How much differentiation extra help is actually provided in secondary

[Alliwantisboozeforchristmas]

DD 12 with ASD is finding the academic jump to secondary hard. We've talked to the senco about support and she's advised the main support offered will be differentiated learning in class and homework and teachers checking in with DD to check her understanding. That's it.

But in reality what does this mean with busy, stretched teachers trying to cater for large classes and get through the work. DD often finds the homework too difficult/too long. When I try to sit and go through stuff with her she often seems quite muddled or have no idea about what they've covered in class. I honestly don't think there is any differentiation being provided at all.

I'd love to know what other AN children have had this kind of support in class, or from teachers about what they can/do provide in these situations.

Probably not a lot. If they have 30 kids and one teacher it's not possible to differentiate for every single child. They might have a choice of two activities, or provide a generic scaffolding for those who want to use it, or a bit if extra help/checking in, but individually differentiated work suited to your child's exact needs is unrealistic expectations IMHO.

As a teacher I did try really hard to provide differentiated learning but as you say this can be really difficult when you are overstretched and expectations are so high. You are supposed to differentiate for all SEN needs, while ‘challenging’ others, while catering to boys more than girls (yes they told us to do this - at my school we called it ‘the great penis debacle) but not missing the girls and also trying to teach a curriculum as quick as possible that’s got way too content for 1 half term! I think it might be a good idea to think about what would help your DD get more our of lessons as if you are able to present the teachers with things they can do to help Im sure they would - they just might not have time to think it up themselves.

I teach at secondary, this year I have 1 class with 50% (14 students) with varying needs, all on SEN list but all very different needs.

We simplify, offer scaffolding, support, but I don't always have a LSA with me, luckily most lessons but not during exam time as they are used as readers and scribes.

We try our hardest but as previous poster said I can't differentiate for every need, this is one class out of 6 I teach, and I am a core subject so that is low, some teachers will have many more classes.

One of my classes has 32 pupils with 19 on the SEN register, 10 PP, and 2 gifted. I am supposed to cater for all the groups individually. It's hell, literally, I had a parent tear a strip out of my co-teacher at parents eve because she didn't know the exact details of the child's plan. With the greatest respect, teachers have to teach to the majority, make adjustments to suit the highest number then support everyone

Thanks for the replies - I really do feel for teachers - it must be a headache (and probably impossible) to try to cater for all these needs

I feel it is somewhat disingenuous of the senco to make out that differentiation in class will be some magic bullet. With the best of intentions teachers simply can't provide that. I just feel so sorry for her sat in lessons totally out of her depth and then set homework to complete based on that. As ever it is funding that is the problem, but it all feels a bit hopeless really.

It will depend on her specific needs. With ASD children for secondary (science) I've used things like

Task management boards (to help them keep track of where we are in the lesson)

Word banks

Sentence starters

Cloze tasks (where they fill in blanks rather than writing the whole thing)

I'd also try to sit the ones I needed to check in with more frequently closer to me, but like PPs have said, when half the class are SEN/PP/G&T it becomes impossible for all but the ones that literally won't work without you standing next to them.

Fully admit I was a bit shit at classroom teaching though, I tutor 1 to 1 now instead.

@Alliwantisboozeforchristmas is she in the same class for all lessons? or are the classes mixed up /streamed so that she gets different work than others in her class?

If not mixed up then will they be next year? Next term?

@PollyPut they have set for maths which has been very positive for her. Think they will set for English next year too I think

It breaks my heart as a mother of a child with SEN too, how little capacity I had to support the needs of all learners in my classroom. Class sizes, behaviour and all the rest you hear about teachers' workloads and lack of support staff funding meant that a lesson felt like a success if I just got through the planned content with the class. It ends up as teaching to the middle with some challenge tasks bolted on to stretch the G&T kids and trying to support the SEN kids wherever possible. It will vary across classes. You are aware and supportive though, so she's lucky. Many SEN kids don't even have that.

In terms of the homework in my experience a lot of the time it's not terribly valuable as schools have homework policies/calendars that are forced upon the teachers as another box to tick. Worksheets hurriedly set to tick a box. What you are describing doesn't sound like it's supporting her learning so in your position I would ask for a copy of the Scheme of work or learning objectives for each subject for the term and for accommodations in place for what homework she has to do. (Ie try to get her exempt from the pointless stuff). Then rather than wasting your time with her completing unnecessary tasks you could focus on consolidation of her understanding. At year 7 level that's manageable for a parent in most subjects. By GCSE tutors might be needed.

I'm sorry not to be more positive but wanted to confirm that your suspicions about the SENCO just talking the talk are likely true. I've left the classroom now as the whole job has changed.

I think a lot depends on the class. Where you have a well behaved class with one or two Sen children then the teacher will be able to offer a lot of support. Where the class has lots of different needs it is really tricky.

@wadiwalker's advice is good.

I also suggest you get DD a lightweight laptop (something like a Surface) with a long battery life if school will allow it. That should make it easier to organise herself and she could have a template for some tasks and resources saved on there. Charge it each night before she puts it in her bag.

In my experience whilst secondary schools are a huuuuge improvement compared to primary school they still tend to be very good at 'talking the talk' but not actually 'walking the walk' iyswim.

The work set probably has been differentiated for your dd in that she wouldn’t have been given the same work to do as the higher ability students in the class, but that doesn’t help if it’s still a struggle for her. Sometimes the differentiation comes from the teachers expectations of what each child will produce after being set the same piece of work.

Having given this some more thought on the school run, I think it would be a good idea over the Xmas holidays to sit down with DD and check she understands the principles of how a secondary school lesson actually works. I am a secondary school teacher with a child with ASC.

So e.g.

1. Go to the right room about 5 mins before the lesson. This means setting off before the end of break/lunch for those lessons.
2. When you are in the room, go to your seat, take your coat off and get your exercise book and a pen out.
3. Open your laptop (if using) and start a new Word doc (or ideally, open the Word doc you used in the last lesson of that subject).
4. Look on the board. Are there any clues as to what the lesson is about? A title, an objective, maybe a starter activity?
5. Check desk in case there is starter work on paper.
6. Start doing the starter work.
7. If there is no starter work, think about what you did in the previous lesson - any particular key words, facts etc? What was the general topic?
8. Listen out for your name to be called for the register.
9. During the lesson, listen out for the teacher counting down - this probably means they're about to give an important instruction or to clarify or explain something.

10. Look out for mentions of homework: what and when due. Write it in planner. 11. If homework is usually collected at the beginning of the lesson, have it ready. 12. If it's normally collected at the end, have your book ready. 13. If teachers vary in what they prefer, write it down if you can to help you remember.

At the end of the day, ask her to go over each lesson and see if she can say what the topic was. Complete any half finished sentences together as best you can. Stick or staple in any loose sheets. Check before school she has pens, pencils, a ruler, a calculator, a gluestick, a small pair of scissors, the right books, a few sheets of paper, a charger. Have plenty of spares of pens etc.

Find out if the school uses Teams or ShowMyHomework or any other system like that to share lesson materials and homework tasks. Make sure she can log in. Check it with her daily.

Get the plans for each subject if you can to see roughly what's being taught then. Cross reference with BBC Bitesize. If there are textbooks, get a copy for home.

Get a copy of Smart But Scattered. American but the approach is very helpful.

I realise this is putting a load of work on you.

But it will make a huge difference because then the teacher can spend his or her limited time actually talking to DD about the work.

I have 24 kids in my year 11 GCSE class, two with EHCP plus a bunch of others with various SEN and other stuff going on. Some of them would massively benefit from this approach.

If you divide a 60 min lesson by 24 you can see I can spend about a minute talking to each student individually (some of 60 mins taken up whole class teaching of course, but much dealing with bags/coats/doing register/lateness/people needing the loo and tissues/missing exercise book/missed last lesson/random vistors to classroom/no glue stick/no idea of day of week, location, which planet on etc etc).

And that class are pretty good...

I don't know if this helps and will depend on the school but DD is allowed a digital camera in class (NOT phone) to take photos of the board and teachers provide her with a copy of any printed notes in case she couldn't keep up with note taking.

All pupils are actively encouraged to attend drop in sessions where if they did not understand content of lesson from one teacher, they can ask another in the same subject area to explain it again. They're also encouraged to send emails to ask for things to be explained again. Sometimes a different teaching method can be the answer.

There's a reason her school is so heavily over subscribed - she was extremely lucky to get a place. (it's state not private before anyone asks)

Differentiation by outcome is not helpful in your daughter’s case, because the outcome is that she’s not really getting much from the lessons.

It’s possible that the work is differentiated, in that there is more challenging or extension work for some students, that your DD wouldn’t necessarily be aware of.

The organisational stuff is useful, if you can work with her on that. Colour coordinated visual timetable, ensuring she has everything she needs ( which I’m sure you do anyway).

If homework tasks are online, can you go through them with her?

Differentiation is not a magic bullet, but perhaps if classes are set or streamed in the future, it will help her.

Thanks for all the replies and ideas. Lots to think about. I am lucky that I do have time to try to help her outside of school. There is a limit really though on how much time she can give to learning outside school as she is frazzled enough from getting through the school day.

Honestly? Bugger all that's worthwhile