Children have a special educational need if they have a learning difficulty which calls for specialist educational provision to be made for them.
Children have a learning difficulty if they:
a) have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children at the same age
or
b) have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age.
Quality first approaches are used to enable all children to access the maths curriculum. At St Philips we ensure that all of our children with SEND have the entitlement to broad, balanced and relevant maths teaching. All teachers and support staff are aware of the National Curriculum inclusion statement, and with advice from the SENCO, the class teachers match the learning objectives to the needs and the abilities of individual pupils. They use a range of strategies to develop student's knowledge, understanding and skills. Where appropriate materials are modified or support is provided to enable pupils with SEND to access learning.
The statutory ‘inclusion statement’ in the National Curriculum sets out a framework for modifying the curriculum to include all pupils. At St Philips, teachers " set suitable learning challenges " to respond to pupils’ diverse learning needs, and " overcome potential barriers to learning and assessment" Sometimes, teachers will " choose objectives for pupils with SEN and/or disabilities that are different from those of the rest of the group, or " modify the curriculum to remove barriers so all pupils meet the same objectives. To make mathematics lessons inclusive, teachers at St Philips anticipate any barriers and plan to remove them.
When teaching maths we use a maths mastery whole class teaching approach for the majority of the class, when appropriate, SEND children will be included in these class lessons. Careful, appropriate questioning by teachers and support staff enables the SEND child to be included in class lessons whilst any aids needed to access the learning are provided. At St Philips, we are well equipt to support all children, including SEND children, with concrete resources. Handling and manipulating objects can aid and enhance children's' understanding of different maths concepts. Therefore, concrete materials allow them to visualise and understand the maths which allows them to make sense of what is actually happening.
At St Philips we use many different strategies when teaching maths. This wide variety of approach means that all children, including SEND children, will be given the opportunity to access the curriculum. We aim to provide children with a balance of mathematical opportunities delivered in variety of ways to address differing learning styles.
• learning through play with lots of ‘hands on’ and real-life experiences utilizing practical resources, especially the benefits of Numicon
• daily structured maths lessons with direct teaching and modelling of skills and methods
• daily maths meetings encouraging rapid recall of number facts and tables
• maths games and puzzles encouraging discussion and dialogue and group work
• open ended tasks, designed to challenge children’s thinking and understanding whilst applying their mathematical knowledge
• written maths to teach, practise and consolidate calculation skills
• ICT to support and enhance mathematics and cross curricular links wherever possible