SENCo, are you getting the data you need for Ofsted?

By Speech and Language Link

You know only too well how important data is in your role – you use it all the time to analyse, evidence, justify, record and much more. While we hate to mention the ‘O’ word so early on in this blog, it is fair to say that if ‘They’ do drop by, they will want to see evidence of pupil progress, a focus on outcomes and an accurate way of monitoring and evaluation of any SEND support provided.

You may know that Speech and Language Link’s online assessment and interventions help schools easily identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), but did you know how much the data generated from the Language Link packages can help you, the SENCo? It’s one of the things that sets it apart from other SLCN support packages!

Here’s the data the Language Link package offers:

• • Individual student analysis of receptive language & functional communication skills
  • Reports per pupil, class, year and key stage
  • Dynamic reports and provision maps providing the information needed for teachers to differentiate teaching and provide data on levels of difficulty across the key stage
  • Groups are tracked and measured outcomes provide details on the success of each session
  • Comparison reports compare pupils’ latest assessments for the chosen academic year with the prior assessment

There are three ways to measure progress within Language Link:

• • The parent views and pupil views capture the child’s and their family’s feelings about wellbeing and communication skills
  • The class teacher completes the teacher engagement ratings and looks at the pupil’s functional communication skills
  • The outcome of language groups the pupil has participated in, and the post-test scores of any supplementary teaching the pupil received. Use parent views, pupil views and teacher engagement ratings to measure the functional impact of support for pupils flagged for intervention and set targets for improvement

Provision maps are an efficient way of showing all the provision that your school makes that is additional to and different from that which is offered through the school’s curriculum. The use of provision maps will help you maintain an overview of the programmes and interventions used with different groups of pupils and provide a basis for monitoring the levels of intervention.

So whether you love a bit of data or see it as a necessary, but frustrating task, you can be reassured that the data from the Language Link packages supplies all the evidence you need: for assessment results, implementation, entry and exit data and outcomes. 

As for the dreaded ‘O’ – here is what our Language Link subscribers have been saying:

“We had notification of an Ofsted inspection – I was able to have all the information to hand within the hour.Even the things the SENCo didn’t know she wanted.” – LSA, Gladstone School, Barry

“If Ofsted came in and asked how I know how I’m doing – well here it all is.”- HLTA, Aldermoor Farm Primary School, Coventry

“We just love the whole class at a glance sheet which the staff have really valued and will give us evidence for referrals to Speech and Language services and when the big O visits us soon. I would add that this is the best ICT assessment programme I have ever invested in.” – SENCo, Cardiff