SEND Deep Dive and Evaluation Pack

Fully up to date with the latest September 2024 changes to the Ofsted School Inspection Handbook, this bundle is designed to support SENDCos, school and trust leaders. It contains seven fully editable templates that allow you to gather information about the effectiveness of your current SEND provision over a short period of time, similar to how Ofsted would gather information about SEND and inclusion during an inspection. The questions within are designed in a SEND deep dive style to mimic the types of questions that Ofsted inspectors ask about SEND. This means you can pick and choose from the huge range available if you're looking to test out how robust your SEND and inclusion processes are, meaning you can use the pack multiple times where needed. You can gather information about your school's SEN provision by using the following editable documents in this pack:

1. Example SENDCo Ofsted Questions - while Ofsted don't conduct a deep dive directly into SEND in the same way as they would with the curriculum subjects, they do explore different facets of inclusion with the SENCo, staff and pupils. This example Ofsted SEND questions document provides over 100 questions which are split into different sections so you can reflect on questions about SEND in the four key judgement areas. They can also be used with teaching and support staff, and your SEND link governor.

2. SEND Subject Knowledge Question Bank - these are perfect for delving deeper into your staff members' understanding about different facets of SEND, such as communication and interaction, cognition and learning, SEMH, physical and sensory, and other specific special educational needs such as Autism, ADHD and specific learning difficulties (SpLD).

3. SEND Questions for Pupils - this handy editable document contains ideas for questions you can ask pupils about SEND and inclusion, including what helps them to learn and how they're supported by people and resources.

4. SEND Document and Files Checklist - this gives you ideas of key documentation you may need for SEND, particularly when conducting your own deep dive or when preparing for an inspection.

5. SEND Summary Overview - this simple-but-handy template allows you to summarise your SEND provision onto a single overview sheet.

6. Deep Dive Process Overview - SEND - this template gives you ideas and a structure for running your own SEND deep dive, including what threads you'll be exploring and what the outcomes are.

7. Deep Dive Evidence Exploration - SEND - this document is an ideal place to keep any notes from observations, scrutiny and conversations you have while exploring your SEND provision.

How is this deep dive bundle different from a SEND Audit? 

The key difference between these two Honeyguide packs is this SEND deep dive bundle will give you a snapshot view of SEND and inclusion at the time when you carry it out and is designed to mirror what Ofsted may do when they look at provision for pupils with SEND in your school. For example, you may notice that in certain classrooms, SEND is not as well supported, leading you to question the strengths in outcomes for pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged. Just like in an Ofsted inspection, when gathered together, these snippets of information give a picture of the SEND in your school and can be used as part of a checking / quality assurance process. 

On the other hand, a SEND Audit is a longer term process of reviewing and improving your SEND systems, processes, policies, training and CPD. Typically, this would be done as part of the school improvement plan / cycle or when areas to develop have been identified. A SEND audit allows you to identify strengths and weaknesses across the whole spectrum of SEND and inclusion, rather than just gaining a snapshot view. 

Both packs can work together in tandem, but naturally there is cross over in the questions in both packs. If you're looking to investigate SEND in your school, it's worth considering your own starting point and whether you want to take a deep dive style view of special educational needs, or whether you want to look at SEND improvements over a longer period of time.

SENDCos, headteachers, trust leaders or anyone with responsibility over SEND in a primary, secondary or other educational setting will find this pack useful.

Knowing you may be asked questions about SEND during an Ofsted inspection can cause feelings of stress, anxiety and worry. If you hold responsibility for SEND and inclusion, it may feel like this burden rests with you, which is where this pack comes in to support your thinking about the types of areas Ofsted will look at, including SEND inspection questions.

For more useful resources to support SENDCos and other leaders of SEND, why not take a look at our range of support:

SEND-Focused Resources