3 Key Challenges When Teaching SEND Pupils to Read English
In most cases, children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) struggle with reading, writing, and literacy more than their peers.
Currently, 1.5 million children in the UK are identified as being SEND, whether or not they’re in mainstream schools.
According to research from teachers and health visitors, “only 35% of children with SEN had the emergent reading skills expected for their age by the time they started primary school [reception class KS1], compared with 82% of their peers without SEN. By the time [SEND] children left primary school, only 38% had the reading skills expected for an 11-year-old, compared with 83% of peers.”
That’s an enormous literacy gap that primary schools (KS1, KS2) and secondary schools (KS3, KS4) are struggling to fill, especially with more children than ever having SEND needs.
Across the UK, children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) are either taught in special schools or in schools with SEN provisions. At present, there are 1,546 special schools, 57 non-maintained special schools, 373 schools in England with SEN units, and 1,125 schools with a resourced provision.
Overall, there are 1.5 million pupils in England who have special educational needs (SEN), according to the DfE.
3 SEND English Literacy Challenges
1. Ensuring SEND Pupils can access the whole curriculum
It’s crucial that schools ensure SEND pupils can access the whole curriculum, especially when they’re in mainstream schools. When students are in Special Schools, non-maintained special schools, SEN Units, and resourced provisions, there isn’t as much pressure to achieve curriculum-based targets.
One of the reasons access to the curriculum is so important is the SEND Code of Practice 2014. We await to see what changes the new government will make to this and other policies, but for now, this is the framework schools operate within.
2. Identifying the cause of individual pupils’ reading difficulties
SEND covers a very broad range of needs. Pupils who’ve been identified as SEND could have anything from autism, deficit disorders (ADHD, ADD), dyslexia, visual impairments, hearing impairments, cognitive and learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and mobility issues, or a combination of several of these.
If a student is able to stay in a mainstream school, it means their SEND needs aren’t serious enough to require them to be in a special school, SEN Unit, or another provision. However, this may change over time if schools receive more funding and support for SEND pupils.
Any of the difficulties listed above can cause children to struggle with reading and literacy. It’s up to teachers and SENDcos to come up with the most effective solutions for individual children.
If you’re working with ReadingWise to deliver interventions, your SEND children will have everything they need to improve their reading skills. With every school, ReadingWise supports teachers and SENDcos in conducting a pre-launch assessment programme. Depending on your focus—Decoding, Comprehension, Vocabulary—English Teachers, Literacy Leads, TAs, and SENDCos receive in-depth training on how to deliver the modules effectively.
3. Improving reading comprehension—at school and home
A DfE study released in 2022, The Reading Framework Report, demonstrated the importance of evidence-based literacy intervention programmes for SEND pupils.
Our literacy intervention programmes have been evidenced by the Department for Education ('gold standard' RCT) and by Cambridge University (the report can be read here). The impact we deliver has been consistent across over 300,000 pupils across the UK, including and especially those with SEND needs.
Alongside provisions schools can deliver, such as ReadingWise, as the National Literacy Trust notes, schools should encourage parents to help their children read for fun. As tempting as it might be for parents to give children access to screens and devices, reading at home would give their children a lifelong boost in literacy attainment and their mental and academic abilities.
ReadingWise for Special Schools, SEN Units, and Resourced Provisions
ReadingWise often delivers disproportionate gains for disadvantaged and SEN learners.
Our programmes cover Phonics (Zip), Decoding, Comprehension, and Vocabulary. ReadingWise is a viable 'one-stop-shop' for literacy intervention for SEND pupils in special schools, non-maintained special schools, SEN Units, and resourced provisions.
ReadingWise will streamline delivery for your school's SENDCos and literacy leads. ReadingWise can deliver significant reading improvement for each pupil falling behind, whichever area of reading they are struggling with.
Impressive Results ReadingWise Can Achieve for SEND Pupils
“What I really like is that it moves at the children’s pace. It doesn’t let them go further than they can and gives them the chance to try again. Not many programmes we’ve come across allow them to do that, and hardly any are entirely phonics-based.” Billing Brook Special School. Read more of our Case Studies.
Boost Your School's Literacy Results
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