Introduction 

Our ethos 

All children and young people are entitled to an education that enables them to make progress so that they: achieve their best, become confident individuals living fulfilling lives and make a successful transition into adulthood. It is the responsibility of all education settings to provide good teaching and holistic support for all children and young people in their care. It is particularly important that children and young people who have the most difficulty with their learning are taught by good quality teachers.

Educational support in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) is needs led: any provision or support should be provided in line with the needs of the child or young person and is not dependent on any formal diagnosis.

The principles of this document are in line with the Inclusion Charter values and the special educational needs and disability (SEND) strategy. Priority 3 of the strategy states that ‘it is our aim that all RBWM mainstream provision will be welcoming, accessible and inclusive, adhering to the SEND Code of Practice, so that they can meet the needs of the vast majority of children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This means you can expect your mainstream local school or setting to make every reasonable adjustment to meet the needs of children or young people with SEND, led by strong SEND leadership within schools.’

This resource supports RBWM education settings in meeting this priority.

Who should read this resource?

This resource has been coproduced to be used by education settings to fulfil their responsibilities towards children and young people, including those with SEND. It serves as a valuable tool to facilitate discussions about potential support strategies and to evaluate whether the support currently in place is appropriate and effective. By utilising this resource, mainstream education settings can promote inclusive, equitable, and consistent support.

What is ordinarily available provision?

All state-funded mainstream education settings are legally required to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND, and to use their best endeavours in doing so. This is done through Quality First Teaching (QFT) alongside the resources that are ordinarily available to education settings from their budget (including notional budget). Support can also be accessed from a range of statutory and non-statutory services provided or commissioned by Achieving for Children (AfC), for example the Educational Psychology Service.

This guidance should be used alongside education settings' annual SEND self evaluation framework, SEND provision mapping planning, and in reviewing its SEND information reports and SEND policies. This approach will help schools to identify any emerging themes, needs and areas for development that are prevalent in the education setting, and help in developing suitable offers to address those areas identified as a priority.

Throughout this resource we will refer to:

• adults in settings who support children and young people as staff
• educational placements including early years provision, schools and colleges as settings
• special educational needs and/or disabilities as SEND

What this ordinarily available provision guide will cover

1. Expectations of all settings

• Expectations of all settings: an introduction
• Partnership with learners, parents and carers
• Quality of education, including:
  • Identification and assessment
  • Teaching and learning
  • Curriculum
• Environment
• Personal development
• Resources
• Staff training
• Transition and preparing for adulthood

2. Barriers to learning 

• Barriers to learning: an introduction
• Anxiety 
• Emotional dysregulation
• Processing speed difficulties 
• Disorganisation
• Visual impairment
• Visual perceptual difficulties
• Maths difficulties
• Handwriting
• Attachment needs
• Poor social communication skills
• Auditory processing difficulties and auditory processing disorder
• Poor vocabulary
• Poor self-esteem and low confidence
• Poor attention and concentration and/or hyperactivity
• Poor short-term, working or long-term memory
• Literacy difficulties
• Expressive language 
• Receptive language
• Speech 
• Gross motor skills and coordination  
• Fine motor skills difficulties 
• Listening 
• Sensory processing 

3. Glossary

The principles of this document are in line with the Inclusion Charter values.

For further details of services and support please visit: https://rbwm.afcinfo.org.uk/local_offer