Local Authority Expectations

Every LA has a duty to ‘explain the special educational provision it expects to be made from within a mainstream school’s budget share’. Here we make explicit the provision we expect to be made by all Islington schools for children with SEND.

This is important because:

  • All children and young people attending an Islington mainstream school should have the same entitlement to provision for SEND
  • School and LA staff need a common understanding to support discussion and decision making about individual children
  • It supports the LA in its statutory duty to monitor and evaluate effectiveness of SEND provision.

The following outlines the good practice that the LA expects schools to have in place.

  • The quality of teaching for pupils with SEN, and the progress made by pupils, should be a core part of the school’s performance management arrangements and its approach to professional development for all teaching and support staff.
  • School leaders and teaching staff, including the SENCO, should identify any patterns in the identification of SEN, both within the school and in comparison with national data, and use these to reflect on and reinforce the quality of teaching.

Schools must:

  • Use their best endeavours to make sure a child with SEN gets the support they need - this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEN.
  • Ensure that children with SEN engage in activities of the school alongside children who do not have SEN.

(SEN Code of Practice)

Accountability is through:

  • Ofsted
  • School Information Report
  • The Governing Body
  • Local Area SEND Inspection

Expectations of the Council and its partners for all mainstream schools in Islington for meeting SEND:

  1. What should be in place
  2. Assessment, planning, intervention and review
  3. Measuring Success
  4. Links to Ofsted Inspection
  5. School SEND Information Report
  6. Roles and responsibilities - SENCOs, Teachers, Teaching Assistants and Governors.
  7. Whole School approaches to meeting special educational needs (including the graduated approach, SEN Support, differentiation, plans, goals and outcomes)

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