Hertfordshire Small Step PEP All Guidance Documents – September 2019

Contents

• Guidance for Designated Teachers (7 page document)

• Document: Making sense of P Scales

• Document: P Scales working towards The National Curriculum

Level One

• Document: Proposal for Data Collection of pupils with severe or

profound and multiple learning difficulties

• Examples for grade input for the Small Step PEP – Subject Specific

and Non-Subject Specific Learners

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Hertfordshire Small Step PEP Guidance for Designated Teachers

Background

• The Small Step PEP format has been well received. It continues to be developed in response to feedback from special school colleagues year on year.

• The Small Step PEP will be appropriate for pupils who are recorded as emerging minus (Em-) on our mainstream Statutory School Age PEP and are likely to continue to be so for their whole school career with some moving into Em or Em+ in that time but no further.

Pupils can transfer from the Small Step PEP to the Statutory School Age PEP or vice versa if appropriate but this transfer can only be requested immediately after a PEP is finalised, otherwise there is a risk of data loss when moving from one PEP to another. Any change of PEP type must be requested by the Designated Teacher (DT) via the linked Hertfordshire Virtual School Education Adviser (EA).

Small Step PEP

General information page

The format reduces the amount of SEN information collected to reflect that this cohort of pupils are all

subject to an EHCP which describes needs and provision in detail. There is an option to upload the

EHCP review to documents which is recommended.

Attainment page

This format aims to provide the opportunity to record more fine-tuned attainment data so that the

pathway of small step progress can be identified for the learners who are consistently reported to DfE as

below the level of the statutory tests.

The Small Step PEP acknowledges the categories of learner outlined in the Rochford review final report

differentiating between non-subject specific learners and subject specific learners.

For non- subject specific learners, the format uses and builds on the principles of Routes for Learning

and Quest for Learning used by many schools working with these learners and allows schools to

extrapolate from the full range of current school based assessment systems used to record current

attainment on a termly basis.

It is envisaged that further guidance relating to the extended small steps scale will be developed and

compiled collaboratively with special school colleagues on an annual basis.

• Revised progress question, in line with other Hertfordshire PEPs, of ‘Is the young person making

progress relative to their ability?’

• Revised current working grade question, in line with other Hertfordshire PEPs, of ‘Please enter the

Pupil’s current working at grade?’ We need you to complete this question so that Small Step PEP

Pupils are included in Virtual School whole cohort reporting – please do not leave this area blank.

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We then ask you to complete the questions for non-subject specific learners and/or subject specific

learners as appropriate, providing grades using the extended small steps scale (see below).

• To capture non-subject specific learning, we ask ‘Please enter the grades for non-subject specific

learner milestones (only use subject specific table below if the scores are 40+).

NB: we acknowledge that Pupil’s working below P4 acquire milestones in a non-hierarchical

progress pathway’. In the columns for each term you can then record the last key milestone

achieved and the count of all milestones achieved to date.

As mentioned previously, these drop downs are based on the Quest for Learning milestones –

please see pages 4 – 7.

• To capture subject specific learning, we ask ‘Please enter the current working at grades for

subject specific learners for all subjects currently being studied’. The drop down steps

available range from 40 – 350 – please see guidance below. The scale has been extended from 200

to 350 in response to feedback from special school colleagues.

Scale Comparison Extended Small

Steps Scale 0 - 350

Quest Small Steps 0-43

KS1 /KS2 Standards

Old P Scales

And QCA Entry Level & GCSE

0-39 0-39 0-3 P1-P3

40-49 40-43 4 P4

50-59 PKS1

5 P5

60-69 6 P6

70-79 PKS2

7 P7

80-89 8 P8

90-99

PKS3

9 ELG

100-109 10 1B+ EL1

110-119 11 1A

120-129 PKS4 WTS

12 1A+ EL2

130-139 13 2C

140-149 14 2C+ EL3

150-159

Y1 Exp

15 2B

160-169 16 2B+

GCSE 1

170-179 17 2a

180-189 Y2 Exp

18 2a+

190-199 19 3c

200-209

Y3 Exp

20 3c+

210-219 21 3b

220-229 22 3b+

230-239 Y4 Exp

23 3a

240-349 24 3a+

250-259

Y5 Exp

25 4c

260-269 26 4c+

270-279 27 4b

280-289

Y6 Exp

28 4b+

GCSE 2

290-299 29 4a

300-209 30 4a+

310-319 31 5c

320-329

Y6 Exc

32 5c+

330-339 33 5b

340+ 34 5b+ GCSE 3

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• Attitude to Learning question, in line with other Hertfordshire PEPs.

• Let’s celebrate! question specific to the Small Step PEP.

Pupil Voice page

Pupil voice is already collected for the EHCP and is also an essential part of the PEP. This section has

been amended to ensure that information required for Virtual School data is collected whilst providing

meaningful prompts to support staff to collect pupil voice over time. This can be recorded in the most

appropriate way for the pupil and either uploaded to documents, or recorded in the sections provided on

the form.

Pupils for whom the Small Step PEP is most appropriate

Hertfordshire has schools with specific designation for pupils with SLD/PMLD including autism/

LD including autism/PNI/SEMH/HI.

• Pupils in specialist SLD/PMLD provision • Pupils in specialist LD provision • Many pupils in specialist PNI provision • Few Pupils in mainstream provision in process of being assessed for an EHCP where main

presenting need is cognition and learning

Out of county schools may have designations for particular needs but also may be organised differently

to accommodate pupils with the full range of needs.

Pupils in specialist provision where main presenting need is in the area of cognition and learning

(SLD/PMLD/MLD/LD). Many of these pupils will also have needs in the area of communication and

interaction.

It is unlikely that the Small Step PEP would be the most appropriate format to describe the attainment

and progress of pupils whose main presenting need is SEMH. However, if you feel that this format

would be useful for a CLA pupil at your school please discuss with your Education Adviser.

Further information regarding Quest for Learning and the full Quest documents can be found via the

following link:

http://ccea.org.uk/curriculum/sen_inclusion/assessment/quest_learning

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Appendix M

Quest for Learning and P – Scales MAP

P Level Quest for Learning

1i EncounterPupil encounters activities and experiences Pupil demonstrates simple reflex responses

1 Notices stimuli Key milestone

P1ii AwarenessPupil shows emerging awareness of activities and experiences Pupil has periods when they appear alert and ready to focus their attention on certain people, objects or parts of objects Pupil gives intermittent responses to situations

2 Reacts to close contact with familiar adult 3 Responds to very close obvious stimulus

P2I Attention and responsePupil is beginning to respond consistently to familiar people, events and objects Pupil reacts to new activities and responses Pupil is beginning to show interest in people, events and objects Pupil will accept and engage in co-active exploration

4 Demonstrates brief memory for previously presented stimuli 5 Responds to familiar voice or other personal identifier 6 Responds to a range of stimuli

P2ii EngagementPupil is beginning to be proactive in their interactions Pupil communicates consistent responses and affective responses Pupil recognises familiar people, events and objects Pupil will perform actions, often by trial and improvement Pupil will remember learned responses over short periods of time Pupil will co-operate in shared exploration and supported participation

7 Turn takes in a one-to-one situation with an adult 8 Responds to own name 9 Responds consistently to one stimulus Key milestone 10 Briefly follows a moving stimuli 11 Shows behaviour which can be interpreted as rejection of some stimuli 12 Responds differently to different stimuli 13 Terminates interaction with adult 14 Anticipates repetitively presented stimuli 15 Objects to the end of an interaction

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P3i ParticipationPupil is beginning to communicate intentionally Pupil will seek attention through eye contact, gesture or action Pupil will request event or activity Pupil will participate in shared activities with less support Pupil will sustain concentration for short periods Pupil will explore materials in increasingly complex ways Pupil will observe the results of their actions with interest Pupil will remember learned responses over more extended periods

16 Explores the environment with assistance17 Anticipates familiar social routines 18 Redirects attention to a second object 19 Random activities cause effect 20 Looks briefly after a disappearing object 21 Responds with support or prompt to a reactive environment 22 Communicates ‘more’ 23 Contingency responding Key milestone

P3ii InvolvementPupil uses emerging conventional communication Pupil will greet known people Pupil initiates interactions and activities Pupil remembers learned responses over increasing periods of time and may anticipate known events Pupil responds to options and choices with actions or gestures Pupil actively explores objects and events for more extended periodsPupil will apply potential solutions systematically to problems

24 Purposeful action in everyday environment25 Changes behaviour in response to an interesting even nearby 26 Contingency awareness Key milestone 27 Intentionally explores the environment 28 Communicates ‘more’ and ‘no more’ through two different consistent actions 29 ‘Looks’ backwards/forwards between two objects (knows two objects are present) 30 Perseveres by repeating action for reward in social game 31 Repeats an action when the first attempt is unsuccessful 32 Attracts attention 33 Initiates a social interaction/game 34 Object permanence Key milestone 35 Does two different actions in sequence to get a reward 36 Selects from two or more items Key milestone 37 Communicates choice to attentive adult 38 Modifies action when repeating action does not work 39 Deliberately gains the attention of another person to satisfy need 40 Shares attention

P4 Gaining SkillsPupil gains, strengthens or generally uses their skills. Pupil has understanding of knowledge and concepts that relate to their experiences of the curriculum

41 Expresses preference for items not present via symbolic means42 Early problem solving – tries new strategies when old one fails 43 Exerts autonomy in a variety of contexts Key milestone

Making sense of P Scales - Particularly P1 to 3 The P scales used to assess and report on the progress of our very special pupils may seem to be a code. We often refer to the Levels P1, P2 or P3 etcetera but to many, who are not familiar with the original P level descriptors, these letters and numbers are mystifying. How do those letters and numbers relate to our real children? Actually the roots of the P scales go back to some very commonsense thinking and language, first suggested in 1996 by Richard Byers and Erica Brown and if we know about that we can make better sense of the P scales. The QCA „ Guidelines for planning teaching and assessing the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties‟

i

(2009) contain an important table which draws from the work of those authors. The table describes ways that we might see children respond to experiences - they begin at the very earliest levels of learning. The words used in the table were important in the original development the P Scales, It is summarised below. The words in the column on the left describe progressively more active and complex forms of engagement that children might use in response to stimulation and interaction – they travel a journey from developing consciousness to independent learning.

The table is drawn from the work of Richard Byers

ii and Erica Brown

iii

It is worth noting that both Routes for Lerning and Quest for Learning which are the PMLD documents used in Wales and Northern Ireland both refer to the work summarised table above as a source

If you look carefully into the P level descriptions published in the QCA guidelines you will find that they contain words from the table above . The table below illustrates how the words occur and re occur in successive levels, showing a degree of overlap between levels encouraging us to understand that pupils progress may involve a spiral or convection of development rather than simple precise linear steps. Just as the welsh materials „ Routes for learning‟ recognise that pupils learning is not entirely linear so the P levels as originally described have an inherent flexibility which matches our pupil‟s pathways of learning . Which makes them very useful as observation tools for assessment for teaching – though some of the virtues of that flexibility are lost when they need to be strictly interpreted for data measurement purposes.

Levels of response

Encounter Pupils are present during an experience or activity without any obvious learning outcome

Awareness Pupils appear to show awareness, noticing that something has happened and, fleetingly focusing or attending to an object, event or person

Attention and response Pupils attend and begin to respond, often not consistently, to what is happening

Engagement Pupils show more consistent attention and show they can tell the difference between specific events objects and people in their surroundings

Participation Pupils begin to share , take turns and the anticipate of familiar sequences of events, These responses may be supported by staff or other pupils

Involvement Pupils actively strive to reach out, join in or „comment‟ in some way on the activity or on the actions or responses of the others.

Gaining skills and understanding

Pupils gain, strengthen or make general use of their skills, and understanding knowledge, concepts or understanding that relate to their experience of the curriculum

i QCA “Planning, teaching and assessing the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties” 2009 general guidelines pg 18 ISBN978-1-84721-887-2 order ref QCA/09/4020

ii Byers R. (1996) „Classroom Processes‟ in B. Carpenter, R. Ashdown and K. Bovair (eds) Enabling Access – effective teaching and

learning for learners with learning difficulties. London: David Fulton. iii Brown E.(1996) Religious Education for All. London: David Fulton

Proposal for Data Collection of pupils with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties

Hertfordshire Virtual School

Rat

ion

ale

The Virtual School has a legal obligation to ensure that the Looked After young people in its care are receiving the highest quality opportunities and making as much progress as possible. This includes a small but significant group of students whose progress rates are very slow and where “standard measures of progress are not appropriate”

To that end it must

• Liaise with schools and partners about:- o Wellbeing of the young people o Attainment of all young people, when attainment is unlikely to reach GCSE Grade 1 after 11 years of schooling. o Progress of all young people, when progress is very slow and often not linear.

• Quality assure these judgements

• Provide intervention, support and challenge.

The

Ch

alle

nge

The Rochford review has recommended that P-Scales are no longer statutory and further changes are being implemented. This complicates any collection system as schools have been given more freedom to choose how they work but lack clarity or contacts to completely resolve the conundrum.

• P-Scales had flaws but we understood them

• P-Scales were at least linked to the old QCA scale but this has gone too.

• The service must liaise with hundreds of schools both inside Hertfordshire and across the country. o Many of our children have to change schools very quickly when they come into care. o Many come into care halfway through an academic year.

• Our children are diverse and have multiple needs and our schools are being encouraged to respond to these needs accordingly.

Des

ired

Ou

tco

mes To capture appropriate measures of attainment for the lowest 5% of attainers and to determine relative progress over time.

To capture ‘spikes’ of current attainment in higher bands for individuals mostly attaining in EM- category

As with the most able 95% of the cohort for whom the agreed 9 point scale we want to adopt it is essential that:-

• Data is quick to gather and easy for our schools / partners to provide.

• Easy to understand for all concerned (The Virtual Team / Schools and Partners).

• Reliable and can be quality assured.

• Comparative with national scales / expectations and end of Key Stage data.

The

con

cep

t fo

r

thes

ech

ildre

n

Children in the lowest 5% of the population academically often have very complex learning patterns and may be much higher on specific areas of learning. (Higher bands) Bearing in mind that we are moving data collection from “progress measures” to “current working at grades” for all other children.

• If we are to ask the special schools to provide “current working at attainment data” rather than “progress data”

• Then we need to base it on something that can then be translated into Progress in the background.

Measurements based on Pre Key Stage standards are only part of what a young person can do and will not capture fully progress of all. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/interim-pre-key-stage-1-standards

They can however be merged into any more developmental scale that was agreed using a variety of resources.

Pro

po

sed

KS1

-4So

luti

on

That Academic data is collected for Reading, Writing and Mathematics only.

• That current working at grades are provided on an extended Small Steps / Quest Scale going through to 350

• That all grade descriptors are set out on a single A3 progression line sheet to be compiled collaboratively.

• Criteria to be loose enough to allow staff to make judgements in their own way-

• That grades are “working at grades” based on a best fit of what the young person can do – not coverage. o That from 0-43 this is based on Quest with 40 being linked to the Old P4 o That 0-39 is for non-subject specific learning only o That 40-350 be for Subject Specific / Reading / Writing and Mathematics o That 40-80 be tied to the old P4 - P8 Scales o That 100 be tied to achievement of Greater depth ELG or equivalent (Ready to move to National Curriculum) o That 160 be tied to GCSE Grade 1 (Old Grade G / QCA Points 16 - 2B+)

Non-Subject Specific Learning

Subject Specific Learning Scale Comparison

responsiveness / curiosity / discovery anticipation / persistence / initiation / investigation

Reading Writing Maths

Extended Small Steps

Scale 0 - 350

Quest Small Steps 0-43

KS1 /KS2 Standards

Old P Scales

And QCA

Entry Level & GCSE

0-39 0-39 0-3 P1-P3

40-49 40-43 4 P4

50-59 PKS1

5 P5

60-69 6 P6

70-79 PKS2

7 P7

80-89 8 P8

90-99

PKS3

9 ELG

100-109 10 1B+ EL1

110-119 11 1A

120-129 PKS4 WTS

12 1A+ EL2

130-139 13 2C

140-149 14 2C+ EL3

150-159

Y1 Exp

15 2B

160-169 16 2B+

GCSE 1

170-179 17 2a

180-189 Y2 Exp

18 2a+

190-199 19 3c

200-209

Y3 Exp

20 3c+

210-219 21 3b

220-229 22 3b+

230-239 Y4 Exp

23 3a

240-349 24 3a+

250-259

Y5 Exp

25 4c

260-269 26 4c+

270-279 27 4b

280-289

Y6 Exp

28 4b+

GCSE 2

290-299 29 4a

300-209 30 4a+

310-319 31 5c

320-329

Y6 Exc

32 5c+

330-339 33 5b

340+ 34 5b+ GCSE 3

Please enter the students

Current Working At Grade

Read Write Maths

Em- Em- Em-

For pupils who are likely to remain in the Em- category for attainment

please provide fine grading using the 0-400 Fine Steps Scale

Non-Subject Specific Learning

0-200 Only move to Subject

Specific Learning if the score is 40+

Subject Specific Learning

Read Write Maths

40-350 40-350 40-350

Please enter the student’s

Current Working At Grade

English Maths

4.7 1.2

Is the young person making progress relative to their ability

Year 6 information from academic year 2018/19 – Subject Specific Learner

Year 6 information from academic year 2018/19 – Non-Subject Specific Learner

Year 8 information from academic year 2018/19 – Subject Specific Learner

201811_Small Step PEP - Guidance for DTs.pdfmaking-sense-of P-scales-brief-article-may-10.pdf