Did you know that pupils with SEND are up to six times more likely to be excluded from school than their classmates? And that young people with special educational needs make up around half of all permanent exclusions?
If you are a SENCo, it’s likely that you are indeed painfully aware of these statistics – and doing everything in your power to stop students in your school from contributing to them.
But as funding for education becomes increasingly tighter, and society continues to feel the impact of austerity through cuts in social care provision (including CAMHS), supporting these especially vulnerable learners can be one of the toughest elements of what is arguably the toughest job in education.
Faced with this challenge, many schools are turning to edtech for answers – and one solution that is already making a difference is Provision Map.
This powerful software from Bett Award winning company Edukey, is designed to streamline and simplify every aspect of the SENCo’s role; reducing your workload, releasing extra funding, and making sure you spend as much of your valuable time as possible working directly with students, their families and teachers to improve outcomes.
The range of features Provision Map offers is comprehensive; this is a system designed with a really clear understanding what SENCos actually need, as well as first class functionality.
Flexible learning plans – fully in line with the SEND Code of Practice and following the Assess – Plan – Do – Review approach – are easy to use, and fully customisable.
The provision mapping facility makes it simple to plan, implement and track interventions; and automatic reminders, plus a clear framework, ensure that reviews happen when they are supposed to, and cover everything that’s required.
Gathering, analysing and communicating data is at the heart of what effective SENCos do; and with Provision Map, this can be managed at the click of a button, with detailed cost, time, Pupil Premium and outcome reports generated instantly.
Students’ plans can be shared with parents, and Pupil Passports (or ‘single page pupil profiles’) are easy to generate using customisable templates.
The optional School Robins plugin means that collecting important details about learners from various staff members no longer involves composing multiple messages and scrolling through an overloaded inbox looking for relevant responses; instead, when information is required an email is sent out to all staff – and their replies are collated, and attached to the relevant pupil.
It’s all about reducing the time SENCo’s need to spend on crucial paperwork and planning, freeing them up to place more focus on the parts of their job that edtech could never tackle.
The figures speak for themselves: with Provision Map, schools can save around 133 hours per year on SEND administration, and 95 hours on reporting.
On average, schools using the software secure an additional £15,500 of funding. And the impact on students’ lives could be immeasurable.
Yes, being a SENCo can be tough – but it is also profoundly rewarding.
Unlocking the potential of young people who might otherwise be at risk of slipping through cracks in the system, and helping them avoid the threat of exclusion, with all the additional problems that can generate, must surely be one of the most important things that anyone working within our education system can do.
Ultimately, Provision Map makes that target an easier one for everyone to achieve.
Discover more, and book a demo for a 30-day free trial, at provisionmap.co.uk/demo.
