Is there such a thing as a SEND curriculum?

Hello Colleague

In conversation with Rachel Rossiter for SEND Huh, she made these insightful observations about provision for pupils with additional needs:

‘I think we need to be incredibly cautious when we talk of a ‘SEND curriculum’. I see a lot of tweets from colleagues in mainstream schools that request things like ‘an SEND resource for history’, or they say, ‘Has anybody got an SEND resource for music?’ and I think that’s about as useful as asking if anybody has a resource for a Capricorn, because what does a ‘SEND resource’ or a ‘SEND curriculum’ actually mean?

I think such things happen because there’s a huge conflation between children who are low prior attainers and children who have SEND: the terms are, incorrectly, used interchangeably.

I’ve experienced this with webcasts and training from some quite reputable organisations and people in education who talk about high achievers, middle achievers and SEND. This makes me cross.

A few years ago, we had a young person with autism on roll who was really keen on Latin and because we’re huge on ensuring extracurricular activities for all, we arranged for a colleague from the local high school to run an after-school club.

In Year 7, that young person with SEND achieved a GCSE in Latin, so that’s where I get really, really cross about SEND and low prior attainment being conflated as it can lead to low expectations.’

I’ve long made the case that pupils enjoy doing demanding work and to follow up on this, I’m doing some webinars to show how it’s possible to provide all our pupils with gorgeous, accessible content in geography, history and RE.

The webinars will be live and recorded. Each session will include a draft planning unit for KS1, KS2 and KS3.

• Thursday 6th March 4-5pm - Supporting pupils with SEND to access the geography curriculum

• Monday 10th March 4-5pm - Supporting pupils with SEND to access the history curriculum

• Monday 17th March 4-5pm - Supporting pupils with SEND to access the RE curriculum

To access the webinars you just need an annual or group subscription to Myatt & Co.

You’ll also get access to over 500 CPD films, including the popular primary and secondary subject networks.

Until next time

Mary

PS The cost for Myatt & Co is going up shortly, so it’s worth getting on board now!