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SEND Code of Practice: How to develop the perfect partnership with parents

The 2014 SEN Code of Practice made very clear the importance of schools being able to work effectively with parents and the huge benefits that real and meaningful partnerships can bring. The Lamb enquiry, 2009, also found that “In the most successful schools, the effective engagement of parents has had a profound impact on children’s progress.”

Posted on Friday 20th July 2018

This simply written toolkit offers a huge amount of practical ideas and resources to help this to happen, including:

  • Key points and questions to help reflect on your school’s strengths and areas for development relating to parents
  • A jargon buster list to give out and/or put on your website
  • Clear process map for an Education and Health Care Plan (EHC)
  • Tips for getting the most out of meetings and collecting parent views
  • One page profile templates
  • Yearly review timeline
  • A Powerpoint presentation which can be personalised for your school to explain the main points in the SEND Code of Practice
  • How to prepare parents and share strategies for change and transition
  • Positive, printable leaflets to share about specific needs such as ADHD, Dyspraxia, Autism

SEN partnerships with parentsGeorgina, our expert reviewer says:

“I can’t stress enough the importance of a positive relationship between parents and teachers when supporting children with special educational needs. Sharing knowledge, understanding, strategies between parents and teachers can be paramount to effectively supporting a child. Hence why I believe this books is extremely useful, as it helps teachers to build a positive and supportive relationship. It provides useful guidance of how to explain the SEND code of practice to parents, manage difficult conversations and ultimately support children and their families most effectively.”

I love that this book is packed full of useful documents and templates at the back of the book. They cover a range of uses saving time and ensuring effective support.”

“The documents are editable and provided in both printed format in the book and on the CD. Making it quick and easy to put them into use.”

For anyone interested in wider reading on the subject of parental involvement, in 2011 the DfE produced a very detailed, general review of best practise in schools, including many specific studies, saying:

‘Parental engagement has a large and positive effect on children’s learning. It is therefore a priority to identify interventions that are effective in supporting parental involvement, particularly those parents who are either not significantly involved in their children’s education, or who are not involved at all.’

The review may be accessed here:

//assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182508/DFE-RR156.pdf

Or for a summary:

//assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182507/DFE-RR156_-_Practitioner_Summary.pdf

Not only does it provide high quality, editable templates of useful documents to help support parents but in doing so it saves valuable time. It is also an excellent resource to develop a teacher or SENCO’s understanding of how to support parents effectively in line with the SEND Code of Practice.

SEN partnerships with parents

With thanks to Georgina (Cheshire Sen Tutor LTD) who runs The SEN Resources Blog www.senresourcesblog.com for writing this review. You can follow Georgina and The SEN Resources Blog on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

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