Case Study – Heathside Walton on Thames

Case study to demonstrate our use of the Surrey Inclusion framework as a means of self-evaluation.

Outline and Intent

In the spring/ summer of 2023, we were keen to internally evaluate our SEND practices. In particular, we identified the following questions for our own review.

  • Are our SEND practices in line with our stated policy?

  • Are our SEND practices compliant with Surrey OAP?

  • Are our SEND practices robust and embedded?

  • Do they deliver the appropriate support for our SEND learners?
  • What tweaks to our SEND practices would make the greatest impact for our SEND learners in and out of the classroom?
  • Are our teaching assistants maximizing their impact?

Implementation and Engagement

In advance of the review, we were sent questions taken from the Surry Inclusion Framework. Section by section, our SENCO and I (Head of School) graded ourselves against the questions we were asked.

We chose to initially grade ourselves separately and then to come together and compare our judgements. Our intent was that these questions ought to provoke discussion, unpick areas of misalignment and drive us towards agreed actions.

The quality of discussion was productive. Sweeping generalisations about policy decisions, practices or impact we were done away with – these questions allowed us to be data driven, evidence based and objective. As a result, we then chose to present our internal evaluation document back to SLT for a broader discussion and to elicit some additional views.

Kenny Wheeler from SAFE then joined us after our internal evaluation was complete. His role was to unpick details, independently test out our judgements, probe for further detail and support our commitment to actions. We conducted learning walks in school and met with other key staff to test our judgement. Through the discussion the evaluation generated, we were able to create a SEND action plan for our school.

Impact and Outcomes

Our Action plan had more than 20 different work-ons. Many of these were small tweaks, quick wins that we were able to do easily.
However, we landed on three key points that the evaluation pointed to, that we knew would need longer term work and bigger thinking:

  • 1
    Teachers need CPD and long-term development to move away from expecting learners to rely on auditory processing.
  • 2
    Department leaders need to articulate clearly what TAs should be doing in their subject areas to provide high quality support for SEND learners.
  • 3
    The school needs to codify more clearly what quality first teaching should look like in our institution and map this against Surrey OAP.

These points became critical within the cycle of our SDP. They have become key priorities for us, which we return to within our own calendar of self-evaluation and have supported the design of our CPD program.

Establishing Impact

We have now designed a clearer program of learning walks and self evaluation activities to keep these priorities under review. In September 2024 we plan to return to the beginning of the cycle again, completing a new round of evaluation against the framework.

Reflections and Recommendations

  • 1
    The framework questions are detailed and thought provoking. Answering them properly requires time and patience, and a willingness to unearth unexpected findings. We learnt it is important to carve out the time to approach the inclusion framework in this way and cannot be whizzed through in a quick meeting.
  • 2
    For us, the framework’s main impact was in elevating the quality of conversation away from subjectivity and opinion. In effect, we used the framework as conversation starters and prompts to focus our attention on critical thinking. This is where we got the most value from the process.
  • 3
    In committing to action, we found we had created an action plan that initially seemed unwieldy, but the framework does produce some quick wins that help generate momentum.
We’d definitely recommend the process to others!
Johnny Clark, Head of School, Heathside Walton on Thames