SENDCOs are excellently placed to improve teaching and learning in schools. They often know the students’ needs incredibly well, know a great deal about SEND and have a clear responsibility for supporting good outcomes. SENDCOs can work with greatest effectiveness if the strategies and approaches they take are informed by research evidence.

This course examines the pivotal role of the SENCO in driving high-quality teaching and learning to improve outcomes for pupils with SEND.

It focuses on the strategic influence SENCOs can exert over curriculum design and classroom practice to enable inclusive provision across the school.

Aims:

• Explore the EEF’s two-part model for inclusive teaching (universal practices and targeted adaptations).
• Evaluate high-quality classroom strategies that support SEND pupils without creating learning barriers.
• Strengthen staff capability in using effective scaffolding, feedback, and metacognitive prompts.

Content Overview:

• High-Quality Daily Teaching: Focus on core universal strategies: explicit instruction, calm environments, positive relationships, and actionable feedback.
• Effective Classroom Adaptions: Distinguish between helpful adaptations and "poor proxies for learning". Emphasise task-specific, proportionate support that fosters pupil independence over time.
  Scaffolding & Metacognition:
• Scaffolding & Metacognition: Utilise visual, verbal, and written scaffolds alongside self-scaffolding prompts (Knowledge of Task, Strategy, and Self) to encourage hard thinking.
  Implementation Reflection:
• Implementation Reflection: Discuss sharing existing best practices and reviewing school-wide SEND routines.

Gary Aubin

Gary leads on a SEND School Improvement programme with Whole Education, supporting schools and Trusts to drive a whole-school approach to supporting pupils with SEND. Gary sits on the Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review panel.

Gary is the Education Endowment Foundation’s SEND Associate. In this role, he has worked extensively on sharing the evidence base behind high-quality teaching for SEND, as well as advised on the development of the SENCO NPQ.

As a Consultant, Gary has spoken internationally, advised the BBC, written content for the National Institute of Teaching and given talks to hundreds of Trust, Local Authority and school audiences.

Cost: £150 per delegate; £50 each for subsequent delegates from same school

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