Special educational needs in the primary school: A Practical Guide

Reviews of the first two editions:

"extraordinarily rich in ideas...an essential buy." - TES

"an excellent, clearly written work which is full of practical advice, and presented in an easily readable manner. This book is a highly recommended read. Do buy it and see." - Support for Learning

"has proved especially influential at practitioner level ... never failing to offer a balanced assessment." - British Journal of Special Education

"I have a comprehensive library of books on special educational needs but I use this one more than any other because I find it readable, practical and accessible. It is a useful and informative book both to read cover to cover and to dip into. Although it is based on sound theoretical knowledge, it is clear that Jean Gross is writing from her own experience as a teacher and SEN practitioner." - TES

Recent legislation and cutbacks to central support services mean that the responsibility for meeting special educational needs is resting ever more squarely on the shoulders of ordinary classroom teachers. Yet few feel wholly confident in their ability to adapt work within the national curriculum to meet the whole range of needs, or coordinate successful individual education plans for children who, for whatever reason, are not learning as well as they might.

This book will increase that confidence. Aimed at busy class teachers, special needs coordinators, heads and teachers in training, it shows how the teacher can build differentiation into planning lessons and schemes of work. It describes workable strategies for managing the most common behaviour difficulties and meeting special needs in language, literacy and mathematics.

At a whole school level, it offers practical guidance on reviewing special needs policies, assessment, record keeping, and the management of roles and resources. The focus is on the way in which schools can do a good job in meeting special needs themselves, within the everyday constraints of time, money and energy, and in so doing provide genuinely inclusive opportunities for all children.

This edition has been comprehensively updated and rewritten to cover the revised SEN Code of Practice and related legislation, new directions in inclusion and all the major curriculum initiatives now in place in primary schools.

Jean Gross manages educational psychologists and other support services. She has written widely on special needs policy and practice, acted as consultant to the National Literacy Strategy and to the TTA on the SEN requirements of initial teacher training, as well as being involved in producing a wide range of teaching resources for children with special educational needs.