEN against the SEND DoN documents to determine type and level of need. In addition, there was an opportunity to highlight what additional information would have been useful, identify any gaps in provision, and to suggest next steps for the children and young people described.

Click the link below to read some feedback from the event:

There was also a chance to provide feedback on the documents themselves; this has led to some changes being made. The latest version of the documents can be found below on this Local Offer page SEND Descriptors of Need | Newcastle Support Directory.

A pack of training materials has been produced for schools and services to support in house training you may wish to provide. It  includes:

• a summary of the groups’ findings regarding 10 of the case studies scrutinised on the day
• a set of individualised case studies (the 10 used on the day plus extras)
• instructions for carrying out the exercise
• an analysis/moderation sheet to support discussion of each case study

You can, of course, use your own ‘real life’ cases of children and young people known to your school/service. Indeed, using your own case studies will mean that colleagues have in depth knowledge of the individuals and should be able to fill any gaps in information as discussions unfold.