CHILDREN WITH SEN - GOOD PRACTICES

CHILDREN WITH SEN
good practices
Culture4Kids-Beyond the Textbook

ST. BRIGID’S PRIMARY
SCHOOL
Special Educational Needs

SPECIAL EDUCATION TEAM
 Two SET per class level supporting all special education needs at
that level – specified diagnoses, literacy, numeracy, EAL
 We have 18 SET’s on the staff. 2 work at each class level with one
teacher in each of our two special classes
 We have nine special needs assistants (SNA’s). They are appointed
by National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to support
children with complex needs. There are two in the Sunshine Suite and
one in the Rainbow Suite. The remaining SNA’s work with children
who have diagnoses of EBD, medical needs for example diabetes,
epilepsy and toileting needs.
 Team/ Building meetings twice termly
 Deputy Principal is SEN coordinator

SPECIAL CLASSES
 Some children are better catered for in small classes but are
given the chance to integrate into mainstream classes for a
certain amount of time daily where appropriate
 The Sunshine Suite caters for children on the Autism Spectrum.
The children are supported by one class teacher and two SNA’s.
Ratio of 6 to 1.
 The Rainbow Suite caters for children with Moderate Learning
Disabilities. They are catered for by one class teacher and one
SNA. Ratio of 8 to 1.

LITERACY / NUMERACY
 As per Department of Education and Skills (DES) guidelines
literacy support is prioritised. Support with numeracy is only given
when all literacy needs are met.
 In general our numeracy scores are within average limits
whereas our literacy results are below average at the top end of
scores.

EARLY INTERVENTION
 Early Intervention
1. Aistear – Play based language development in the infant
classrooms on a thematic basis
2. Lift off to Literacy – station teaching targeting the skills of
phonics, reading and writing in Senior Infants and First class
3. Reading Recovery –It is designed for children aged around six,
who are the lowest literacy achievers after their first year of
school. Intensive one-to-one lessons. 30 minutes a day with a
specially trained Reading Recovery teacher.
4. In class support is given as a priority. Withdrawal is given only to
those who are in most need.

GUIDED READING
 Our main model of literacy instruction is through guided reading.
 Children read in small groups with children of similar ability
 Teacher guides them through comprehension strategies, reading
for fluency and reading for meaning.
 Support teacher assists for periods of 6 weeks at a time.
 1st – 6th classes

ASSESSMENT
 Senior Infants are tested using the Middle Infant Screening Test (MIST)– a test
of listening, phonics and early writing skills.
 Children in 1st and 4th class are tested each year using the Non Reading
Intelligence Test (NRIT). This generates IQ reading for each child
 1st – 6th class are tested using a standardised literacy and numeracy test –
Micra T/ Sigma T or Drumcondra Tests of Literacy and Numeracy.
 Highlights children at risk of failure in numeracy and literacy
 Generally children under the 10th percentile receive help from the Special
Education Team either in class or withdrawal
 Teachers also use termly tests and teacher observation to track children’s
progress
 SET use diagnostic testing pre and post intervention

ASSESSMENT
 NEPS psychologist linked to our school
 Assesses children highlighted by class room teachers, SET and
parents who may need the support from outside agencies – OT,
Speech and Language, physiotherapy, EBD (emotional behaviour
disturbance, also children may need AN onward referral to a clinical
psychologist to investigate ASD
 Supports the teachers in supporting the children
 Old model – children received a department designated number of
support hours per week.
 New model – children receive the support the teachers in
consultation with parents deem necessary. The new model is
operated on a tiered basis

NEW MODEL OF SEN INTERVENTION
 Tiered system
1. Classroom support – class teacher implements strategies to
differentiate for the child
2. School support – Class teacher liaises with the SET to devise a
plan to support the child – may include withdrawal/ in class
support
3. School support plus – Outside agencies may need to have a
part in the child’s intervention. Generally includes withdrawal –
individual or in groups

PARENTAL SUPPORT
 Parents are encouraged to be co educators to their children:
1. In school initiatives – Maths for Fun, English for Fun, Home school
organised courses, sharing expertise in different fields
2. Supporting children with homework
3. Attendance at parent teacher meetings
4. SET meet with parents to discuss their child’s support plan and
agree on targets for the child.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT
 Community initiatives
1. Time to Read – Local businesses volunteer time to read with 2nd
class children once a week
2. Better Basics – volunteers from local communities volunteer to
read with 3rd class on 2 mornings a week.

• To help students with special needs or
difficulties : several specialists and materials
 Psychologist
 Teacher E (specialized teacher)
 APC (support activities)
 ULIS (special class)
 AVS (assistant)
 Educational team
 Differentiation
 PPRE (personalized project)

The Psychologist
On request of parents
Psychological interview
with parents and then
with the child
Link with external
services of help

• On the demand of teachers, parental
agreement compulsary
• Learning difficulties
• Small groups in a suitable room
• Only for litteracy and maths
Teacher E

• One hour once a week after school
• Reading difficulties
• Complementary teaching aids
APC

 at Briand school
 Twelve children with disabilities or low IQ
 One specialized teacher and several assistants
 Some of them can be included in other classes
for subjects like History, geography, PE and
science
ULIS class

• Assistants in class for children
with disabilities other than IQ
troubles : autism, blindness,
behaviour or langage troubles
• Assistance from 8 hours to 24
hours a week
AVS

• On the demand of the teacher
• E T with teacher, parents, headteacher, help
network, school doctor, external specialists
following the child
• Decision about what kind of help in the future
Educational team

• Differentiation
according to children
with difficulties
• Small groups, less
work, tutoring
In class

 Personalized project for educational success
 Contract between teacher, child, parents
 Six weeks
 Defined objectives
PPRE

Art and children with SEN
Ireland 15-19 October 2018
Vasil Levski Comprehensive School
Troyan, Bulgaria

According to Public Education act children and pupils with special education needs can
be integrated in kindergartens, general and vocational schools or study in special
kindergartens and schools.

The resource assistance to children and students with special educational needs when
enrolled in mainstream education is provided by resource teachers and experts -
psychologists, speech therapist and hearing and speech rehabilitators from the
resource centers. The law guarantees that a resource teacher will assist up to 5
children with special educational needs depending on their individual needs.

Special schools for children with special educational needs are currently 55. In Bulgaria,
there are 3 schools for children with hearing impairment, 2 schools for children with
visual impairment and 50 schools for children with mental disabilities, except these 55
special schools.

Games
There are also centers for in-service training for teachers
working with younger children deemed to be 'at risk'

The main educational service offered by the Resource Centers is "resource
assistance" of children and school students having various disabilities. The
resource assistance is carried out by resource teachers who assist children and
school students within the limits of the general education environment and provide
consultancy to general education teachers how to adapt Individual Education Plan
for each child with a disability in accordance with his or her needs.

ICT as tool for teaching , learning and communication.
„The Play House“
A Portal for children with Dyslexia

Russian Fairy Tales and our etwinning project

Visit in the kindergarten

The Book- the wisest teacher

An artful adventure in the land fairy tales

The Drama

Games

Thank you for your attention!

In Italy, pupils with disabilities (DA= differently abled) generally attend
mainstream schools, in the ordinary sections and classes at all educational
levels.
During enrolment, parents must submit the specific certification issued by
the relevant office after the mandatory disability identification procedures
have been completed. Such documentation certifies the type of disability
and the right to receive specific support.
For these students the PEI (Individualized Educational Plan) is elaborated.
Its compilation is on the responsibility of the two subjects (school and
services) who jointly hold the responsibility of its drafting.
This personalized program must aim to reach each student in a situation of
disability, in relation to his potential, goals of autonomy, acquisition of skills
and motor skills, cognitive, communicative and expressive.

 Pupils with DA under Law No.104/1992 in our school are in total 29:
6 pupils in the Kindergarten – 3 support teachers
12 hours or 25 hours per pupils, it depends on the severity of the diagnosis.
14 pupils in the Primary school – 10 support teachers
7/8 hours or 22 hours per pupils, it depends on the severity of the diagnosis.
9 pupils in the Secondary School 1st grade – 7support teachers
9 hours or 30 hours per pupils, it depends on the severity of the diagnosis.

Law 170/2010 recognises dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysorthographia and dyscalculia as
specific learning disorders.
This Law – which states that pupils with learning disorders (DSA) do not need special
teachers, but rather a new way of teaching, according to their way of learning.
The Ministerial Directive of 27 December 2012, on ‘Measures for pupils with special
educational needs and local organisations for school inclusion’, created a macro-
category, an ‘umbrella’, to cover all kinds of difficulties at school: disabilities, specific
learning disorders, specific developmental disorders, socio-economic, cultural or
linguistic disadvantages, as well as pupils that may be in need of special care. This
ensures more inclusive practices in classrooms through individualised and
personalised education plans.

 Pupils with specific developmental disorders (DSA), under Law
No.170/2010 (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysorthographia and dyscalculia) :
36 kids in the Primary School (no special teacher)
These pupils follow a PDP (Personalized Learning Plan)
The actions defined in the PDP must be consistent with the indications given in
the DSA Certificate delivered to the school.
The PDP is prepared in connection with family.
The minimum contents of the PDP are indicated in the 2011 DSA Guidelines
 Pupils with learning difficulties to disadvantaged socio-cultural-linguistic (special
educational needs SEN=BES_Bisogni educativi speciali, no special teacher).
For these pupils, the PDP is only drawn up if there are clinical reports
delivered to the school.

is an inclusive School. It is no longer programmatically
conceived for "normal" subjects but it lives the
inclusion as inherent in itself, offering opportunities to
all the students who manifest any kind of temporary or
permanent need.
The school has got the PAI

Annual Plan for Inclusion=PAI
The Annual Plan for Inclusion represents the document in which the school makes
explicit its policy for inclusion; is prepared by the GLI (working groups for inclusion)
and approved by the College of Teachers.
It consists of the following elements:
a) analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the school with regard to inclusion;
there are not only actions specifically directed to the BES (Special Educational
Needs), but also the effective realization of educational and organizational contexts
facilitating the personalization of learning for all pupils
b) explication of annual improvement objectives expressed in terms of expected
outcomes realistic, measurable and verifiable
c) proposal of "functional" use of professional, organizational and financial
resources.

At the beginning of the school year:
• Sharing, in the first group meeting of the teachers / class council team, the
documentation filed with the Management relating to the BES students.
• Collect information from the documentation certifies and from families.
• Reassure and support families on teaching and organizational methods, especially in the
transition to the next school order.
• Establish contacts with the teachers of the previous years for a methodological and
didactic comparison and / or to obtain information sheets.
• Explicit the minimum objectives within the curriculum of each teacher and
communicate them to the support teacher.
• Adapt the test for DSA pupils with learning difficulties or disadvantages in anticipation of
the administration of entry tests in the change of school order.
• Structuring the entrance test for disabled pupils together with the support teacher
(based on the information gathered by the teachers of the previous order).
• Begin the systematic observation, by all teachers, through grids / indicators appropriate
to the situation and age of the pupils.

October - November:
• Agree, teaching and supporting teachers, educational-educational objectives.
• Collect and share information and observations for the compilation of PEIs, PDPs or any
projects and establish the methods of intervention.
• Give the protocol to the schedules following the deadlines indicated by the Headmaster.
January February:
• Verify the results of the students in each discipline and the level of integration achieved
according to the agreed objectives and propose any changes to the PEI or PDP.
June:
• Preparing the final report of the support teacher in which they highlight: the main needs
emerged, the particular actions activated, the methods, the techniques and the means
used, the general results of development obtained, the particular suggestions for future
schooling .

• Teachers give priority to work in group by taking a teaching involving all pupils
• Teachers keep the pupil within the class / section to ensure participation in the
"social life" that takes place within it on a daily basis.
• All teachers must keep in touch with the family of the students: the alliance
with the family has positive effects on the scholastic and behavioral performance
of the pupil.
• The educational outings provide an additional person in the presence of
disabled pupils.

“Metafonologica-Mente”
curriculum project for pupils in the
Kindergarten (4/5 years)
"Learning by creating"
project for secondary school 1st grade, born
with the aim of ensuring facilitating action to
ensure that a substantial share of pupils in the
above order of school.

“Metafonologicamente in prima” …. "Metaphonologically in the 1° grade classroom"
Curriculum project for the Kindergarten
"Metafonologicamente in prima" is the curricular project dedicated to children of 5 years, who
will have to face the transition to the class first grade in the primary school.
o The intent is to observe and strengthen in children the basic skills that will facilitate a positive
approach to learning reading, writing and mathematics.
o The articulation will be in two stages: a first moment of activity aimed at the observation of
the pupils during various linguistic, cognitive and perceptive-motor games, with particular
attention to any predictive signals of suspicious situations concerning the abilities.
o Subsequently, three play paths will be introduced (phonological, logical-mathematical and
graph-motor), aimed at strengthening the weakest skills.
o The methodological approach will be of a playful nature and will favor the promotion of a
serene and reassuring climate that stimulates the linguistic expression of children, the
resolution of problems and the evaluation of their results.
o The evaluation will involve the use of specific cards in itinere and observation grids at the end
of each educational path.
back

“Imparare creando” …”Learning by creating”
Curricular project for the Secondary School 1° grade
The aim of the laboratory is the development of creativity and the acquisition of
thinking skills such as analysis,
critical judgment and aesthetic sensitivity.
It pursues the following objectives:
 acquire operative skills related to some pictorial and graphic techniques;
 perform and design elaborate researching original creative solutions inspired
also by the study of the history of art;
The project will focus on knowledge and the conscious use of pictorial and
graphic techniques such as:
tempera, glass painting, overhang on copper.
The laboratory teaching will mainly use manual and operational techniques.
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Psychological listening counter
Another "inclusive" objective reached by our school is the presence of two Psychologists
who work one every two weeks, the other on a weekly.
They offer their professionalism and their advice through a listening desk aimed at children
and young people of primary and secondary school, who spontaneously request it or who
experience psychological distress; to the requesting teachers offer psycho-pedagogical
indications to support the relationship with the students and the class group; to the parents
of the students, for the enhancement of parenting and communication skills, and for advice
on the evolutionary and cognitive dynamics of their children.
This service has the following objectives:
• to prevent individual and school discomfort;
• offer a space for listening to pupils, teachers and parents;
• increase school motivation;
• to facilitate communication processes and the development of appropriate modes of
communication between the pupil, his parents and teachers;
• observe, detect, analyze emerging issues, and where necessary, activate specific
interventions.

Inclusive Education (Educação Inclusiva) is being implemented this year
according to DL 54/2018 and it promotes the development of students in
three dimensions:
- Ethical (principles and values)
- Educational policies (actions taken by the school and the educational
community)
- Educational practises
With this new paradigm, some students who were not previously
integrated in mainstream classes (2nd
and 3rd
cycle) start attending those
classes, at least 60% of the time. At primary schools (1st
cycle) that
integration was already done.
At the moment, in our school, SEN students have a minimum of 50 min
support per week and a maximum of 300 min per week, depending on
their characteristics. That support is given by the SEN teachers, and can be
given inside or outside the mainstream classes, depending on their needs.
However, the idea is for them to be in class with the others the maximum
time possible.
All the students who were under the previous law (Lei da Educação
Especial) will now be evaluated again. They will be evaluated during this
current year by the Multidisciplinary team (Coordinators, vice-head,
psychologist and other variable elements like parents, student, therapists
and SEN teacher).

Once a child is evaluated and recognized as a student who needs learning
support, there are three levels of measures to be implemented in order to
help the student and to promote learning and inclusion.
The first measures are called the Universal Measures, and they constitute
something that the school and teachers can easily implement. When it
comes to evaluation, for example, the teacher can change the format of
the text (not the content), can give more time to complete the test, can
read questions one by one, etc. In class, the teacher chooses the use of
more visual aids, computer, allow for short breaks, sit in front, use of short
texts, etc.
If the universal measures do not work, then the Selective Measures are
applied. Among selective measures there are: minor curricular
adjustments, psycopedagogic support, tutorial support in the classroom,
etc.
If the selective measures are not enough, then there are the Additional
Measures (severe cases): significant curricular changes, specific individual
plan, and there is a big focus in the development of autonomy, practical
and social skills.

Note – 2nd
and 3rd
cycles mean junior high and lower secondary school
(11-15 years old)

CHILDREN WITH SEN - GOOD PRACTICES

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