High-quality teaching and differentiation to support pupils with SEND

Understand what is meant by high-quality teaching, and find evidence-based strategies to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Last reviewed on 9 August 2024
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 8207
Contents
  1. What do we mean by high-quality teaching?
  2. 5 key high-quality teaching strategies
  3. High-quality teaching for specific areas of need
  4. Next steps

What do we mean by high-quality teaching?

High-quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have special educational needs (SEN). This is stated in paragraph 6.37 of the SEND Code of Practice.

To provide high-quality teaching, teachers need to:

  • Be aware of pupils' individual needs
  • Make appropriate adjustments, rather than teaching the same material to the whole class in the same way

They might differentiate by:

ContentAdapting what pupils are expected to learn, or how they gain access to knowledge
TimeAllocating more time for some pupils to complete tasks
TaskUsing different tasks to achieve the same goal
ResourcesMaking sure pupils have access to appropriate materials that will make the work accessible to them
TechnologyFor example, allowing some pupils to use ICT
FeedbackSetting individualised goals and targets
OutcomeMaking sure expectations are realistic

5 key